CN114561689A

CN114561689A - Feeding pipe, single crystal growth equipment and feeding method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN114561689A
Application number: CN202210149269.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈俊宏; 邢微波
Original assignee: Xuzhou Xinjing Semiconductor Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhonghuan Leading Xuzhou Semiconductor Materials Co ltd; Zhonghuan Advanced Semiconductor Materials Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-02-17
Filing date: 2022-02-17
Publication date: 2022-05-31
Also published as: TWI827440B; TW202317818A

Abstract

The invention discloses a feeding tube, single crystal growth equipment and a feeding method thereof, wherein the feeding tube is used for the single crystal growth equipment, and the single crystal growth equipment comprises: crucible with the filling tube, the crucible is suitable for holding silicon melting soup, the filling tube includes: the crucible furnace comprises a tube body, a crucible and a crucible cover, wherein the tube body is limited with a material conveying channel and a plurality of material storage cavities for storing silicon raw materials, the material storage cavities are communicated with the material conveying channel, and the material conveying channel is suitable for feeding the silicon raw materials in the material storage cavities to the crucible; and the switch assembly is suitable for respectively controlling the on-off of the material storage cavities and the material conveying channel. According to the feeding pipe provided by the invention, the feeding amount of the silicon raw material is easier to control, and the splashing of high-temperature silicon melt caused when the silicon raw material enters the silicon melt can be prevented, so that the safety and the reliability of the operation of the single crystal growth equipment are improved.

Description

Feeding pipe, single crystal growth equipment and feeding method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of silicon carbide single crystal growth, in particular to a feeding pipe, single crystal growth equipment and a feeding method thereof.

Background

In the related art, a multi-step pulling technique is generally used to reduce the cost for preparing an ingot, and after one ingot is pulled, a feeding tube is used to supplement polycrystalline silicon raw material into a quartz crucible to supplement silicon melt reduced by pulling the ingot last time. However, when the feeding tube is used for supplementing the polycrystalline silicon raw material into the quartz crucible, because of the height difference between the feeding tube and the liquid level of the molten liquid, when the feeding opening of the feeding tube is opened, a large amount of polycrystalline silicon drops to the molten liquid from the feeding tube under the action of gravity, so that the molten liquid is easy to splash, and the working reliability of the crystal growth device is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solving at least one of the problems of the prior art. Therefore, the invention provides a feeding pipe which can prevent high-temperature silicon melt from splashing during feeding and improve the safety and reliability of single crystal growth equipment.

The invention also provides single crystal growth equipment with the feeding pipe.

The invention also provides a feeding method of the single crystal growth equipment, which can prevent the splashing of the high-temperature silicon melt during feeding and improve the safety and reliability of the single crystal growth equipment.

A feed tube according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention is used for a single crystal growing apparatus including: the crucible with the filling tube, the crucible is suitable for holding silicon melt soup, the filling tube includes: the crucible furnace comprises a tube body, a crucible and a crucible cover, wherein the tube body is limited with a material conveying channel and a plurality of material storage cavities for storing silicon raw materials, the material storage cavities are communicated with the material conveying channel, and the material conveying channel is suitable for feeding the silicon raw materials in the material storage cavities to the crucible; and the switch assembly is suitable for respectively controlling the on-off of the material storage cavities and the material conveying channel.

According to the feeding pipe provided by the embodiment of the invention, the silicon raw materials in one or more storage cavities can be selected to be put in when the materials are required to be put in the crucible, and compared with the feeding pipe in the related technology which is only provided with one storage cavity, when the storage cavities are opened, all the silicon raw materials are put in silicon melt soup, on one hand, the putting amount of the silicon raw materials in each putting is easier to control, on the other hand, the high-temperature silicon melt soup splashing caused by a large amount of silicon raw materials entering the silicon melt soup can be prevented, and the safety and the reliability of the operation of the single crystal growth equipment are improved. In addition, the silicon raw materials in the storage cavities are all put in through the material conveying channel, and the blanking area is controlled and adjusted more easily.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the pipe body comprises: an outer tube; the inner pipe is positioned on the inner side of the outer pipe and defines the material conveying channel; the switch assembly comprises an outer pipe, an inner pipe, a plurality of partition plates, a plurality of communicating ports and a switch assembly, wherein the outer pipe is arranged between the inner pipe and the outer pipe at intervals, the partition plates are arranged between the outer pipe and the inner pipe, the partition plates and the outer pipe and the inner pipe define a plurality of storage cavities together, the inner pipe is provided with a plurality of communicating ports in one-to-one correspondence with the storage cavities, the communicating ports are communicated with the storage cavities and the material conveying channel, and the switch assembly is suitable for opening or closing the communicating ports.

Further, a plurality of the baffle is arranged along the circumference interval of inner tube, and a plurality of the baffle is injectd along the axial extension of inner tube and along a plurality of the storage cavity of the circumference interval arrangement of inner tube jointly with outer tube and inner tube, the intercommunication mouth is located the position that is close to the bottom of storage cavity.

Still further, the bottom wall of the storage cavity extends obliquely along the radial direction of the inner pipe inwards and along the axial direction downwards.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the switch assembly comprises: the switch doors are in one-to-one correspondence and adaptation with the communication ports, and the switch doors are in pivot connection with the inner tube along the axial direction of the inner tube and far away from one end of the crucible.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the feed tube further comprises: the driving piece is connected with the pipe body and is suitable for driving the pipe body to rotate around the central axis of the pipe body so as to drive the storage cavities to rotate.

In some embodiments, the feed tube further comprises: the direction lid, the direction lid is suitable for the shutoff the neighbouring of defeated material passageway the one end of crucible, the direction lid is suitable for and removes between primary importance and second position, the direction lid is in when primary importance, defeated material passageway is closed, the direction lid is in when the second position, defeated material passageway is opened, silicon raw materials in the storage intracavity is suitable for to pass through defeated material passageway is carried extremely the crucible.

Further, the direction lid is suitable for along the axial of pipe body move between the first position with the second position, along the axial of pipe body just keeps away from on the direction of pipe body, the at least part of direction lid forms the spigot surface along radially outwards extending that inclines, the diameter of direction lid is greater than the diameter of conveying passageway, when the direction lid is located the first position, the spigot surface blocks up the conveying passageway, when the direction lid is in the second position, the spigot surface with pipe body is along axial spaced apart, silicon raw materials in the storage cavity is suitable for along the spigot surface is carried in the crucible.

