Towards thermodynamic modeling of nucleation and growth of droplets in crystals

Stress assisted diffusion in single crystal Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) leads to the formation and growth of unwanted liquid arsenic droplets in a solid matrix. This process happens during the heat treatment of single crystal GaAs, which is needed for its application in opto-electronic devices, and it is of crucial importance to pose and answer the question if the appearance of droplets can be avoided. To this end we start a thermodynamic simulation of this process. Special emphasis is given to the influence of mechanical effects on chemistry, diffusion and interface motion in GaAs