Heat Transfer Inside the Physical Vapor Transport Reactor

The physical vapor transport (PVT) method is widely adopted to produce semiconductor materials including silicon carbide (SiC). This work focuses on the role of thermal radiation for the heat transfer inside the PVT reactor. The radiation is characterized by two dimensionless parameters relating to the SiC charge and to the growth chamber. A simulation program is set up with the finite-volume method (FVM), considering heat generation, conduction, and radiation under the steady-state condition. Comprehensive results are obtained by tuning values of dimensionless parameters and the associated controlling variables, such as the cooling temperature and the coil current density, and illustrated in the phase diagrams. From the study, we find that the charge size has negligible influence on the temperature field, the crucible conduction determines the temperature level, and the relative strength of the chamber radiation against the crucible conduction modifies the temperature field on the SiC ingot. Finally, design guidelines are proposed with the instructive phase diagram to achieve the optimized thermal performance of the PVT reactor.