PBN Composite Heaters

Semicorex PBN Composite Heaters merge the excellent thermal conductivity of pyrolytic graphite with the chemical inertness and electrical insulation of pyrolytic boron nitride. These heaters are built from a very high purity graphite and PBN that is applied using a high quality CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) process under high purity deposition conditions. Each individual accomplishment layer has been deposited with very extreme controllability to ensure ultra-high purity and consistent thermal properties. The graphite core, which provides quick and uniform heating throughout, is protected from oxidation and contamination by the PBN capsule; this makes the heater ideal for vacuum gas environments and inert gas environments. These PBN heaters are purposefully designed for use in MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy) reactors, CVD reactors, and other crystal growth systems.

The pyrolytic boron nitride-pyrolytic graphite (PBN-PG) composite heater is a heater that uses high-insulation PBN as the substrate and uses low-pressure thermal decomposition chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at low pressure (below 10torr) and high temperature to coat the conductive PG. The main components of this composite heater are pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) and pyrolytic graphite (PG). Due to its excellent corrosion resistance and high temperature resistance, it is mainly used for semiconductor substrate heating (used in MBE, MOCVD, sputtering coating, etc.); superconductor substrate heating; sample heating during sample analysis; electron microscope sample heating; metal heating; metal evaporation heating source, etc.

The PBN heaters can withstand operating temperatures of up to 1600°C in vacuum and have an improved ability to withstand thermal shock over any metal based alternatives that you would rely on. The surface of the heater is extremely smooth and dense and produces significantly less particles during operation which is critical for applications where contamination cannot be tolerated such as semiconductor wafer processing.

The composite structure provides excellent thermal uniformity across the heater surface, and its resistive paths can be customized to allow for a tailored heat distribution. This design enables rapid ramp-up and cooldown cycles during processing without cracking and delaminating due to the same thermal expansion coefficients of the used materials. The electrodes are capable of withstanding continuous high current operation and are also compatible in vacuum.

Semicorex provides unlimited design flexibility for unique shapes, sizes and power requirements when necessary, to satisfy specific application needs; whether it be for standard wafer sizes, or more complex geometries, we guarantee dimensional accuracy and thermal uniformity in every unit produced.

PBN Composite Heaters are perfect for ultra-clean applications, including:

• MBE systems for III-V and II-VI compound semiconductor processing
• Vacuum coating systems for optical components
• Crystal growth systems for sapphire and SiC
• High-purity thermal processing for research and development lab environments.