Comparative study of GaN growth process by MOVPE

A comparative study of two different MOVPE reactors used for GaN growth is presented. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to determine common gas phase and fluid flow behaviors within these reactors. This paper focuses on the common thermal fluid features of these two MOVPE reactors with different geometries and operating pressures that can grow device-quality GaN-based materials. Our study clearly shows that several growth conditions must be achieved in order to grow high quality GaN materials. The high-temperature gas flow zone must be limited to a very thin flow sheet above the susceptor, while the bulk gas phase temperature must be very low to prevent extensive pre-deposition reactions. These conditions lead to higher growth rates and improved material quality. A certain range of gas flow velocity inside the high-temperature gas flow zone is also required in order to minimize the residence time and improve the growth uniformity. These conditions can be achieved by the use of either a novel reactor structure such as a two-flow approach or by specific flow conditions. The quantitative ranges of flow velocities, gas phase temperature, and residence time required in these reactors to achieve high quality material and uniform growth are given.