Ion Beam Etching System for Mercury Cadmium Telluride and III-V Compound Semiconductors

Abstract

AbstractThis paper describes a laboratory built ion beam etching system and its performance when used for etching Hg1-xCdxTe, GaAs and InP. The etching system provides a means for forming device mesas on a wide range of semiconductors without having to resort to wet chemical etches. The system uses a Kaufmann ion source, a rotating platform and two flow controllers to allow the variation of gas ratios and flows.