A mono-crystalline silicon growth apparatus is provided. The mono-crystalline silicon growth apparatus includes a furnace, a support base disposed in the furnace, a crucible disposed on the support base, and a heating module. The support base and the crucible do not rotate relative to the heating module, and an axial direction is defined to be along a central axis of the crucible. The heating module is disposed at an outer periphery of the support base and includes a first heating unit, a second heating unit, and a third heating unit. The first heating unit, the second heating unit, and the third heating unit are respectively disposed at positions with different heights corresponding to the axial direction.

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.

[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.

Methods for producing single crystal silicon ingots by Continuous Czochralski (CCz) are disclosed. One or more plates are added to the outer melt zone of a crucible assembly such that the plates are disposed on the initial charge of solid-state silicon. The silicon is melted and the plates float on the silicon melt. When silicon is added to the outer melt zone to replenish the melt during ingot growth, the silicon contacts the plates rather than falling directly into the melt in the outer melt zone. The silicon melts and falls through openings that extend through the thickness of the plates.

The present invention relates to a process for synthesizing indium phosphide by liquid phosphorus injection method, which belongs to the field of semiconductor technology. The method comprises: converting gaseous phosphorus into liquid phosphorus through a condenser, injecting the liquid phosphorus into an indium melt while preventing phosphorus vaporization by randomly delivering a low temperature inert gas, and causing an instantaneous reaction between the liquid phosphorus and the liquid indium melt, so that an indium phosphide melt can be synthesized at a relatively low temperature, with advantages of high efficiency, high purity, precise proportioning, large capacity, aiding in the growth of a phosphorus-rich indium phosphide polycrystal and facilitating the growth of an indium phosphide monocrystal. The method includes the steps of indium cleaning, phosphorus charging, furnace loading, communication of condenser, synthesis, preparation of crystals, etc.

An apparatus for controlling a thickness of a crystalline ribbon grown on a surface of a melt includes a crucible configured to hold a melt; a cold initializer facing an exposed surface of the melt; a segmented cooled thinning controller disposed above the crucible on a side of the crucible with the cold initializer; and a uniform melt-back heater disposed below of the crucible opposite the cooled thinning controller. Heat is applied to the ribbon through the melt using a uniform melt-back heater disposed below the melt. Cooling is applied to the ribbon using a segmented cooled thinning controller facing the crystalline ribbon above the melt.

A method for growing a crystal boule includes the steps of: periodically pulling upwardly a seed crystal dipped into a melt in a crucible to grow a first neck of the crystal boule below the seed crystal; and continuously pulling upwardly the seed crystal and the first neck of the crystal boule to grow a second neck of the crystal boule below the first neck.

Crystal pulling systems having composite polycrystalline silicon feed tubes, methods for forming such tubes, and methods for forming a single crystal silicon ingot with use of such tubes. The composite polycrystalline silicon feed tubes include quartz and at least one dopant. The composite polycrystalline silicon feed tube may be made by a slip cast method.

Methods for producing single crystal silicon ingots by Continuous Czochralski (CCz) are disclosed. A batch of buffer members (e.g., quartz cullets) is added to an outer melt zone of the crucible assembly before the main body of the ingot is grown. In some embodiments, the ratio of the mass M of the batch of buffer members added to the melt to the time between adding the batch of buffer members to the melt and when the ingot main body begins to grow is controlled such that the ratio of M/T is greater than a threshold M/T.

Methods for producing single crystal silicon ingots in which an array of quartz particles are added to the crucible assembly before ingot growth are disclosed. The array may be disposed in the outer melt zone of the crucible assembly as in a continuous Czochralski (CCz) process. The array may be made of quartz particles that are interconnected by linking members.