Multi 6 inch technology for GaAs, GaInP and AlGaInP compounds

The increasing demand for high performance, low cost GaAs and InP based devices pushes the MOVPE growth technology towards larger wafer sizes. To meet the industrial requirements we developed the Planetary Reactor concept with the capability to grow on five 6 inch wafers simultaneously. We optimized the growth process for GaAs, GaInP and AlGaInP layers. GaAs/AlAs distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) were grown as sensitive demonstrators of material quality and homogeneity. The photoluminescence (PL) wavelength and intensity homogeneities as well as thickness mappings and the electrical properties were investigated. Under optimized conditions thickness uniformities of /spl plusmn/0.5% were achieved. GaInP showed wavelength homogeneities of 0.9% with a mean peak wavelength of 652.3 nm measured on a 6" wafer. Six inch AlGaAs/GaInP/AlGaAs test structures exhibited wavelength homogeneities as good as 0.2% with a mean peak wavelength of 689.7 nm. In addition, the maximum precursor efficiency of 54% proves the system adapted for production needs since a considerable reduction of the cost per run can be achieved.