Fundamentals of vapor phase epitaxial growth processes

The first success with the growth of semiconductor materials by vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) dates back to the 1950's. Today, it is the largest volume technique for the production of both Si and HI/V electronic and photonic devices. Of course, commercial processes for the growth of Si layers, dielectrics, and metals are part of a multi-billion dollar industry. Even for the III/V semiconductors commercial reactors can be purchased yielding 2000 cm2/run, mainly for the production of light emitting diodes and solar cells.The various vapor phase epitaxial processes share a basic underpinning of thermodynamics and kinetics. The vehicle used for this paper will be mainly the organometallic growth of III/V materials. It will briefly discuss key concepts in our understanding of the complex growth process, including both kinetic and thermodynamic aspects of vapor growth. Special attention will be paid to surface processes and the use of surfactants to control the properties of the resulting materials. Our understanding of this topic is still developing rapidly.