KR101567793B1 - Ingot Grower - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an ingot grower. The ingot grower (100) according to the present invention comprises: a main chamber (110) having a crucible (111) formed therein; a feeding tube (120) connected to the main chamber, and supplying a raw ingredient to the main chamber (110); a recharge tank (130) connected to the feeding tube (120), transferring a raw ingredient to the feeding unit (120), and including a body (131) and a hopper (133) coupled with the body (131); a hanging preventing means (140) including a rotation axis (141) coupled with a terminal of the hopper (133) to be rotated and cross the inside of the hopper (133), and a protrusion portion (143) protruding from the rotation axis (141) and having both ends coupled with the rotation axis (141) to form an opening (143a) with the rotation axis (141); and a piezoelectric device (150) coupled with the recharge tank (130), and applying vibration to the recharge tank (130).

Description

Ingot Grower

The present invention relates to an ingot growing apparatus.

Generally, an ingot is manufactured using an ingot grower employing a Czochralski crystal growth method (CZ method). Such an ingot growing unit is formed by filling polysilicon in a closed quartz crucible and heating and melting it under a high vacuum at a high temperature (for example, 1450 DEG C or higher), and then subjecting the molten polysilicon to seeding of single crystal silicon (Seed) is contacted to grow a rod-shaped ingot.

Specifically, the ingot growing unit includes stacking, melting, dipping, necking, shouldering, body growth, tailing, cool down, ), And the like. Stacking is a process for filling polysilicon and a dopant in a quartz crucible. Melting is a process for melting polysilicon by heating at a high temperature. In this case, the molten polysilicon is referred to as a melt. Thereafter, the seed is brought into contact with the melt through dipping, and the ingot is lifted while minimizing the diameter so as to prevent defects through the necking. Next, after growing the diameter of the ingot through soldering, the length of the ingot is grown through the bodygross. Thereafter, the diameter of the ingot is reduced through tailing, and finally the ingot is cooled through cooldown to complete the fabrication.

On the other hand, as disclosed in the following patent documents, the ingot growing unit according to the prior art uses a continuous type Czochralski crystal growth method in which a raw material (such as polysilicon) is further supplied to continuously grow an ingot . However, in the ingot growing apparatus according to the prior art, there is a problem that when the particle size of the raw material is large, the raw material is clogged in the supply line. In addition, the ingot growing unit according to the prior art has a problem that it is difficult to control the supply amount of the raw material because there is no means for supplying the raw material uniformly.

KR 1992-0018250 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art described above, and one aspect of the present invention is to provide an ingot growing apparatus capable of preventing clogging of a raw material, .

The ingot growing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main chamber having a crucible therein, a feeding tube connected to the main chamber to supply a raw material to the main chamber, a feeding tube connected to the feeding tube, A recharge tank for delivering the raw material and including a main body and a hopper coupled to the main body; a rotation shaft rotatably coupled to the end of the hopper so as to traverse the inside of the hopper; And a piezoelectric element coupled to the filling tank and applying vibration to the filling tank. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing the same.

Further, in the ingot growing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, a driving unit for rotating the rotating shaft is further included.

Further, in the ingot growing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the projecting portion is formed in a semicircular shape.

Further, in the ingot growing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, at least two protrusions are provided.

Further, in the ingot growing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the protrusions are provided in the shape of a cross when viewed from the cross section of the rotating shaft.

Further, in the ingot growing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, the filling tank is formed of stainless steel coated with ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene).

Further, in the ingot growing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, the raw material is granule polysilicon.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description based on the accompanying drawings.

Prior to that, terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed in a conventional and dictionary sense, and the inventor may properly define the concept of the term in order to best explain its invention It should be construed as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to supply the raw material to the main chamber while preventing the occurrence of clogging of the raw material even if the grain size of the raw material is large, by providing the engagement preventing means.

Further, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the piezoelectric element is provided, and the vibration is applied to the filling tank, the raw material can be constantly supplied to the main chamber.

1 is a sectional view of an ingot growing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the engagement preventing means shown in Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the engagement preventing means shown in Fig. 1,
4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of feeding a raw material in the ingot growing unit shown in Fig. 1, and Fig.
5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the filling tank shown in Fig.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objectives, specific advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. It should be noted that, in the present specification, the reference numerals are added to the constituent elements of the drawings, and the same constituent elements are assigned the same number as much as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of related arts which may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a cross-sectional view of an ingot growing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1, the ingot growing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a main chamber 110 having a crucible 111 therein, a main chamber 110 connected to the main chamber 110, And a hopper 133 connected to the main body 131 and the main body 131. The hopper 133 is connected to the feeding tube 120 and the feeding tube 120 to feed the raw material to the feeding tube 120, A rotary shaft 141 rotatably coupled to the end of the hopper 133 so as to traverse the interior of the hopper 133 and a rotary shaft 141 projecting from the rotary shaft 141 A latching prevention means 140 including protrusions 143 whose both ends are coupled to the rotary shaft 141 so as to form an opening 143a and a piezoelectric actuator 140 coupled to the filling tank 130 for applying vibration to the filling tank 130, Device 150 as shown in FIG.

