Patent Number: 052987590
Section: description

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The photo-cracker cell of the invention is a device for producing a monomeric (atomic) beam of Group V or Group VI atoms by photodissociation of the effluent from a conventional thermal effusion cell in MBE, a thermal cracker in gas-source MBE, or parent gas molecules from an injector in MOMBE. The atomic beam thus produced can be used for the growth or doping of semiconductor thin films. The availability of an atomic beam offers distinct advantages over conventional sources in terms of control of the composition and doping of layers grown by MBE, gas-source MBE, and MOMBE. Currently, MBE gas and solid sources utilize thermal "cracking" in an attempt to dissociate the tetramer and dimer components that are produced by simple molecular effusion sources. However, the generation of monomeric beams of Group V and VI elements by thermal dissociation is very inefficient, and the monomer fraction from such sources is extremely low. In the present invention, UV light is used to photodissociate the output beam from a thermal cell, thereby achieving a very high fractional content of monomeric species in the beam. As contemplated herein, the Group V species typically comprises arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb), while the Group VI species comprises tellurium (Te) and selenium (Se). However, it will be readily appreciated that the teachings of the present invention are not to be construed as limited to these particular species. The purpose of the photo-cracker cell of the invention is to generate pure atomic beams, that is, beams of monomeric species, of Group V and VI elements in order to improve the control of composition and doping of semiconductor layers by MBE, gas-source MBE, and MOMBE. This improvement results from the increased sticking coefficient of monomeric species on a semiconductor surface compared to that of dimer or tetramer clusters, and the ability to monitor and control the flux of an atomic beam. The low efficiency of presently-employed thermal cracking of Group V and VI clusters in MBE, gas-source MBE, and MOMBE leads to a large fraction of dimers and tetramers in the beam. This limits the precision of composition and doping control because of the low sticking coefficients of the molecular species and the effects of co-adsorption on the incorporation rate of atoms into the growing layer. An example is described for the growth of GaAs.sub.x Sb.sub.1-x using a monomer source for the antimony flux (which has near-unity sticking coefficient). In this application, an antimony flux is established which produces the desired 1-x value with respect to the Ga flux. The As flux is then allowed to flood the surface in excess to provide sufficient Group V species to react and combine with the remaining gallium, thus producing the desired alloy. Since the sticking coefficient of atomic Sb is high, virtually all of the Sb flux contributes to layer growth. The As over-pressure provides the remaining Group V species for utilization of the Ga flux, and the excess is re-evaporated (as occurs in conventional GaAs growth, in which an excess As flux is also employed). The applications for an atomic cracker cell extend from (a) III-V material growth, where the Group V source has a direct influence on growth rate and alloy composition, to (b) Group IV material growth, where Group V elements are used as n-type dopants, and to (c) II-VI growth, where Group VI elements control the composition and Group V elements are dopants. Thus, the potential applications of a monomer source are very diverse. The basic embodiment of the photo-cracker cell of the present invention is depicted in FIGS. 1-2. The photo-cracker cell 10 utilizes ultraviolet (UV) light from a flashlamp 12 to photodissociate molecular beams 14 comprised of Group V or VI clusters. The photo-cracker cell is positioned in the output stream of a source cell, indicated at 16. By "source cell" is meant a thermal effusion cell in MBE, a thermal cracker cell in gas-source MBE, or a gas injector in MOMBE. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-2, the flashlamp 12 is placed along one focus of an elliptically-shaped, reflective cavity 18, with the molecular beam path 14 lying along the other focus. The relative placement of the flashlamp 12 and the molecular beam path 14 in the elliptically-shaped, reflective cavity 18 is depicted in FIG. 2. In this configuration, most of the light emanating from the lamp 12 is collected and focused onto the beam 14 of molecules, and thus the highest photodissociation efficiency can be achieved. One concern is that the flashlamp 12 might gradually become coated with the material from the beam 14 due to the random transverse component of particle velocity following photodissociation. Coating of the lamp 12 due to this effect can be prevented or at least minimized, with little penalty in dissociation efficiency, by interposing a curved, reflective shield 20 between the lamp and the beam path to block the line-of-sight path between the lamp and beam 14. This shield 20 is shown in the perspective drawing of FIG. 1 and the top plan view of