Still further, the guide cover includes: a first guide portion, wherein the projection of the first guide portion in a reference plane is formed into a semicircle, and the first guide portion is suitable for feeding silicon raw material to a first area of the crucible; the projection of the second guide part in the reference plane is formed into a semicircular shape, the radius of the projection of the second guide part in the reference plane is smaller than that of the projection of the first guide part in the reference plane, the second guide part is opposite to and connected with the first guide part in the radial direction, the second guide part is suitable for throwing silicon raw materials to a second area of the crucible, the projection of the second area in the reference plane is located on the inner side of the projection of the first area in the reference plane, the reference plane is perpendicular to the central axis of the material conveying pipeline, and the guide cover is further suitable for rotating around the axis of the material conveying channel so that the first guide part or the second guide part can move to the lower side of the material storage cavity needing to throw the silicon raw materials.

In some embodiments, a plurality of the material storage chambers are suitable for storing silicon raw materials with different sizes respectively, and the material storage chambers are sequentially arranged along the circumferential direction of the tube body according to the size of the stored silicon raw materials.

Further, in the plurality of material storage chambers, the volume of the material storage chamber for storing the silicon raw material with larger size is larger than that of the material storage chamber for storing the silicon raw material with smaller size.

The single crystal growing apparatus according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention includes: the filling tube according to the first aspect of the invention.

According to the single crystal growth equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention, by arranging the feeding pipe in the first aspect, the feeding amount of the silicon raw material can be controlled more easily each time, and in addition, the splashing of high-temperature silicon melt caused by the fact that a large amount of silicon raw material enters the silicon melt can be prevented, so that the safety and the reliability of the operation of the single crystal growth equipment are improved.

According to a charging method of a single crystal growing apparatus of an embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention, the single crystal growing apparatus includes: crucible and filling tube, the crucible is suitable for holding silicon melt soup, the filling tube includes: the silicon crucible comprises a pipe body, wherein the pipe body is limited with a material conveying channel and a plurality of material storage cavities for storing silicon raw materials, the material storage cavities are suitable for storing the silicon raw materials with different sizes respectively, the material storage cavities are sequentially arranged along the circumferential direction of the pipe body according to the size of the stored silicon raw materials, the material storage cavities are communicated with the material conveying channel, and the material conveying channel is suitable for conveying the silicon raw materials in the material storage cavities into the crucible; the switch assembly is suitable for respectively controlling the connection and disconnection of the material storage cavities and the material conveying channel; the feeding method comprises the following steps: and controlling the charging pipes to sequentially charge a plurality of silicon raw materials in the storage cavities according to the sequence of the sizes of the silicon raw materials stored in the storage cavities from small to large.

According to the feeding method of the single crystal growth equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention, the feeding pipe is provided with the plurality of storage cavities, so that silicon raw materials in one or more storage cavities can be selected to be fed when the crucible is required to be fed, and the plurality of storage cavities are sequentially opened according to the sequence of the sizes of the silicon raw materials stored in the plurality of storage cavities from small to large when the feeding pipe feeds the silicon raw materials into the crucible, so that the small-size silicon raw materials fed in advance serve as buffer layers of large-size silicon raw materials fed in the later process, the problem of splashing of silicon melt is avoided, and the crucible is prevented from being broken by large-size polycrystalline silicon blocks, so that the working reliability of the equipment is ensured. With only being equipped with a storage cavity of feeding pipe in the correlation technique, all drop into silicon melt soup with whole silicon raw materials when opening the storage cavity and compare, the volume of puting in when both being convenient for control the silicon raw materials of throwing in at every turn, the splashing of the high temperature silicon melt soup that causes when more can preventing a large amount of silicon raw materials entering silicon melt soup, the security and the reliability of single crystal growth equipment operation have been promoted, and the silicon raw materials in a plurality of storage cavities all drop through defeated material passageway, it is regional with the adjustment blanking more easily to control.

In some embodiments of the invention, the feed tube further comprises: a guide cap adapted to move axially of the body between a first position and a second position, along the axial direction of the body and away from the body, at least part of the guide cap extending radially outwardly and obliquely to form a guide surface, the diameter of the guide cap being greater than the diameter of the feed delivery passage, the guide cap being located in the first position, the guide surface blocking the feed delivery passage, the guide cap being located in the second position, the guide surface being spaced axially from the body, the silicon feedstock in the storage chamber being adapted to be transported along the guide surface into the crucible, the guide cap comprising: a first guide portion, wherein the projection of the first guide portion in a reference plane is formed into a semicircle, and the first guide portion is suitable for feeding silicon raw material to a first area in the crucible; the projection of the second guide part in the reference plane is formed into a semicircle, the radius of the projection of the second guide part in the reference plane is smaller than that of the projection of the first guide part in the reference plane, the second guide part is opposite to and connected with the first guide part in the radial direction, the second guide part is suitable for throwing the silicon raw material to a second area in the crucible, the reference circle of the second area is smaller than that of the first area, the guide cover is further suitable for rotating around the axis of the material conveying channel, so that the first guide part or the second guide part is positioned at the lower side of the material storage cavity needing to throw the silicon raw material, and the material feeding method further comprises the following steps: determining that silicon raw materials are put in a first area, controlling the guide cover to rotate until the first guide part is opposite to the communicating port of the material storage cavity, controlling the guide cover to move axially to open the material conveying channel, controlling the switch assembly to open the communicating port, and controlling the charging pipe and the first guide part to synchronously rotate; or determining that the silicon raw material is put in a second area, controlling the guide cover to rotate until the second guide part is opposite to the communicating port of the material storage cavity, controlling the guide cover to move axially to open the material conveying channel, controlling the switch assembly to open the communicating port, and controlling the charging pipe and the second guide part to synchronously rotate; or determining that the silicon raw materials are put in the first area and the second area, controlling the guide cover to move axially to open the material conveying channel, controlling the switch assembly to open the communication port, and controlling the charging pipe and the guide cover to rotate in a differential manner.

Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a fill tube according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of another embodiment of a filler tube according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of yet another embodiment of a filler tube according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of another angle of the loading tube according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the storage chamber of the filler tube shown in FIG. 4 open;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of another embodiment of a filler tube according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the storage chamber of the filler tube shown in FIG. 6 open;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of yet another embodiment of a filler tube according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the storage chamber of the filler tube shown in FIG. 8 open;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the guide cap of the filling tube shown in FIG. 8.

Reference numerals are as follows:

a feeding pipe (100) is arranged on the feeding pipe,

a pipe body 1, an outer pipe 11, an inner pipe 12, a clapboard 13, a material storage cavity 14, a material conveying channel 15,

the switching assembly 2, the switching door 21,

a guide cover 3, a first guide part 31, a second guide part 32, a lifting mechanism 4, a driving part 5,

silicon melt 200.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are illustrative and intended to be illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.

A filling tube 100 according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention is described below with reference to fig. 1 to 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the charging tube 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention may be used in a single crystal growth apparatus, for example, a single crystal growth apparatus for pulling a crystal ingot, or other types of crystal growth furnaces. The single crystal growth apparatus may include: a crucible and a feed tube 100.

Wherein the crucible is adapted to contain silicon melt 200, and silicon raw material in the crucible becomes molten silicon melt 200 at a high temperature during crystal growth, and the feed tube 100 can be used to add silicon raw material to the crucible when the amount of silicon melt 200 in the crucible is reduced or insufficient, and to supplement the raw material required for crystal growth. The filling tube 100 may comprise: a tube body 1 and a switch assembly 2. Wherein, the pipe body 1 limits defeated material passageway 15 and a plurality of storage chamber 14, and a plurality of storage chambers 14 can be used for storing the silicon raw materials. The material storage cavities 14 are all communicated with a material conveying channel 15, and the material conveying channel 15 is suitable for feeding silicon raw materials in the material storage cavities 14 into the crucible. That is, the stored silicon raw material in each material storage chamber 14 can be fed into the crucible through the material feeding channel 15. The switch assembly 2 is suitable for respectively controlling the on-off of the material storage cavities 14 and the material conveying channel 15 so as to conveniently put in a proper amount of raw materials according to the consumption of the silicon melt soup 200.

According to the charging tube 100 of the embodiment of the invention, by arranging the plurality of material storage cavities 14, the silicon raw materials in one or more material storage cavities 14 can be selectively charged when the materials are required to be charged into the crucible, and compared with the prior art in which the charging tube is only provided with one material storage cavity, and all the silicon raw materials are charged into the silicon melt when the material storage cavities are opened, on one hand, the charging amount of the silicon raw materials is easier to control each time, on the other hand, the high-temperature silicon melt 200 can be prevented from splashing when a large amount of silicon raw materials enter the silicon melt 200, and the safety and reliability of the operation of the single crystal growth equipment are improved. In addition, the silicon raw materials in the storage cavities 14 are all thrown through the material conveying channel 15, and the blanking area is easier to control and adjust.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the pipe body 1 may comprise: an outer tube 11, an inner tube 12, and a plurality of baffles 13. Wherein the inner tube 12 is located inside the outer tube 11, the inner tube 12 and the outer tube 11 can be coaxially arranged, and the inner tube 12 defines a feed delivery channel 15. A plurality of baffles 13 are arranged between the outer pipe 11 and the inner pipe 12 at intervals, a plurality of storage cavities 14 are defined by the baffles 13, the outer pipe 11 and the inner pipe 12 together, a plurality of communicating ports corresponding to the storage cavities 14 in a one-to-one mode are formed in the inner pipe 12, the communicating ports communicate with the storage cavities 14 and the material conveying channel 15, and the switch component 2 is suitable for opening or closing the communicating ports. For example, each partition 13 may be disposed perpendicular to the central axis of the feeding passage 15, and a plurality of partitions 13 are parallel to each other, so that a plurality of reservoir chambers 14 may be formed along the axial direction of the feeding passage 15; alternatively, each partition 13 may extend in the axial direction of the feed passage 15, and a plurality of partitions 13 may be parallel to each other, and a plurality of reservoir chambers 14 may be formed along the circumferential direction of the feed passage 15. Thus, the charging tube 100 is simple in overall structure and convenient to manufacture and assemble.

Further, referring to fig. 1-3, a plurality of partition plates 13 may be arranged along the circumferential direction of the inner tube 12 at intervals, the plurality of partition plates 13, the outer tube 11 and the inner tube 12 together define a plurality of material storage chambers 14, each material storage chamber 14 extends along the axial direction of the inner tube 12, and the plurality of material storage chambers 14 are arranged along the circumferential direction of the inner tube 12 at intervals, and the communication port is located at a position adjacent to the bottom end of the material storage chamber 14, so that the communication port may maximally approach the crucible, and the height difference between the communication port and the silicon melt 200 in the crucible is reduced, so as to avoid splashing of the silicon melt 200 caused by the falling material.

Still further, referring to fig. 6 and 7, the bottom wall of the storage chamber 14 extends obliquely in the radial direction inward and in the axial direction downward of the inner tube 12, so that the silicon raw material in the storage chamber 14 can be fully charged, and accumulation of the silicon raw material at the bottom of the storage chamber 14 and insufficient charging caused thereby are avoided.

