Very High Pressure MOCVD for the Reduction of Phosphine Consumption During InP Growth

Spire proposes an innovative, very high pressure MOCVD reaction chamber, to reduce phosphine consumption and hazardous waste generation by up t ten times during InP growth. The future of InP based electronics depends greatly on reducing phosphine consumption and associated reactive waste byproducts from the process. Increasingly stringent environment and safety regulations on hazardous materials are putting greater liability and cost pressures on corporations involved wit InP and III-V's in general, jeopardizing the future of these materials. Phase I will demonstrate the viability for a very high pressure MOCVD reaction chamber operating at ten atmospheres, growing InP at very low V:III ratios; current ratios range up to 2000:1. The chamber will be configured as a vertical, inverted flow design to minimize convection. A gas booster will be incorporated at the inlet to allow operation at ten atmospheres. In Phase II, the chamber developed in Phase I will be scaled up for four-inch diameter wafers and integrated into one of Spire's InP production reactors used for an expanding InP based commercial epi sales market.