Gas Purifiers Improve Film Growth

Aeronex Inc. of San Diego has announced the completion of a one-year study with the University of California in Santa Barbara into the impact of gas purification systems on metallorganic chemical vapor deposition. According to the researchers, gas purifiers offer several advantages in the production of devices based on compound semiconductors.

They determined that purified nitrogen is as effective a carrier gas as hydrogen purified with palladium cells, potentially reducing production costs and increasing safety. They also found that the use of a gas purifier with ultrahigh-purity ammonia reduced oxygen contamination so that InGaN quantum wells grown in the gas exhibited photoluminescence.

Jeffrey Spiegelman, president of Aeronex, will present the results of the study at the Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Expo in Boston, which will be held July 9 to 11.