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AssigneeCorner Star Limited
InventorsSteven Lawrence Kimbel, Benjamin Michael Meyer, Salvador Zepeda, Steven John Ferguson
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A crystal puller for growing a crystal ingot includes a housing, insulation, a crucible assembly, a heat shield, and a dust barrier. The housing encloses a growth chamber, and has an upper wall with an inner surface and an aperture. The insulation separates an inside of the housing into an upper area and a lower area, and has a central opening. The crucible assembly is within the lower area to contain the melt. The heat shield is adjacent the central opening of the insulation, and forms a labyrinth gas path with the crucible assembly. The dust barrier extends from the inner surface of the upper wall to one of the insulation and the heat shield, and forms a seal with the upper wall around the aperture to inhibit particles from entering the growth chamber through the upper area of the housing.
A crystal puller for growing a crystal ingot from a melt, the crystal puller comprising:
A device for inhibiting particles from entering a melt located in a growth chamber of a crystal puller during a crystal ingot growing process, the crystal puller having an upper wall and insulation that define an upper area of the growth chamber, the upper wall having an inner surface and an aperture for removal of the crystal ingot from the growth chamber, the device comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.