Growth of semiconductors by the close-spaced vapor transport technique: A review

Abstract

The close-spaced vapor transport (CSVT) is an efficient and cost-effective technique that allows the growth of polycrystalline as well as epitaxial thin layers of semiconductors. The close spacing between a source and a substrate, introduced in 1963 as a special feature in the vapor phase method, has been applied to about 18 semiconductors with a special focus on CdTe and GaAs. This paper reviews the close-spaced technique, the models presented to explain the film growth rates, the transport reactions, and film characteristics for all the semiconductors that have been obtained by CSVT. All-thin-film structures for solar cells or other applications are certainly feasible with the use of the CSVT technique when a good lattice matching exists between the successive layers.