PURPOSE: To readily judge the shape of an aureole when a seed crystal is sowed.
CONSTITUTION: A method for controlling the seeding of a single crystal when the single crystal is grown by bringing a seed bar 14 in a heated crucible 11 into contact with a melted liquid 13, rotating the seed bar 14 and subsequently lifting the seed bar 14 is characterized by photographing an aureole 20 generated on the contacting surface of the rotated seed bar 14 with the melted liquid 13 with a video camera 22 through a measuring window 21 to measure its scanning distance, calculating the relation of the measured scanning distance with the rotation periodic signals of the seed bar 14, evaluating the thickness and shape of the aureole with an evaluation section 27 from the calculation result, calculating the temperature set value of a main heater in a calculation section 28 in response to the evaluation result, and subsequently controlling the heating temperature of a heater 12 with a temperature controller 29 on the basis of the temperature set value, thus automatically controlling the seeding. The crucible 11 has a main heater 12 for heating the crucible 11 holding GaAs melted liquid 13, and a main heater temperature controller 29 for controlling the heating temperature of the heater 12.
TAMAI FUJIO
NISHIBE NATAMI
