Heater arrangement for crystal growth furnace

A crystal growth furnace comprising:

• a plurality of individual growth stations each having a crucible;
• a heater matrix including at least one matrix leg, each matrix leg including at least two resistance heaters electrically connected in series or parallel;
• each crucible in each growth station having one of the resistance heaters associated therewith so that each crucible is heated by a resistance heater;
• a first power supply electrically connected to the first heater matrix, the series or parallel connections causing the power supply to heat all of the resistance heaters simultaneously;
• the resistance heaters comprising at least one sheet of resistive material having slots therein to define electrical flow paths, at least one slot extension extending from at least one slot at an angle into a bend in the flow path, the slot extension acting to channel current flow in order to increase the consistency of the heat generated in the resistance heater.

A crystal growth furnace comprising:

• a plurality of individual growth stations each having a crucible;
• a first heater matrix including at least one matrix leg, each matrix leg including at least two resistance heaters, electrically connected in series, each of the individual growth stations having at least one of said resistance heaters associated therewith and located near said crucible;
• and
• a power source connected to the first heater matrix causing the power supply to heat all of the resistance heaters at the same time because the resistance heaters are connected in series or parallel whereby crystals may be grown at the same time in the same cycle in each individual growth station.

A crystal growth furnace comprising:

• a plurality of individual growth stations each having a crucible;
• a first heater matrix including at least two legs electrically connected in series or parallel, each of said legs having at least two resistance heaters electrically connected in series or parallel, each of said individual growth stations having at least one of said resistance heaters of said first heater matrix associated therewith, said resistance heaters of said first heater matrix being located above said crucible and providing heat across tops of said crucibles;
• a second heater matrix including at least two legs electrically connected in series or parallel, each of said legs having at least two resistance heaters electrically connected in series or parallel, said second heater matrix being separate from said first heater matrix and each of said individual growth stations having at least one of said resistance heaters of said second heater matrix associated therewith, said resistance heaters of said second heater matrix being located below said crucible and adapted to provide a temperature gradient across bottoms of said crucibles;
• and
• a first and second power source connected to said first and second heater matrices to provide power to all of the resistance heaters at the same time in each matrix, because the resistance heaters are connected in series or parallel.