Referring to fig. 4-9, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the switch assembly 2 may include: a plurality of switching doors 21. Wherein, a plurality of switch doors 21 and a plurality of intercommunication mouth one-to-one and adaptation, switch door 21 along the axial of inner tube 12 and keep away from the one end of crucible with inner tube 12 pivot connection. For example, since the inner tube 12 has a ring shape, the communication opening has an arc-shaped cross section, and thus the opening and closing door 21 is formed as an arc-shaped plate fitted to the communication opening so as to close and open the communication opening better, and the top end of the opening and closing door 21 and the inner tube 12 are connected by a pivot shaft so as to facilitate opening and closing of the opening and closing door 21.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, referring to fig. 1-9, the loading tube 100 may further include: a drive member 5. Particularly, driving piece 5 links to each other with pipe body 1, and driving piece 5 is suitable for driving pipe body 1 and rotates in order to drive a plurality of storage chambeies 14 around the central axis of pipe body 1 and rotate, so, can realize the even cloth in each region of filling tube 100 in to the crucible, guarantee all to have the material of throwing on the 200 circumferencial direction of silicon melt soup, prevent that the local area blanking is too much, and it is inhomogeneous to be heated, improves the melting efficiency of silicon raw materials, and then ensures the normal growth of crystal. Alternatively, the driving member 5 may be provided on an isolation furnace of the single crystal growth apparatus.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 4-9, the fill tube 100 may further comprise: a guide cover 3. Specifically, the guide cover 3 is adapted to close one end of the feed passage 15 adjacent to the crucible (e.g., the lower end of the feed passage 15 shown in fig. 4), the guide cover 3 is movable between a first position and a second position, when the guide cover 3 is in the first position, the guide cover 3 can close the lower end of the feed passage 15, the feed passage 15 is closed, and when the guide cover 3 is in the second position, the feed passage 15 is opened, and the silicon raw material in the storage chamber 14 can be fed to the crucible through the feed passage 15. In addition, during the feeding process, under the guiding action of the guiding cover 3, the polycrystalline silicon material can be fed at the relatively outer position of the crucible, so that the fluctuation of the silicon melt 200 at the central position is reduced. Optionally, the feeding tube 100 may further comprise a lifting mechanism 4, wherein the lifting mechanism 4 is connected to the upper end of the guiding cover 3, and the guiding cover 3 is moved between the first position and the second position by pulling the lifting mechanism 4 up and down to open or close the feeding passage 15.

Further, the guiding cover 3 is adapted to move between a first position and a second position along the axial direction of the tube body 1, at least a part of the upper surface of the guiding cover 3 extends obliquely outward along the radial direction to form a guiding surface in the direction along the axial direction of the tube body 1 and away from the tube body 1, the diameter of the guiding cover 3 is larger than that of the delivery passage 15, the guiding surface blocks the delivery passage 15 when the guiding cover 3 is located at the first position, the guiding surface is spaced apart from the tube body 1 along the axial direction when the guiding cover 3 is located at the second position, and the silicon raw material in the storage cavity 14 is adapted to be delivered into the crucible along the guiding surface.

For example, as shown in fig. 4, the guide cover 3 is formed in a conical shape whose cross-sectional area gradually decreases in the direction from bottom to top, the upper surface of the guide cover 3 is formed as a guide surface, the projected diameter of the guide cover 3 in the reference surface is larger than the projected diameter of the feed passage 15 in the reference surface, and when silicon raw material is fed, the silicon raw material dropped from the feed passage 15 first drops on the guide cover 3 and then slides down into the crucible along the guide surface, so that the guide cover 3 can play a role of buffering the silicon raw material, and on the other hand, since the silicon raw material drops into the crucible from the edge of the guide cover 3, the dropping area of the silicon raw material in the crucible is determined by the size of the guide cover 3, and thus the dropping area of the silicon raw material can be adjusted by adjusting the size of the guide cover 3.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 8-10, the guide cover 3 may include: a first guide portion 31 and a second guide portion 32. Wherein the projection of the first guide part 31 in the reference plane is formed as a semi-circle, the first guide part 31 being adapted to feed silicon feedstock to a first region of the crucible. The projection of the second guide part 32 in the reference plane is formed into a semicircle, the radius of the projection of the second guide part 32 in the reference plane is smaller than the radius of the projection of the first guide part 31 in the reference plane, the second guide part 32 is radially opposite to and connected with the first guide part 31, the second guide part 32 is suitable for feeding silicon raw material to a second area of the crucible, the projection of the second area in the reference plane is positioned at the inner side of the projection of the first area in the reference plane, and the reference plane is perpendicular to the central axis of the feed delivery channel 15. The guiding cover 3 is also suitable for rotating around the axis of the material conveying channel 15, so that the first guiding part 31 or the second guiding part 32 moves to the lower side of the material storage cavity 14 needing to be thrown with silicon materials, and thus, by arranging the guiding cover 3 and arranging the guiding cover 3 to be suitable for rotating around the axis of the material conveying channel 15, the material throwing area of the raw materials in the crucible can be conveniently adjusted.

For example, when it is determined that the silicon raw material needs to be fed into the first area, the guiding cover 3 may be controlled to rotate until the first guiding portion 31 is opposite to the communicating port of the material storage chamber 14, then the guiding cover 3 is controlled to move axially to the second position to open the material delivery channel 15, the switch door 21 is controlled to open the communicating port, the feeding tube 100 is controlled to rotate synchronously with the first guiding portion 31, and at this time, the raw material in the material storage chamber 14 may always fall into the first area of the crucible along the guiding surface of the first guiding portion 31.

When the silicon raw material is determined to be put in the second area, the guiding cover 3 is controlled to rotate until the second guiding portion 32 is opposite to the communicating port of the material storage chamber 14, then the guiding cover 3 is controlled to move to the second position along the axial direction to open the material conveying channel 15, the switch door 21 is controlled to open the communicating port, and the feeding pipe 100 and the second guiding portion 32 are controlled to rotate synchronously, so that the raw material in the material storage chamber 14 can always fall into the second area of the crucible along the guiding surface of the first guiding portion 31.

When the first area and the second area of the crucible are determined to need to be filled with silicon raw materials, the guide cover 3 can be controlled to move to the second position along the axial direction to open the material conveying channel 15, the switch assembly 2 is controlled to open the communication port, and the feeding pipe 100 and the guide cover 3 are controlled to rotate at a different speed, so that when the first guide part 31 rotates to be opposite to the communication port of the storage cavity 14, the silicon raw materials in the storage cavity 14 can fall to the first area of the crucible along the guide surface of the first guide part 31; when the second guide part 32 rotates to be opposite to the communicating opening of the storage cavity 14, the silicon raw material in the storage cavity 14 can fall to the second area of the crucible along the guide surface of the second guide part 32.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 1-3, the plurality of holding chambers 14 are adapted to store silicon feedstock of different sizes, respectively, and the plurality of holding chambers 14 are arranged sequentially along the circumference of the tube body 1 according to the size of the stored silicon feedstock. For example, a plurality of the accumulator chambers 14 includes: a first accumulator chamber 14, a second accumulator chamber 14, a third accumulator chamber 14, and a fourth accumulator chamber 14. Wherein the first material storage chamber 14 is adapted to store silicon feedstock of a first size; the second material storage chamber 14 is suitable for storing silicon raw materials with a second size, and the second size is larger than the first size; the third material storage chamber 14 is suitable for storing silicon raw materials with a third size, and the third size is larger than the second size; the fourth material storage cavity 14 is suitable for storing silicon raw materials with a fourth size, the fourth size is larger than the third size, and the first material storage cavity 14, the second material storage cavity 14, the third material storage cavity 14 and the fourth material storage cavity 14 are sequentially arranged along the circumferential direction of the pipe body 1. Thus, the charging tube 100 of the present invention can be used to charge silicon raw materials with various sizes according to actual needs.

