Agnitron Technology Inc of Eden Prairie, MN, USA is scheduled to ship its latest 1500°C+ reactor upgrade for the Veeco metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) D-series Legacy System platform. The single 2”- or 3”-wafer, vertical quartz tube reactor upgrade will be fitted to a D180 system at the Korean Photonics Technology Institute (Kopti) in Gwangju, Seoul, South Korea. The upgrade will ship from Agnitron’s facility in Eden Prairie, MN in July after completion of final preshipment verification testing. Installation and configuration of Agnitron’s proprietary Imperium-MOCVD control software is included as a standard feature with the high temperature reactor upgrade.
Agnitron says that the high-temperature radio-frequency (HT-RF) reactor upgrade provides an economical high-temperature growth capability to researchers aiming for the highest-quality aluminium nitride (AlN) epitaxial films, which are grown at process temperatures above 1400°C. In addition, the HT-RF reactor can grow all nitride-based materials and is also suitable for silicon carbide (SiC).
“Ultra-low gas flows of the HT-RF reactor translate to hydride gas consumption 15% that of a D180 reactor, making this a very capable yet economical choice for researchers,” reckons Ross Miller, director of Agnitron’s technology development, who also mentions that atomic layer deposition (ALD)-style switching manifolds are available as an option for supporting migration-enhanced epitaxy growth techniques.
Currently, the HT-RF reactor is offered as a standalone upgrade for the Veeco Legacy D125 and D180 nitride MOCVD platforms as well as in the form of an Agnitron original design complete MOCVD system known as Agilis. The Agilis provides all the process capabilities of the HT-RF reactor but in a cabinet with all-new electronics and digital hardware communication protocols. The system also provides a much more compact footprint than the D-series Veeco platforms.
An identical HT-RF reactor upgrade is currently in operation at Agnitron’s facility for the growth of AlN as part of the power electronics research program ‘Investigation of Donor and Acceptor Ion Implantation in AlN’ funded in May by the US Department of Energy (DoE) under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
Agnitron partners with 3L
The HT-RF D180 Reactor Upgrade is being supplied to Kopti with the support of 3L Corp in Korea. Agnitron says that 3L is the only company based in Korea offering the combination of MOCVD hardware, process and gallium nitride growth support. 3L’s experience with MOCVD includes more than 100 MOCVD system installations as well as many system relocations, with a proven record of providing services for stable MOCVD system operation since 2010. 3L is the exclusive supplier in Korea for Agnitron’s HT-RF reactor upgrade and Agilis systems.
