Liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) is a method to grow semiconductor crystal layers from the melt on solid substrates. This happens at temperatures well below the melting point of the deposited semiconductor. The semiconductor is dissolved in the melt of another material. At conditions that are close to the equilibrium between dissolution and deposition, the deposition of the semiconductor crystal on the substrate is relatively fast and uniform. The most used substrate is indium phosphide (InP). Other substrates like glass or ceramic can be applied for special applications. To facilitate nucleation, and to avoid tension in the grown layer the thermal expansion coefficient of substrate and grown layer should be similar.
Centrifugal liquid-phase epitaxy is used commercially to make thin layers of silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide. Centrifugally formed film growth is a process used to form thin layers of materials by using a centrifuge. The process has been used to create silicon for thin-film solar cells and far-infrared photodetectors. Temperature and centrifuge spin rate are used to control layer growth. Centrifugal LPE has the capability to create dopant concentration gradients while the solution is held at constant temperature.