Modeling of large-scale horizontal reactor for silicon epitaxy

A detailed 3D simulation of a large-scale industrial cold-wall horizontal reactor for epitaxial silicon deposition is presented. Simulations showed that realistic inlet jets description is necessary to obtain a reliable picture of the system. Different chamber geometries are analyzed with the aim of reducing the “memory effects” during the dopant switching in junction production inside the same reactor chamber without wafers loading and unloading. Configurations inducing a graded gas expansion have been identified as contributing to the solution of the problem.