CH sub 4/H sub 2 Reactive Ion Etching of III-V Semiconductors: A Shallow Damage Process

Methane and hydrogen reactive ion etching (RIE) at moderate pressures (50-100 mT) can yield excellent anisotropy with only very shallow structural and electrically-active damage in III-V semiconductors. Here we examine the depth of RIE-induced damage (13.6 MHz, room temperature) for CH sub 4/H sub 2 and another chemistry that shows much deeper damage, CF sub 2 Cl sub 2, and discuss the origin of the differences.