Quick Cleaning Process for Silicon Carbide Chemical Vapor Deposition Reactor

A quick cleaning process was developed for a silicon carbide chemical vapor deposition reactor. For this purpose, the stability of the susceptor coating film made of pyrolytic carbon was evaluated by means of exposing it to 100% chlorine trifluoride gas for 10 min at various temperatures. The original surface morphology of the pyrolytic carbon film was maintained under 480 degrees C. The fluorine atoms incorporated into the pyrolytic carbon film were removed by annealing at 900 degrees C either in ambient hydrogen or in ambient nitrogen. Finally, the 30-mu m thick silicon carbide film formed on the pyrolytic carbon was successfully cleaned by the chlorine trifluoride gas either at 400 degrees C for 30 min or at 460 degrees C for 15 min and by additional annealing in ambient nitrogen at 900 degrees C. (C) The Author(s) 2017. Published by ECS.