Method of making large surface area filaments for the production of polysilicon in a cvd reactor

A CVD reaction system for bulk production of polysilicon comprising:

• a CVD reactor having:
• a base plate system configured with filament supports;
• an enclosure attachable to said base plate system so as to form a deposition chamber;
• a power supply adjusted and configured for use with the solid rod silicon filament;
• electrical feedthroughs in said base plate system, said electrical feedthroughs being adapted for connection of the power supply to said solid rod silicon filament;
• a gas inlet in said base plate system connectable to a source of silicon-containing gas;
• and
• a gas outlet in said base plate system whereby gas may be released from said chamber;
• a solid rod silicon filament having a solid rod surface area;
• and
• a high surface area silicon filament having a surface area greater than the solid rod surface area,
• said solid rod silicon filament and said high surface area filament being usable interchangeably in the CVD reactor without reconfiguration or replacement of the power supply of the CVD reactor.

A method of modifying a CVD reactor system so as to increase its rate of bulk polysilicon production, the CVD reactor system including a reactor having:

• a base plate system configured with filament supports;
• an enclosure attachable to said base plate system so as to form a deposition chamber;
• a power supply adjusted and configured for use with a solid rod silicon filament having a specified solid rod diameter, a specified solid rod length, and a specified solid rod surface area;
• electrical feedthroughs in said base plate system, said electrical feedthroughs being adapted for connection of the power supply to both ends of said solid rod silicon filament;
• a gas inlet in said base plate system connectable to a source of silicon-containing gas;
• and
• a gas outlet in said base plate system whereby gas may be released from said chamber,
• the method comprising:
• providing a high surface area silicon filament having a length substantially equal to the solid rod length and a surface area greater than the solid rod surface area, said high surface area filament having dimensions that cause the high surface area filament to be usable in the CVD reactor without reconfiguring or replacing the power supply of the CVD reactor;
• installing the high surface area filament in the CVD reactor;
• introducing a silicon-containing gas into the deposition chamber through the gas inlet;
• and
• causing the power supply of the CVD reactor to apply electrical energy to the high surface area filament without adjusting, reconfiguring, or replacing the power supply, thereby initiating heating of the high surface area filament and causing silicon to be deposited from the silicon-containing gas onto the high surface area filament.