A versatile substrate heater for thermal and plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition

A simple and inexpensive substrate heater that can be used in both thermal- and plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (PECVD) systems has been constructed. This heater design can be used to achieve and sustain substrate temperatures as high as 650 degrees C with a minimal amount of outgassing under both CVD and PECVD conditions. Substrates are heated very quickly with all but the highest temperatures achieved within 30 min. The heater is also very robust, with a lifetime of more than 30 h of continuous use under vacuum with several heating and cooling cycles. We have used this heater design to thermally deposit TiS2 from 1-methyl-1-propanethiol and TICl4 in the temperature range of 200-500 degrees C. In addition, amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide (a-Si1-xCx:H) was deposited in the temperature range of 30-570 degrees C using a 13.56 MHz rf plasma reactor and a modified version of the same heater. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.