Patent ID: 7799131
Filing Date: 2010-09-21
Classification: C30B,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A process for the growth of ribbons of a semiconductor material from a long, thin molten zone, having a length similar to the width of the said ribbon, comprising: (a) providing semiconductor material in a liquid state in one or more reservoirs, in which a feedstock of the said semiconductor material is molten; (b) transferring molten semiconductor material from said one or more reservoirs to said molten zone by means of a pressure differential applied between the said reservoir and the said molten zone; (c) the molten zone being a continuous film of liquid (i) suspended between a solid-liquid interface of the growing ribbon, on one side, and that of a supporting plate of the same material, on the opposite side, with two free lateral liquid-gas interfaces, so, that the liquid only contacts, along all its length, a solid phase of the said semiconductor material and no other substance, apart from the gas over its free surfaces, and (ii) created by an electric current, substantially parallel to the surface of the said ribbon and perpendicular to the growth direction of the said ribbon, passing in the semiconductor material with an intensity required at least to form a continuous suspended melt that constitutes the said molten zone.