Spontaneous anisotropic etching of the InP(100) surface in concentrated hydrochloric and sulfuric acids

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Spontaneous one-step anisotropic etching of InP(100) in concentrated hydrochloric and sulfuric acids is reported. Within certain temperature and time intervals the formation of surface microreliefs occurs of asterisk-like (for H 2SO 4), grating-like (for HCl) and parquet-like (H 2SO 4-HCl mixture with H 2SO 4: HCl of 1:1) morphology. The kinetics of the etching are discussed. Estimation of the activation energies gives 8.5 kcal mol −1, 20.0 kcal mol −1 and 7.0 kcal mol −1 respectively, thus demonstrating that the etching occurs in the kinetic region. The formation of the grating-like microrelief is assumed to be suitable for producing antireflecting InP surfaces for solar cells.