Development of a Large Area, High Throughput, Automated MOCVD System Elizabeth Aven

III-V compound semiconductors are increasingly in demand for advanced electronic and optoelectronic applications. To keep abreast of the increasing demand for high speed devices, such as HEMTs or FETs, it is imperative for the III-V compound semi- conductor systems producers to make the transition from laboratory to production systems. Two main issues surrounding the epitaxial growth onto large area GaAs substrates are the layer thickness uniformity and the doping uniformity, It is important that the layer thickness of HEMT, HBT, and PET devices be uniform in order to control recess etching so that uniform threshold voltages and hence device characteristics are reproducible. The doping uniformity plays an important role in controlling the transconductance, and will be studied during this work. Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) is best suited to cost effectively produce the required materials with high yields. A strategic advance in the development of this materials technology is the shifting to 4" to 6" diameter process substrates. As yet, there is no established method for production of device structures on 6" diameter substrates. In Phase II, we will demonstrate a fully automated cassette to cassette 6" diameter wafer production capability. The Phase I and II efforts will be performed in an ENCORE high speed rotating disk vertical reactor systems, which is known to efficiently produce high quality MOCVD materials through 4" diameter substrates.