Managing gas purity in epitaxial growth

The development of high brightness LEDs is being studied worldwide due to the expectation to replace present light sources because of the higher efficiency and estimated lifetime. The deposition of the epitaxial layers is the most critical step of the LED manufacturing process and has to be carried-out in well controlled conditions to get the necessary uniformity of the epitaxial layers and the proper cleanliness. The most common technology to grow the epitaxial layers is MOVPE, a technology that requires a large quantity of gas to transport the precursors into the process reactor. Control of the cleanliness of the gases used during the process (hydrogen, ammonia, arsine, etc) is necessary to obtain highly efficient and reproducible devices. However, even the use of the cleanest gas source cannot avoid the introduction of impurities when the gas is used in the process reactor. In fact there are several causes that can degrade the actual purity level: the degree of emptiness of the source cylinder, improper procedures during the change out of the cylinder or outgassing from the components in the gas distribution system. These effects can be even worse in research centers where the gas consumption is low and not continuous. A common way to get rid of the above mentioned problems is the adoption of point of use purifiers. Results showing the improvements in the gas quality by adopting point of use purifiers will be presented and discussed. The differences between some widely used hydrogen purification technologies in the compound semiconductor applications will also be evaluated. (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)