FIG. 2. In the embodiment described, the photo-cracker cell is placed at the end of a thermal effusion cell in MBE, at the end of a thermal cracker cell in gas-source MBE, or at the gas injector of MOMBE. Some modification to the existing apparatus may be required to accommodate the photo-cracker cell in this embodiment; however, in this configuration, the source-to-sample distance is not substantially increased. FIGS. 3-4 depict a mechanical configuration for the photo-cracker cell of the invention. In this configuration, the flashlamp 12 is housed inside an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV)-compatible quartz tube 22 which is open to air on one end. The quartz tube 22 extends into a vacuum chamber housing 24, through which the beam 14 also passes. This arrangement provides for easy replacement of the lamp 12 without opening the vacuum chamber housing 24 and also facilitates cooling of the lamp with either water or air. The quartz tube 22 is secured to the vacuum chamber 24 by removable means 26. As shown in FIG. 4, the photo-cracker cell 10 can be built with conventional vacuum flanges 28, 30 near the entrance 32 and exit 34, respectively, thereof, so that it can be conveniently added to any existing MBE, gas-source MBE, or MOMBE system by simply interposing the cell between the growth chamber (shown generally at 36) and an existing source cell 16 (effusion cell, thermal cracker cell, or gas injector). In such an event, the change in geometry may cause a reduction in Group V or Group VI beam flus. However, even if the flux is reduced, the greater efficiency of incorporation obtained using the substantially monomeric beam more than compensates for this tradeoff. Alternatively, exit portion 34 and flange 30 may be eliminated and replaced by a larger flange 35 at the base of the cell 10, as shown in FIG. 4, for incorporation into the growth chamber, the flange 35 being bolted onto the wall of the growth chamber, and thereby permitting a reduction in the distance between the source and the substrate from that of the configuration immediately described above. In an alternate embodiment, depicted in FIG. 5, a UV laser source 38 may be used in place of the flashlamp 12 of FIGS. 1-4, with little modification to the cell design. The UV laser source 38 is positioned outside the vacuum chamber 24, with the UV radiation 40 introduced into the vacuum chamber through an opening 26a at means 26 and distributed into the chamber by a plurality of angled, partially reflecting mirrors 42 (of appropriate reflectivity to ensure substantially uniform irradiation) positioned serially along the length of the quartz tube 22. The angle of the mirrors is off of the line, or axis, defined by the quartz tube 22 and the molecular beam path 14. For example, the mirrors may be 45.degree. off-axis. As above, the UV radiation 40 is reflected by the elliptical cavity 18 to illuminate a substantial portion of the length of the beam 14. The UV radiation employed is dependent on the molecular species being cracked. For example, cracking As.sub.4 (tetramer) to monomeric (atomic) As requires a different wavelength than cracking As.sub.2 (dimer) to monomeric As. Thus, while a single wavelength source, such as UV laser 28 may be employed in the practice of the invention, preferably, UV lamp 12, which provides a broader wavelength range, is employed. Such a UV lamp is advantageously a high intensity discharge lamp, and may be continuous or pulsed to provide a sufficiently high photon output to photodissociate substantially all the dimer and tetramer species. If the UV light source is pulsed, the pulse length must be long enough and the intensity of the photon flux must be high enough to photodissociate substantially all the molecules (i.e., dimers and tetramers) in the irradiated portion of the molecular beam. Further, the repetition rate, or time between pulses, must be short compared to the transit time of the Group V or Group VI species along the beam path 14. As used herein, the UV wavelength range applicable in the practice of the present invention generally ranges from about 180 to 400 nm. The highest efficiency of photo-cracking is obtained by providing an elliptical focussing arrangement, as described above, and accordingly, this arrangement is preferred. However, other focussing configurations and even non-focussing configurations may alternatively be employed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. The beam of Group V or Group VI species that is produced in accordance with the invention is substantially monomeric. By this is meant that whereas thermal cracking produces a beam that, at best, contains about a small fraction of monomeric species, the present invention, employing photo-cracking (UV light), is expected to produce a beam that contains at least about a ten-fold increase in monomeric species. Thus, there has been disclosed a method and apparatus for the production of substantially monomeric Group V or Group VI metal species. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications of an obvious nature may be made, and all such changes and modifications are considered to fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.