Study on silicon melt convection during the RF-FZ crystal growth process II. numerical investigation

Silicon melt convection during the floating zone (FZ) crystal growth proces s under radio-frequency (RF) heating and the effect of the externally appli ed magnetic field on the RF-FZ silicon melt convection have been investigat ed numerically. The main purpose of the study is to clarify the characteris tics of the silicon melt convection under the RF heating and the effect of externally applied magnetic field on such melt convection. The numerically obtained flow characteristics are almost the same as previously reported ex perimental results. Further, the fluctuation of melt convection disappears when an external vertical magnetic held is applied. The required minimum ma gnetic flux density to suppress the convection fluctuation is around 0.2 T. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.