Transport phenomena in radial flow MOCVD reactor with three concentric vertical inlets

Transport phenomena in radial flow metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactor with three concentric vertical inlets are studied by two-dimensional numerical modeling. By varying the parameters such as gas pressure, flow rates combination of multi-inlets, geometric shapes and sizes of reactor and flow distributor, temperatures of susceptor and ceiling, and susceptor rotation, the corresponding velocity, temperature, and concentration fields inside the reactor are obtained; the onset and change of flow recirculation cells under influences of those parameters are determined. It is found that recirculation cells, originated from flow separation near the bend of reactor inlets, are affected mainly by the reactor height and shape, the operating pressure, the flow rates combination of multi-inlets, and the mean temperature between susceptor and ceiling. By increasing the flow rate of mid-inlet and the mean temperature, decreasing the pressure, maintaining the reactor height below certain criteria, and trimming the bends of reactor wall and flow distributor to streamlined shape, the recirculation cells can be minimized so that smooth and rectilinear flow prevails in the susceptor region, which corresponds to smooth and rectilinear isotherms and larger reactant concentration near the susceptor. For the optimized reactor shape, the reactor size can be enlarged to diameter D = 40 cm and height H = 2 cm without flow recirculation. The susceptor rotation over a few hundred rpm around the reactor central axis will induce the recirculation cell near the exit and deflect the streamlines near the susceptor, which is not the case for vertical reactors. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.