Surface damage in III-V devices by dry etching

In this paper, surface damage induced by dry etching in III-V devices is reviewed. Defects after dry etching are balanced by their generation and removal rates. The degree of damage depends strongly on the etch conditions, such as the ion energy, ion density, temperature, pressure, and gas used for etching. In general, it is important to use low ion energy to prevent extensive damage. Therefore, high density plasma sources are desirable since they can generate low energy ions with high density to reduce damage while still maintaining fast etch rates. A plasma system consisting of an electron cyclotron resonance source was used to etch the devices reported here. Techniques to minimize or remove etch induced damage are discussed. Changes in device characteristics for Schottky diodes, transmission lines, conducting wires, in-plane gated (IPG) quantum wire transistors, and heterostructure bipolar transistors (HBTs) are reported