A convection pattern estimation method of a silicon melt includes: applying a horizontal magnetic field of 0.2 tesla or more to a silicon melt in a rotating quartz crucible with use of a pair of magnetic bodies disposed across the quartz crucible; before a seed crystal is dipped into the silicon melt to which the horizontal magnetic field is applied; measuring temperatures at a first and second measurement points positioned on a first imaginary line that passes through a center of a surface of the silicon melt and is not in parallel with a central magnetic field line of the horizontal magnetic field as viewed vertically from above; and estimating a direction of a convection flow in a plane in the silicon melt orthogonal to the direction in which the horizontal magnetic field is applied on a basis of the measured temperatures of the first and second measurement points.

[Object] To provide a thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment and a thin plate-shaped single-crystal production method that can produce a thin plate-shaped single crystal having a uniform dopant concentration at an optimum chemical composition and a thickness of several hundreds of micrometers continuously at low cost with high precision even when the single crystal is a single crystal of an incongruent melting material or a solid solution material or a single crystal of a congruent melting material. [Solution] Thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment includes: an infrared ray irradiation apparatus that irradiates an upper surface of a raw material lump for production of a thin plate-shaped single crystal with an infrared ray to melt the upper surface; and an elevator apparatus that causes a lower surface of a thin plate-shaped seed single crystal to be immersed in a melt melted using the infrared ray irradiation apparatus and formed on the upper surface and then pulls the thin plate-shaped seed single crystal immersed in the melt upward. The thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment is configured such that, by using the elevator apparatus to immerse the lower surface of the thin plate-shaped seed single crystal in the melt formed on the upper surface of the raw material lump for the production of the thin plate-shaped single crystal using the infrared ray irradiation apparatus, growth of a single crystal is started from the lower surface of the immersed thin plate-shaped seed single crystal and that, by using the elevator apparatus to pull the thin plate-shaped seed single crystal upward, the thin plate-shaped single crystal is produced continuously.

[Object] To provide a thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment and a thin plate-shaped single-crystal production method that can produce a thin plate-shaped single crystal having a uniform dopant concentration at an optimum chemical composition and a thickness of several hundreds of micrometers continuously at low cost with high precision even when the single crystal is a single crystal of an incongruent melting material or a solid solution material or a single crystal of a congruent melting material. [Solution] Thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment includes: an infrared ray irradiation apparatus that irradiates an upper surface of a raw material lump for production of a thin plate-shaped single crystal with an infrared ray to melt the upper surface; and an elevator apparatus that causes a lower surface of a thin plate-shaped seed single crystal to be immersed in a melt melted using the infrared ray irradiation apparatus and formed on the upper surface and then pulls the thin plate-shaped seed single crystal immersed in the melt upward. The thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment is configured such that, by using the elevator apparatus to immerse the lower surface of the thin plate-shaped seed single crystal in the melt formed on the upper surface of the raw material lump for the production of the thin plate-shaped single crystal using the infrared ray irradiation apparatus, growth of a single crystal is started from the lower surface of the immersed thin plate-shaped seed single crystal and that, by using the elevator apparatus to pull the thin plate-shaped seed single crystal upward, the thin plate-shaped single crystal is produced continuously.

A method of manufacturing monocrystalline silicon is provided, the method including pulling monocrystalline silicon out of a silicon melt by a Czochralski process, the silicon melt being stored in a crucible housed in a chamber, the silicon melt being added with a volatile dopant, in which a decompression rate ES for exhaust of a gas out of the chamber before the pulling of the monocrystalline silicon is within a range below at least until a pressure inside the chamber decreases from an atmospheric pressure to 80 kPa, 0 kPa/min<ES4.2 kPa/min.

A method of manufacturing monocrystalline silicon is provided, the method including pulling monocrystalline silicon out of a silicon melt by a Czochralski process, the silicon melt being stored in a crucible housed in a chamber, the silicon melt being added with a volatile dopant, in which a decompression rate ES for exhaust of a gas out of the chamber before the pulling of the monocrystalline silicon is within a range below at least until a pressure inside the chamber decreases from an atmospheric pressure to 80 kPa, 0 kPa/min<ES4.2 kPa/min.

A crystal-growth controlling method and device, and a crystal growing apparatus, used for, in the process of growing a crystal by a pulling method, forming the crystal of the shape required by the cell side. The method includes: in a process of growing a crystal by the pulling method, acquiring a growth image of the crystal in real time, and extracting shape information of the crystal at a growth interface from the growth image, wherein the growth interface is where the crystal intersects with a raw-material melt liquid level; comparing the shape information of the crystal at the growth interface with shape information of the predetermined shape, to obtain a comparison result; and based on the comparison result, adjusting a shape of the crystal at the growth interface by using a laser.

A crystal-growth controlling method and device, and a crystal growing apparatus, used for, in the process of growing a crystal by a pulling method, forming the crystal of the shape required by the cell side. The method includes: in a process of growing a crystal by the pulling method, acquiring a growth image of the crystal in real time, and extracting shape information of the crystal at a growth interface from the growth image, wherein the growth interface is where the crystal intersects with a raw-material melt liquid level; comparing the shape information of the crystal at the growth interface with shape information of the predetermined shape, to obtain a comparison result; and based on the comparison result, adjusting a shape of the crystal at the growth interface by using a laser.

A laser heated pedestal growth system includes two lasers having output beams that are combined with a beam combiner to produce a single beam. A growth chamber that includes a final focusing mirror for receiving and focusing the single beam of the lasers onto a tip of a feed material to create a molten zone in a focal region. A feed transport mechanism is adapted for transporting a feed material through the growth chamber and into the molten zone. An opposing seed transport mechanism is adapted for withdrawing a seed material from the growth chamber. An imaging system is adapted for capturing an image of the molten zone within the growth chamber. A controller in communication with the feed transport mechanism, the seed transport mechanism, one of the two lasers, and the imagining system is adapted to control and stabilize a fiber growth process by controlling the feed transport mechanism, the seed transport mechanism, and the power of the combined laser beam.

A laser heated pedestal growth system includes two lasers having output beams that are combined with a beam combiner to produce a single beam. A growth chamber that includes a final focusing mirror for receiving and focusing the single beam of the lasers onto a tip of a feed material to create a molten zone in a focal region. A feed transport mechanism is adapted for transporting a feed material through the growth chamber and into the molten zone. An opposing seed transport mechanism is adapted for withdrawing a seed material from the growth chamber. An imaging system is adapted for capturing an image of the molten zone within the growth chamber. A controller in communication with the feed transport mechanism, the seed transport mechanism, one of the two lasers, and the imagining system is adapted to control and stabilize a fiber growth process by controlling the feed transport mechanism, the seed transport mechanism, and the power of the combined laser beam.

A single crystal ingot puller includes a crucible for containing a melt. A single crystal ingot is grown from the melt. A laser system selectively transmits a laser beam to the ingot edge. A controller selectively controls power of the laser to heat the ingot edge such that a local temperature of the edge region is increased.