When the charging pipe 100 feeds the silicon raw material into the crucible, the plurality of material storage chambers 14 may be sequentially opened in the order from small to large according to the sizes of the silicon raw materials stored in the plurality of material storage chambers 14, so that the silicon raw material of a smaller size may fall into the silicon melt 200 first, and thus, the silicon raw material of a larger size fed later may be used as a buffer layer when the silicon raw material of a larger size falls into the silicon melt 200, so as to prevent the silicon melt 200 from splashing. For example, a first size polysilicon chunk (silicon feedstock) is first added to silicon melt 200, whereby the first size polysilicon chunk can form a first buffer layer on the surface of silicon melt 200; then putting the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the second size, so that the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the second size fall onto the first buffer layer, under the buffer action of the first buffer layer, the impact of the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the second size on the silicon melt 200 can be reduced, and meanwhile, the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the second size can form a second buffer layer; by analogy, the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the third size and the fourth size are put in sequence, so that under the buffer of the buffer layer, the problem that the silicon melt liquid 200 splashes can be avoided, and the polycrystalline silicon blocks with larger sizes can be prevented from smashing the quartz crucible, so that the working reliability of the equipment is ensured.

Further, referring to fig. 2-3, of the plurality of material storage chambers 14, the volume of the material storage chamber 14 for storing the larger-size silicon material is larger than the volume of the material storage chamber 14 for storing the smaller-size silicon material, for example, the sizes of the first material storage chamber 14, the second material storage chamber 14, the third material storage chamber 14 and the fourth material storage chamber 14 may be sequentially increased, for example, the charging pipe 100 may be configured such that the central angle of the fourth material storage chamber 14 is 180 °, the central angles of the remaining three material storage chambers 14 are respectively 40 °, 60 ° and 80 °, of course, the central angles of the plurality of material storage chambers 14 may be reasonably selected according to actual needs, thereby accommodating more large-size polysilicon materials. Of course, the angular range of each chamber may also be extended, as long as the volume of the fourth accumulator chamber 14 is maximized.

Alternatively, in other embodiments, the loading tube 100 may be configured such that the volumes of the first and

second reservoirs

14, 14 are the same, the volumes of the third and

fourth reservoirs

14, 14 are the same, and the volumes of the first and

second reservoirs

14, 14 are less than the volumes of the third and

fourth reservoirs

14, 14. Still alternatively, the filling tube 100 may be configured such that the volumes of the second reservoir chamber 14 and the third reservoir chamber 14 are the same, the volume of the first reservoir chamber 14 is smaller than the volume of the second reservoir chamber 14, and the volume of the third reservoir chamber 14 is smaller than the volume of the fourth reservoir chamber 14. The volume of the plurality of storage cavities 14 can be reasonably selected according to actual needs.

A single crystal growing apparatus according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention is described below.

The single crystal growing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention comprises: the filling tube 100 according to the above embodiment of the present invention.

According to the single crystal growth equipment of the embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, by arranging the feeding pipe 100 of the embodiment, the feeding amount of the silicon raw material is more easily controlled each time, and in addition, the splashing of the high-temperature silicon melt 200 caused when a large amount of silicon raw material enters the silicon melt 200 can be prevented, so that the safety and the reliability of the operation of the single crystal growth equipment are improved.

The charging method of one embodiment of the single crystal growth apparatus according to the present invention is described below.

According to the charging method of the single crystal growth equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention, the single crystal growth equipment can be equipment for drawing a crystal bar and can also be other types of crystal growth furnaces. The single crystal growth apparatus may include: a crucible and a feed tube 100.

Wherein the crucible is adapted to contain silicon melt 200, and silicon raw material in the crucible becomes molten silicon melt 200 at a high temperature during crystal growth, and the feed tube 100 can be used to add silicon raw material to the crucible when the amount of silicon melt 200 in the crucible is reduced or insufficient, and to supplement the raw material required for crystal growth. The filling tube 100 may comprise: a tube body 1 and a switch assembly 2. Wherein, the pipe body 1 limits defeated material passageway 15 and a plurality of storage chamber 14, and a plurality of storage chambers 14 can be used for storing the silicon raw materials. The storage cavities 14 are communicated with the conveying channel 15, the storage cavities 14 are suitable for storing silicon raw materials with different sizes respectively, the storage cavities 14 are sequentially arranged along the circumferential direction of the tube body 1 according to the size of the stored silicon raw materials, and the conveying channel 15 is suitable for feeding the silicon raw materials in the storage cavities 14 to the crucible. That is, the stored silicon raw material in each storage chamber 14 can be fed into the crucible through the feeding passage 15. The switch component 2 is suitable for respectively controlling the on-off of the material storage cavities 14 and the material conveying channels 15 so as to conveniently throw in proper amount of raw materials according to the consumption of the silicon melt soup 200. The feeding method may comprise the steps of: the charging pipe 100 is controlled to sequentially charge the silicon raw materials in the storage cavities 14 in the order from small to large according to the sizes of the silicon raw materials stored in the storage cavities 14.

The plurality of accumulator chambers 14 comprises: a first accumulator chamber 14, a second accumulator chamber 14, a third accumulator chamber 14, and a fourth accumulator chamber 14. Wherein the first material storage chamber 14 is adapted to store silicon feedstock of a first size; the second material storage chamber 14 is suitable for storing silicon raw materials with a second size, and the second size is larger than the first size; the third material storage chamber 14 is suitable for storing silicon raw materials with a third size, and the third size is larger than the second size; the fourth material storage cavity 14 is suitable for storing silicon raw materials with a fourth size, the fourth size is larger than the third size, and the first material storage cavity 14, the second material storage cavity 14, the third material storage cavity 14 and the fourth material storage cavity 14 are sequentially arranged along the circumferential direction of the pipe body 1. Thus, the charging tube 100 of the present invention can be used to charge silicon raw materials with various sizes according to actual needs.