The main chamber 110 is provided with a crucible 111 therein to grow an ingot. Specifically, the main chamber 110 is provided with a crucible 111, a pedestal 113, a heater 115, a heat shield 117, and the like. The crucible 111 includes a quartz crucible 111a which does not react with polysilicon or does not react with the polysilicon and a graphite crucible 111b which surrounds the quartz crucible 111a. ). The pedestal 113 is provided below the crucible 111 to rotate the crucible 111 or to raise and lower the crucible 111. The heater 115 is provided outside the crucible 111 to heat the crucible 111 I will. The heat shield 117 is disposed above the crucible 111 to prevent the radiant heat emitted from the melt 119 of the crucible 111 from being transmitted to the ingot and is formed in a hollow shape.

The main chamber 110 has a dome chamber 160 formed in a dome shape and detachably coupled to the main chamber 110. Here, the dome chamber 160 covers the upper portion of the main chamber 110 to seal the main chamber 110 when the ingot is grown.

In addition, a pool chamber 170 is detachably coupled to the dome chamber 160 at an upper portion of the dome chamber 160. A seed wire extending from the seed mechanism passes through the inside of the pull chamber 170 and a seed is fixed to a distal end of the seed wire by a seed chuck. Therefore, after the seed is brought into contact with the melt 119 of the crucible 111, the ingot can be grown in the crystal orientation of the seed by rotating the seed while rotating the seed. As such, the grown ingot may eventually be disposed within the pull chamber 170.

Meanwhile, the inside of the main chamber 110, the dome chamber 160, and the pull chamber 170 described above maintains a vacuum state in order to prevent defects from occurring due to oxygen when the ingot is grown. Further, in order to appropriately maintain the temperature inside the main chamber 110, the cooling water can be circulated in the main chamber 110 or the dome chamber 160.

The feeding tube 120 is connected to the main chamber 110 and serves to feed a raw material (polysilicon) into the main chamber 110. Here, the feeding tube 120 has one end connected to the main chamber 110 and the other end connected to the filling tank 130. One end of the feeding tube 120 extends in the direction of the crucible 111 through the supply port 165 formed in the main chamber 110 and the other end of the feeding tube 120 extends through the joint port 125 And is connected to the filling tank 130. Accordingly, the feeding tube 120 can receive the raw material (polysilicon) from the filling tank 130 and supply the raw material (polysilicon) to the crucible 111 of the main chamber 110. As described above, by continuously supplying the raw material to the crucible 111 of the main chamber 110, a continuous Czochralski crystal growth method capable of continuously growing the ingot can be realized. On the other hand, when additional supply of the raw material is not required, the feeding tube 120 moves to the outside of the main chamber 110 along the guide 123 coupled to the main chamber 110, have.

The filling tank 130 is connected to the feeding tube 120 and transmits the raw material to the feeding tube 120. The filling tank 130 includes a main body 131 formed in a cylindrical shape and a hopper 133 coupled to a lower end of the main body 131 and decreasing in diameter toward the lower side. At this time, the lower end of the hopper 133 is connected to the feeding tube 120 through the joint port 125. Accordingly, the raw material (polysilicon) stored in the filling tank 130 can be transferred to the feeding tube 120 through the joint port 125 by its own weight. However, since the diameter of the hopper 133 decreases toward the bottom, bridging of the raw material (polysilicon) having a large particle size in the hopper 133 may occur. In order to solve this problem, the ingot growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention can prevent the clogging of the raw material by providing the clogging preventing means 140. Further, when the raw material is delivered to the feeding tube 120 only by its own weight, there is a problem that it is difficult to uniformly supply the raw material. In order to solve this problem, the ingot growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention can supply the raw material uniformly by applying vibration to the filling tank 130 with the piezoelectric element 150. Details of the latching means 140 and the piezoelectric element 150 will be described later.

The filling tank 130 is connected to the feeding tube 120 through the bonding port 125 after a certain degree of vacuum is implemented using a vacuum pipe or the like in order to connect to the main chamber 110 maintaining a vacuum state. do. The filling tank 130 is supported by the support portion 180 and can be raised and lowered by the elevating device 183 and can be turned by the turning device 185. [ On the other hand, the filling tank 130 can be formed of a stainless steel material which is easy to handle and suitable for vacuum, and such stainless steel material is excellent in abrasion resistance and chemical resistance and is coated with ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) having a low coefficient of friction with a raw material .

