Apparatus for crucible-free zone melting

Claim 1

In an apparatus for crucible-free zone melt treatment of a semiconductor rod which includes a hollow housing having support means at opposite walls thereof for positioning a semiconductor rod within said housing, an induction heating coil disposed within said housing so as to annularly encompass a zone on a semiconductor rod positioned between said support means and a movable energy transmission means interconnecting said coil with an energy source outside said housing, said transmission means comprising coaxially mounted hollow conductive tube members which support said coil, the improvement comprising in that said transmission means is composed of two partial conduit sections for dividing current flow from said energy source to said coil, said partial conduit sections being arranged so that a first conduit section passes upwardly out of said housing and a second conduit section passes downwardly out of said housing.

Claim 5

An apparatus for crucible-free zone melt treatment of a semiconductor rod comprising: a housing member having a hollow chamber therein of a size sufficient to surround a semiconductor rod and having a pair of rod mounting means positioned on opposite sides of said chamber for supporting said rod therebetween; an iNduction heating coil positioned within said housing for annularly encircling a zone of said rod; an energy transmission system electrically interconnecting said coil with an outside HF energy source, said transmission system providing support for said coil within said chamber and being movable relative to said housing member, said transmission system being comprised of a plurality of conductive hollow tube members coaxially mounted in a spaced-apart relation and including an outer relatively large diameter tube member, an intermediate relatively smaller diameter tube member and an inner relatively smallest diameter tube member, at least said intermediate and inner tube members being separated from one another by an insulating material, said outer tube member being electrically grounded and said intermediate and inner tube members being electrically interconnected in series with said coil.

Claim 6

An apparatus for crucible-free zone melt treatment of a semiconductor rod comprising: a housing member having a hollow chamber therein of a size sufficient to surround a semiconductor rod and having a pair of rod mounting means positioned on opposite sides of said chamber for supporting said rod therebetween; an iNduction heating coil positioned within said housing for annularly encircling a zone of said rod; an energy transmission system electrically interconnecting said coil with an outside HF energy source, said transmission system providing support for said coil within said chamber and being movable relative to said housing member, said transmission system being comprised of a plurality of conductive hollow tube members coaxially mounted in a spaced-apart relation and including an outer relatively large diameter tube member, an intermediate relatively smaller diameter tube member and an inner relatively smallest diameter tube member, at least said intermediate and inner tube members being separated from one another by an insulating material, said outer tube member being electrically grounded and said intermediate and inner tube members being electrically interconnected in series with said coil.