The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 01, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 25, 2002
Saburo Wakita, Omiya, JP;
Yoshinobu Nakada, Omiya, JP;
Junichi Sasaki, Omiya, JP;
Yuji Ishiwari, Omiya, JP;
Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A simple and inexpensive method and apparatus for producing crystalline silicon comprising the steps of melting silicon in a mold, then cooling the bottom of the mold is cooled to create a positive temperature gradient from the bottom of the mold upward, thereby causing the molten silicon to crystallize from the inner bottom of the mold upward so that the solid-liquid phase boundary, separating the crystallized silicon from the molten silicon, moves upward as the molten silicon crystallizes. As the silicon crystallizes, an inert gas is blown onto the surface of the molten silicon from a position above the surface of the molten silicon, thereby vibrating the surface of the molten silicon in such a manner that cavities are formed in the surface of the molten silicon.