Cold crucible

Abstract

A cold crucible having application in the field of making monocrystalline materials at high temperature. The cold crucible includes: a cold cage having sectors made of a good electrical conductor material and in which a charge is molten, and a cooling device with a heat-transfer fluid, configured so as to cool down, from inside, each segment of the cold cage. At least one sector of the cold crucible includes a housing and is removable, the housing being proper and intended to accommodate at least one so-called functionalising device of the cold crucible. Henceforth, it is possible to functionalise each sector independently of the others, by accommodating therein, a functionalising device configured, inter alia, so as to modify and/or analyse at least one property of the charge, in particular the molten charge, in the cold cage.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.