Computational analysis of horizontal cold wall CVD reactors at low pressure : Application to tungsten deposition from pyrolysis of W(CO)₆

Abstract
A three-dimensional mathematical model has been developed for the simulation of horizontal cold wall CVD reactors aiming at the design and scale-up of new CVD reactors as well as at the optimisation of the operation of existing systems. The conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy are discretized by the finite-volume method and solved on a curvilinear non-orthogonal grid, assuming steady state conditions, laminar flow and ideal gas behaviour. The model accounts for the dependence of physical properties on temperature, pressure and composition, for realistic reaction kinetics, radiation, as well as for multi-component diffusion and thermal diffusion effects. Results from the application of the model to the low-pressure deposition of tungsten from W(CO)₆ are presented and discussed.