Characterization of wet etching process for In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As epitaxy layer using surface profiling technique

Characterization of the wet etching process for an InGaAs epitaxy layer using surface profiling technique is reported. Surface profiling technique allows a 2D reconstruction view of the etched regions showing both the vertical and horizontal dimensions accurately. The etchant used is a mixture of phosphoric acid (H/sub 3/PO/sub 4/), hydrogen peroxide (H/sub 2/O/sub 2/) and deionised water (H/sub 2/O) in a ratio of 1-1-8. Several etch times are selected which ranges from 1.5, 2, 4, 7 and 10 minutes. The etching depths are measured using Tencor P-12 surface profiler tool. The results showed that the etched depth of InGaAs is proportional to the etching time.