METHOD FOR PRODUCTION OF UNIFORM THIN-FILMS FROM THE VAPOR-PHASE

A general method is described for production of uniform thin films fro m the vapour phase. A brief review of the prior art reveals that vario us approaches to this problem, and in particular substrate rotation, f ail to achieve uniformity of thickness and composition in such technol ogies as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or chemical vapour deposition (C VD). The new technique, for which patent protection has been obtained, involves establishment of uniform growth conditions in one direction, and translation of the substrate at a constant rate in a direction pe rpendicular to the first. The effect is to integrate and average any p roperty in the direction of translation, so that every point on the su bstrate experiences an identical history, ensuring complete uniformity of the deposited film.