Patent ID: 8021482

Claim:
A method for eliminating precipitates contained in an II-VI solid semiconductor material, in which said solid semiconductor material is a congruent sublimation solid semiconductor material, the method comprising: providing an inert gas flow; heating the solid semiconductor material under the inert gas flow up to a temperature T, between a first temperature T 1 , corresponding to compound II-VI/element VI eutectic, and a second temperature T 2 , corresponding to maximum congruent sublimation temperature; maintaining the solid semiconductor material at this temperature T under the inert gas flow for a time period sufficient to eliminate the precipitates; cooling the solid semiconductor material under the inert gas flow from temperature T to ambient temperature, at a rate such that, during the cooling, the solid semiconductor material merges with its congruent sublimation line; and recovering a precipitate-free solid semiconductor material.