Reactive gas modulation for group III/IV compound deposition systems

A method for growing a Group III or IV Compound semiconductor structure for a semiconductor device inside a vacuum chamber having a cathode and a plurality of anodes, comprising:

• (a) providing a template having a surface to the vacuum chamber;
• (b) providing at least one Group III or Group IV target material positioned on top of the cathode inside the vacuum chamber;
• (c) providing a reactive gas as a separate plasma to the vacuum chamber;
• (d) providing an inert gas to the vacuum chamber for surrounding the Group III or Group IV target material;
• (e) growing at least a first Group III or IV Compound layer on the template using a first magnetron sputtering process, wherein the first magnetron sputtering process includes:
• (i) bombarding atoms of the inert gas by electrons passing between an electrically positively charged anode and the cathode to produce positively charged inert gas cations, thereby prompting the resulting positively charged inert gas cations to bombard the target material to sputter the target material towards the template inside the vacuum chamber and react with the reactive gas to form a plasma of the Group III or IV Compound that rises inside the vacuum chamber to form a film of the Group III or IV Compound having covalent chemical bonds onto the template;
• (ii) modulation of the flow of the reactive gas inside the vacuum chamber during a duty cycle comprising a target-rich condition and a reactive-gas condition combining a frequency of about 1 Hz-16 Hz for the sputtering of the Group III or Group IV target material between the target-rich condition and the reactive gas-rich condition, wherein the reactive gas still flows into the vacuum chamber during the target-rich condition portion of the duty cycle;
• (f) wherein the modulation of the reactive gas during the duty cycle enhances the efficiency of the sputtering process for forming the Group III or IV Compound layer on the target, and improves the crystalline state of the resulting Group III or IV Compound layer within the semiconductor structure.