(435e) Modeling of Transport and Reaction in a Novel Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy System

The research interests of applying hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) in the field of III-V photovoltaics have recently been revived due to the capability of this process in growing semiconductors of excellent quality at higher growth rate and lower cost compared with its competing epitaxial growth methods [1, 2]. However, the intrinsically high growth rate and near-thermodynamic-equilibrium nature of this process bring the difficulty of producing large-area uniform films in a controlled way, which necessitates the thorough understanding of underlying interactions between transport phenomena and the properties of films grown by this method.

We have proposed a novel HVPE configuration potentially having significantly greater throughput and lower per unit production cost. In this talk, three-dimensional transient transport model of this design coupling a chemical model applicable to HVPE growth of various III-V materials is presented. Finite element methods have been employed to solve this model, the result of which relates process outputs (including materials growth rate, uniformity, and composition, etc.) with process inputs (including reactor geometry, operating conditions, etc.). Besides the ordinary design variables like flow rate and temperature, the influences of dynamic operating factors on process characteristics and corresponding product properties are studied in this work. Through the insights gained in the analysis of transport and reaction within the constraints of different parameter regions, sensitive variables and parameters are identified, based on which optimal reactor geometry and process operating strategies are further determined. This model-based approach could be used to guide experimental design in a much more effective way. The methodology of problem formulation and numerical techniques used in this work may also be extended to design and solve a wider range of chemical vapor deposition systems.

[1] K. L. Schulte, W. L. Rance, R. C. Reedy, A. J. Ptak, D. L. Young, and T. F. Kuech, “Controlled formation of GaAs pn junctions during hydride vapor phase epitaxy of GaAs,” Journal of Crystal Growth, vol. 352, no. 1, pp. 253–257, Aug. 2012.
[2] J. Simon, K. L. Schulte, D. L. Young, N. M. Haegel, and A. J. Ptak, “GaAs Solar Cells Grown by Hydride Vapor-Phase Epitaxy and the Development of GaInP Cladding Layers,” IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 191–195, Jan. 2016.