Electron cyclotron resonance etching characteristics of GaN in plasmas with and without hydrogen
- Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for High Technology Materials
Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma etching characteristics of gallium nitride (GaN) are investigated using low pressure (4--10 mTorr) SiCl{sub 4}/Ar and Cl{sub 2}/H{sub 2}/Ar ECR discharges. The purpose of this effort is to develop a dry etching process for making laser mirrors on GaN and to examine dry etching processes of GaN that do not require hydrogen, which is known to cause carrier compensation in GaN. The etch rate is found to increase near-linearly with increasing DC bias, and a minimum DC bias of 100V is required to initiate etching in SiCl{sub 4}/Ar. The authors have also found that the material quality significantly affects the etch rate. The latter decreases with x-ray rocking curve half-width and increases with defect density. A reasonable etch rate of 660 {angstrom}/min and good surface morphologies obtained in SiCl{sub 4}/Ar ECR etching make this process suitable for gate recess of an FET. An etch rate of 5,270 {angstrom}/min has been achieved in Cl{sub 2}/H{sub 2}/Ar plasmas. This is the highest reported etch rate of GaN so far. The smooth and vertical etch sidewalls (etch to mask selectivity of 16 is obtained) make this process promising for dry-etched laser mirrors on GaN.
- OSTI ID:
- 395031
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-951155-; ISBN 1-55899-298-7; TRN: IM9648%%108
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Fall meeting of the Materials Research Society (MRS), Boston, MA (United States), 27 Nov - 1 Dec 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Gallium nitride and related materials; Ponce, F.A. [ed.] [Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, CA (United States)]; Dupuis, R.D. [ed.] [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)]; Nakamura, S. [ed.] [Nichia Chemical Industries, Tokushima (Japan)]; Edmond, J.A. [ed.] [Cree Research, Inc., Durham, NC (United States)]; PB: 993 p.; Materials Research Society symposium proceedings, Volume 395
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
42 ENGINEERING NOT INCLUDED IN OTHER CATEGORIES
GALLIUM NITRIDES
ETCHING
LIGHT EMITTING DIODES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
SAPPHIRE
PLASMA
MICROWAVE RADIATION
SILICON CHLORIDES
ARGON
HYDROGEN
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA