Product Datasheet:

Rev2.3 Crucible Selection Guide

Crucible Selection Guide

Disclaimer
Given the range of materials and possible deposition combinations, not all crucibles have been tested
for every application. Luxel has many years of experience evaporating numerous materials and our
technicians will help guide you in your crucible/ liner selection, however it is ultimately the responsibility
of the end user to verify compatibility with their specific application.

Crucible Options by Radak Furnace

Radak I Radak II Radak III
Crucible Size 1”H X 0.495” OD – 2cc 2”H X 0.995” OD – 15cc 3.91”H X 1.96” OD – 140cc
Usable Capacity 1cc 10cc 100cc
Materials Alumina, Quartz, PBN, Coated Stainless Steel, Organic
Liners Molybdenum, Nickel, Tantalum, Tungsten Special Request only
Liner Capacity† 0.5cc 6cc
†Full capacity liners (same as crucible) are available in Molybdenum
 Product Datasheet:
Crucible Selection Guide

Luxel offers two standard crucibles and an expanding line of specialty crucibles. All crucibles are high
purity material and have a precision ground lip to provide a vapor seal, which prevents contamination of
the radiation baffles. Refractory metal crucible liners are available to ensure compatibility with the
widest possible range of source materials.

CRUCIBLE SELECTION
The two primary considerations in selecting a crucible are chemical and thermal compatibility. There are
a number of resources available on the web for determining crucible chemical compatibility of most
common deposition materials. Thermal compatibility is a concern with materials that melt during
evaporation. Molten materials conform to the shape of the crucible. After the deposition when the melt
solidifies, differences in thermal expansion rates can cause the crucible to crack. In the case of melting
materials, there are three solutions to avoid crucible cracking. Luxel offers metal liners which can
withstand the difference in expansion without cracking. If you desire to run the source material without
using a metal liner, one solution is to use a limited amount of source material so that the bottom of the
crucible is not covered. A second approach which does not require the metal liner is to ensure all
material is evaporated from the crucible prior to cooling. Crucibles should not be filled greater than ¾
full with non-subliming materials.

Standard Sizes Radak III

Radak II

Radak I

1cc 10cc 100cc

Max fill

Figure 1 Left: Standard sizes with capacities of 1, 10, and 100cc respectively. Right: Recommended fill level is ¾ full.

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 Product Datasheet:
Crucible Selection Guide

Standard Crucibles
Our standard crucibles are alumina (above left) or quartz (above right). One crucible is supplied with
each Radak furnace purchased. Alumina is the default crucible material with quartz available upon
request. Standard crucibles are available for both the Radak I and Radak II furnaces.

Crucible Liners
Some applications may require the use of an insert placed inside the standard crucible. Such applications
include evaporating materials that would react with the standard crucible material, and evaporating
melting materials that have a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than the crucible material. In these
cases, a tough metal insert placed inside the standard crucible to form a crucible liner. Crucible liners
contain the molten or reactive material within the standard crucible, protecting the furnace.

Crucible liners are available in the following

materials:

 Molybdenum
 Tantalum
 Tungsten
 Nickel
 Special materials upon request

Figure 2: A variety of crucible liners are available

Specialty Crucibles
Some materials present specific challenges that cannot be overcome using a liner alone. For these
applications we have developed material specific crucibles.

Organics
Organic materials tend to evaporate at relatively low temperatures.
Our furnaces are designed to minimizing material buildup at the lip
of the crucible by applying more heat to the top of the crucible.
Some organics such as ALQ3 and Copper phthalocyanine are
evaporated at such a low temperature that the temperature at the
lip of the crucible is insufficient to prevent re-depositing on the
crucible. In extreme cases, this can lead to the evaporant blocking
the mouth of the crucible. For these applications, we have developed
a low temperature, high thermal conductivity crucible which
effectively eliminates crucible choking. This crucible is for low Figure 3: “Organic” Crucible
temperature materials only and should not be used above 460C.

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 Product Datasheet:
Crucible Selection Guide

Solar Cell Production

Materials used in solar cell production such as copper and selenium require special consideration. Due
to thermal expansion, the Cu melt will cause the crucible to crack on cooling, which can destroy the
furnace upon re-melting the source if not detected. To avoid this, we recommend using a molybdenum
liner. The molybdenum liner for the Radak I has a 1cc working volume. The liner for the Radak II has a
6cc working volume. For higher volume production, a molybdenum crucible is available for the Radak II
but is currently a custom order.

For Selenium deposition, we have developed a ceramic coated stainless steel crucible. The stainless is
both compatible with the molten Se and tough to withstand expansion during heating and cool down.
This crucible also features a reduced aperture to reduce potentially dangerous source spitting. For
materials with a high propensity to spit, Luxel can provide custom designed crucible “baffles” which are
installed over the crucible to eliminate line-of-sight between source and substrate. We will be happy to
discuss your application requirements and design a solution for you.

We have solutions for spitting materials! Call to discuss your application.

Figure 4: Coated stainless steel crucible with reduced aperture for Selenium. Custom crucible baffles for spitting materials.

PBN Crucible
Luxel offers a Pyrolytic Boron Nitride (PBN) crucible. The high purity (99.9% pure) PBN crucibles have a
nominal 2% taper over their length.

Please see our ever-growing table of crucible recommendations by material!

360.378.4137 | 360.378.4266 fax | Radak@Luxel.com | www.Luxel.com | P.O. Box 1879, 515 Tucker Ave., Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA
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 Product Datasheet:
Crucible Selection Guide

Special Notes
Materials that melt prior to evaporating should use a liner. This is especially true of metals, but could
apply to any material that exhibits this behavior. Quantity of material should also be considered when
choosing crucible/liner combination. Please read the crucible selection paragraph. Call us if you have any
questions concerning material and liner compatibility.

Figure 5: Luxel crucible and liner recommendations by material

LUXEL Crucible Recommendations by Material

Material Symbol Crucible Liner (if required) Melt °C S / D NOTES
ALQ3 ALQ3 Organic
Aluminum Al PBN 660
Antimony Sb Alumina 631 S O,T
Arsenic As Alumina 814 S O,T
Barium Ba Alumina Ta 717 O,P,T
Barium Cloride BaCl2 Alumina Ta, Mo 962
Beryllium Be Alumina W 1284
Bismuth Bi Alumina W, Ta, Mo 271 T
Boron Nitride BN Alumina 2973 S
Cadmium Cd Alumina 321 S P,T
Calcium Ca Alumina 810 S O
Calcium Fluoride CaF2 Alumina Mo, Ta 1418
Cerium Ce Alumina 785 H
Cesium Iodide CsI Alumina 621
Chromium Cr Alumina W 1857 S
Cobalt Co Alumina 1478
Copper Cu Alumina Mo 1083
Copper phthalocyanine CuPC Organic
Dysprosium Dy Alumina Ta 1409
Erbium Er Alumina Ta, W 1522 S
Europium Eu Alumina 822 S O
Gadolinium Gd Alumina 1312
Gallium Ga Alumina 30
Germanium Ge Alumina 959
Gold Au Alumina 1063
Holmium Ho Alumina Ta 1470
Indium In Alumina 157
Indium Tin Oxide ITO Alumina 1800 S
Iron Fe Alumina 1535
Lanthanum La Alumina Ta, W 887 O
Lead Pb Alumina 328 T
Lutetium Lu Alumina 1656

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 Product Datasheet:
Crucible Selection Guide
Magnesium Mg Alumina 651 S O
Magnesium Fluoride MgF2 Alumina 1261
Manganese Mn Alumina 1244 S
Neodymium Nd Alumina 1021
Nickel Ni Alumina 1455
Palladium Pd Alumina 1555 S
Phosphorus P Alumina 597 S T,F
Polonium Po Quartz 254 T
Potassium K Quartz 64 F
Potassium Bromide KBr Alumina 734
Potassium Chloride KCl Alumina Ni 770 S
Potassium Iodide KI Alumina 681
Praseodymium Pr Alumina Ta 931
Rubidium Rb Quartz 38 F
Samarium Sm Alumina 1072 O
Scandium Sc Alumina 1397 O
Selenium Se Coated SS 217 T
Silicon Si Alumina Ta 1410
Silicon Monoxide SiO Alumina Ta 1702 S
Silicon Nitride Si3N4 Alumina 1900
Silver Ag PBN, Alumina Mo 961
Sodium Na Quartz 98 F
Sodium Fluoride NaF Alumina 993
Strontium Sr Alumina Mo, Ta, W 771 O,F
Sulfur S Quartz 597 S P
Tellurium Te Alumina Ta, W 450 T
Terbium Tb Alumina 1360
Thallium Tl Alumina 304 T
Thullium Tm Alumina 1545 S
Tin Sn Alumina Ta 232
Tin Oxide SnO2 Alumina 1630 S
Titanium Oxide TiO Alumina W, Mo
Tungsten Oxide WO3 Alumina 1473 S
Victawet VW Alumina
Ytterbium Yb Alumina Ta 824 S
Yttrium Y Alumina 1477
Zinc Zn Alumina 419 S P

