Claims
- 1. A reactor for growing a multi-layer Group III nitride semiconductor device in a single epitaxial growth run, the reactor comprising:
a first growth zone; means for heating said first growth zone to a first temperature; a first Group III metal source zone; means for heating at least a portion of a first Group III metal within said first Group III metal source zone to a second temperature; a halide gas source coupled to said first Group III metal source zone; a first inert gas source coupled to said first Group III metal source zone, said first inert gas source supplying a first inert gas for transporting a first reaction product from said first Group III metal source zone to said first growth zone; a reaction gas source coupled to said first growth zone for supplying a reactive gas to said first growth zone; a growth interruption zone; means for heating said growth interruption zone to a third temperature, wherein said third temperature is within 50° C. of said first temperature; means for transferring a substrate between said first growth zone and said growth interruption zone while maintaining a substrate temperature to within 50° C. of said first temperature; at least one gas inlet coupled to a second inert gas source for substantially preventing said first reaction product and said reactive gas from entering said growth interruption zone; and means for purging said first growth zone between a first epitaxial growth cycle and a second epitaxial growth cycle.
- 2. The reactor of claim 1, wherein said first Group III metal is selected from the group consisting of gallium (Ga), aluminum (Al), indium (In) and boron (B).
- 3. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising:
a second Group III metal source zone, said halide gas source and said first inert gas source coupled to said second Group III metal source zone; and means for heating at least a portion of a second Group III metal within said second Group III metal source zone to a fourth temperature, wherein said at least one gas inlet coupled to said second inert gas source substantially prevents a second reaction product from entering said growth interruption zone.
- 4. The reactor of claim 3, wherein said second Group III metal is selected from the group consisting of gallium (Ga), aluminum (Al), indium (In) and boron (B).
- 5. The reactor of claim 3, further comprising:
a third Group III metal source zone, said halide gas source and said first inert gas source coupled to said third Group III metal source zone; and means for heating at least a portion of a third Group III metal within said third Group III metal source zone to a fifth temperature, wherein said at least one gas inlet coupled to said second inert gas source substantially prevents a third reaction product from entering said growth interruption zone.
- 6. The reactor of claim 5, wherein said third Group III metal is selected from the group consisting of gallium (Ga), aluminum (Al), indium (In) and boron (B).
- 7. The reactor of claim 5, further comprising:
a fourth Group III metal source zone, said halide gas source and said first inert gas source coupled to said fourth Group III metal source zone; and means for heating at least a portion of a fourth Group III metal within said fourth Group III metal source zone to a sixth temperature, wherein said at least one gas inlet coupled to said second inert gas source substantially prevents a fourth reaction product from entering said growth interruption zone.
- 8. The reactor of claim 7, wherein said fourth Group III metal is selected from the group consisting of gallium (Ga), aluminum (Al), indium (In) and boron (B).
- 9. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising means for maintaining said third temperature to within 25° C. of said first temperature and means for maintaining said substrate to within 25° C. of said first temperature.
- 10. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising means for maintaining said third temperature to within 10° C. of said first temperature and means for maintaining said substrate to within 10° C. of said first temperature.
- 11. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising means for maintaining said third temperature to within 5° C. of said first temperature and means for maintaining said substrate to within 5° C. of said first temperature.
- 12. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising means for maintaining said third temperature to within 1° C. of said first temperature and means for maintaining said substrate to within 1° C. of said first temperature.
- 13. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising means for directing a second inert gas from said second inert gas source in a flow direction substantially orthogonal to a source flow direction.
- 14. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising means for directing a second inert gas from said second inert gas source in a flow direction substantially opposite to a source flow direction.
- 15. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising means for directing a second inert gas from said second inert gas source in a flow direction angled towards a growth surface of said substrate.
- 16. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising:
a second growth zone; means for heating said second growth zone to a fourth temperature; means for transferring said substrate between said second growth zone and said growth interruption zone while maintaining said substrate temperature to within 50° C. of said first temperature; and means for purging said second growth zone between successive growth cycles.
- 17. The reactor of claim 16, further comprising:
at least one second zone Group III metal source zone corresponding to said second growth zone, said halide gas source and said first inert gas source coupled to said at least one second zone Group III metal source zone; and means for heating at least a portion of at least one second zone Group III metal within said at least one second zone Group III metal source zone to a fifth temperature.
- 18. The reactor of claim 1, wherein said means for heating said first growth zone, said portion of said first Group III metal and said growth interruption zone is a multi-zone resistive heater.
- 19. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising:
an acceptor impurity zone, wherein said first inert gas source is coupled to said acceptor impurity zone; and means for heating an acceptor impurity in said acceptor impurity zone to a fourth temperature.
- 20. The reactor of claim 1, further comprising:
a donor impurity zone, wherein said first inert gas source is coupled to said donor impurity zone; and means for heating an donor impurity in said acceptor impurity zone to a fourth temperature.
- 21. The reactor of claim 1, wherein said halide gas source is an HCl gas source.
- 22. The reactor of claim 1, wherein said first inert gas is an argon gas.
- 23. The reactor of claim 1, wherein said second inert gas source is an argon gas source.
- 24. The reactor of claim 1, wherein said reactive gas is an ammonia gas.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 60/280,604 filed Mar. 30, 2001 and No. 60/283,743, filed Apr. 13, 2001, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60280604 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
|
60283743 |
Apr 2001 |
US |