Investigation of the Depth and Rate of Ion Etching of QWIP Structures

Abstract

In this study we investigated the dependences of the rate of ion-beam etching of the upper contact layer (GaAs:Si), an active region consisting of a 50-fold alternation of barrier layers (AlxGa1–xAs) and quantum wells (GaAs:Si) and the lower contact layer (GaAs:Si) along the depth of QWIP structures based on GaAs–AlGaAs, fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), in order to determine the effect of the composition of various layers on the etching rate and the ability to complete the etching process to the desired depth in time.