The stopping prevention means 140 prevents the clogging of the raw material in the hopper 133 whose diameter decreases when the raw material (polysilicon) is transferred from the filling tank 130 to the feeding tube 120 . Here, the engagement preventing means 140 includes a rotation shaft 141 and a projection 143. At this time, the rotary shaft 141 is coupled to the end of the hopper 133 by a bearing 147 or the like so as to be rotatable so as to cross the inside of the hopper 133. Both ends of the protrusion 143 protrude from the rotating shaft 141 and are coupled to the rotating shaft 141 so as to form an opening 143a together with the rotating shaft 141. [ For example, the protrusion 143 may be formed in a semicircular shape, and both ends of the protrusion 143 formed in a semicircular shape as described above may be coupled to the rotation shaft 141. In addition, the rotating shaft 141 can be rotated by a driving unit 145 such as a motor. Therefore, when the driving unit 145 rotates the rotating shaft 141, the protruding part 143 rotates together with the rotating shaft 141 to induce the raw material (polysilicon) to smoothly move from the hopper 133 to the feeding tube 120 can do. In other words, the projecting portion 143 can prevent the raw material (polysilicon) from being stagnated in the hopper 133 while the raw material (polysilicon) rotates, thereby preventing the raw material from being clogged by the hopper 133. Particularly, when granular polysilicon in powder form is used as a raw material, there is a high possibility that clogging in the hopper 133 occurs because a particle size distribution is wide and thus a raw material having a large particle size is present. However, since the ingot growing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes the latching preventing means 140, the clogging of the hopper 133 can be effectively prevented even when the granular polysilicon is used as the raw material.

2, the protrusion 143 forms an opening 143a together with the rotating shaft 141. Since the raw material (polysilicon) can pass through the opening 143a, It is possible to prevent the raw material (polysilicon) from being damaged by the heat insulating layer 143.

More specifically, two or more protrusions 143 may be provided. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, four protrusions 143 may be provided in a cross shape at intervals of 90 degrees with respect to the transverse section of the rotation shaft 141.

The piezoelectric element 150 (see FIG. 1) is coupled to the filling tank 130 to apply vibration to the filling tank 130. Here, the piezoelectric element 150 can generate vibration by using an inverse piezoelectric effect that is expanded / contracted when a voltage is applied. When the piezoelectric element 150 is generated and vibration is applied to the filling tank 130, the filling tank 130 can effectively move the raw material (polysilicon) while vibrating. At this time, the piezoelectric element 150 is advantageous in that it can operate in the filling tank 130 having a constant degree of vacuum, and has almost no influence on the ingot growth process as a whole. Also, what is the type of the piezoelectric element 150 is not particularly limited, PZT (Lead zirconate titanate), barium titanate (BaTiO _3), titanate year (PbTiO _3), lithium niobate (LiNbO ₃₎ or modification (SiO ₂₎ .

On the other hand, the moving speed of the raw material (polysilicon) is proportional to the frequency of the vibration generated by the piezoelectric element 150. Therefore, by controlling the frequency of the vibration generated by the piezoelectric element 150, the moving speed of the raw material (polysilicon) can be controlled. As described above, in order to adjust the frequency of the vibration generated by the piezoelectric element 150, a separate amplifier and a control unit may be provided.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a process of transferring a raw material in the ingot growing unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the filling tank shown in FIG.

4 to 5, the raw material (S, polysilicon) stored in the filling tank 130 is supplied to the hopper 133 (see FIG. 5) at a constant speed by the vibration ). The raw material (S, polysilicon) moved to the hopper 133 is prevented from being clogged by the protruding portion 143 of the engaging preventing means 140 rotated (see the arrow in FIG. 5) do. Thereafter, the raw material (S, polysilicon) is transferred to the feeding tube 120 through the joint port 125 and finally supplied to the crucible 111 of the main chamber 110, thereby continuously growing the ingot .

While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It will be apparent that modifications and improvements can be made by those skilled in the art. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

100: ingot growing machine 110: main chamber
111: Crucible 111a: Quartz crucible
111b: graphite crucible 113: pedestal
115: heater 117: heat shield
119: Melt 120: Feeding tube
123: guide 125: junction port
130: Filling tank 131: Body
133: Hopper 140:
141: rotation shaft 143:
143a: opening 145:
147: Bearing 150: Piezoelectric element
160: Dome chamber 165: Supply port
170: full chamber 180: support
183: lifting device 185: pivoting device
S: raw materials

Claims (7)

A main chamber having a crucible inside;
A feeding tube connected to the main chamber and supplying raw material to the main chamber;
A recharge tank connected to the feeding tube for delivering the raw material to the feeding tube, the recharge tank including a main body and a hopper coupled to the main body;
A rotation shaft rotatably coupled to the end of the hopper so as to cross the inside of the hopper and a protrusion protruding from the rotation shaft and having both ends coupled to the rotation shaft so as to form an opening together with the rotation shaft; And
A piezoelectric element coupled to the filling tank to apply vibration to the filling tank;
Lt; / RTI >
And the protruding portion is formed in a semicircular shape.
The method according to claim 1,
A driving unit for rotating the rotating shaft;
Further comprising:
delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the at least two protrusions are provided.
The method according to claim 1,
The projection
And four cruciforms are provided on the basis of the cross section of the rotary shaft.
The method according to claim 1,
The filling tank is formed of a stainless steel material coated with ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene).
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the raw material is granule polysilicon.

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