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Delay Modeling And Long-Range Predictive Control Of Czochralski Growth Process, Dhaval Shah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work presents the Czochralski growth dynamics as time-varying delay based model, applied to the growth of La3Ga5.5Ta0.5O14 (LGT) piezoelectric crystals. The growth of high-quality large-diameter oxides by Czochralski technique requires the theoretical understanding and optimization of all relevant process parameters, growth conditions, and melts chemistry. Presently, proportional-integral- derivative (PID) type controllers are widely accepted for constant-diameter crystal growth by Czochralski. Such control systems, however, do not account for aspects such as the transportation delay of the heat from crucible wall to the crystal solidification front, heat radiated from the crucible wall above the melt surface, and varying melt level. …