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arXiv · 2506.19749

Atomic layer etching of InGaAs using sequential exposures of atomic hydrogen and oxygen gas

Mete M. Bayrak·Anthony J. Ardizzi·Sadhvikas Addamane·Kieran Cleary·Austin J. Minnich
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Abstract

The high frequency performance and yield of III-V semiconductor devices such as InP HEMTs is negatively impacted by subsurface etch damage and non-uniform etch depth over the wafer. Atomic layer etching (ALE) has the potential to overcome this challenge because of its ability to etch with Angstrom-scale precision, low damage, and intrinsic wafer-scale uniformity. Here, we report an ALE process for InGaAs based on sequential atomic hydrogen and oxygen gas exposures. An etch rate of 0.095 \r{A}/cycle was observed at 350 {\deg}C using ex-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. The sample remains atomically smooth after 200 cycles of ALE. This process could be employed as a gate recess etch step in InP HEMT fabrication to improve microwave performance and yield.

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Mete M. Bayrak, Anthony J. Ardizzi, Sadhvikas Addamane, Kieran Cleary, Austin J. Minnich. 2025-06-24. Atomic layer etching of InGaAs using sequential exposures of atomic hydrogen and oxygen gas. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.19749

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