Hydrogen plasma etching of GaAs oxide

Abstract

Hydrogen plasma has been used to etch native‐grown GaAs oxide on GaAs substrates. It is found that the rate of etching increases with gas pressure (in the range 10–300 μ) and the rf power (in the range 10–400 W) of the discharge. A typical etch rate of ≊20 Å/sec can be easily achieved. The selectivity (determined by scanning electron microscopy) of the oxide etch over the substrate is ≊2. An etch mechanism is proposed, and the use of hydrogen plasma for surface preparation of GaAs and the etching of oxides on other semiconductor materials will be discussed.