The II-VI semiconducting alloys, such as mercury zinc telluride (MZT), have become the materials of choice for numerous infrared detection applications. However, compositional inhomogeneities and crystallographic imperfections adversly affect the performance of MZT infrared detectors. One source of imperfections in MZT is gravity-induced convection during directional solidification. Crystal growth experiments conducted in space should minimize gravity-induced convection and thereby the density of related crystallographic defects. The limited amount of time available during Space Shuttle experiments and the need for a sample of uniform composition requires the elimination of the initial composition transient which occurs in directionally solidified alloys. One method of eluding this initial transient involves directionally solidifying a portion of the sample and then quenching the remainder prior to the space experiment. During the space experiment, the MZT sample is back-melted to exactly the point at which directional solidification was stopped on earth. The directional solidification process then continues.
