Method and apparatus for growing semiconductor heterostructures

US5254210A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army · US

Inventors

• Kenneth A. Jones · Brick, US
• Joseph Flemish · Westfield, US
• Alok Tripathi · Beaverton, US
• Vladimir Sinisa Ban · Princeton, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 27, 1992
• Grant date: Oct 19, 1993
• Expiry date: Apr 27, 2012

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C30B29/40
• WIPO field: Surface technology, coating
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A conventional hydride VPE reactor is modified by the addition of a gas switching manifold and the use of three way pneumatic valves in the manifold to alternately direct the flow of reactant gas mixtures into either the reactor or a vent line. With these additions, various predetermined gas mixtures of arsine, phosphine, and hydrogen selected by electronic mass flow controllers (GM1 and GM2) and predetermined gas mixtures of H.sub.2 and HCl (GM3) may be alternately infused into the reactor chamber or vented as desired. When GM3 is injected into the reactor chamber, the content of GaAs of the growing layer increases while the content of In decreases. Given this, when GM3 and GM2 are vented rather than injected into the furnace and GM1 is directed into the furnace, a layer of InGaAsP with a predetermined composition (A) will be deposited. Alternatively, when GM3 and GM2 are co-injected into the reactor and GM1 is be directed to the vent, a layer of InGaAsP of a predetermined composition (B) will be deposited. Therefore, the flow rates of HCl, PH.sub.3 and AsH.sub.3 can be adjusted to produce compositions A and B that correspond to a lattice-matched condition with either InP or GaAs …