화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol.143, No.10, 3285-3290, 1996
High-Density Etching of Group-III Nitride Ternary Films
Due to their wide bandgaps and high dielectric constants, group III nitrides have made significant impact on the compound semiconductor community as blue, green, and ultraviolet light emitting diodes and for their potential use in laser structures and high temperature electronics. Processing of these materials, in particular wet and dry etching, has proven to be extremely difficult due to their inert chemical nature. We report electron cyclotron resonance etching of InxGa1-xN and In0.75Al0.25N as a function of temperature, RF power, pressure, and microwave power. Etch conditions were characterized for rate, profile, and sidewall and surface morphology and compared to etch data for GaN, InN, and AlN. Atomic force microscopy was used to quantify root-mean-square roughness of the etched surfaces. We observed consistent trends for the InAlN films where the etch rates increased with increasing concentration of In. The trends were less consistent for the InGaN etch rates.