Systems & Integrated Solutions

Brooks Instrument

The Brooks family of extremely high-performing direct liquid injection (DLI) vaporizer solutions is designed for customers who require reliable liquid vaporization. Featuring unique atomization and heat exchanger technologies, Brooks direct liquid injection vaporizers deliver pure vapor for every application. Applications include:

• Water vaporization for fuel cell stack humidification and many other water addition applications
• Liquid precursor vaporization for chemical vapor deposition (CVD), metal oxide chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and atomic layer deposition (ALD)
• Depositing thin films for enhanced thermal, optical, or hardness characteristics such as diamond-like carbon coating and glass coating
• Vaporizing monomers for vacuum polymer film deposition
• Generating calibration vapor
• Vaporizing liquid hydrocarbons
• Many more

Brooks' direct liquid injection vaporizer technology overcomes the many limitations of conventional vaporizing technologies. Bubblers, or vapor draw systems, are difficult to start and stop, require very close control of temperature and pressure, and are inefficient at generating well controlled vapor mass flow. Vaporizing valves, hot frit, heat tracing, and other "flash vaporizers" that apply heat to the liquid using a hot metal surface are also inefficient at generating vapor mass and frequently can cause thermal decomposition of the liquid precursor. None of these conventional technologies can eliminate the potential for liquid carry-over and its attendant problems. Figure 1 on page 2 illustrates CVD deposition chamber pressure fluctuations caused by incomplete vaporization and precursor carry-over from a conventional vaporizer.

Furthermore, it is very challenging to determine precisely how much vapor mass is actually being delivered from a conventional vaporizer. In applications that require precise vapor mass addition, users must turn to secondary measurement/control devices such as vapor mass flow controllers, increasing the cost and complexity of the vapor module.