A control system with automatic power alterations to stabilize the temperature at the meniscus area was developed for crystal production by the micro-pulling-down technique. The system was successfully applied to the growth of Lu3Al5O12 and Al2O3 crystals with stable shape rod up to 110 mm in length. The developed system gives a possibility to prevent the crystal quality from degradation caused by the uncontrollable change of the meniscus height. Application of the developed system can help to minimize the number of preliminary experiments needed for the optimization of the growth conditions and to increase the crystal shape uniformity. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.