Granted Patent
B2
US 12,325,931 · App. 16/900,905 · Granted Jun 10, 2025
Nitrogen-enabled high growth rates in hydride vapor phase epitaxy
Inventors:
Elisabeth Lynne McClure (Lakewood, CO); Kevin Louis Schulte (Denver, CO); Aaron Joseph Ptak (Littleton, CO); John David Simon (Austin, TX); Wondwosen Tilahun Metaferia (Aurora, CO)
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are methods and devices that use a low-thermal conductivity inert gas to shield reactant gases and thus enabling a cold wall operation within a hot wall system.
Claims (12)
1. A method for growing at least one layer of a semiconductor device using a reactor comprising at least one source zone and at least one deposition zone wherein the method comprises hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) using at least one group III metal, at least one group V hydride gas, and an inert carrier gas;
wherein the growth rate of the at least one layer of a semiconductor device is improved by up to 32 percent when compared to using H 2 as a carrier gas in the reactor instead of the inert gas.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one source zone is at a temperature of up to about 800° C., and wherein the at least one deposition zone is at a temperature of up to about 700° C.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one layer of the semiconductor device is GaAs.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the GaAs growth rate is up to 528 μm/h.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein a volumetric flow rate of the inert carrier gas and group V hydride gas is up to 5000 sccm.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein a volumetric flow rate for the group V hydride gas is up to 100 sccm.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein a partial pressure for the group V hydride gas within the inert carrier gas is up to 0.01 atm.
8. The method of claim 3 wherein a surface roughness of the GaAs layer is below 0.8 nm.
9. The method of claim 3 wherein an electron mobility of the GaAs layer is up to 1600 cm 2 /V-s.
10. The method of claim 3 wherein an electron concentration of the GaAs layer is up to 9.9×10 18 cm −3 .
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inert carrier gas comprises N 2 or Ar.
Assignments (4)
CHANGE OF NAME
Recorded Dec 16, 2025
From: ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, LLC
To: ALLIANCE FOR ENERGY INNOVATION, LLC
Reel/Frame 073993/0276 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST
Recorded Jan 5, 2023
From: MCCLURE, ELISABETH
To: ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Reel/Frame 062299/0944 →
CONFIRMATORY LICENSE
Recorded Jan 12, 2021
From: NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY
To: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Reel/Frame 054890/0203 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST
Recorded Jun 13, 2020
From: SCHULTE, KEVIN LOUIS; PTAK, AARON JOSEPH; SIMON, JOHN DAVID; METAFERIA, WONDWOSEN TILAHUN
To: ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, LLC
Reel/Frame 052933/0891 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application
63011732
· Apr 17, 2020
Provisional Application
62860893
· Jun 13, 2019
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