Control of Thin Film Growth in Chemical Vapor Deposition Manufacturing Systems: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

A study is carried out to design and optimize Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) systems for material fabrication. Design and optimization of the CVD process is necessary to satisfying strong global demand and ever increasing quality requirements for thin film production. Advantages of computer aided optimization include high design turnaround time, flexibility to explore a larger design space and the development and adaptation of automation techniques for design and optimization. A CVD reactor consisting of a vertical impinging jet at atmospheric pressure, for growing titanium nitride films, is studied for thin film deposition. Numerical modeling and simulation are used to determine the rate of deposition and film uniformity over a wide range of design variables and operating conditions. These results are used for system design and optimization. The optimization procedure employs an objective function characterizing film quality, productivity and operational costs based on reactor gas flow rate, susceptor temperature and precursor concentration. Parameter space mappings are used to determine the design space, while a minimization algorithm, such as the steepest descent method, is used to determine optimal operating conditions for the system. The main features of computer aided design and optimization, using these techniques, are discussed in detail.