WET CHEMICAL ETCHING OF AlGaAs/GaAs HETEROSTRUCTURES CONTROLLED BY OPTICAL IN-SITU MONITORING

Ján Waclawek - Gabriel Krausko - Jaroslava Škriniarová

   Optical monitoring exploiting the interference of monochromatic radiation reflected from the surface being chemically etched and from the deeper interfaces of semiconductor layers was utilized to monitor the etch process of layered AlGaAs/AlAs/GaAs structures. The described method is applicable in controlled etching of heterostructures to terminate the etch process precisely, is suitable for analysis and diagnostics of epitaxially grown layers, and for calibration of etch rates.

Keywords: compound semiconductors, GaAs.AlAs, AlGaAs, wet etching, reflectivity

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