Shin-etsu Handotai Co., Ltd.

Shin-etsu Quartz Products Co., Ltd.

Seh America, Inc.

Atsushi Iwasaki

Susumu Sonokawa

Yuuichi Miyahara

Shinobu Takeyasu

Toshiharu Uesugi

Tetsuhiro Oda

Shou Takashima

Akira Fujinoki

Nobuaki Mitamura

Koji Mizuishi

Yasuhiko Sato

Nobuyoshi Ogino

Kenji Araki

Hiroshi Matsui

Mitsuo Matsumura

Masaaki Aoyama

Eiichi Shinomiya

Hideo Okamoto

Akira Uchikawa

Toshio Fukuoka

Izumi Fusegawa

Ryoji Hoshi

Hirotoshi Yamagishi

Tomohiko Ohta

Michiaki Oda

Nobuyoshi Fujimaki

Masahiko Baba

Satoshi Soeta

Kosei Sugawara

Kouji Mizuishi

Takahiro Yanagimachi

Yukio Karasawa

Masanori Takazawa

Akiho Maeda

Clifford W Groat

Kazuya Yanase

Hiroshi Ohtsuna

Tadashi Niwayama

Toshiro Hayashi

Atsushi Okai

Takumi Kobayashi

Yasuhiko Sawazaki

An apparatus for manufacturing a single crystal according to a Czochralski method, including: a main chamber housing crucibles for a raw-material melt and heater for heating the raw-material melt; a pulling chamber at an upper portion of the main chamber and a single crystal pulled from the raw-material melt; a cooling cylinder extending from a ceiling portion of the main chamber toward a surface of the raw-material melt to surround the single crystal; an auxiliary cooling cylinder inside the cooling cylinder; and a diameter-enlargement member to fit into the auxiliary cooling cylinder. The auxiliary cooling cylinder has a slit penetrating in an axial direction to come into close contact with the cooling cylinder by pushing the diameter-enlargement member into the auxiliary cooling cylinder to enlarge the diameter of the auxiliary cooling cylinder. This enables efficient cooling of a growing single crystal and increases the growth rate of the single crystal.

Apparatus for manufacturing single crystal

A method for producing a single crystal, wherein the space is adjusted to a predetermined distance by measuring a distance from a reference height position at a predetermined height above a melt surface to a lower end part of an in-furnace structure in a state wherein the in-furnace structure above the melt surface is installed in a pull chamber, obtaining a lower end part position error which is a difference between measured distance and a distance from the previously set reference height position to the lower end part of the in-furnace structure, obtaining a target distance from the melt surface to the reference height position by adding the lower end part position error and a distance from the reference height position to a melt surface position, and adjusting a distance from an initial position of the melt surface to the reference height position such that the target distance is attained.

Method for producing single crystal with reduced number of crystal defects

The present invention is a silicon single crystal pulling apparatus based on Czochralski method, including a crucible for receiving a raw material, a heater for heating the raw material into a raw material melt, a main chamber accommodating the crucible and the heater, a shield disposed between the heater and the main chamber for shielding a radiant heat from the heater, and a supporting member holding the heater and the shield from below, the supporting member being movable vertically whereby the heater and the shield can move vertically together. As a result, there is provided a silicon single crystal pulling apparatus that facilitates the adjustment of thermal history, the improvement of pulling rate of a silicon single crystal, and the reduction in oxygen concentration.

Silicon single crystal pulling apparatus comprising a vertically movable supporting member holding the heater and shield

Method for manufacturing a single crystal according to a CZ method, including: pre-examining a correlation between an Al/Li ratio in a quartz raw material powder used for producing the quartz crucible, a use time of the crucible, a devitrification ratio at the use time, and occurrence or nonoccurrence of melt leakage attributable to the devitrification part; setting a range of the devitrification ratio of the quartz crucible in order not to generate the melt leakage, and determining a maximum use time of the quartz crucible according to the Al/Li ratio so as to fall within the set range of the ratio, on the basis of the correlation; and growing the single crystal by using the quartz crucible in the range of the maximum use time. This provides a manufacturing method which can efficiently use a quartz crucible to grow a single crystal while preventing occurrence of melt leakage.

Method for manufacturing single crystal

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing single crystal based on a Czochralski method, including: analyzing Ni concentration in at least one of graphite components used in a furnace in which the single crystal is manufactured; and manufacturing the single crystal using the at least one of the graphite components when the analyzed Ni concentration is 30 ppb or less. As a result, in manufacture of the single crystal based on the Czochralski method, the method that enables manufacturing high-quality single crystal in which a reduction in LT (Life Time) or an LPD (Light Point Defect) abnormality does not occur can be provided.

Method for manufacturing single crystal using a graphite component having 30 ppb or less nickel

A single crystal production apparatus using the Czochralski method, includes: a crucible for holding raw material melt; a pedestal that supports the crucible and can be moved upward and downward; a crucible rotating shaft for rotating the crucible via the pedestal; and a melt receiver that is disposed below the crucible and provided with a center sleeve surrounding the pedestal, wherein, on the outer periphery of the pedestal, two or more grooves for preventing the raw material melt leaking from the crucible from dripping are provided. The single crystal production apparatus and single crystal production method can reliably prevent melt from reaching a metal portion below the pedestal even when the raw material melt in the crucible flows to the outside of the crucible in an unexpected accident or the like and runs down along the pedestal and thereby prevent damage to the apparatus and the occurrence of an accident.

