# US 9,039,835 B2 · Apparatus for producing multicrystalline silicon ingots by induction method

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- Number: US 9,039,835 B2
- Document ID: US9039835B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 13/386,197
- Filed: 2010-07-19
- Published: 2012-07-12
- Granted: 2015-05-26
- Earliest claimed: 2009-07-20
- Assignees: SoLin Development B.V.
- Applicants: Sergii Beringov; Volodymyr Onischenko; Anatoly Shkulkov; Yuriy Cherpak; Sergii Pozigun; Stepan Marchenko; Bogdan Chepurnyy
- Inventors: Sergii Beringov; Volodymyr Onischenko; Anatoly Shkulkov; Yuriy Cherpak; Sergii Pozigun; Stepan Marchenko; Bogdan Chepurnyy
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9039835B2

## CPC

- C30B 29/06: Silicon
- C30B 11/001: {Continuous growth}
- C30B 11/003: {Heating or cooling of the melt or the crystallised material}
- C30B 13/14: Crucibles or vessels
- C30B 28/06: by normal freezing or freezing under temperature gradient
- Y10S 117/901: Levitation, reduced gravity, microgravity, space
- Y10T 117/10: Apparatus
- Y10T 117/1088: including heating or cooling details
- C30B: SINGLE-CRYSTAL GROWTH (by using ultra-high pressure, e.g. for the formation of diamonds, B01J3/06); UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION OF EUTECTIC MATERIAL OR UNIDIRECTIONAL DEMIXING OF EUTECTOID MATERIAL; REFINING BY ZONE-MELTING OF MATERIAL (zone-refining of metals or alloys C22B); PRODUCTION OF A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE (casting of metals, casting of other substances by the same processes or devices B22D; working of plastics B29; modifying the physical structure of metals or alloys C21D, C22F); SINGLE CRYSTALS OR HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE; AFTER-TREATMENT OF SINGLE CRYSTALS OR A HOMOGENEOUS POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIAL WITH DEFINED STRUCTURE (for producing semiconductor devices or parts thereof H10); APPARATUS THEREFOR
- Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION

## Abstract

An apparatus for producing multicrystalline silicon ingots by the induction method comprises an enclosure, which includes means for start-up heating of silicon and a cooled crucible enveloped by an inductor. The crucible has a movable bottom and four walls consisting of sections spaced apart by vertically extending slots, means for moving the movable bottom, and a controlled cooling compartment arranged under the cooled crucible. The inside face of the crucible defines a melting chamber of a rectangular or square cross-section. The walls of the cooled crucible extend outwards at least from the inductor toward the lowest portion of the cooled crucible to thereby expand the melting chamber, and the angle β of expanding the melting chamber is defined by the equation β=arctg[2·(k−1.35·10 3·b)/d], where d is the dimension of the smaller side of the rectangle or of the side of the square of the cross-section of the melting chamber at the inducer level, b is the dimension of the adjoining side of the cross-section of the melting chamber at the inducer level, k is an empirical coefficient, which is 1.5 to 2. The apparatus makes it possible to decrease silicon melt spills and to increase the quality of multicrystalline silicon thus produced.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus for producing multicrystalline silicon ingots by the induction method, comprising an enclosure, which includes means for start-up heating of silicon, a cooled crucible enveloped by an inductor and having a movable bottom and four walls consisting of sections spaced apart by vertically extending slots, means for moving the movable bottom, and a controlled cooling compartment arranged under the cooled crucible wherein the inside face thereof defines a melting chamber of a rectangular or square cross-section and the walls of the cooled crucible extend outwards at least from the inductor toward the lowest portion of the cooled crucible to thereby expand the melting chamber, characterized in that each wall of the cooled crucible has a central section providing the absence of a vertically extending slot at the middle of a side of the melting chamber, and the angle β of expanding the melting chamber is defined by the equation
β=arctg [2·(k−1.35·10−3·b)/d],
where
d is the dimension of the smaller side of the rectangle or of the side of the square of the cross-section of the melting chamber at the inducer level,
b is the dimension of the adjoining side of the cross-section of the melting chamber at the inducer level,
k is an empirical coefficient, which is 1.5 to 2.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the central section of each wall of the cooled crucible has a width of from ⅙ to 1 of the dimension of the side of the melting chamber.