Comparison of dry-etch techniques for GaN, InN, and AlN

Conference · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:636042

Shul, R J; Vawter, G A; Willison, C G; Bridges, M M ^[1]; Lee, J W; Pearton, S J; Abernathy, C R ^[2]

---

1. Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

FABRICATION OF GROUP III NITRIDE DEVICES RELIES ON THE ABILITY TO PATTERN FEATURES TO DEPTHS RANGING FROM 1000 A TO {gt} 5 MICRONS WITH ANISOTROPIC PROFILES, SMOOTH MORPHOLOGIES, SELECTIVE ETCHING OF ONE MATERIAL OVER ANOTHER, AND A LOW DEGREE OF PLASMA INDUCED DAMAGE. IN THIS STUDY, GAN ETCH RATES AND ETCH PROFILES ARE COMPARED USING REACTIVE ION ETCH (RIE), REACTIVE ION BEAM ETCHING (RIBE), ELECTRON CYCLOTRON RESONANCE (ECR), AND INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA (ICP) ETCH SYSTEMS. RIE YIELDED THE SLOWEST ETCH RATES AND SLOPED ETCH PROFILES DESPITE DC-BIASES {gt} -900 V. ECR and ICP etching yielded the highest rates with anisotropic profiles due to their high plasma flux and the ability to control ion energies independently of plasma density. RIBE etch results also showed anisotropic profiles with slower etch rates than either ECR or ICP possibly due to lower ion flux. InN and AlN etch characteristics are also compared using ICP and RIBE.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Management and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 636042
• Report Number(s): SAND--98-0335C; CONF-971201--; ON: DE98003054
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM NITRIDES
ANISOTROPY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CYCLOTRON RESONANCE
ELECTRON CYCLOTRON-RESONANCE
ETCHING
GALLIUM NITRIDES
ICP(INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA)
INDIUM NITRIDES
MORPHOLOGY
RIBE(REACTIVE ION BEAM ETCHING)
RIE(REACTIVE ION ETCH)
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY