The present invention relates to a method and to a crucible for producing particle-free and nitrogen-free silicon ingots by means of targeted solidification, in which method a crucible is provided, the inner surface of the crucible having a coating containing Si.sub.xN.sub.y over its full surface or at least in regions, which coating is coated with a protective layer containing SiO.sub.x in order to reduce or prevent the introduction of nitrogen and Si.sub.xN.sub.y particles into the silicon. The invention also relates to a silicon ingot, which is virtually free from nitrogen or Si.sub.xN.sub.y particles.

Methods for forming a unitized crucible assembly for holding a melt of silicon for forming a silicon ingot are disclosed. In some embodiments, the methods involve a porous crucible mold having a channel network with a bottom channel, an outer sidewall channel that extends from the bottom channel, and a central weir channel that extends from the bottom channel. A slip slurry may be added to the channel network and the liquid carrier of the slip slurry may be drawn into the mold. The resulting green body may be sintered to form the crucible assembly.

A silicon carbide single crystal manufacturing apparatus includes a crucible constituted by a crucible body and a crucible lid; and a base that is placed on the underside of the crucible lid and holds a silicon carbide seed crystal, wherein the base has a structure in which a plurality of graphite plates having anisotropy of the thermal expansion coefficient are laminated and bonded, and when viewed in a plan view from the lamination direction, in the plurality of graphite plates, the maximum directional axes of the thermal expansion coefficient between adjacent graphite plates are orthogonal to each other or the maximum directional axes intersect within an angle range of ±15° from orthogonal.

A vacuum system for silicon crystal growth includes a silicon crystal growth chamber, a first vacuum pipe, a second vacuum pipe, and an oxides container. The first vacuum pipe is coupled to the chamber and has within a first brush that is movable in a first direction for removing internal oxides. The second vacuum pipe is coupled to the first vacuum pipe for receiving the internal oxides via the first brush and has within a second brush that is movable in a second direction different from the first direction. The second brush transports the received internal oxides away from the first vacuum pipe. The oxides container is coupled to the second vacuum pipe for receiving the internal oxides via the second brush.

The invention relates to a molded article made of a metallic molybdenum-based alloy with at least 3 wt. % up to a maximum of 8 wt. % aluminum, at least 3 wt. % up to a maximum of 6 wt. % titanium and, as the remainder, molybdenum including the usual impurities, wherein the molded article is produced directly or indirectly by means of solidification from a melt. The invention also relates to a method for producing a molded article and to the use of such a molded article.

The invention relates to a dispersion-hardened platinum composition comprising at least 70 wt. % platinum, the platinum composition containing up to 29.95 wt. % of one of the metals rhodium, gold, iridium and palladium, between 0.05 wt. % and 1 wt. % oxides of the non-precious metals zirconium, yttrium and scandium, and, as the remainder, the platinum including impurities, wherein between 7.0 mol. % and 11.0 mol. % of the oxides of the non-precious metals is yttrium oxide, between 0.1 mol. % and 5.0 mol. % of the oxides is scandium oxide, and the remainder of the oxides is zirconia, including oxide impurities. The invention also relates to a crucible for crystal growing, a semi-finished product, a tool, a tube, a stirrer, a fiberglass nozzle or a component for producing or processing glass made of a platinum composition of this kind and to a method for the production of a platinum composition.

A SiC single crystal manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is a SiC single crystal manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a SiC single crystal by performing crystal growth on a growth surface of a seed crystal disposed inside a crucible, and the crucible 1 is able to accommodate a raw material M for a SiC single crystal therein, and includes a crucible lower portion 1A and a crucible upper portion 1B, the crucible lower portion including a bottom portion 1Aa and a side portion 1Ab, and the crucible upper portion including a top portion 1Ba provided with a seed crystal installation portion 1Bc for installing a seed crystal SD and a side portion 1Bb. A male thread 1AAa is provided at an outer circumference 1AA of the side portion 1Ab of the crucible lower portion 1A, a female thread 1BBa engaging with the male thread is provided at an inner circumference 1BB of the side portion 1Bb of the crucible upper portion 1B, and the crucible includes a rotation mechanism 10 that is configured to relatively move the crucible upper portion 1B and the crucible lower portion 1A in a vertical direction by rotating at least one of the crucible upper portion 1B and the crucible lower portion 1A.

A die for growing a single crystal by an Edge-defined Film-fed Growth (EFG) technique includes a first outer die plate; a second outer die plate; and at least one central die plate positioned between the first outer die plate and the second outer die plate such that at least two capillaries are formed between the first outer die plate and the second outer die plate. First ends of the first outer die plate and the second outer die plate have a slope extending away from at least one of the at least two capillaries to form a growth interface at a top of the die. Second ends of the first outer die plate and the second outer die plate are immersed in a raw material melt provided in a crucible. The raw material melt is configured to travel to the growth interface by capillary flow of the raw material melt through the at least two capillaries.

There is provided a production apparatus of a gallium oxide crystal using a resistance heater, the heater provided therein being capable of being provided at a low cost and capable of suppressing deformation and breakage due to heat. The production apparatus for a gallium oxide crystal according to one or more aspects of the present invention includes a furnace body constituted by a heat resistant material, a crucible disposed in the furnace body, and a heater disposed around the crucible, the heater being a resistance heater including a heating part and a conductive part having a larger diameter than the heating part connected to each other, the heating part being constituted by a material having heat resistance to 1,850° C., the conductive part being constituted by a material having heat resistance to 1,800° C.

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.