Ingot puller apparatus for preparing a single crystal silicon ingot by the Czochralski method are disclosed. The ingot puller apparatus includes a heat shield. The heat shield has a leg segment that includes a void (i.e., an open space without insulation) disposed in the leg segment. The heat shield may also include insulation partially within the heat shield.

Crystal pulling system having a housing and a crucible assembly are disclosed. The system includes a heat shield that defines a central passage through which an ingot passes during ingot growth. A cover member is moveable within the heat shield along a pull axis. The cover member may include an insulation layer. The cover member covers at least a portion of the charge during meltdown.

According to the disclosed embodiments, an advanced crucible support system is described that allows for greater heat flow to and from the bottom of a crucible, preferably while also preventing excessive heat from reaching a heat exchanger. In particular, a support base is described that includes one or more vents enabling improved heat flow throughout the system. Also, according to one or more additional embodiments, the functionality of the crucible support is adapted to be leveraged by a crucible manipulating device. For example, the support plate may have a plurality of slots for insertion of a “lifting arm”, such that the entire support plate assembly, as well as the crucible itself while on the support assembly, may be lifted and transported as a single unit.

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.

Ingot puller apparatus for preparing a single crystal silicon ingot by the Czochralski method are disclosed. The ingot puller apparatus includes a heat shield. The heat shield has a leg segment that includes a void (i.e., an open space without insulation) disposed in the leg segment. The heat shield may also include insulation partially within the heat shield.

A crystal pulling system for growing a monocrystalline ingot from a melt of semiconductor or solar-grade material includes a crucible for containing the melt of material, a pulling mechanism configured to pull the ingot from the melt along a pull axis, and a multi-stage heat exchanger defining a central passage for receiving the ingot as the ingot is pulled by the pulling mechanism. The heat exchanger defines a plurality of cooling zones arranged vertically along the pull axis of the crystal pulling system. The plurality of cooling zones includes two enhanced-rate cooling zones and a reduced-rate cooling zone disposed vertically between the two enhanced-rate cooling zones.

Disclosed a heat shield and a monocrystalline silicon growth furnace using the same. The heat shield is arranged in an upper portion of a melt crucible in the monocrystalline silicon growth furnace, and comprises a shield wall and a shield bottom provided with a window for pulling melt through. The shield bottom comprises a top layer, a bottom layer and a side wall. The side wall is connected between the top and bottom layers and encloses the window. The bottom layer faces towards a liquid level of the melt, and is designed as a serrated structure. With the serrated structure of the bottom layer of the shield bottom, the external thermal energy can be prevented from being absorbed by the monocrystalline silicon crystal, thereby avoiding excessive thermal compensation on a crystal surface, effectively optimizing longitudinal temperature gradient of the crystal, and improving the radial quality uniformity of a silicon wafer.

Disclosed is a thin-film heat insulation sheet for a monocrystalline silicon growth furnace, which comprises one or more first refractive layers and one or more second refractive layers which have different refractivity and are laminated alternately to form a laminated structure. Also disclosed is a monocrystalline silicon growth furnace, in which the thin-film heat insulation sheet is arranged on a heat shield. The thin-film heat insulation sheet has good reflectivity in wavelength ranges of heat radiation. When disposed on a heat shield to be applied to the monocrystalline silicon growth furnace, the thin-film heat insulation sheet not only can improve ability of the heat shield to reflect heat energy, reduce heat dissipation of molten silicon melt, and improve heat energy utilization, but also is conducive to heat insulation performance of the heat field, thereby improving the quality of the heat field to improve the quality and yield of monocrystalline silicon.

Disclosed are a heat shield device for insulating heat and a smelting furnace. The heat shield device comprises a heat shield unit and a heat insulation unit. The heat shield unit comprises a shield bottom provided with a through hole, and a shield wall disposed on a side of the shield bottom opposite to the through hole. The heat insulation unit comprises a heat insulation part disposed above a layer plate of the shield bottom close to a liquid level of a crucible and a heat preservation part. The smelting furnace used for growth of monocrystalline silicon comprises the heat shield device, a crucible and a heater. The heat shield device of the present invention can increase a temperature gradient between the heat shield unit and the crucible, thereby facilitating rapid formation of silicon crystal bar and improving production efficiency of the silicon crystal bar.

Disclosed a heat shield device for a single crystal production furnace. The heat shield device is disposed above a melt crucible of the single crystal production furnace, and comprises a shell, supporting members, heat insulation plates and a direction control component. The supporting members and the heat insulation plates are disposed within of the shell. One end of the supporting member is fixedly connected with an inner wall of the shell. The direction control component is connected with the heat insulation plate. The supporting members serve as supporting points of the heat insulation plates, and cooperate with the direction control component to control rotation of the heat insulation plates relative to the shell. A rotatable angle of the heat insulation plate faces a cylindrical surface of monocrystalline silicon, and a bottom surface of the shell faces interior of the melt crucible.