Rayleigh Light Scattering Measurements of Transient Gas Temperature in a Rapid Chemical Vapor Deposition Reactor

Abstract

A laser-induced Rayleigh light scattering (RLS) system was used to measure transient gas temperatures in a simulated rapid chemical vapor deposition (RCVD) reactor. The test section geometry was an axisymmetric jet of carrier gas directed down, impinging on a heated wafer surface. RLS was used to measure instantaneous gas temperature at several locations above the wafer as it was heated from room temperature to 475 K. Gas flow rate and wafer temperature correspond to jet Reynolds number Rei=60, wafer maximum Grashof number GrH=4.4×106, and maximum mixed convection parameter GrH/Rei2=1200; all conditions typical of impinging jet reactors common in the numerical literature. Uncertainty of RLS transient temperature from a propagated error analysis was ±2–4 K. Peak gas temperature fluctuations were large (in the order of 25 to 75 °C). Both flow visualization and RLS measurements showed that the flow field was momentum dominated prior to heating initiation, but became unstable by GrH/Rei2=5. It then consisted of buoyancy-induced plumes and recirculations. Up to the peak wafer temperature, the flow field continued to be highly three-dimensional, unsteady, and dominated by buoyancy. RLS measurements are shown to provide information on carrier gas instantaneous temperature and flow field stability, both critical issues in RCVD processing. [S0022-1481(00)02401-4]