Abstract: A method of producing a silicon single crystal thin film having a smooth surface in a stable manner in vapor-phase growth. A silicon single crystal thin film is grown by mixing silicon chloride raw material with hydrogen gas to form a process gas and supplying the process gas to a semiconductor single crystal substrate at a growth temperature, wherein the thin film is grown at a growth rate equal to or higher than 80% of the maximum growth rate at the growth temperature.

Abstract: A method of producing a high-purity and high-quality thin film, wherein chlorine trifluoride is used as a cleaning gas for the purpose of lowering temperature at which a cleaning operation is conducted, the cleaning operation is conducted at a temperature in the range of from room temperature to 500.degree. C., a member whose surface is made of silicon carbide is used and a combined content of free silicon and free carbon in the surface region of the member is in the range of 2 wt % or less so that corrosion of the member is prevented.

Abstract: A method for growing a high-quality single-crystalline semiconductor film on a substrate based on vapor phase growth while rotating the substrate and preventing micro-particles generated by a rotary drive unit from adhering onto the major plane of the substrate. The substrate 2 set inside the reaction chamber 21 is rotated using the rotary drive unit 7, a reaction gas 10 is fed to the major plane side of the substrate 2, a purge gas 3a is fed to the back space of the substrate in the reaction chamber 21 to replace a space 11a with a carrier gas atmosphere, where the rotary drive unit 7 is located in the purge gas discharge section 13, a purge gas discharge duct 12 is connected to the purge gas discharge section, and further to the purge gas discharge duct 12 is connected a gas flow controller 8, and serially in the downstream side thereof is connected an evacuation pump 9.

Abstract: A method of growing a single crystal thin film characterized by heating a silicon single crystal substrate placed in a reactor vessel, then while the temperature of the silicon single crystal substrate is 850.degree. C. or below, introducing a mixed gas composed of hydrogen fluoride gas and hydrogen gas into the reactor vessel for removing a native oxide film on a main surface of the silicon single crystal substrate in an ambient of hydrogen gas; and thereafter, growing a single crystal thin film by a vapor phase epitaxy on said main surface free from the native oxide film at a temperature of 1,000.degree. C. or below. With this method, both evaporation of a dopant caused by outdiffusion and autodoping can be suppressed with a substantial reduction of the processing time.

Abstract: In the formation of a thin film on the surface of a semiconductor crystal substrate by using a horizontal type vapor phase growth apparatus, the distribution of the thickness and resistivity of the thin film can be properly obtained by adjusting the concentration distribution of the raw material gas in the mixture gas in the width direction of the reaction vessel over the substrate surface. And in the reaction vessel, carrier gas is supplied from the position close to the transfer port of the substrate, and raw material gas is supplied from the position located in the downstream side of a vortex generation region caused by the flow of the carrier gas.

Abstract: A reactor for chemical vapor deposition which is capable of producing semiconductor crystalline thin films having small transition widths. The reactor includes a cold-wall type reaction chamber that is equipped with a gas inlet at one end and a gas outlet at the other end and a semiconductor substrate support which supports a semiconductor substrate so that a main surface thereof is horizontal. A reactant gas is caused to flow horizontally through the reaction chamber to effect the growing of a crystalline thin film on the main surface of the semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate is arranged within the reactor chamber within a distance W which is measured from a leading edge of the semiconductor substrate at a most upstream position along a direction toward the gas outlet where W indicates an internal width of the reaction chamber.

Abstract: A method of producing a high-quality single crystal thin film in which a temperature of a semiconductor single crystal substrate is raised or lowered in a short time with no occurrence of slippage in the substrate. In a cold-wall type reaction vessel, a substrate is placed on a holder which has no heating capability in the reaction vessel and a thin film is grown on the substrate, while a reaction gas is fed to flow in one direction through the reaction vessel, and at the same time, a temperature profile on the substrate along the flow direction of the reaction gas is adjusted to be uniform by a spatially controlled heating energy distribution and/or with the help of an auxiliary heating region provided at an upstream part of the substrate.

Abstract: A method for vapor-phase growth which allows an epiwafer of a smooth surface free from microroughness to be produced is provided. This method comprises a step of heating up a silicon single crystal substrate in an ambience of an inert gas started at a temperature of less than 800.degree. C. and a step of removing a native oxide film formed on the surface of the silicon single crystal substrate by etching with hydrogen gas in an ambience of hydrogen gas at a temperature of not less than 950.degree. C. and not more than 1190.degree. C. prior to the vapor-phase growth.

Abstract: In the preparation stage before the manufacturing of the single crystal thin film 13, growth conditions are determined by conducting a vapor phase growth without rotating the rotatable holder 14 on its axis and making adjustments such that the growth rate of the single crystal thin film 13 is laterally asymmetric with respect to the virtual center axis on the holder 14 parallel to the feeding direction of the source material gas 19, and then said single crystal thin film is manufactured based on said growth conditions.

Abstract: An apparatus for a vapor-phase epitaxial growth of a thin film on a substrate, which attains a decrease in the transition width, and at the same time, enables the thin film to be formed in a uniform thickness. This apparatus comprises a reaction vessel 18 of a flat shape, supply nozzles 15 for feeding a source gas 19 from a peripheral part of the reaction vessel 18, a susceptor 13 for holding a semiconductor single crystal substrate(s) 12 substantially horizontally, an infrared heating lamp 14, and a gas outlet 11 provided in a central part of an upper wall of the reaction vessel 18. Owing to this apparatus, the source gas 19 is gathered in a central part of the reaction vessel 18 without forming a vortex and then is discharged through the gas outlet 11.

Abstract: A light-emitting diode prepared by a new process is disclosed. The light-emitting diode has compound semiconductor epitaxial layers composed of GaAs.sub.1-x P.sub.x (0.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.1) on a compound semiconductor GaP single-crystal substrate, and has a light-emitting layer provided with a p-n junction formed in the surface layer region of the epitaxial layers. The diode is characterized in that it has a total maximum thickness of the epitaxial layers 20 to 40 .mu.m.The process for preparing the diode is characterized in that the process can determine a required maximum thickness of the compound semiconductor epitaxial layers by presuming light output power from the thickness of the epitaxial layers based on the following equation:L=exp(Ax.sub.0 +B)+Cwhere A, B and C are definite values obtained from experiments conducted, L is light output power and x.sub.0 is the total thickness of the epitaxial layers.