Multi-crystalline silicon solidification under controlled forced convection

A vertical Bridgman type furnace was used in order to study the solidification process of Si under the influence of a travelling magnetic field able to induce a convective flow in the liquid. The furnace was equipped with a Bitter type three-phase electromagnet that provides the required magnetic field. A numerical model of the furnace was developed in ANSYS Fluent commercial software. This paper presents experimental and numerical results of this approach, where interface markings were performed.