FLOW REGIME MAP AND DEPOSITION RATE UNIFORMITY IN VERTICAL ROTATING-DISK OMVPE REACTORS

A quantitative map of flow regimes has been developed for rotating-disk organometallic vapor epitaxy reactors. Scaling laws and flow visualization experiments over a wide range of reactor geometries and processing conditions were used to generate analytical relationships for boundaries separating the plug-flow regime from the buoyancy- and rotation-induced-flow regimes. For the growth of epitaxial layers with a high degree of uniformity and interface abruptness, the plug-flow regime is preferred. The locus of maximum deposition rate uniformity within the plug-flow regime was found by numerical simulation studies. Operation at high rotation rates close to the boundary between the plug-flow and rotation-induced-flow regimes provides for nearly uniform deposition rates.