Silica glass crucible with barium-doped inner wall
AssigneeHeraeus Shin-Etsu America, Inc.
InventorsKatsuhiko Kemmochi, Yasuo Ohama
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Abstract
A silica glass crucible includes a thin barium-doped inner layer, a stable, bubble-free intermediate layer, and a stable opaque outer layer. The fusion process of the present invention controls the dynamic gas balance at the fusion front where formed grain is melted to dense fused silica. The crucible demonstrates reduced bubble growth during a Czochralski process. As a result of the thin barium-doped layer and the reduced bubble growth, the inner surface of the crucible is uniformly minimally textured during a CZ process. The present crucible is especially suited for intense CZ processes for manufacturing silicon ingots used for solar cells or with silicon that is heavily doped with antimony, boron, or arsenic.
Claims20
A method for making a fused silica crucible comprising:
- feeding bulk silica grain along an inner surface of a rotating mold to arrange the bulk silica grain in a crucible shape having a radially inner surface open to an interior space of the mold and a radially outer surface adjacent an inner wall of the mold;
- heating the bulk silica grain from the interior space of the mold;
- drawing air through the bulk silica grain and into ports distributed in the inner wall of the mold;
- evolving gas from the heated grain;
- establishing a fusion front that begins at the radially inner surface and proceeds toward the radially outer surface;
- maintaining a pressure differential between the fusion front and the inner wall of the mold that draws gas away from the fusion front at a rate faster than it is introduced until the silica grain forms a transparent glass layer greater than approximately 2 millimeters;
- thereafter reducing the pressure differential between the fusion front and the inner wall of the mold to a rate at which gas is drawn away from the fusion front at a rate slower than it is introduced;
- feeding barium-doped silica grain onto the transparent glass layer;
- and
- fusing the barium-doped silica grain onto the transparent glass layer.
A method for making a fused silica crucible comprising:
- forming a bulk grain layer on an interior surface of a rotating crucible mold, the bulk grain layer having a bottom portion, a side portion, and a bulk grain layer interior surface;
- generating a region of heat in the interior of the mold;
- at least partially fusing the bulk grain layer to form a bulk layer;
- and
- depositing a barium-containing inner layer to a depth of less than an average 0.2 mm thickness on the bulk grain layer interior surface.
A quartz crucible comprising:
- an inner layer having a thickness of greater than 2.0 mm and containing less than about 1% bubbles in cross-sectional area, wherein the diameter of the bubbles in the inner layer is less than about 0.3 mm after a vacuum bake test in which the crucible is heated at approximately 1650 degrees C. for approximately three hours at a pressure of approximately 0.1 Pa;
- an outer layer having an apparent density after the vacuum bake test of equal to or greater than about 2.05 grams/cm3;
- a crucible wall comprising at least the inner and outer layers, said wall increasing in thickness equal to or less than about 3% after the vacuum bake test;
- and
- a barium-doped layer formed on the inner layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.