Please replace the Abstract contained in the application with the following replacement

Provided is a process of measuring a space between a melt surface and a seed crystal provided above a melt, a process of lowering the seed crystal based on the space and bringing the seed crystal into contact with the melt, and a process of growing a single crystal by pulling the seed crystal while maintaining contact with the melt. Images of the seed crystal and the melt surface are captured by a camera installed diagonally above the melt surface, a real-image edge approximation circle is generated by approximating a circle from an edge pattern at a lower end of a straight-trunk portion of a real image of the seed crystal, and a mirror-image edge approximation circle is generated by approximating the circle from an edge pattern at the straight-trunk portion of a mirror image of the seed crystal reflected on the melt surface.---

Please replace the Abstract contained in the application with the following replacement

Provided is a process of measuring a space between a melt surface and a seed crystal provided above a melt, a process of lowering the seed crystal based on the space and bringing the seed crystal into contact with the melt, and a process of growing a single crystal by pulling the seed crystal while maintaining contact with the melt. Images of the seed crystal and the melt surface are captured by a camera installed diagonally above the melt surface, a real-image edge approximation circle is generated by approximating a circle from an edge pattern at a lower end of a straight-trunk portion of a real image of the seed crystal, and a mirror-image edge approximation circle is generated by approximating the circle from an edge pattern at the straight-trunk portion of a mirror image of the seed crystal reflected on the melt surface.---

An energy-saving ingot growing device is disclosed. The ingot growing device according to the present invention comprises: a chamber having provided therein a crucible heated by a heat source in order to melt silicon; a side surface insulating material provided inside the chamber so as to insulate the side surface of the crucible; and an observation part provided to penetrate the chamber and the side surface insulating material so that the inside of the crucible can be observed.

An energy-saving ingot growing device is disclosed. The ingot growing device according to the present invention comprises: a chamber having provided therein a crucible heated by a heat source in order to melt silicon; a side surface insulating material provided inside the chamber so as to insulate the side surface of the crucible; and an observation part provided to penetrate the chamber and the side surface insulating material so that the inside of the crucible can be observed.

A crystal puller apparatus comprises a pulling assembly to pull a crystal from a silicon melt at a pull speed; a crucible that contains the silicon melt; a heat shield above a surface of the silicon melt; a lifter to change a gap between the heat shield and the surface of the silicon melt; and one or more computing devices to determine an adjustment to the gap using a Pv-Pi margin, at a given length of the crystal, in response to a change in the pull speed. The computer-implemented method by a computing device comprises determining a pull-speed command signal to control a diameter of the crystal; determining a lifter command signal to control a gap between a heat shield and a surface of a silicon melt from which the crystal is grown; and determining an adjustment to the gap, in response to a different pull-speed, using a Pv-Pi margin.

A method, apparatus and device for detecting a growth state of a crystalline line of a silicon rod, relating to the technical field of monocrystalline silicon, including in a process of constant-diameter growth of the silicon rod, acquiring a sample image of the silicon rod providing a detection area in the sample image, wherein the detection area overlaps with a crystalline-line growth line of the silicon rod, generating a grayscale-value curve of the detection area, and according to the grayscale-value curve of the detection area, determining the growth state of the crystalline line of the silicon rod on the crystalline-line growth line. The method alleviates the affection on the detection of crystalline lines by the fluctuation of the diameter of the silicon rod and the unclarity of the features of the crystalline lines, thereby improving the accuracy and the efficiency of the detection on the crystalline lines.

A method, apparatus and device for detecting a growth state of a crystalline line of a silicon rod, relating to the technical field of monocrystalline silicon, including in a process of constant-diameter growth of the silicon rod, acquiring a sample image of the silicon rod providing a detection area in the sample image, wherein the detection area overlaps with a crystalline-line growth line of the silicon rod, generating a grayscale-value curve of the detection area, and according to the grayscale-value curve of the detection area, determining the growth state of the crystalline line of the silicon rod on the crystalline-line growth line. The method alleviates the affection on the detection of crystalline lines by the fluctuation of the diameter of the silicon rod and the unclarity of the features of the crystalline lines, thereby improving the accuracy and the efficiency of the detection on the crystalline lines.

The present invention relates to an ingot growth control device capable of quickly and accurately controlling a diameter of an ingot during an ingot growing process and improving quality of the ingot, and a control method thereof. In the ingot growth control device and a control method thereof according to the present invention, when an input unit provides diameter data obtained by filtering a diameter measurement value of an ingot, a diameter controller reflects the diameter data to control a pulling speed of the ingot, while a temperature controller reflects the diameter data to control power of a heater.

Single crystal semiconductor ingots are pulled from a melt contained in a crucible by a method of controlling the pulling the single crystal in a phase in which an initial cone of the single crystal is grown until a phase in which the pulling of a cylindrical section of the single crystal is begun, by measuring the diameter Dcr of the initial cone of the single crystal and calculating the change in the diameter dDcr/dt; pulling the initial cone of the single crystal from the melt at a pulling rate vp(t) from a point in time t1 until a point in time t2, starting from which the pulling of the cylindrical section of the single crystal in conjunction with a target diameter Dcrs is begun, wherein the profile of the pulling rate vp(t) from the point in time t1 until the point in time t2 during the pulling of the initial cone is predetermined by means of an iterative computation process.

A measurement system includes a target object at least partially visible through an opening in a crystal puller. The crystal puller has a silicon melt in a crucible and a reflector defining a central passage through which a crystal is pulled. A detector array captures light through the opening. The detector array is directed to a surface of the silicon melt in the crystal puller and to the target object, and a laser selectively transmits a coherent light beam through the opening to the target object to produce a reflection of the target object on the surface of the silicon melt. An optical modulator pulses the coherent light beams of the laser into discrete coherent light beams having a period, and a lock-in amplifier is connected to the detector array to filter discrete coherent light having the period from captured light.