Editing Ingot (section)

===Single crystal===
{{See also|Boule (crystal)}}
[[Single crystal]] ingots (called [[boule (crystal)|boules]]) of materials are grown (crystal growth) using methods such as the [[Czochralski process]] or [[Bridgman technique]].

The boules may be either semiconductor (e.g. electronic [[Wafer (electronics)|chip wafers]], [[Solar cell|photovoltaic cells]]) or non-conducting inorganic compounds for industrial and jewelry use (e.g., synthetic ruby, sapphire).

Single crystal ingots of metal are produced in similar fashion to that used to produce high purity semiconductor ingots,<ref>[http://www.lesscommonmetals.com/products/metals_indiun_metal_ingots.htm Indium ingots] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106200629/http://www.lesscommonmetals.com/products/metals_indiun_metal_ingots.htm |date=2009-01-06 }}, lesscommonmetals.com.</ref> i.e. by vacuum induction refining. Single crystal ingots of engineering metals are of interest due to their very high strength due to lack of [[grain boundary|grain boundaries]]. The method of production is via single crystal [[Dendrite (crystal)|dendrite]] and not via simple casting. Possible uses include [[turbine blade]]s.