# US 12,002,234 B2 · Crystal line growing state detection method, apparatus and device for silicon rod

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- Number: US 12,002,234 B2
- Document ID: US12002234B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/256,494
- Filed: 2019-11-11
- Published: 2021-09-09
- Granted: 2024-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2018-11-26
- Assignees: Longi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Longi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Li Guo; Qiao Li; Zhanjun Xu
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12002234B2

## CPC

- C30B 15/20: Controlling or regulating (controlling or regulating in general G05)
- G06T 7/62: of area, perimeter, diameter or volume
- C30B 15/26: using television detectors; using photo or X-ray detectors
- C30B 29/06: Silicon
- G06T 7/001: {using an image reference approach}
- G06T 7/246: using feature-based methods, e.g. the tracking of corners or segments
- G06T 2207/20072: Graph-based image processing
- G06T 2207/30242: Counting objects in image
- C30B: SINGLE-CRYSTAL GROWTH (by using ultra-high pressure, e.g. for the formation of diamonds, B01J3/06); UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION OF EUTECTIC MATERIAL OR UNIDIRECTIONAL DEMIXING OF EUTECTOID MATERIAL; REFINING BY ZONE-MELTING OF MATERIAL (zone-refining of metals or alloys C22B); PRODUCTION OF A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE (casting of metals, casting of other substances by the same processes or devices B22D; working of plastics B29; modifying the physical structure of metals or alloys C21D, C22F); SINGLE CRYSTALS OR HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; AFTER-TREATMENT OF SINGLE CRYSTALS OR A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE (for producing semiconductor devices or parts thereof H10); APPARATUS THEREFOR
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL

## Abstract

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.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for detecting a growth state of a crystalline line of a silicon rod, wherein the method comprises:
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, and in the process of the constant-diameter growth of the silicon rod, the crystalline line of the silicon rod grows along the crystalline-line growth line;
generating a grayscale-value curve of the detection area; and
according to the grayscale-value curve, determining the growth state of the crystalline line of the silicon rod on the crystalline-line growth line,
wherein the detection area comprises: a line segment perpendicular to an axial direction of the silicon rod, or a rectangular area perpendicular to an axial direction of the silicon rod, wherein a plane of the rectangular area is perpendicular to the axial direction of the silicon rod.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein if the detection area is the line segment perpendicular to the axial direction of the silicon rod, the step of generating the grayscale-value curve of the detection area comprises:
by starting from one end of the line segment, generating a grayscale-value curve corresponding to the line segment.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein if the detection area is the rectangular area perpendicular to the axial direction of the silicon rod, the step of generating the grayscale-value curve of the detection area comprises:
by starting from one end of the rectangular area, dividing the rectangular area into a plurality of identical sub-areas;
calculating an average grayscale value of each of the sub-areas; and
according to the average grayscale values of all of the sub-areas, generating a grayscale-value curve corresponding to the rectangular area.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of, according to the grayscale-value curve, determining the growth state of the crystalline line of the silicon rod on the crystalline-line growth line comprises:
according to the grayscale-value curve, calculating a variance value of the grayscale values in the grayscale-value curve;
if the variance value of the grayscale values is greater than or equal to a variance-value threshold, determining the growth state to be a continued state; and
if the variance value of the grayscale values is less than the variance-value threshold, determining the growth state to be a line-breaking state.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of, according to the grayscale-value curve, determining the growth state of the crystalline line of the silicon rod on the crystalline-line growth line comprises:
if the grayscale-value curve has a crystalline-line characteristic peak, determining the growth state to be a continued state; and
if the grayscale-value curve does not have the crystalline-line characteristic peak, determining the growth state to be a line-breaking state.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein after the step of acquiring the sample image of the silicon rod, the method further comprises:
according to a predetermined image-enhancement algorithm, performing image-enhancement processing to the sample image.