Apparatus and method for film formation

Abstract

An apparatus and method for forming a thin film on a substrate by RPCVD which provides for very low levels of carbon and oxygen impurities and includes the steps of introducing a Group VA plasma into a first deposition zone of a growth chamber, introducing a Group IIIA reagent into a second deposition zone of the growth chamber which is separate from the first deposition zone and introducing an amount of an additional reagent selected from the group consisting of ammonia, hydrazine, di-methyl hydrazine and a hydrogen plasma through an additional reagent inlet into the second deposition zone such that the additional reagent and the Group IIIA reagent mix prior to deposition.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing films by chemical vapor deposition. Background of the invention [0002] Metal- or metalloid-containing films, such as gallium nitride (GaN) films, find applications in a range of devices from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to ultraviolet detectors to transistor devices. [0003] Typically, techniques for producing these films include molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and remote plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RPECVD or RPCVD). RPECVD is used to produce high quality films at much lower temperatures than those used in MOCVD, thus reducing production costs and enabling the use of temperature sensitive preferred substrates for film deposition. [0004] During the production of thin films using any chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique, one of the problems that must be solved is to obtain a uniform and controllable distribution ...

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Problems solved by technology

In addition, changing the desired chemical composition of the film, these impurities disrupt the lattice matching of the formed layers, thereby causing defects in the film and negatively affecting the overall quality of the product

[0010] MOCVD methods have been more successful than some other CVD techniques in reducing oxygen incorporation in grown films, but the level of carbon incorporation is not ideal

More specifically, MOCVD methods typically use growth temperatures of the order of 1000°C to 1200°C, which in turn leads to high equipment costs and precludes temperature-sensitive preferred substrates for film deposition.

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