Vapor transport epitaxy: an advanced growth process for III-V and II-VI semiconductors

The Vapor Transport Epitaxy (VTE) thin film deposition technique for the deposition of III - V and II - VI compound semiconductors and material results are reviewed. The motivation for development of the VTE technique is the elimination of several problems common to molecular beam epitaxy/chemical beam epitaxy and metalorganic chemical vapor deposition systems. In VTE, vapors from sources feed through throttling valves into a common manifold which is located directly below the inverted wafer. A high degree of film uniformity is achieved by controlling the flux distribution from the common manifold. The technique operates in the 10-4 - 10-6 Torr range using elemental, metalorganic or gaseous precursors. The system is configurated for 2 inch diameter wafers but the geometry may easily be scaled for larger diameters. Using elemental sources, we have demonstrated oval defect free growth of GaAs on GaAs (100) and (111) 2 degree(s) off substrates, through several microns of thickness at growth rates up to ten microns per hour. GaAs films which were grown without the manifold exhibit classic oval defects. The deposition rate of ZnSe films as a function of elemental flux, VI/II ratio, and growth temperature are described. The ZnSe films exhibited smooth surface morphologies on GaAs (100) 2 degree(s) off substrates. X- ray analysis shows that III - V and II - VI films exhibited crystallinities comparable to films produced by molecular beam epitaxy and metalorganic chemical vapor deposition techniques.