Radiation heated reactor process for chemical vapor deposition on substrates

Claim 1

In a method of chemically vapor-depositing a material onto the surfaces of a plurality of substrates within a reaction chamber wherein said substrates are heated while contacting said surfaces with a gaseous compound of said material to be deposited, comprising the steps of: positioning a tubular structure within said chamber to contain said substrates, said tubular structure having a wall formed of susceptor material selected from the group of susceptor materials consisting essentially of graphite and silicon carbide, said tubular structure of susceptor material serving as a radiant source of heat when heated to heat said substrates; said susceptor material having the property of being inductively heated when exposed to radio frequency energy, supporting said substrates within said tubular structure in a stack-like arrangement wherein said surfaces are substantially parallel to each other; directing a flow of gas to the surfaces of said substrates through a slitted opening in said tubular structure, and inductively heating said tubular structure by radio frequency energy to heat said substrates by radiant heat from said radio frequency heated tubular structure.