Research Centers & Facilities
Return to Research Overview
Nanofabrication Facility
Capabilities & Equipment > Etching
Samco 200 RIE-iP (Cl)
Photo of the Samco 200 RIE-iP
Etchd AIGaAs epitaxil structure
GaAs waveguide
GaAs waveguide taper
10-GHz, p-i-n AIGaAsSb detector mesa
The Samco 200RIE-iP Chlorine-based Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) etching system uses reactive ions of chlorine to etch III-V materials, e.g. gallium arsenide. The ICP differs from a capacitive reactive-ion etching system (like the PlasmaTherm 790 RIE) in the way that it generates the plasma: it uses an induction coil which can control the plasma density independent of the bias voltage, thereby allowing higher plasma densities to be achieved even with low bias. This allows faster etch rates to be achieved. Oxygen plasma can be used to remove organic materials, and argon can be used for a mechanical sputter-etch.
Features:
- Single 3” or 4” wafers, with load-lock for faster pump-down and reduced chamber contamination
- Programmable, and supports the continuous, sequential execution of multiple process programs, such as cleaning process followed by etching for greater process flexibility
- Recipes developed for etching of GaAs, AlAs, GaN, Cr, Al, LiNbO3, using metal hard masks and soft photoresist masks
- Electrostatic wafer chuck with Helium backside cooling
- Gases available for processes in the Chlorine ICP include:
- carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)
- boron trichloride (BCl3)
- chlorine (Cl2)
- oxygen (O2)
- argon (Ar)
