Cold crucible system

A cold crucible system comprising in combination

• a. a cold crucible comprising
• 1. two complementary semicircular assemblies each comprising a plurality of contacting linear copper tubes arranged to form a semiannular wall, each of said tubes having a fluid-tight cap at one end thereof, said linear copper tubes in each of said assemblies being affixed to a semicircular compartmentalized fluid distribution means, each said distribution means having upper and lower walls defining therebetween a separate fluid inlet manifold and a separate fluid discharge manifold,
• 2. in each of said copper tubes a concentric, open-ended, smaller-diameter copper tube having one end in fluid communication with said fluid discharge manifold and having the other end terminating a short distance from said cap to form a passage therebetween, each of said open-ended tubes defining within said copper tube an annular fluid passage in fluid communication with said fluid inlet manifold, and
• 3. separate vertically extending inlet fluid conduits to introduce a cooling fluid into said fluid inlet manifold of each of said assemblies and separate vertically extending discharge fluid conduits to withdraw said fluid from said fluid discharge manifold of each of said assemblies whereby said cooling fluid is caused to flow upwardly through each of said annular fluid passages and downwardly through each of said smaller-diameter copper tubes to provide essentially uniform cooling around said crucible;
• and
• b. crucible mounting means engageable with said separate inlet and discharge fluid conduits for holding and supporting said two complementary semicircular assemblies in close but spaced relationship to define a cylindrically configured container suitable for holding the material to be melted, said upper wall of said fluid distribution means forming the bottom of said container, said crucible mounting means having a fluid inlet passage means for providing fluid communication between said inlet fluid conduits and a source of said fluid and fluid discharge passage means for providing fluid communication between said discharge fluid conduits and a receptacle for said fluid, said crucible mounting means providing the first electrical crossover below said cold crucible when said cold crucible is in an rf field.