NOTES:
H = Hydroscopic films P = Poisonous to vacuum systems due to low
O = Oxidizes quickly in air sticking coefficient
T = Toxic S = Sublimes
F = Flammable in air D = Decomposes

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 Product Datasheet:
Crucible Selection Guide

Aluminum Deposition in a RADAK

Aluminum remains our biggest challenge. We still do not have a solution for all aluminum depositions.
We continue to pursue options for reliable evaporation of aluminum but have yet to settle on a
permanent solution. Pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) liners inside of an alumina crucible are one effective
alternative. Lipped PBN liners eliminate the issue of wicking. However, the PBN will eventually fail
(hence the crucible/liner configuration). If you choose to use the PBN liner option, please be mindful of
potential for the PBN to fail. During in-house testing it appears they fail faster at higher temperatures, so
we recommend limiting the PBN to no more than 1300° C. In test, the PBN seems to fail during cool
down, so we also recommend a controlled cool down rate (<25° C/min) below 600°C. To prevent
damage to the furnace the PBN liner should be checked between each use for signs of failure and it
should be replaced at first sign of cracking. The liners drop into and rest on the installed alumina
crucible so inspection is quite easy (no need to remove the outer can) as long as the top of the furnace
can be reached. If the PBN liner does fail, the furnace will be protected from the aluminum melt by the
crucible, but the crucible will not withstand a re-heat. If the aluminum welds the PBN into the alumina
crucible you may have to replace the vapor shield.

Disclaimer
Given the range of materials and possible deposition combinations, not all crucibles have been tested
for every application. Luxel has many years of experience evaporating numerous materials and our
technicians will help guide you in your crucible/ liner selection, however it is ultimately the responsibility
of the end user to verify compatibility with their specific application.

Crucible Options by Radak Furnace

Radak I Radak II Radak III
Crucible Size 1”H X 0.495” OD – 2cc 2”H X 0.995” OD – 15cc 3.91”H X 1.96” OD – 140cc
Usable Capacity 1cc 10cc 100cc
Materials Alumina, Quartz, PBN, Coated Stainless Steel, Organic
Liners Molybdenum, Nickel, Tantalum, Tungsten Special Request only
Liner Capacity† 0.5cc 6cc
†Full capacity liners (same as crucible) are available in Molybdenum

360.378.4137 | 360.378.4266 fax | Radak@Luxel.com | www.Luxel.com | P.O. Box 1879, 515 Tucker Ave., Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA
Page 7 of 8
 Product Datasheet:
Crucible Selection Guide

Maximum Operating Temperature

Please note that the maximum operating temperature of the Radak furnace with the radiation baffle
installed is 1500°C. Certain crucibles and liners have maximum temperatures below 1500°C, please see
the table below.

Maximum Operating Temperature (°C)

Crucibles
Alumina 1500
PBN 1500*
Quartz 1000
Coated Stainless 900
Organic 460
Liners
Molybdenum 1500
Tantalum 1500
Tungsten 1500
Nickel 1200
PBN Cold Dipped 1300
*Temperature is process dependent based on whether you are reducing or oxidizing atmospheres. We
recommend 1300° C for aluminum.

Exceeding the maximum operating temperature of the furnace or the crucible will void the product
warranty.

360.378.4137 | 360.378.4266 fax | Radak@Luxel.com | www.Luxel.com | P.O. Box 1879, 515 Tucker Ave., Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA
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