Computer simulation is conducted to study vertical zone-melting crystal growth. The model, which is governed by momentum and heat transfer in the system, is solved by a finite volume/Newton method with an implementation of the pseudo-arclength continuation. Single crystal growth of NaNO3 in a computer-controlled transparent multizone furnace is simulated as examples. The calculated results show that natural convection induced by the buoyancy force affects melt-solid interfaces significantly, which is consistent with the observation during crystal growth experiments. Along the solution branch, multiple steady states are observed, and they are accompanied by the inversion of the upper melt-feed interface.