When the charging pipe 100 feeds the silicon raw material into the crucible, the plurality of material storage chambers 14 may be sequentially opened in the order from small to large according to the sizes of the silicon raw materials stored in the plurality of material storage chambers 14, so that the silicon raw material of a smaller size may fall into the silicon melt 200 first, and thus, the silicon raw material of a larger size fed later may be used as a buffer layer when the silicon raw material of a larger size falls into the silicon melt 200, so as to prevent the silicon melt 200 from splashing. For example, a first size of polysilicon chunks (silicon raw material) is added to the silicon melt 200, so that the first size of polysilicon chunks can form a first buffer layer on the surface of the silicon melt 200; then putting the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the second size, so that the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the second size fall onto the first buffer layer, under the buffer action of the first buffer layer, the impact of the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the second size on the silicon melt 200 can be reduced, and meanwhile, the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the second size can form a second buffer layer; by analogy, the polycrystalline silicon blocks with the third size and the fourth size are put in sequence, so that under the buffer of the buffer layer, the problem that the silicon melt liquid 200 splashes can be avoided, and the polycrystalline silicon blocks with larger sizes can be prevented from smashing the quartz crucible, so that the working reliability of the equipment is ensured.

According to the feeding method of the single crystal growth equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention, the problem that the silicon melt 200 splashes during feeding can be avoided, and the problem that a quartz crucible is broken by large-size polycrystalline silicon blocks can be avoided, so that the working reliability of the equipment is ensured.

A charging method of a single crystal growth apparatus according to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

According to the charging method of the single crystal growth apparatus of the embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention, the single crystal growth apparatus may be an apparatus for pulling a crystal ingot, or may be another type of crystal growth furnace. The single crystal growth apparatus may include: a crucible and a feed tube 100.

Wherein the crucible is adapted to contain silicon melt 200, and silicon raw material in the crucible becomes molten silicon melt 200 at a high temperature during crystal growth, and the feed tube 100 can be used to add silicon raw material to the crucible when the amount of silicon melt 200 in the crucible is reduced or insufficient, and to supplement the raw material required for crystal growth. The filling tube 100 may comprise: a tube body 1 and a switch assembly 2. Wherein, the pipe body 1 limits defeated material passageway 15 and a plurality of storage chamber 14, and a plurality of storage chambers 14 can be used for storing the silicon raw materials. The storage cavities 14 are communicated with the conveying channel 15, the storage cavities 14 are suitable for storing silicon raw materials with different sizes respectively, the storage cavities 14 are sequentially arranged along the circumferential direction of the tube body 1 according to the size of the stored silicon raw materials, and the conveying channel 15 is suitable for feeding the silicon raw materials in the storage cavities 14 to the crucible. That is, the stored silicon raw material in each storage chamber 14 can be fed into the crucible through the feeding passage 15. The switch assembly 2 is suitable for respectively controlling the on-off of the material storage cavities 14 and the material conveying channel 15 so as to conveniently put in a proper amount of raw materials according to the consumption of the silicon melt soup 200. The feeding method may comprise the steps of: the charging pipe 100 is controlled to sequentially charge the silicon raw materials in the storage cavities 14 in the order from small to large according to the sizes of the silicon raw materials stored in the storage cavities 14.

For example, a plurality of the accumulator chambers 14 includes: a first accumulator chamber 14, a second accumulator chamber 14, a third accumulator chamber 14, and a fourth accumulator chamber 14. Wherein the first material storage chamber 14 is adapted to store silicon feedstock of a first size; the second material storage chamber 14 is suitable for storing silicon raw materials with a second size, and the second size is larger than the first size; the third material storage chamber 14 is suitable for storing silicon raw materials with a third size, and the third size is larger than the second size; the fourth material storage cavity 14 is suitable for storing silicon raw materials with a fourth size, the fourth size is larger than the third size, and the first material storage cavity 14, the second material storage cavity 14, the third material storage cavity 14 and the fourth material storage cavity 14 are sequentially arranged along the circumferential direction of the pipe body 1. Thus, the charging tube 100 of the present invention can be used to charge silicon raw materials with various sizes according to actual needs.

According to the charging method of the single crystal growth equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention, the charging pipe 100 is provided with the plurality of storage cavities 14, so that silicon raw materials in one or more storage cavities 14 can be selectively charged when the charging pipe 100 needs to charge the crucible, and the plurality of storage cavities 14 are sequentially opened according to the sequence of the sizes of the silicon raw materials stored in the plurality of storage cavities 14 from small to large when the charging pipe 100 charges the silicon raw materials into the crucible, so that the small-size silicon raw materials charged in advance are used as buffer layers of large-size silicon raw materials charged in the later process, the problem of splashing of silicon melt 200 is avoided, the crucible is prevented from being broken by large-size polycrystalline silicon blocks, and the working reliability of the equipment is ensured. With the material feeding pipe only be equipped with a storage cavity among the correlation technique, all drop into silicon melt soup 200 with whole silicon raw materials when opening the storage cavity and compare, the volume of putting when both being convenient for control the silicon raw materials of throwing in at every turn, the splashing of high temperature silicon melt soup 200 that causes when more can preventing a large amount of silicon raw materials from getting into silicon melt soup 200, the security and the reliability of single crystal growth equipment operation have been promoted, and the silicon raw materials in a plurality of storage cavities 14 all drops through defeated material passageway 15, it is regional to control and adjust the blanking more easily.

In some embodiments, referring to fig. 8-10, the fill tube 100 may further comprise: and a guide cover 3. Specifically, the guide cover 3 is suitable for sealing one end of the material conveying channel 15, which is close to the crucible, the guide cover 3 can move between a first position and a second position, when the guide cover 3 is located at the first position, the guide cover 3 can seal the lower end of the material conveying channel 15, the material conveying channel 15 is closed at the moment, when the guide cover 3 is located at the second position, the material conveying channel 15 is opened, and at the moment, the silicon raw material in the material storage cavity 14 can be conveyed to the crucible through the material conveying channel 15. Further, when charging, the polycrystalline silicon material can be charged at a relatively outer position of the crucible under the guidance of the guide cover 3 body, thereby reducing fluctuation of the silicon melt 200 at the center position. Optionally, the feeding tube 100 may further comprise a lifting mechanism 4, wherein the lifting mechanism 4 is connected with the upper end of the guiding cap 3, and the guiding cap 3 opens or closes the bottom end of the feeding passage 15 by means of the lifting mechanism 4.

