FIZIKA A 4 (1995) 205-215

DRY AND WET ETCHING OF A^IIIB^V MATERIALS FOR OPTOELECTRONICS DEVICES

JOZEF BRČKA, ALEKSANDER ŠATKA, JAROSLAVA ŠKRINIAROVÁ, VLADIMIR TVAROŽEK and PETER VRONSKÝ
Microelectronics Department, FEI STU Ilkovičova 3, 81219 Bratislava, Slovakia

Received 7 April 1995

Several A^IIIB^V materials (InP, GaAs, AlGaAs) were etched in a reactive ion etcher using different gas compositions (CH₄, H₂, CH₄+H₂, BCl₃, BCl₃+H₂). The influence of gas pressure, composition of mixture and RF power were examined. In BCl₃ plasma, etching rate of InP was 10 nm/min, of GaAs about 300 nm/min and of AlGaAs up to 650 nm/min. The increase of the etching rate in BCl₃ and H₂ mixture is caused by a synergistic effect (not only by superposition of etching rates due to a chemical and physical interaction). Etched surfaces were observed by scanning electron microscope. Measurements by secondary ion mass spectrometry were involved into the discussion of the surface contamination. The BCl₃ reactive ion etching process of A^IIIB^V is applicable for deep mesas in optoelectronics devices.

UDC 538.958
PACS 81.60.Cp

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