Investigation of the gas Dynamics in an Upflow OMVPE Reactor by Raman Spectroscopy

The gas dynamics in a stagnation point upflow OMVPE reactor were studied by Raman spectroscopy. The gas temperature was measured as a function of inlet gas velocity and aspect ratio for both H$_2$ and N$_2$ carrier gases. The centerline temperature gradient was latger at higher inlet velocities and with the use of N$_2$, and only weakly dependent on the aspect ratio. a tracer molecule, CH$_4$, was used to investigate the steady state behavior of reactants in the reactor, and the use of a sweeping flow was found to be a suitable method for preventing wall deposition. The transient switching response of the gas manifold was also investigated. Under certain conditions (low velocities, unmatched flows) recirculation flows were apparent. Numerical calculations of the reactor gas dynamics gave reasonable agreement with experimental results when detailed thermal boundary conditions were included.