Further, the guiding cover 3 is adapted to move between a first position and a second position along the axial direction of the tube body 1, at least a part of the guiding cover 3 extends obliquely outward along the radial direction to form a guiding surface in the axial direction of the tube body 1 and away from the tube body 1, the diameter of the guiding cover 3 is larger than that of the feed delivery channel 15, the guiding surface blocks the feed delivery channel 15 when the guiding cover 3 is located at the first position, the guiding surface is spaced apart from the tube body 1 along the axial direction when the guiding cover 3 is located at the second position, and the silicon raw material in the storage cavity 14 is adapted to be delivered into the crucible along the guiding surface.

The guide cover 3 is formed into a conical shape with the transverse sectional area gradually reduced from bottom to top, the upper surface of the guide cover 3 is formed into a guide surface, the projected diameter of the guide cover 3 in the reference surface is larger than the projected diameter of the material conveying channel 15 in the reference surface, when the silicon raw material is fed, the silicon raw material falling from the material conveying channel 15 firstly falls on the guide cover 3 and then slides into the crucible along the guide surface, so that on one hand, the guide cover 3 can play a role in buffering the silicon raw material, on the other hand, the silicon raw material falls into the crucible from the edge of the guide cover 3, and therefore, the blanking area of the silicon raw material in the crucible is determined by the size of the guide cover 3, and the blanking area of the silicon raw material can be adjusted by adjusting the size of the guide cover 3.

In some embodiments, the guide cover 3 may include: a first guide portion 31 and a second guide portion 32. Wherein the projection of the first guide part 31 in the reference plane is formed as a semicircle, the first guide part 31 being adapted to feed silicon raw material to the first area of the crucible. The projection of the second guide part 32 in the reference plane is formed into a semicircle, the radius of the projection of the second guide part 32 in the reference plane is smaller than the radius of the projection of the first guide part 31 in the reference plane, the second guide part 32 is opposite to and connected with the first guide part 31 in the radial direction, the second guide part 32 is suitable for feeding silicon raw material to a second area of the crucible, the projection of the second area in the reference plane is positioned at the inner side of the projection of the first area in the reference plane, and the reference plane is perpendicular to the central axis of the material conveying pipeline. The guiding cover 3 is also suitable for rotating around the axis of the material conveying channel 15, so that the first guiding part 31 or the second guiding part 32 moves to the lower side of the material storage cavity 14 needing to be thrown with silicon materials, and thus, by arranging the guiding cover 3 and arranging the guiding cover 3 to be suitable for rotating around the axis of the material conveying channel 15, the material throwing area of the raw materials in the crucible can be conveniently adjusted.

The charging method also comprises the following steps: when the silicon raw material is determined to be put in the first area, the guiding cover 3 is controlled to rotate until the first guiding part 31 is opposite to the communicating port of the material storage cavity 14, then the guiding cover 3 is controlled to move to the second position along the axial direction to open the material conveying channel 15, the switch door 21 is controlled to open the communicating port, the feeding pipe 100 is controlled to rotate synchronously with the first guiding part 31, and at the moment, the raw material in the material storage cavity 14 can always fall into the first area of the crucible along the guiding surface of the first guiding part 31.

When the first area and the second area of the crucible are determined to need to be filled with silicon raw materials, the guide cover 3 can be controlled to move to the second position along the axial direction to open the material conveying channel 15, the switch assembly 2 is controlled to open the communicating port, and the charging pipe 100 and the guide cover 3 are controlled to rotate at a differential speed, so that when the first guide portion 31 rotates to be opposite to the communicating port of the storage cavity 14, the silicon raw materials in the storage cavity 14 can fall to the first area of the crucible along the guide surface of the first guide portion 31; when the second guide portion 32 is rotated to face the communicating opening of the accumulation chamber 14, the silicon raw material in the accumulation chamber 14 can fall to the second region of the crucible along the guide surface of the second guide portion 32. Thus, according to the charging method of the present embodiment, it is possible to easily charge the silicon raw material to the first region and the second region of the crucible.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "central," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," and the like are used in the orientations and positional relationships indicated in the drawings for convenience in describing the invention and to simplify the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the referenced device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and are not to be considered limiting of the invention.

Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically defined otherwise.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly and can, for example, be fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; the connection can be mechanical connection, electrical connection or communication; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intervening media, or may be connected through the use of two elements or the interaction of two elements. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

In the description herein, references to the description of the term "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above are not necessarily intended to refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, various embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by one skilled in the art without contradiction.

While embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A feed tube for a single crystal growing apparatus, the single crystal growing apparatus comprising: the crucible with the filling tube, the crucible is suitable for holding silicon melt soup, the filling tube includes:

the crucible furnace comprises a tube body, a crucible and a crucible cover, wherein the tube body is limited with a material conveying channel and a plurality of material storage cavities for storing silicon raw materials, the material storage cavities are communicated with the material conveying channel, and the material conveying channel is suitable for feeding the silicon raw materials in the material storage cavities to the crucible;

and the switch assembly is suitable for respectively controlling the on-off of the material storage cavities and the material conveying channel.

2. The loading tube of claim 1, wherein the tube body comprises:

an outer tube;

the inner pipe is positioned on the inner side of the outer pipe and defines the material conveying channel;

the switch assembly comprises an outer pipe, an inner pipe, a plurality of partition plates, a plurality of communicating ports and a switch assembly, wherein the outer pipe is arranged between the inner pipe and the outer pipe at intervals, the partition plates are arranged between the outer pipe and the inner pipe, the partition plates and the outer pipe and the inner pipe define a plurality of storage cavities together, the inner pipe is provided with a plurality of communicating ports in one-to-one correspondence with the storage cavities, the communicating ports are communicated with the storage cavities and the material conveying channel, and the switch assembly is suitable for opening or closing the communicating ports.

