Reactive Ion Beam Etching and Overgrowth Process in the Fabrication of InGaN Inner Stripe Laser Diodes

Abstract

Dry etching and overgrowth process techniques have been developed for the fabrication of InGaN inner stripe laser diodes. The dry etch damage at the etched surface and the overgrown interface was estimated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). As a result, the etch damage at the overgrown interface was shown to be repaired during the overgrowth. Groove stripes formed on the GaN layer by reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) were overgrown by GaN using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The morphology of the overgrown surface was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The grooves of widths less than 10 µm were buried completely at 1100°C and smooth, flat surfaces were obtained. We have fabricated the InGaN inner stripe (IS) lasers and reported on the first pulsed lasing operation of InGaN inner stripe lasers, fabricated by dry etching and overgrowth techniques.