Heat exchanger for a system for solidification and/or crystallization of a semiconductor material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9303929-B2
Application number	US-201113988438-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 29, 2011
Priority date	Nov 29, 2010
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

Heat exchanger ( 1 ) for a system for solidification and/or for crystallization of a semiconductor material, comprising a first member ( 2 ) and a second member ( 3 ), the first and second members being movable with respect to each other, characterized in that the first member comprises a first pattern of relief ( 21 ) and the second member comprises a second pattern of relief ( 31 ), the first pattern of relief being designed to cooperate with the second pattern of relief.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for solidification or for crystallization of a semiconductor material comprising an exchanger, the exchanger comprising :
a first member and
a second member, the first and second members being movable with respect to each other,
wherein the first member comprises a first pattern of relief and the second member comprises a second pattern of relief, the first pattern of relief being designed to cooperate with the second pattern of relief and in that the exchanger comprises an element for displacement of the first member relative to the second member allowing an exchanged heat flux to be controlled.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the displacement element comprises a regulator for modulating the distance between the first member and the second member according to the desired exchanged heat flux.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the regulator allows the first and second members to be positioned at least two different distances so as to obtain at least two different exchanged heat fluxes or two different exchange coefficients.

4. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the regulator allows the distance between the two members to be continuously varied between a first position where an exchange surface area is a minimum and a second position where the exchange surface area is a maximum.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first pattern of relief comprises recesses and protrusions and in that the second pattern of relief comprises recesses and protrusions.

6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the pitch of the protrusions and of the recesses is variable along one dimension of the first member and of the second member.

7. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the height of the protrusions is variable along one dimension of at least one of the first and second members.

8. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second patterns of relief cooperate by nesting of protrusions into recesses.

9. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first pattern of relief has protrusions with inclined sides parallel to inclined sides of recesses of the second pattern of relief.

10. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second patterns of relief have parallelepipedic structures.

11. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first pattern of relief includes protrusions covered with a first material exhibiting thermal characteristics that are different from the material composing the rest of the first member.

12. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the second pattern of relief includes protrusions covered with a second material exhibiting thermal characteristics that are different from the material composing the rest of the second member.

13. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the materials of the first and second members have different thermal characteristics.

14. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the first member is designed to be thermally linked to a crucible or to a mould and in that the second member is designed to be thermally linked to a cold source.

15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the system comprises a first element for including a modulatable thickness of gas between the crucible and the first member or in that the system comprises a second element for including a modulatable thickness of gas between the cold source and the second member.

16. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the first or of the second member includes at least one protrusion that is dimensioned to come into contact in a bottom of a recess of the second or of the first members in a particular relative position of the first and second members.

17. Process for solidification or for crystallization of a semiconductor material using the system according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises:
a step for positioning the first member relative to the second member, and
a step for heat transfer from a crucible to a cold source, via the first and second members of the exchanger.

18. Process according to claim 17 , wherein the positioning step is carried out during the heat transfer step to modify heat flux transferred from the crucible to the cold source during solidification and/or crystallization the semiconductor material.

19. Process according to claim 17 , wherein a heat exchange coefficient of the exchanger is varied between the beginning and the end of the solidification or crystallization.

20. A heat exchanger, notably heat exchanger for a solidification or crystallization system for a semiconductor material, comprising
a first member and
a second member, the first and second members being movable with respect to each other,
wherein the first member comprises a first pattern of relief and the second member comprises a second pattern of relief, the first pattern of relief being designed to cooperate with the second pattern of relief and in that the exchanger comprises an element for displacement of the first member relative to the second member allowing an exchanged heat flux to be controlled,
wherein the displacement element comprises a regulator for modulating the distance between the first member and the second member according to the desired exchanged heat flux,
wherein the regulator allows the distance between the two members to be continuously varied between a first position where an exchange surface area is a minimum and a second position where the exchange surface area is a maximum.

21. A heat exchanger, notably heat exchanger for a solidification or crystallization system for a semiconductor material, comprising
a first member and
a second member, the first and second members being movable with respect to each other,
wherein the first member comprises a first pattern of relief and the second member comprises a second pattern of relief, the first pattern of relief being designed to cooperate with the second pattern of relief and in that the exchanger comprises an element for displacement of the first member relative to the second member allowing an exchanged heat flux to be controlled,
wherein the first pattern of relief comprises recesses and protrusions and in that the second pattern of relief comprises recesses and protrusions,
wherein the pitch of the protrusions and of the recesses is variable along one dimension of the first member and of the second member.

Assignees

• Pihan Etienne
• Camel Denis
• Coudurier Nicolas
• Commissariat Energie Atomique

Inventors

• Pihan Etienne
• Camel Denis
• Coudurier Nicolas

Classifications

• C30B29/06

  Silicon · CPC title

• F28F3/04

  the means being integral with the element · CPC title

• C30B11/003 Primary

  Heating or cooling of the melt or the crystallised material · CPC title

• F28F13/00 Primary

  Arrangements for modifying heat-transfer, e.g. increasing, decreasing (F28F1/00 - F28F11/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• H10W40/22

  characterised by their shape, e.g. having conical or cylindrical projections · CPC title