3. The filling tube of claim 2, wherein a plurality of the partition plates are spaced apart along the circumference of the inner tube, the plurality of the partition plates, the outer tube and the inner tube together define a plurality of the storage chambers extending along the axial direction of the inner tube and spaced apart along the circumference of the inner tube, and the communication port is located adjacent to the bottom end of the storage chamber.

4. The filler tube of claim 3, wherein the bottom wall of the storage chamber extends obliquely in a radially inward and axially downward direction of the inner tube.

5. The fill tube of claim 2, wherein the switch assembly comprises:

the crucible opening and closing device comprises a plurality of opening and closing doors, wherein the opening and closing doors are in one-to-one correspondence and adaptive to the communication ports, and the opening and closing doors are axially arranged on the inner tube and far away from the crucible.

6. The fill tube of claim 1, further comprising:

the driving piece, the driving piece with the pipe body links to each other, the driving piece is suitable for the drive the pipe body winds the central axis of pipe body rotates in order to drive a plurality ofly the storage cavity rotates.

7. The fill tube of claim 1, further comprising: the direction lid, the direction lid is suitable for the shutoff the neighbouring of defeated material passageway the one end of crucible, the direction lid is suitable for and removes between primary importance and second position, the direction lid is in when primary importance, defeated material passageway is closed, the direction lid is in when the second position, defeated material passageway is opened, silicon raw materials in the storage intracavity is suitable for to pass through defeated material passageway is carried extremely the crucible.

8. The filling tube as claimed in claim 7, wherein the guide cap is adapted to move between the first position and the second position in the axial direction of the tube body, at least a portion of the guide cap extending obliquely radially outwardly in a direction axially of and away from the tube body to form a guide surface,

the diameter of direction lid is greater than the diameter of defeated material passageway, the direction lid is located during the first position, the spigot surface blocks up defeated material passageway, the direction lid is in during the second position, the spigot surface with the pipe body is along axial spaced apart, silicon raw materials in the storage intracavity is suitable for to follow the spigot surface is carried in the crucible.

9. The filling tube according to claim 8, wherein the guide cap comprises:

a first guide portion, a projection of which in a reference plane is formed in a semicircular shape, the first guide portion being adapted to feed silicon raw material to a first region of the crucible;

a second guide part, the projection of which in the reference plane is formed into a semicircle, the radius of the projection of which in the reference plane is smaller than the radius of the first guide part, the second guide part is opposite to and connected with the first guide part in the radial direction, the second guide part is suitable for feeding silicon raw material to a second area of the crucible, the projection of which in the reference plane is positioned at the inner side of the projection of the first area in the reference plane, and the reference plane is perpendicular to the central axis of the material conveying pipeline,

the guide cover is suitable for rotating around the axis of the material conveying channel, so that the first guide part or the second guide part moves to the lower side of the storage cavity where the silicon material needs to be put.

10. The charging pipe according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the storage chambers are adapted to store silicon raw materials of different sizes, respectively, and are arranged in sequence along a circumferential direction of the pipe body according to the size of the stored silicon raw materials.

11. The filler tube of claim 10, wherein the reservoir chamber of the plurality of reservoir chambers that stores the larger size silicon feedstock has a larger volume than the reservoir chamber that stores the smaller size silicon feedstock.

12. A single crystal growing apparatus, comprising: filling tube according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A charging method of a single crystal growing apparatus, comprising: crucible and filling tube, the crucible is suitable for holding silicon melt soup, the filling tube includes: the silicon crucible comprises a pipe body, wherein the pipe body is limited with a material conveying channel and a plurality of material storage cavities for storing silicon raw materials, the material storage cavities are suitable for storing the silicon raw materials with different sizes respectively, the material storage cavities are sequentially arranged along the circumferential direction of the pipe body according to the size of the stored silicon raw materials, the material storage cavities are communicated with the material conveying channel, and the material conveying channel is suitable for conveying the silicon raw materials in the material storage cavities into the crucible; the switch assembly is suitable for respectively controlling the on-off of the material storage cavities and the material conveying channel;

the feeding method comprises the following steps:

and controlling the charging pipes to sequentially charge a plurality of silicon raw materials in the storage cavities according to the sequence of the sizes of the silicon raw materials stored in the storage cavities from small to large.

14. The method of feeding a single crystal growing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the feed tube further comprises: a guide cap adapted to move axially of the body between a first position and a second position, the guide cap being adapted to extend axially of the body in a direction away from the body, at least part of the guide cap extending radially outwardly to form a guide surface, the guide cap having a diameter greater than the diameter of the feed delivery passage, the guide cap being positioned in the first position such that the guide surface closes off the feed delivery passage, the guide cap being positioned in the second position such that the guide surface is axially spaced from the body, the silicon feedstock in the storage chamber being adapted to be delivered along the guide surface into the crucible, the guide cap comprising: a first guide portion, wherein the projection of the first guide portion in a reference plane is formed into a semicircle, and the first guide portion is suitable for feeding silicon raw material to a first area in the crucible; the projection of the second guide part in the reference plane is semicircular, the radius of the projection of the second guide part in the reference plane is smaller than that of the projection of the first guide part in the reference plane, the second guide part is opposite to and connected with the first guide part in the radial direction, the second guide part is suitable for throwing the silicon raw material to a second area in the crucible, the reference circle where the second area is located is smaller than that of the first area, the guide cover is also suitable for rotating around the axis of the material conveying channel, so that the first guide part or the second guide part is positioned at the lower side of the material storage cavity in which the silicon raw material needs to be thrown,

the charging method further comprises the following steps:

determining that silicon raw materials are put in a first area, controlling the guide cover to rotate until the first guide part is opposite to the communicating port of the material storage cavity, controlling the guide cover to move axially to open the material conveying channel, controlling the switch assembly to open the communicating port, and controlling the charging pipe and the first guide part to synchronously rotate; or,

determining that the silicon raw material is put in a second area, controlling the guide cover to rotate until the second guide part is opposite to the communicating port of the material storage cavity, controlling the guide cover to move axially to open the material conveying channel, controlling the switch assembly to open the communicating port, and controlling the charging pipe and the second guide part to synchronously rotate; or,

and determining that the silicon raw materials are put in a first area and a second area, controlling the guide cover to move along the axial direction so as to open the material conveying channel, controlling the switch assembly to open the communicating port, and controlling the charging pipe and the guide cover to rotate in a differential manner.