SF6-Based Deep Reactive Ion Etching of (001) Rutile TiO2 Substrate for Photonic Crystal Structure with Wide Complete Photonic Band Gap

We demonstrated the fabrication of a photonic crystal structure of a (001) rutile TiO 2 substrate by deep reactive ion etching (RIE) using SF 6 plasma. A vertical etching profile and a smooth etched surface, which satisfy the requirements for optical device application, were obtained. We think that this proposed process is useful for the microfabrication of TiO 2 -crystal-based optical devices, such as photonic crystals with a complete photonic band gap (CPBG) and optical waveguides.