Nonlinear increase in silicon epitaxial growth rate in a SiHCl3-H2 system under atmospheric pressure

The growth rate of Si epitaxial thin film at 1073-1398 K in a SiHCl3-H-2 system under atmospheric pressure is studied theoretically and experimentally for a horizontal single-wafer reactor using the three-dimensional transport and epitaxy model which can account for both transport phenomena in an entire reactor and surface chemical reactions, The nonlinear increase in silicon epitaxial growth rate with SiHCl3 concentration at the inlet of the reactor is discussed by investigating the changes in the transport of the chemical species to the substrate surface and the species saturation at the surface by chemisorption which limits the surface chemical reaction rate. An indicator for the rate-limiting factor for transport and reaction is discussed to investigate the saturation of the epitaxial growth rate and is shown to be useful for quantitatively describing the rate-limiting process.