Sputtered silicon as a new etching mask for GaAs devices

Abstract

The use of a sputtered silicon film as a new type of etching mask is reported for the first time. Its desirable properties arise because of similar material characteristics (thermal expansion coefficient, crystal structure, smaller misfit factors) and different etching behavior as compared to gallium arsenide. These properties are studied and utilized in the fabrication of GaAs/GaAlAs double heterostructure (DH) ridge waveguide devices.