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US 12,410,538 B2Granted
Use of arrays of quartz particles during single crystal silicon ingot production
AssigneeGlobalWafers Co., Ltd.
InventorsRichard Joseph Phillips, Carissima Marie Hudson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
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.
Claims20
A method for forming a single crystal silicon ingot comprising:
- adding solid-phase polycrystalline silicon to a crucible assembly;
- adding an array of quartz particles to the crucible assembly, the array comprising a plurality of quartz particles and a plurality of linking members that connect adjacent quartz particles, wherein each quartz particle of the array is connected to a linking member;
- heating the polycrystalline silicon to form a silicon melt;
- contacting the silicon melt with a seed crystal;
- and
- withdrawing the seed crystal from the silicon melt to form a silicon ingot, wherein the array of quartz particles maintains dispersion of quartz particles during ingot growth.
3 more elements
A method for forming a single crystal silicon ingot comprising:
- adding solid-phase polycrystalline silicon to a crucible assembly;
- adding an array of quartz particles to the crucible assembly, the array comprising a plurality of quartz particles and a plurality of linking members that connect adjacent quartz particles, the linking members being solid bars;
- heating the polycrystalline silicon to form a silicon melt;
- contacting the silicon melt with a seed crystal;
- and
- withdrawing the seed crystal from the silicon melt to form a silicon ingot.
3 more elements
A method for forming a single crystal silicon ingot comprising:
- adding solid-phase polycrystalline silicon to a crucible assembly;
- adding an array of quartz particles to the crucible assembly, the array comprising a plurality of quartz particles and a plurality of linking members that connect adjacent quartz particles, the linking members forming a scaffold, the scaffold incorporating a second structure having a quartz surface area within the scaffold;
- heating the polycrystalline silicon to form a silicon melt;
- contacting the silicon melt with a seed crystal;
- and
- withdrawing the seed crystal from the silicon melt to form a silicon ingot.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.