Mitsubishi Materials Corporation

Sumco Corporation

Mitsubishi Materials Silicon Corporation

Yahoo Japan Corporation

Zag Ltd.

Mitsubishi Materials Quartz Corporation

Mitsubishi Materials Sillcon Corporation

Hiroaki Taguchi

Takashi Atami

Hisashi Furuya

Michio Kida

Shigeru Umeno

Ken Hamada

Kota Tsubouchi

Shuji Yamaguchi

Masakazu Yamazaki

Michio Yanaba

Takashi Nakayama

Masanori Fukui

Hideki Fujiwara

Yasuo Koike

Toshinori Ishii

Shuichi Inami

Kazuyuki Egashira

Takuya Yotsui

Kazuhiro Ikezawa

Keiichiro Hiraki

Wataru Itou

Naofumi Iwamoto

Takashi Komekyu

A determination device according to the present application has an acquisition unit and a determination unit. The acquisition unit acquires the search queries, which are the search queries input by a plurality of input customers who have input the reference query and input within a predetermined period. The determination unit determines whether a predetermined period is appropriate or not based on the attributes of the input customers who have input search queries or based on whether these search queries satisfy predetermined conditions or not.

Determination apparatus, determination method, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium

A determination device according to the present application has an acquisition unit, a categorization unit, and a determination unit. The acquisition unit acquires the search queries, which have been input by a plurality of input customers who have input a reference query. The categorization unit categorizes the search queries, which have been input in a predetermined period among search queries, into a plurality of categories. The determination unit determines whether a categorization result by the categorization unit satisfies a predetermined determination condition or not.

After melting raw materials, a distance between a raw material melt surface and a heat-shielding member disposed so as to face to the melt surface is adjusted based on temporal changes in chamber inside conditions, such as the heater temperature at the time of completion of the seed crystal equilibration operation carried out after completion of the raw material melting procedure and/or lag time required for completion of the seed crystal equilibration operation following completion of the raw material melting procedure. As a result, single crystals can be produced efficiently and in high yield, and further, by controlling the crystal interior temperature gradient by modifying the distance between the melt surface and the heat-shielding member, it becomes possible to control the ratio V/G (V:pulling speed, G:crystal interior temperature gradient) to thereby produce single crystals free of crystal defects such as COPs and/or dislocation clusters.

Method of producing single crystal

A single crystal pulling apparatus comprises: a chamber; a crucible disposed within the chamber for containing a melt; a water-cooling means disposed within the chamber in such a manner as surrounding a single crystal pulled up from the melt in the crucible; water piping for feeding cooling water to and discharging the same from the water-cooling means; and supporting arms connected to the chamber for supporting the water-cooling means, wherein the supporting arms are disposed between the single crystal and the water piping. According to this configuration, the supporting arms can prevent the water piping from being damaged in the event of fall and collapse of the single crystal due to failure of the seed neck portion or in the event of rupture of the single crystal due to thermal stress, for instance.

Single crystal pulling apparatus

By determining a control direction of a pulling-up velocity without using a position or a width of an OSF region as an index, a subsequent pulling-up velocity profile is fed back and adjusted. A silicon single crystal ingot that does not include a COP and a dislocation cluster is grown by a CZ method, a silicon wafer is sliced from the silicon single crystal ingot, reactive ion etching is performed on the silicon wafer in an as-grown state, and a grown-in defect including silicon oxide is exposed as a protrusion on an etching surface. A growing condition in subsequent growing is fed back and adjusted on the basis of an exposed protrusion generation region. As a result, feedback with respect to a nearest batch can be performed without performing heat treatment to expose a defect.

Method of manufacturing silicon single crystal, silicon single crystal ingot, and silicon wafer

It is possible to provide a silicon wafer that as well as being free of COPs and dislocation clusters, has defects (grown-in defects including silicon oxides), which are not overt in an as-grown state, such as OSF nuclei and oxygen precipitate nuclei existing in the PV region, to be vanished or reduced, by adopting a method for producing a silicon wafer, the method comprising the steps of: growing a single crystal silicon ingot by the Czochralski method; cutting a silicon wafer out of the ingot; subjecting the wafer to an RTP at 1,250&#xb0; C. or more for 10 seconds or more in an oxidizing atmosphere; and removing a grown-in defect region including silicon oxides in the vicinity of wafer surface layer after the RTP.

