Method for the preparation of wire-formed silicon crystal
AssigneeShin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
InventorsTsuguo Fukuda, Susumu Sakaguchi, Tadashi Kamioka, Toru Yamada, Teruhiko Hirasawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Proposed is a low-cost method for the preparation of a wire-formed crystal of silicon having a diameter of 1 mm or smaller, in which a vertically held starting rod of silicon is melted at one end portion by high-frequency induction heating, a seed crystal is brought into contact with the molten portion and then the seed crystal and the starting silicon rod are pulled apart in the vertical direction at a controlled velocity with a controlled high-frequency power input so that the melt of silicon drawn by the seed crystal is solidified and crystallized into the form of a wire.
Claims13
A method for the preparation of a wire-formed crystal of silicon having a diameter not exceeding 1 mm which comprises the steps of:
- (a) holding a rod of silicon in a vertical disposition;
- (b) melting an end portion of the vertically held rod of silicon by heating with a high frequency induction;
- (c) bringing a seed crystal of silicon into contact with the molten end portion of the vertically held rod of silicon to cause melt-bonding therebetween;
- and
- (d) pulling apart the seed crystal and the vertically held rod of silicon in the vertical direction relative to each other so as to effect solidification and crystallization of the molten silicon as drawn by the seed crystal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.