Report of work done for technical assistance agreement 1269 between Sandia National Laboratories and the Watkins-Johnson Company: Chemical reaction mechanisms for computational models of SiO{sub 2} CVD

The use of computational modeling to improve equipment and process designs for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactors is becoming increasingly common. Commercial codes are available that facilitate the modeling of chemically-reacting flows, but chemical reaction mechanisms must be separately developed for each system of interest. One f the products of the Watkins-Johnson Company (WJ) is a reactor marketed to semiconductor manufacturers for the atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) of silicon oxide films. In this process, TEOS (tetraethoxysilane, Si(OC{sub 2}H{sub 5}){sub 4}) and ozone (O{sub 3}) are injected (in nitrogen and oxygen carrier gases) over hot silicon wafers that are being carried through the system on a moving belt. As part of their equipment improvement process, WJ is developing computational models of this tool. In this effort, they are collaborating with Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to draw on Sandia`s experience base in understanding and modeling the chemistry of CVD processes