Sacrificial Al0.8Ga0.2As etching for microstructures in integrated optoelectronic devices

Abstract

The lateral wet-etching kinetics of an Al0.8Ga0.2As sacrificial layer, a typical configuration for optoelectronic devices, has been investigated in detail. Expanding the one-dimensional Si and AlAs oxidation modes to the Al0.8Ga0.2As sacrificial layer etching process, compact analytical formulas were obtained for the time evolution of the etch front and for the etch rate. Through both experiment and theoretical calculations, the lateral etching process parameters, A, B, and B∕A, have been obtained for the different temperatures and etchant volume ratios. The etch rate is found to remain almost constant for a large range of etch length. However, when the etch temperature increases, a rapid increase in this rate is predicted. Activation energies for the process parameters, EA∼0.1eV and EB∼0.5eV, have also been obtained for the etchant volume ratio of 3:1 and the sacrificial layer thickness is 800nm.

Effects of transverse mode coupling and optical confinement factor on gallium-nitride based laser diode

“…There are several simulation meth ods described in Refs. [11] and [12]. In our model, the light propagation in the laser is determined by the solution of Maxwell equations.…”