News Article
World's most productive MOCVD reactor revealed by Aixtron
The reactor, optimised for cost effective LED manufacturing, is configured so that the only part that needs to be exchanged is the susceptor plate. What’s more, only very minor process tuning factors need to be applied to transfer processes from CRIUS II-L to the new platform.
After the successful introduction of CRIUS II-L, Aixtron SE is announcing the next milestone in terms of MOCVD reactor productivity.
The novel CRIUS II-XL configuration offers a reactor capacity as high as 19x4 inch, thus providing one of the world's highest throughputs and productivities. Additionally, Aixtron says its CRIUS II-XL provides best-in-class cost of ownership and footprint efficiency.
CRIUS-II-XL in 19 x 4 inch configuration
CRIUS II-XL builds on the hardware setup of CRIUS II-L. "The only part that needs to be exchanged is the susceptor plate, which means that the larger capacity comes with virtually no extra cost", states Johannes Lindner, Aixtron's program manager for Close Coupled Showerhead (CCS) reactor technology. "This was one of the key design criteria in order to make the transition from CRIUS II-L to CRIUS II-XL as smooth as possible. Furthermore, only very minor process tuning factors need to be applied to transfer processes to CRIUS II-XL."
This latest version of the CRIUS reactor family is again a result of a detailed analysis of market requirements, in particular with respect to LED manufacturing cost. "There is a strong need for cost-efficient LED manufacturing, and we know how much MOCVD can contribute to this cost reduction", says Rainer Beccard, Vice President of Marketing at Aixtron.
"Amongst many parameters, it is the reactor capacity which has the biggest impact on the total cost of ownership. Thus we have decided to design a 19x4 inch setup. This configuration has been extensively tested in Aixtron's application lab, making sure it provides perfect uniformity and yield together with its impressive capacity. The system is optimised for wafer sizes between 2 inch and 8 inch; changing from one wafer size to another requires a simple carrier plate exchange without further hardware or process adjustment."
CRIUS II-XL is the latest addition to Aixtron's CCS product line, which has proven to provide ultimate process stability and robust operation through many years. Standard features of this MOCVD system include an in-situ reactor height adjustment, allowing the user to choose optimum reactor geometries for any process regime, and the unique ARGUS in-situ monitoring device.
