UV-photoassisted etching of GaN in KOH

Journal Article · Sun Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1999 · Journal of Electronic Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-999-0029-7· OSTI ID:345075

Cho, H; Donovan, S M; Abernathy, C R; Lambers, E S; Pearton, S J ^[1]; Auh, K H ^[2]; Han, J; Shul, R J ^[3]

---

1. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
2. Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Ceramic Engineering
3. Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

The etch rate of GaN under ultraviolet-assisted photoelectrochemical conditions in KOH solutions is found to be a strong function of illumination intensity, solution molarity, sample bias, and material doping level. At low e-h pair generation rates, grain boundaries are selectively etched, while at higher illumination intensities etch rates for unintentionally doped (n {approximately} 3 {times} 10{sup 16} cm{sup {minus}3}) GaN are {ge} 1,000 {angstrom} {center_dot} min{sup {minus}1}. The etching is diffusion-limited under the conditions with an activation energy of {approximately} 0.8 kCal{center_dot}mol{sup {minus}1}. The etched surfaces are rough, but retain their stoichiometry.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratory
• Sponsoring Organization: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, VA (United States); Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States); USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 345075
• Report Number(s): CONF-9806176--
• Journal Information: Journal of Electronic Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Electronic Materials Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 28; ISSN JECMA5; ISSN 0361-5235
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ACTIVATION ENERGY
ETCHING
GALLIUM NITRIDES
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
POTASSIUM HYDROXIDES
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION