An apparatus for producing an SiC single crystal includes a crucible for accommodating an Si—C solution and a seed shaft having a lower end surface where an SiC seed crystal (36) would be attached. The seed shaft includes an inner pipe that extends in a height direction of the crucible and has a first passage. An outer pipe accommodates the inner pipe and constitutes a second passage between itself and the inner pipe and has a bottom portion whose lower end surface covers a lower end opening of the outer pipe. One passage of the first and second passages serves as an introduction passage where coolant gas flows downward, and the other passage serves as a discharge passage where coolant gas flows upward. A region inside the pipe that constitutes the introduction passage is to be overlapped by a region of not less than 60% of the SiC seed crystal.

An apparatus for producing an SiC single crystal includes a crucible for accommodating an Si—C solution and a seed shaft having a lower end surface where an SiC seed crystal (36) would be attached. The seed shaft includes an inner pipe that extends in a height direction of the crucible and has a first passage. An outer pipe accommodates the inner pipe and constitutes a second passage between itself and the inner pipe and has a bottom portion whose lower end surface covers a lower end opening of the outer pipe. One passage of the first and second passages serves as an introduction passage where coolant gas flows downward, and the other passage serves as a discharge passage where coolant gas flows upward. A region inside the pipe that constitutes the introduction passage is to be overlapped by a region of not less than 60% of the SiC seed crystal.

A nanopowder continuous production device for improving nanopowder collection efficiency is proposed. In one aspect, the device includes a reaction chamber evaporating a raw material using a plasma electrode and a crucible, and a raw material supplier connected to a first side of the reaction chamber and supplying the raw material to the reaction chamber. The device may also include a conveying film moving along a closed loop while capturing and conveying evaporated raw material or crystallized nanopowder at an upper portion in the reaction chamber, and a collector connected to a second side of the reaction chamber and collecting the nanopowder conveyed by the conveying film. The collector may include a first capturer having a scrapper disposed at an end of the conveying film and tensioners elastically supporting the scrapper, and a first side of the scrapper is in close contact with the conveying film.

A thermal conductivity estimation method includes: measuring temperature distribution of a measurement sample surface in a steady state by partially heating the measurement sample under predetermined heating conditions; calculating temperature distribution of a sample model surface by performing a heat-transfer simulation on the sample model of the same shape as the measurement sample for a plurality of combinations of provisional thermal conductivities and heating conditions; making a regression model, whose input is temperature distribution of the measurement sample surface and whose output is a thermal conductivity of the measurement sample, by a machine learning technique using training data in a form of a calculation result of the plurality of combinations and the temperature distribution obtained from the plurality of combinations; and estimating the thermal conductivity of the measurement sample by inputting a measurement result of the temperature distribution of the measurement sample surface into the regression model.

A thermal conductivity estimation method includes: measuring temperature distribution of a measurement sample surface in a steady state by partially heating the measurement sample under predetermined heating conditions; calculating temperature distribution of a sample model surface by performing a heat-transfer simulation on the sample model of the same shape as the measurement sample for a plurality of combinations of provisional thermal conductivities and heating conditions; making a regression model, whose input is temperature distribution of the measurement sample surface and whose output is a thermal conductivity of the measurement sample, by a machine learning technique using training data in a form of a calculation result of the plurality of combinations and the temperature distribution obtained from the plurality of combinations; and estimating the thermal conductivity of the measurement sample by inputting a measurement result of the temperature distribution of the measurement sample surface into the regression model.

A SiC single crystal manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes a growth container having a growth space in which a SiC single crystal is grown in a first direction and a heat insulating material which covers the growth container and includes a plurality of units, and the plurality of units include a first unit and a second unit having at least a thermal conductivity different from that of the first unit, and the first unit includes a container made of at least one of graphite and a metal carbide and a filler filled into the container in a replaceable manner.

An SiC crystal (10) has Fe concentration not higher than 0.1 ppm and Al concentration not higher than 100 ppm. A method of manufacturing an SiC crystal includes the following steps. SiC powders for polishing are prepared as a first source material (17). A first SiC crystal (11) is grown by sublimating the first source material (17) through heating and precipitating an SiC crystal. A second source material (12) is formed by crushing the first SiC crystal (11). A second SiC crystal (14) is grown by sublimating the second source material (12) through heating and precipitating an SiC crystal. Thus, an SiC crystal and a method of manufacturing an SiC crystal capable of achieving suppressed lowering in quality can be obtained.

A deposit removing device disclosed herein removes a deposit that adheres to an exhaust pipe through which gas is exhausted from a chamber that manufactures a semiconductor crystal. The deposit removing device includes: a valve that opens and closes an exhaust outlet that communicates with the exhaust pipe; a sealing cover and a fixed table configured to store the valve, into which an inert gas is introduceable, and configured to isolate the exhaust outlet from the outside; and an exhaust outlet opening/closing portion that includes a cylinder for driving the valve and a cylinder for driving the sealing cover or the fixed table. The cylinder drives the valve to open and close the exhaust outlet, and the cylinder drives the sealing cover or the fixed table to introduce the atmosphere into the sealing cover.

A deposit removing device disclosed herein removes a deposit that adheres to an exhaust pipe through which gas is exhausted from a chamber that manufactures a semiconductor crystal. The deposit removing device includes: a valve that opens and closes an exhaust outlet that communicates with the exhaust pipe; a sealing cover and a fixed table configured to store the valve, into which an inert gas is introduceable, and configured to isolate the exhaust outlet from the outside; and an exhaust outlet opening/closing portion that includes a cylinder for driving the valve and a cylinder for driving the sealing cover or the fixed table. The cylinder drives the valve to open and close the exhaust outlet, and the cylinder drives the sealing cover or the fixed table to introduce the atmosphere into the sealing cover.

An experiment system and method for accurate controlling of macromolecular crystallization process. The system has a platform-equipped horizontal moving slot and channel dedicated backwash module, a droplet adding control module, an observing module, a user observation computer system, and an experimental condition control module. A high-precision movement knob of the x-axis platform and the y-axis platform of the system and the accurate position control of a syringe needle are used to ensure that the macromolecular solution can be added into the correct positions of convex or concave. The crystallization induction period of the target crystal form is determined by the real-time data of the high-speed microcamera, and the crystal cultivation environment is adjusted in real time. This is simple and easy to operate, high in productivity, can be applied to the conventional experimental replication.