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Li Hui, General Manager of CGEE, was interviewed by Gaogong LED.
Release Time:
Apr 30,2013
[Source: April issue of “LED Good Products” magazine, a publication under Gaogong LED (Page 30), Reporter/Long Zonghui]
“Automated crystal pulling with sapphire is entirely feasible,” said Li Hui, General Manager of CGEE (hereinafter referred to as “CGEE”) He emphasized that automated crystal pulling must ensure that operating techniques and program procedures are not overly complex, while also featuring stable processes and reliable feedback—but the prerequisite for all of this is that the equipment’s mechanical manufacturing and process capabilities must reach an exceptionally high level of stability.
At present, the earliest equipment purchased by sapphire crystal growth companies on the Chinese mainland was Russian Kyropoulos furnaces. These devices are not highly automated and often require lengthy operational training, while also relying heavily on a certain level of crystal growth expertise. As a result, many domestic manufacturers that have purchased imported crystal growth furnaces frequently encounter issues such as low equipment utilization rates and difficulty in controlling yield.
“The future market for sapphire substrates will undoubtedly be on the Chinese mainland,” Li Hui stated. Unlike solar energy, which has a strong overseas market, the LED end‑use market in mainland China falls squarely within the consumer sector. With substantial growth potential in both LED TV backlights and lighting fixtures, he is extremely optimistic about the future market prospects for sapphire crystal growth furnaces.
“Entering the LED sapphire crystal growth furnace industry was at the request of our customers. Our original intention in developing this technology was to help customers ensure equipment safety, enable rapid industrialization, and minimize overall operating costs,” Li Hui stated. He added that to achieve the industrialization of sapphire production equipment, it must evolve toward a “fool‑proof” design.
The reporter learned that many domestically produced devices on the mainland still require dedicated operators, yet each person often reacts differently when confronted with the same crystal-growing display. If reliance is placed solely on experience, personnel training will be extremely slow, making it difficult to improve both production efficiency and costs for enterprises.
In September 2012, CGEE unveiled its self‑developed 85‑kg boule-growth sapphire crystal furnace for the first time, featuring an extremely high degree of automation. “We strive to make our equipment completely user‑friendly,” they said.
Li Hui stated that their equipment doesn’t necessarily require operators to be on-site to initiate crystal growth; a single engineer can control multiple units via computer or smartphone. However, it’s still some distance away from being “completely fool‑proof,” as this still involves issues related to the stability of both the equipment and the process.
“We have a strong technical team in the United States,” Li Hui revealed. Relying on their decades of simulation experience, we’ve found the optimal solution for controlling temperature gradients.
The reporter learned that CGEE’s sapphire crystal growth furnace does not employ the traditional birdcage design for its heating system; instead, the thermal field is divided into three sections: upper, middle, and lower. The most challenging aspect of crystal growth lies in precisely controlling the temperature gradient, which is influenced by numerous factors, such as water flow, thermal field design, and heaters, among others.
At present, to achieve an ideal temperature gradient, most manufacturers typically control the heaters, adjust the water flow rate, or design the insulation layer with varying numbers of layers. Li Hui notes that this approach introduces far too many variables, making it extremely difficult for non‑crystal growth specialists to perform on-site operations.
“We employ a three‑stage, separate heating approach, which allows operators to better isolate the impact of other variables on equipment yield—simply by adjusting the heater power,” Li Hui explained. He added that by implementing segmented cooling, the crystal growth time can be effectively shortened. For example, while it currently takes just over 20 days to grow crystals in a 70‑kg Czochralski furnace, the CGEE 85‑kg crystal growth furnace only requires 17 to 17.5 days. “That’s because as we cool the furnace in upper, middle, and lower sections, the power itself also decreases.”
“Because we employ segmented heating, we need to configure separate heaters, power supplies, and control systems, which makes our prices higher than those of our peers. However, our overall costs are very low,” Li Hui said. Thanks to our unique thermal design, it’s easy to scale up the growth furnace to kilogram-level capacity through localized component replacements.
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