Patent ID: 6221155
Filing Date: 2001-04-24
Classification: C23C,Y10T

Abstract:
A silicon rod production apparatus, comprising:a reactor vessel containing at least one reaction chamber;a pair of electrodes extending into the reaction chamber;at least one silicon filament provided within the reaction chamber with the opposite ends of the filament connected to two different ones of the electrodes to heat the filament by electrical current flowing between the two electrodes;a source of a silicon-bearing gas connected to the interior of the vessel for supplying the gas into the reaction chamber to produce a reaction and to deposit polycrystalline silicon on the heated filament by chemical vapor deposition thereby producing a rod of polycrystalline silicon; andan electrical power supply that is connected to the electrodes and that supplies high frequency A.C. current having a frequency sufficiently high to produce a skin effect that causes a majority of the current to flow through an outer region of the silicon rod adjacent its outer surface in order to provide more heat at the outer region than at inner portions of the rod.