A method for the continuous vapour deposition of silicon on substrates, including the following steps: a) introducing at least one substrate into a reaction chamber; b) introducing a process gas and at least one gaseous silicon precursor compound into the reaction chamber; c) forming a gaseous mixture of at least one silicon-based intermediate product coexisting with the gaseous silicon precursor compound and the process gas; d) forming a silicon layer by vapour deposition of silicon from the gaseous silicon precursor compound and/or the silicon-based intermediate product on the substrate; e) discharging an excess of the gaseous mixture from the reaction chamber; f) returning at least one of the constituents of the excess of the gaseous mixture, selected from the silicon precursor compound, the silicon-based intermediate product and/or the process gas into the reaction chamber, wherein introducing the gaseous silicon precursor compound into the reaction chamber is regulated such that the molar ratio of the silicon-based intermediate product to the silicon precursor compound has a value of 0.2:0.8 to 0.5:0.5.

A method of improving polycrystalline silicon growth in a reactor, including: introducing a chlorosilane feed composition comprising trichlorosilane and dichlorosilane into a deposition chamber, wherein the deposition chamber contains a substrate; blending the chlorosilane feed composition with hydrogen gas to form a feed composition; adjusting a baseline flow of chlorosilane and hydrogen gas into the deposition chamber to achieve a pre-determined total flow and a pre-determined chlorosilane feed composition set point; applying pressure to the deposition chamber and energy to the substrate in the deposition chamber to form polycrystalline silicon; measuring the amount of dichlorosilane present in the chlorosilane feed composition and determining an offset value from a target value of dichlorosilane present in the chlorosilane feed composition; adjusting the chlorosilane feed composition set point by an amount inversely proportional to the dichlorosilane offset value; and depositing the formed polycrystalline silicon onto the substrate.

A system for chemical vapor densification includes a reaction chamber having an inlet and outlet; a trap; a conduit fluidly coupled between the outlet of the reaction chamber and the trap; a cryogenic cooler fluidly coupled to the trap though a frustoconical conduit; a first exit path from the cryogenic cooler that vents hydrogen gas to an exhaust; and a second exit path from the cryogenic cooler that recirculates silane and hydrocarbon-rich gas back to the inlet of the reaction chamberand a related method places a substrate in the reaction chamber; establishes a sub-atmospheric pressure inert gas atmosphere within the reaction chamber; densifies the substrate by inputting virgin gas into the reaction chamber; withdraws effluent gas from the reaction chamber; extracts silane and hydrocarbon-rich gas from the effluent gas; and recirculates the silane and hydrocarbon-rich gas back to the reaction chamber.

A system for chemical vapor infiltration and densification may comprise a reaction chamber and a plurality of conduits fluidly coupled to an exhaust outlet of the reaction chamber. A first set of conduits of the plurality of conduits may define a first flow path and a second set of conduits of the plurality of conduits may define a second flow path. The second flow path may be fluidly coupled to an inlet of the reaction chamber. A hydrogen extraction component may be in fluid communication with a least one of the first set of conduits or the second set of conduits.

A system for chemical vapor densification includes a reaction chamber having an inlet and outlet; a trap; a conduit fluidly coupled between the outlet of the reaction chamber and the trap; a cryogenic cooler fluidly coupled to the trap though a frustoconical conduit; a first exit path from the cryogenic cooler that vents hydrogen gas to an exhaust; and a second exit path from the cryogenic cooler that recirculates silane and hydrocarbon-rich gas back to the inlet of the reaction chamberand a related method places a substrate in the reaction chamber; establishes a sub-atmospheric pressure inert gas atmosphere within the reaction chamber; densifies the substrate by inputting virgin gas into the reaction chamber; withdraws effluent gas from the reaction chamber; extracts silane and hydrocarbon-rich gas from the effluent gas; and recirculates the silane and hydrocarbon-rich gas back to the reaction chamber.

A system for chemical vapor infiltration and densification may comprise a reaction chamber and a plurality of conduits fluidly coupled to an exhaust outlet of the reaction chamber. A first set of conduits of the plurality of conduits may define a first flow path and a second set of conduits of the plurality of conduits may define a second flow path. The second flow path may be fluidly coupled to an inlet of the reaction chamber. A hydrogen extraction component may be in fluid communication with a least one of the first set of conduits or the second set of conduits.

A system for chemical vapor densification includes a reaction chamber having an inlet and outlet; a trap; a conduit fluidly coupled between the outlet of the reaction chamber and the trap; a cryogenic cooler fluidly coupled to the trap though a frustoconical conduit; a first exit path from the cryogenic cooler that vents hydrogen gas to an exhaust; and a second exit path from the cryogenic cooler that recirculates silane and hydrocarbon-rich gas back to the inlet of the reaction chamberand a related method places a substrate in the reaction chamber; establishes a sub-atmospheric pressure inert gas atmosphere within the reaction chamber; densifies the substrate by inputting virgin gas into the reaction chamber; withdraws effluent gas from the reaction chamber; extracts silane and hydrocarbon-rich gas from the effluent gas; and recirculates the silane and hydrocarbon-rich gas back to the reaction chamber.

A method and system is provided to improve precursor utilization in pulsed atomic layer processes. The system integrates a chiller with a precursor ampoule to lower the temperature of the precursor ampoule, and thereby reduce the precursor vapor pressure. By lowering the ampoule temperature, the loss of excess unreacted precursor molecules is reduced, in order to improve precursor utilization efficiency in atomic layer processes.

Systems and methods for supplying a precursor material for an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process are provided. A gas supply provides one or more precursor materials to a deposition chamber. The deposition chamber receives the one or more precursor materials via an input line. A gas circulation system is coupled to an output line of the deposition chamber. The gas circulation system includes a gas composition detection system configured to produce an output signal indicating a composition of a gas exiting the deposition chamber through the output line. The gas circulation system also includes a circulation line configured to transport the gas exiting the deposition chamber to the input line. A controller is coupled to the gas supply. The controller controls the providing of the one or more precursor materials by the gas supply based on the output signal of the gas composition detection system.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a preferably elongated SiC solid, in particular of polytype 3C. The method according to the invention preferably includes at least the following steps: introducing at least a first source gas into a process chamber, said first source gas comprising Si, introducing at least one second source gas into the process chamber, the second source gas comprising C, electrically energizing at least one separator element disposed in the process chamber to heat the separator element, setting a deposition rate of more than 200 m/h, where a pressure in the process chamber of more than 1 bar is generated by the introduction of the first source gas and/or the second source gas, and where the surface of the deposition element is heated to a temperature in the range between 1300 C. and 1800 C.