Patent ID: 7377977

Claim:
A reactor system for growing a crystal on a substrate, the reactor system comprising: a housing comprising a first, inlet end, and a second, outlet end, the inlet end defining a reactive stream intake port and a buffer stream intake port, the outlet end defining at least one output port; a base coupled to the outlet end of the housing and configured to receive the substrate; a reactive gas injector configured to inject reactive gases into the housing through the reactive stream intake port to produce a reactive stream of the reactive gases; a buffer gas injector configured to inject buffer gas into the housing through the buffer stream intake port to produce a buffer stream of the buffer gas; and a first heat source configured and disposed to heat the buffer stream; wherein the inlet end, the reactive gas injector, and the buffer gas injector are configured such that the heated buffer stream is disposed between the reactive stream and a wall of the housing and inhibits components of or produced in the reactive stream from reaching the housing wall and inhibits materials produced or emitted by the housing wall from reaching the reactive stream before the reactive stream reaches the substrate, and the first heat source is configured to heat the buffer stream to a sufficient temperature such that when the buffer stream interacts with the reactive stream, the buffer stream will heat the reactive stream enough to cause the reactive gases to react with each other to form a desired material before reaching the substrate, the desired material for forming a desired crystal on the substrate.