Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching of AlGaAsSb and InGaAsSb for Quaternary Antimonide MIM Thermophotovoltaics

Technical Report · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/805334· OSTI ID:805334

Palmisiano, M N ^[1]; Peake, G M; Shul, R J; Ashby, C I; Cederberg, J G; Hafich, M J; Biefeld, R M

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1. Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory

In this letter we report on the inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) of InGaAsSb and AlGaAsSb for the fabrication of quaternary monolithic interconnected module (MIM) thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices. A rapid dry etch process is described that produces smooth surfaces using BCl[sub]3 for AlGaAsSb and InGaAsSb capped with GaSb. Uncapped InGaAsSb was etched by adding an H[sub]2 plasma preclean to reduce surface oxides. InGaAsSb etch rate was studied as a function of accelerating voltage, RF power, temperature and pressure. The etch conditions found for InGaAsSb were used for AlGaAsSb etching to determine the effectiveness for isolation of the MIM cells.

• Research Organization: Bettis Atomic Power Lab., West Mifflin, PA (US); Sandia National Laboratory (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• OSTI ID: 805334
• Report Number(s): B-T-3447
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANTIMONIDES
ETCHING
FABRICATION
OXIDES
PLASMA