Chemical vapor deposition

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a thin film deposition method used to produce high-quality, and high-performance, solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce electrically conductive layers in the range of a few 100 nm up to a few μm.

In typical CVD, the wafer (substrate) is exposed to one or more volatile , which react and/or decompose on the substrate surface, in order to produce the desired deposit. Frequently, volatile by-products are also produced, which are removed by gas flow through the reaction chamber.

Microfabrication processes widely use CVD to deposit materials in various forms, including: monocrystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous, and epitaxial. These materials include: silicon (dioxide, carbide, nitride, oxynitride), carbon (fiber, nanofibers, nanotubes, diamond and graphene), fluorocarbons, filaments, tungsten, titanium nitride and various high-κ dielectrics.

The term chemical vapour deposition was coined in 1960 by John M. Blocher, Jr. who intended to differentiate chemical from physical vapour deposition (PVD).