Modeling of silicon carbide chemical vapor deposition in a vertical reactor

Chemical vapor deposition of SiC epitaxial reactor is studied experimentally and numerically. It is shown that gas phase formation of Si-droplets decreases deposition rate due to significant losses of Si. The gas phase nucleation changes C/Si ratio over the wafer and results in saturation of dependencies of the growth rate on supply of silane and propane at the values of C/Si ratio different from 1. It is found that effect of thermophoresis results in preventing Si-droplets from reaching the growing SiC surface. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.