Apparatus for continuously growing ingot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12584237-B2
Application number	US-202118246520-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 3, 2021
Priority date	Sep 24, 2020
Publication date	Mar 24, 2026
Grant date	Mar 24, 2026

Abstract

The present invention relates to a continuous ingot growing apparatus, and more specifically, to a continuous ingot growing apparatus which melts a solid silicon material supplied to a preliminary crucible to supply the solid silicon material to a main crucible and which can adjust a supply amount of molten silicon while blocking floating matter floating on top of the molten silicon so as not to be supplied.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A continuous ingot growing apparatus comprising:
a growth furnace in which a main crucible is positioned in which molten silicon is accommodated to form an ingot; a material supply unit configured to supply a solid silicon material for melting into the molten silicon; and a preliminary melting unit including a preliminary crucible that melts the solid silicon material supplied from the material supply unit and supplies the molten silicon to the main crucible, and a preliminary crucible heating module that heats the preliminary crucible, wherein the preliminary crucible includes a body in which the solid silicon material is accommodated, and a beak which is provided on one side of the body so that the molten silicon melted in the body is supplied to the main crucible, and in which the molten silicon moves, and an opening is formed in the body so that the molten silicon moves to the beak, wherein the body includes a body plate in a form of a container opened upward in a height direction to accommodate the solid silicon material, a first partition provided on one side of the body plate and in which the opening is formed, and a second partition provided on another side of the body plate, wherein the preliminary crucible is movable between a first position at which the solid silicon material is accommodated and a second position at which the molten silicon is supplied to the main crucible, wherein, in the first position, the preliminary crucible is inclined upward from the second partition to the first partition at a first inclination angle; and the preliminary crucible moves from the first position to the second position when a height of the molten silicon is higher than or equal to a height of an uppermost end of the opening, wherein the beak includes a moving surface opened upward in the height direction to accommodate the molten silicon supplied to the main crucible, wherein the moving surface includes a first moving surface extending in a first supply direction toward a center of the main crucible and a second moving surface extending in a second supply direction tangential to a rotational direction of the main crucible, and wherein the beak includes a curved surface connecting the first moving surface and the second moving surface to change a moving path of the molten silicon from the first supply direction to the second supply direction, and wherein the center of the main crucible is positioned on a longitudinal central axis of the first moving surface.

2 . The continuous ingot growing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the opening is formed at a lowermost end of the first partition in the height direction.

3 . The continuous ingot growing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the beak further includes an inclined surface that is formed on one side of the moving surface and formed with a downward slope in the height direction so as to be adjacent to the main crucible.

4 . The continuous ingot growing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the moving surface is formed such that an interval between inner surfaces thereof disposed to face each other is constantly reduced.

5 . The continuous ingot growing apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the body plate is formed such that an interval between inner surfaces thereof disposed to face each other is constantly reduced.

6 . The continuous ingot growing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the molten silicon accommodated in the main crucible rotates in one direction; and the beak is disposed such that the molten silicon melted in the body is supplied to the main crucible in the second supply direction.

7 . The continuous ingot growing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the second partition is greater than a thickness of the beak.

8 . The continuous ingot growing apparatus of claim 7 , wherein:
a thickness of the body plate and a thickness of the first partition are greater than the thickness of the beak; and a slope is formed in the opening so that the molten silicon moves downward from the body plate to the beak.

Assignees

• Hanwha Solutions Corp
• Hanwha Corp

Inventors

• Park Jin Sung
• Lee Kyung Seok
• Lee Young Jun
• Kim Keun Ho
• Jeon Han Woong

Classifications

• C30B29/06 Primary

  Silicon · CPC title

• C30B15/002 Primary

  Continuous growth · CPC title

• C30B35/007

  Apparatus for preparing, pre-treating the source material to be used for crystal growth · CPC title

• C30B35/002

  Crucibles or containers · CPC title

• C30B15/20

  Controlling or regulating (controlling or regulating in general G05) · CPC title