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Abstract

There is disclosed a static mixer for intimate mixing of granular solids, a solids flow controller and a solids transfer tube which are useful to mix polycrystalline material with dopant solids, and to feed the resultant mixture continuously and accurately into a modified Czochralski-type furnace for growing single crystal material. The static mixer is a series of conical funnel plates interspaced by thieving divider plates that are formed by a plurality of triangular V-shaped, radial sectors. Contiguous to the static mixer is a storage hopper which has sufficient storage capacity for all the polycrystalline feed material required in a single run of the furnace. Located beneath the hopper is a solids flow controller that is a V-shaped trough which is vibrated along its longitudinal axis. At one end, the trough has a transverse baffle located with a gap between its bottom edge and the bottom of the trough that controls the rate of flow of the solids. The solids are discharged from the opposite end of the trough into a vertically disposed tube. Within the furnace, there is a solids transfer tube with its lower terminating immediately above the molten pool in the solids replenishment zone. The solids transfer tube also has internal constrictions to reduce the velocity of the solids, and has an opaque section which prevents radiant heat transfer from the furnace.

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First Claim