EFFICIENT AND UNIFORM PRODUCTION OF III-NITRIDE FILMS BY MULTIWAFER MOVPE

We present results on the growth of Ga-In-Al-N films in multiwafer Pla netary Reactors(R) with 7 x 2 in. wafer capacity. The unique design of these reactors allows us to combine high efficiency (Ga efficiency in GaN around 30%) and excellent uniformity. Thickness uniformities bett er than +/- 5% on a 2 in. wafer are routinely obtained. Compositional uniformity of GaInN is better than 2 nm. Wafer-to-wafer and run-to-run reproducibility concerning thickness and composition is within the 1% range. Besides this, the material grown also has a high purity. Hall mobilities higher than 500 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) are obtained for GaN. Furth ermore, the design of the reactors is dedicated to the growth of compl ex nitride heterostructures. Fast switching manifolds for various grou p III precursors and different carrier gases allow a flexible design o f the growth runs including nucleation, bulk layers (doped/undoped) an d quantum wells. The extremely low thermal mass of the reactor permits very rapid changes of the deposition temperature between room tempera ture and 1300 degrees C (optional: 1600 degrees C). Of course p- and n -type doping is also possible. Doping uniformities are below 1% indica ting extremely uniform wafer temperatures. The results demonstrate tha t Planetary Reactors(R) are reliable and efficient tools for the mass production of blue-green optoelectronic devices. (C) 1997 Elsevier Sci ence S.A.