Patent ID: 7815736

Claim:
A supporting apparatus for supporting a thickening at the Dash neck of a single crystal comprising semiconductor material in a crystal pulling installation which operates using the Czochralski crucible pulling process, comprising a supporting apparatus having in a lower region a bearing portion with a central opening inscribable with a horizontal a circle of diameter D 1 , the center point of which lies on a vertical axis in this central opening, the bearing portion connected by one or more connecting elements to at least one securing element positioned above the bearing portion securable to a lifting device of the crystal pulling installation, the connecting elements arranged such that in the region immediately above the bearing portion they leave clear a space in which a circle of a diameter D 2 with a center point lying on the vertical axis can be inscribed in a horizontal plane over a length of the vertical axis, where D 2 is greater than D 1 , the supporting apparatus being inherently immobile, and wherein the supporting apparatus has a cage structure made of quartz glass.