High rate dry etching of GaN, AlN and InN in ECR Cl{sub 2}/CH{sub 4}/H{sub 2}/Ar plasmas

Conference · Mon May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995

OSTI ID:67760

Vartuli, C B; Pearton, S J; Abernathy, C R ^[1]; Shul, R J; Kilcoyne, S P; Crawford, M H; Howard, A J; Parmeter, J E ^[2]

---

1. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
2. Sandia National Lab., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Etch rates for binary nitrides in ECR Cl{sub 2}/CH{sub 4}/H{sub 2}/Ar are reported as a function of temperature, rf-bias, microwave power, pressure and relative gas proportions. GaN etch rates remain relatively constant from 30 to 125{degrees}C and then increase to a maximum of 2340 {angstrom}-min{sup {minus}1} at 170{degrees}C. The AlN etch rate decreases throughout the temperature range studied with a maximum of 960 {angstrom}-min{sup {minus}1} at 30{degrees}C. When CH{sub 4} is removed from the plasma chemistry, the GaN and InN etch rates are slightly lower, with less dramatic changes with temperature. The surface composition of the III-V nitrides remains unchanged over the temperatures studied. The GaN and InN rates increase significantly with rf power, and the fastest rates for all three binaries are obtained at 2 mTorr. Surface morphology is smooth for GaN over a wide range of conditions, whereas InN surfaces are more sensitive to plasma parameters.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 67760
• Report Number(s): SAND--95-0936C; CONF-950412--12; ON: DE95011872
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM NITRIDES
ETCHING
GALLIUM NITRIDES
INDIUM NITRIDES
PLASMA
PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
SPECTRA
SURFACES