High rate reactive ion etch and electron cyclotron resonance etching of GaAs via holes using thick polyimide and photoresist masks
- Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 (United States)
High rate etching of through-substrate via holes are essential to many GaAs electronic and photonic device applications. The backside via holes are relevant to monolithic microwave integrated circuits for low inductance grounding and increased circuit complexity. Via holes have also become important to photonic devices such as transmission modulators and vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) fabricated on absorbing substrates. We have investigated and compared reactive ion etch (RIE) and electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) etch results for GaAs via holes patterned with either photodefinable polyimide masks or conventional thick photoresist masks. We report GaAs etch rates for 5 min plasma exposures of {approximately}8000 nm/min in a RIE-generated Cl{sub 2}/BCl{sub 3}/SiCl{sub 4} plasma and {approximately}3200 nm/min in a Cl{sub 2}/BCl{sub 3} ECR-generated plasma. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Vacuum Society.}
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 530094
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. B, Microelectronics Processing and Phenomena, Vol. 15, Issue 3; Other Information: PBD: May 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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