Heating elements for MOCVD

Metal organic chemical vapour phase deposition (MOCVD) is an epitaxial process for creating crystalline semiconductor layers for LEDs, solar cells and other optoelectronic components.

With Plansee's new heating element designs and patented coatings the service life of MOCVD systems can be increased while at the same time improving the process efficiency.

The heating elements in an MOCVD system reach temperatures of up to 2000°C. At such high temperatures, high-performance materials as tungsten and molybdenum are indispensable for the various gas manifolds, shield packs and heating elements.

In total, Plansee supplies more than 50 different components for MOCVD. Plansee is not only an established original equipment manufacturer for MOCVD systems, but they are also active in the spare parts market.

New designs enable homogeneous temperature distribution

As far as possible, the semiconductor layers in an LED should emit light of the same wavelength. A homogeneous temperature distribution in the MOCVD system is essential for this since any discrepancy in the temperature profile will change the colour of the emitted light.

Plansee optimises the design of the heating components according to complex finite element calculations carried out by their engineers to simulate the MOCVD process in each of the systems. With the new components, a more homogeneous temperature distribution is obtained throughout the reactor. Like this, the customer benefits from a greater yield from each coating cycle and, thus, from increased productivity.

Patented coatings deliver energy savings

The more efficiently heat is radiated by the heating elements, the less they need to be heated up. Therefore, Plansee has developed a patented coating process to maximise heat radiation. With the tungsten-based coating being very porous, the surface area of the heating elements is increased considerably.

By consequence, also the emissivity of the surface is increased. This leads to several benefits for the customer: Power consumption is reduced by the lower working temperature and additionally, the service life of the heating elements is extended by several months. This, in turn, reduces the cost of manufacturing LEDs.