Toby,
In trying to decipher your debate with Mr. Gottlieb on the merits of MBE vs. MOVPE, I came across the following description of MBE from a company known as EPI that seems to be a supplier to Pirelli:
From epimbe.com
Molecular Beam Epitaxy or MBE is a sophisticated deposition technique performed in ultra high
vacuum primarily for the growth of GaAs devices as well as other III/V materials, and II/VI
materials.
High performance electronic, optoelectronic and photonic devices usually involve complex
semiconductor heterostructure layers, and must be grown by advanced thin-film growth
techniques such as Molecular Beam Epitaxy. In MBE, atoms are delivered to a substrate through
an ultra-pure ultra-high vacuum atmosphere. The atmosphere provided by the MBE chamber
allows the atoms to arrive on the substrate without colliding with other atoms or molecules, thus
keeping the growth free of other contaminants. The heated substrate surface allows the arriving
atoms to distribute themselves evenly across the surface forming an almost perfect crystal
structure.
In MBE the substrate is placed in an UHV chamber with direct line of sight to several elemental
species each of which is in an evaporation furnace commonly referred to as an effusion cell.
Through use of shutters and precise control of the effusion cell temperatures almost any material
composition and doping can be achieved. Further, the composition may be controlled with a
resolution of virtually one atomic layer."
A press release last August indicates that EPI delivered such an MBE system to Pirelli.
New Product Release
Editorial Contact:
David Reamer
EPI MBE Products
612-653-0488
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Single Wafer Production Mod GEN II MBE System
Delivered to Pirelli
(August 13, 1996) St. Paul, MN - EPI MBE Products Group has delivered a
single wafer production Mod GEN II MBE System to Pirelli (Milan, Italy) for
the production of 980nm lasers, in the recently formed Pirelli Laser Technology
Division. The Manager of Pirelli's Laser Technology Division, Dr. Andy Quinn,
has stated that the Mod GEN II system is performing well and providing their
laser production facility with the required quantity of high quality epi-wafers.
The Mod GEN II System was fully operational four weeks from delivery and
the first wafers for production qualification were grown some two weeks later.
The quick start-up and limited system down time can be attributed to EPI's
"Fast Start Program" and Pirelli's experienced MBE team led by Dr. Mark
McElhinney.
For more information contact David Reamer, EPI MBE Products
1290 Hammond Road, St. Paul, MN 55110
phone 612-653-0488, fax 612-653-0725 or e-mail info@epimbe.com.
Then, in September, EPI announced a delivery of such a system to Lasertron:
EPI MBE Products Group to Deliver MOD GEN II
Production System to Lasertron, Inc.
(September 3, 1996) St. Paul, MN - EPI MBE Products Group has received a
purchase order from Lasertron , Inc. (Bedford, MA) for a single-wafer MOD
GEN II MBE System. The MOD GEN II will generate InGaAs/AlGaAs material
for Lasertron's 980nm pump laser, manufactured under a licensing agreement
with IBM, Zurich.
In collaboration with other 980nm groups, EPI has optimized the MOD GEN II
with the introduction of several improved features. It is expected downtime will
be reduced, and throughput and yields will be increased.
EPI currently offers a complete line of research systems along with the MOD
GEN II system. A new addition to the EPI line of systems includes the GEN
2000 multiwafer production system scheduled for prototype testing first quarter
1997.
In your post to Mr. Gottlieb, you indicate that "90% of the world uses [MOVPE] for optoelectronics because it offers higher throughput and lower cost of ownership [than MBE]." Could you please revisit this issue and indicate the importance of the MBE/MOVPE debate.
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