US 11,939,696 B2 · Thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment and thin plate-shaped single-crystal production method

Abstract

[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.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment comprising:

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,
wherein 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,
wherein the infrared ray emitted from the infrared ray irradiation apparatus is a laser beam, and
wherein a shape of an irradiation area irradiated with the laser beam is a hollow quadrangular shape elongated in a horizontal direction, the thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment being configured for a circumferential area of the upper surface of the raw material lump for the production of the thin plate-shaped single crystal to be irradiated with the laser beam such that the hollow quadrangular irradiation area is formed in the circumferential area of the upper surface, the circumferential area excluding a central portion of the upper surface.

3 more elements

A thin plate-shaped single-crystal production method comprising at least:

a melting step of melting an upper surface of a raw material lump for production of a thin plate-shaped single crystal by irradiating the upper surface of the raw material lump for the production of the thin plate-shaped single crystal with an infrared ray using an infrared ray irradiation apparatus;
a growing step of starting growth of a single crystal from a lower surface of a thin plate-shaped seed single crystal by immersing the lower surface of the thin plate-shaped seed single crystal in a melt using an elevator apparatus, the melt being formed on the upper surface of the raw material lump for the production of the thin plate-shaped single crystal in the melting step;
and
a continuous production step of continuously producing the thin plate-shaped single crystal by pulling upward the thin plate-shaped seed single crystal from which the growth of the single crystal has been started in the growing step,
wherein, in the melting step, the infrared ray emitted from the infrared ray irradiation apparatus is a laser beam, and
wherein a shape of an irradiation area irradiated with the laser beam is a hollow quadrangular shape elongated in a horizontal direction, and a circumferential area of the upper surface of the raw material lump for the production of the thin plate-shaped single crystal is irradiated with the laser beam such that the hollow quadrangular irradiation area is formed in the circumferential area of the upper surface, the circumferential area excluding a central portion of the upper surface.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment and thin plate-shaped single-crystal production method

Life of this patent

Thin plate-shaped single-crystal production equipment and thin plate-shaped single-crystal production method

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims21