Fluid flow and solute segregation in EFG crystal growth process

The influence of the die geometry and various growth conditions on the fluid flow and on the solute distribution in EFG method has been studied using numerical simulation. The commercial FIDAP software has been used in order to solve the momentum and mass transfer equations in the capillary channel and in the melt meniscus. Two types of shaper design are studied and the results are in good agreement with the void distribution observed in rod-shaped sapphire crystals grown by the EFG method in the various configurations.