Cost-effective, high-volume molecular beam epitaxy using a multi 6-in wafer reactor

The rapidly expanding market of wireless communication has drastically incr eased the demand for GaAs-based devices and circuits. This demand has drive n the industry to increasingly larger diameter substrates for cost-effectiv e, high-volume production. IQE Inc., a division of IQE pie has recently dev eloped the technology to grow epitaxial structures on 150mm (6-in) GaAs sub strates using a multi 6-in wafer MBE platform with material characteristics exceeding those achieved on a multi 4-in platform. The new platform is con figured to produce four 6-in epiwafers per platen and is projected to produ ce up to 21 000 wafers per year. This paper presents the methodology that w as chosen to qualify the reactor. for production. Discussions focus on mach ine performance, material quality, and capability. In-depth discussions of capacity, throughput, and reproducibility are included. The advantages of u sing statistical process control for high-volume production are presented. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.