Single crystal production apparatus and single crystal production method having pedestal with grooves

The present invention is a semiconductor single crystal manufacturing apparatus including, within a growth furnace main body, a crucible, and a heater disposed around the crucible, wherein a heat insulating cylinder is disposed around the heater within the growth furnace main body, the heat insulating cylinder includes a step portion dividing the heat insulating cylinder into the upper part and the lower part at the inside surface thereof, the inner diameter of the lower part is larger than the inner diameter of the upper part, a heat insulating plate is disposed below the heater and on the inside of the lower part of the heat insulating cylinder within the growth furnace main body, and the diameter of the heat insulating plate is larger than the inner diameter of the upper part of the heat insulating cylinder and is smaller than the inner diameter of the lower part.

Apparatus having heat insulating cylinder with step portion for manufacturing semiconductor single crystal

A method for detecting a diameter of a single crystal at the time of pulling the single crystal from a silicon melt contained in a crucible according to the Czochralski method, the method including at least: using two cameras placed equidistant from each other as a target diameter upon forming a straight-body portion of the single crystal and face both ends of the diameter of the single crystal in a growth point of the single crystal respectively, to separately capture both of the ends of the growth point of the single crystal from an outside of a furnace, the growth point being a contact point between the single crystal and a melt surface; and detecting the diameter of the single crystal on the basis of the captured images. As a result, diameter detection precision is improved.

Method for detecting diameter of single crystal, single-crystal manufacturing method by using the same and single-crystal manufacturing apparatus

The present invention resides in a silicon single crystal growth method of pulling up and growing a single crystal from a melt of a silicon raw material in a quartz crucible based on a Czochralski method, wherein the method comprises the steps of: applying a DC voltage between an outer wall of the quartz crucible acts as a positive electrode and a pulling wire or pulling shaft for pulling up the silicon single crystal acts as a negative electrode; and fixing an electric current flowing through the silicon single crystal over a period of time for pulling up the single crystal, to grow the single crystal; as well as a pulling apparatus therefor.

Single crystal growth method and single crystal pulling apparatus for improving yield and productivity of single crystal

A silicon single crystal growth method of pulling up and growing a single crystal from a melt of a silicon raw material melted in a quartz crucible based on a Czochralski method, the method comprising the steps of: applying a direct current voltage in such a manner that an outer wall of the quartz crucible acts as a positive electrode and an electrode immersed into the melt of the silicon raw material acts as a negative electrode, the immersed electrode being placed separately from a pulling member for pulling the single crystal; and growing the single crystal with the pulling member while passing an electric current through the electrode, and a pulling apparatus thereof.

Single crystal growth method and single crystal pulling apparatus

A method of producing a single crystal by Czochralski method by contacting a seed crystal with a melt in a crucible, and then pulling it slowly to grow a single crystal ingot, wherein a pulling condition is controlled according to a cumulative time of use of a heater surrounding the crucible. The pulling conditions to be controlled may induce the relative position of the heater and the crucible, the number of rotations of the crucible, the number of rotations of the crystal, or an atmosphere pressure in the furnace and a gas volume of flowing. Also described is a method of producing a silicon single crystal by CZ method wherein a dispersion of impurity concentration in the crystal can be reduced, and a single crystal can be produced stably.

Method for producing a silicon single crystal

A heater is configured to reduce oxygen in the melt near the growing crystal is provided by defining a high temperature region in an upper region of the heater, above a melt surface of semiconductor material from which a crystal is grown. This effectively shifts the heat balance of the system upwards, and alters thermal convections of oxygen within the melt. Accordingly, the primary vehicle for transporting oxygen to the growing crystal is suppressed.

Low oxygen heater

An apparatus for producing a single crystal by the Czochralski method is disclosed in which an exhaust system is provided with a water sealing bubbler. On the upstream side of the bubbler is provided a buffer or a vacuum breaker or a buffer and a vacuum breaker. The structure prevents the sealing water in the bubbler from flowing backward, so that danger of steam explosion can be avoided.

Apparatus for producing single crystal

A method, mechanisms and jig for handling a member of a crystal pulling apparatus are disclosed. The crystal pulling apparatus grows a single crystal from a melt of a crystalline material by a CZ method. Handling of a graphite crucible or the like of the crystal pulling apparatus, including a vertical moving operation, a swinging operation, or the like, is performed using a crane and a lifting jig. This makes it possible to readily move the member of the crystal pulling apparatus vertically and otherwise without relying on manual labor.

Member-handling mechanism, and member-handling jig for a crystal pulling

A heater mechanism for a crystal pulling apparatus is disclosed. Electrodes made of copper or the like and disposed under a heater are connected to the heater via graphite members. A cover member is attached to each graphite member, so that the downwardly extending portion of the cover member surrounds the outer surface of the graphite member. Accordingly, a leak or splash of a melt is prevented from contacting the electrodes. The length of each graphite member is equal to or greater than the distance between the bottom surface of the heater and the top surface of a melt spill tray which distance is measured when the heater mechanism is raised The cover member is vertically slidable along the outer surface of each graphite member. Thus, even when a material melt leaks out from a crucible, the electrodes of the heater mechanism can be protected from a fusion damage or the like which would be otherwise caused by the leak of the melt.

Heater mechanism for crystal pulling apparatus

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Echizen, Japan

Atsushi Iwasaki