Silicon wafer and method for producing the same

This silicon electrode plate for plasma etching is a silicon electrode plate for plasma etching with superior durability including silicon single crystal which, in terms of atomic ratio, contains 3 to 11 ppba of boron, and further contains a total of 0.5 to 6 ppba of either or both of phosphorus and arsenic.

Silicon electrode plate for plasma etching with superior durability

An improvement in the safety, ease and speed with which the operation of attaching a crucible 1 to a support base 10 of a single crystal pulling apparatus can be completed is provided. With the method of attaching the crucible 1 to the support base 10, the support base 10 is divided into a support base bottom portion 11 and a support base drum portion 12 which is fitted to the bottom portion 11, and the crucible 1 is mounted on the support base bottom portion 11. The support base 10 is then assembled by fitting the support base drum portion 12 to the support base bottom portion 11.

Methods for crucible attachment to support base of single crystal

The invention relates to a single crystal pulling apparatus comprising; an outer crucible 11 positioned inside a chamber (gas tight container) 2, for storing a semiconductor melt 21, and an inner crucible 30 comprising a cylindrical partition body, mounted inside the outer crucible 11 to form a double crucible, and wherein a single crystal of semiconductor 26 is pulled from the semiconductor melt 21 stored inside the inner crucible 30. With this arrangement, the inner crucible 30 is made from quartz and comprises an inside layer A, an outside layer C, and an intermediate layer B which lies between the inside layer A and the outside layer C, and the intermediate layer B is made from quartz with a larger gas bubble content than the quartz which makes up the inside layer A and the outside layer C of the inner crucible 30.

A single crystal pulling method employing; a gas tight container, a double crucible for storing a semiconductor melt inside the gas tight container comprising an inter-connected outer crucible and inner crucible, and a source material supply tube suspended from an upper portion of the gas tight container and positioned so that a granulated or powdered source material can be added from a lower end opening thereof to the semiconductor melt inside the outer crucible, with the source material being injected into the source material supply tube together with an inert gas flowing towards the enclosed container, characterized in that said source material is injected under conditions where the flow rate N (1/min.multidot.cm.sup.2) of the inert gas is within the range 0.0048P+0.0264&lt;N&lt;0.07P, where P (Torr) is the internal pressure inside said gas tight container.

Single crystal pulling method and apparatus for its implementation

A single crystal pulling apparatus comprising: a gas tight container, a double crucible for storing a semiconductor melt inside the gas tight container comprising an outer crucible and an inner crucible which are connected at a lower edge, and source material supply means for adding source material to the semiconductor melt at a position between the outer crucible and the inner crucible, characterized in that a flow restriction member is provided inside the semiconductor melt region between the outer crucible and the inner crucible for restricting the flow of the semiconductor melt.

The principal construction of a single crystal pulling apparatus involves a chamber (gas tight chamber) inside of which is a double crucible 3 for storing a semiconductor melt 21, comprising an outer crucible 11 and an inner crucible 12 communicated with each other, and a source material supply tube 5 suspended from an upper portion of the chamber, and positioned so that granular source material 8 can be introduced from a lower end opening 5a thereof into the semiconductor melt 21 between the outer crucible 11 and the inner crucible 12. An incline portion 13 is provided at a lower end of the source material supply tube 5 on the inner crucible 12 side, for introducing source material 8 discharging from the lower end opening 5a to the semiconductor melt 21 in the vicinity of the side wall of the outer crucible 11. The entry point of the source material 8 is as far as possible from the inner crucible 12, and close to the outer wall of the outer crucible 11, and hence the added source material 8 is melted rapidly by heat from a heater surrounding the outer crucible 11, and any gas bubbles generated as a result of the introduction of the source material 8, are unlikely infuse into the inner crucible 12.

A method of growing a single crystal of semiconductor using a CZ growth technique, having a step (0&lt;t&lt;t1) wherein a single crystal of semiconductor is pulled while a source material is supplied continuously to maintain a constant amount of semiconductor melt, and a step (t2&lt;t&lt;t3) wherein the supply of source material is halted, and the single crystal of semiconductor is pulled using residual melt from the first step.

Single crystal growth method

An annular member hoist apparatus which lifts an annular member and carries and positions the annular member at a predetermined location by a carrier apparatus fitted with an elevator mechanism, including a suspension member suspended from the elevator mechanism, and a plurality of support arms which extend out radially in a horizontal plane from the suspension member. Each of the support arms has an engagement tip portion for supporting the annular member from inside the annular member.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Hiroaki Taguchi