Transport effects in low-pressure chemical vapor deposition reactors

The problem of the formulation of transport equations for low-pressure chemical vapour deposition (CVD) reactors is investigated. A comprehensive set of equations is presented for the description of transport effects in such reactors, and the applicability of diffusive approximations in the design of CVD reactors is evaluated. It is found that such models generally do not provide a rigorous basis for the prediction of transport effects in low-pressure CVD reactors. The applicability of one-dimensional approximations in the analysis of CVD reactors is also evaluated. It is concluded that one-dimensional solutions do not provide a rigorous basis for the analysis of transport effects in the wafer space since not all of the conditions of the problem can be satisfied simultaneously.