The complexity of the dewetting phenomenon on the ground consists mainly in the presence of the hydrostatic pressure which should be counterbalanced by a supplementary gas pressure difference Delta P = P-c - P-h between the cold and hot sides of the sample. The experiments have shown that using uncoated and coated crucibles, detached and partially detached growth can be obtained; dewetting became unsuccessful when the liquid-solid interface changed its shape-phenomenon which proved connection between the meniscus shape, pressure difference and stable dewetting. Because the interest is to grow crystals with specified gap size, the Delta P limits and the corresponding menisci shapes for which dewetting is feasible are first established, on the base of the theoretical and computational investigations. Then, for the obtained menisci, the static stability via the conjugate point criterion of the calculus of variations is studied in the cases of the classical semiconductors grown in (i) uncoated crucibles (i.e., the wetting angle theta(c) and growth angle alpha(e) satisfy the inequality theta(c) + alpha(e) < 180 degrees and (ii) coated crucibles or pollution (theta(c) +alpha(e) >= 180 degrees). In this way, gap thickness limitations for which the menisci are physically realizable are obtained. Numerical results are performed for InSb crystal grown in uncoated ampoule, and for Ge crystal grown in coated ampoule. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.