NOVELTY - An apparatus (200) for forming a crystalline sheet (202) from a melt (104), comprises: a crucible (102) to contain the melt; a cold block (206) configured to deliver a cold region proximate a surface (212) of the melt, where the cold region is operative to generate a crystalline front (210) of the sheet; and a crystal puller (220) configured to draw the crystalline sheet in a pull direction along the surface of the melt, where a perpendicular to the pull direction forms an angle with respect to the crystalline front of less than ninety degrees and greater than zero degrees.    USE - As apparatus for forming a crystalline sheet from a melt (claimed), used in devices such as solar cells.    ADVANTAGE - The apparatus enhances the pull rate for horizontally drawn crystalline sheets. During crystallization from a melt, defects or contaminants can become entrained in eddies that form in the melt surface near the lower surface of a cold block. By orienting the cold block so that the elongated direction forms an angle theta with respect to the pull direction, any defects or contaminants can be swept toward the downstream end of the cold block, thus potentially removing such defects or contaminants from portions of the sheet that can be later used to fabricate substrates. In comparison to conventional apparatus, the present apparatus provides more rapid crystal pull rates for the same degree of undercooling delivered to the melt surface of a material to form a crystalline sheet. Moreover, the same crystal pull rate as a conventional apparatus can be achieved with less undercooling. In other words, a cold block arranged is able to achieve a pull rate the same as a conventional apparatus without having to deliver as great a degree of undercooling to the surface of a melt used by a conventional apparatus, because of the enhancement factor provided by the angled geometry of the cold block with respect to the pull direction. Thus, the improved apparatus has increased rate for producing horizontally grown sheets from a melt.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for a method for forming a crystalline sheet from a melt, involving: heating material in a crucible to form the melt; providing a cold region of a cold block at a first distance from a surface of the melt, where the cold region is operative to generate a crystalline front of the crystalline sheet; and pulling the crystalline sheet along the surface of the melt in a pull direction, where a perpendicular to the pull direction forms an angle greater than zero degrees and less than ninety degrees with respect to the crystalline front.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure shows a perspective view of an apparatus for growing a crystalline sheet from a melt.    Crucible (102)    Melt (104)    Apparatus (200)    Crystalline sheet (202)    Cold block (206)    Crystal puller (220)