Formation of 2D photonic crystal bars by simultaneous photoelectrochemical etching of trenches and macropores in silicon

Abstract

Joint electrochemical etching of deep macropores and trenches in n-Si (100) has been studied. After the substrate was removed, regions of a sample, bounded on all sides by a closed contour of through trenches, were extracted from the sample, with narrow bars of a 2D photonic crystal remaining. The influence exerted by the distance between pores and a trench and by the modes of etching and subsequent oxidation on the roughness of the side walls of the structures and also on the size and shape of pores near the trench is analyzed for the example of a photonic crystal with a square lattice of macropores. Conditions are found in which the lattice distortion of the photonic crystal is at a minimum and the side walls of the structure are the smoothest (root-mean-square roughness height ∼60 nm).