Plasma deposition

Abstract

An apparatus for depositing a group III metal nitride film on a substrate, the apparatus comprising a plasma generator to generate a nitrogen plasma from a nitrogen source, a reaction chamber in which to react a reagent comprising a group III metal with a reactive nitrogen species derived from the nitrogen plasma so as to deposit a group III metal nitride on the substrate, a plasma inlet to facilitate the passage of nitrogen plasma from the plasma generator into the reaction chamber and a baffle having one or more flow channels for passage of the nitrogen plasma. The baffle is located between the plasma inlet and the substrate and prevents a direct line of passage for nitrogen plasma between the plasma inlet and the substrate.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for the production of Group III metal nitride thin films. Background technique [0002] Group III metal nitride films, such as gallium nitride (GaN) films, have applications in a range of devices ranging from light-emitting diodes (LEDs), to ultraviolet detectors, to transistor devices. [0003] These thin films are typically produced by techniques including molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). These techniques are not entirely satisfactory, such as MOCVD, which requires operating temperatures around 1000°C, and MBE, which has difficulty controlling higher energy species due to the use of relatively low film growth pressures. [0004] More recently, remote plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RPECVD) has been used to produce high-quality films at considerably lower temperatures, which reduces equipment costs and allows the use of temperature-sensi...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Collision damage is often seen as sample etching and can negatively affect the properties of the resulting films

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