Method and apparatus for drawing crystalline bodies from a melt

摘要

This invention involves a method and apparatus for drawing crystalline bodies from a melt by means of an open-ended drawing nozzle which determines the cross-sectional geometry of the crystalline body. The drawing nozzle is composed of a material which is resistant to the melt. The feed of melt proceeds from a reservoir situated at the lower end of the drawing nozzle and the melt is conveyed to the upper opening thereof by capillary action. In keeping with the present invention, there is provided a drawing nozzle which has an upper opening merging into a contoured surface such that the meniscus formed at the interface between the crystalline and molten phases is freely displaceable on the contoured surface into which the upper opening discharges.