CH4-based dry etching of high Q InP microdisks

CH4-based InP dry etching techniques have been investigated by using electron cyclotron resonance etching and reactive ion etching (RIE) methods to obtain microdisk and ring structures having smooth, vertical sidewalls, and specular etched surfaces. The RIE method is chosen for the device etch process owing to the higher perfection of the surfaces generated by this process. Excess CH4 introduced in the InP RIE process was found to generate excessive polymers and resulted in sloped, rough sidewalls. A multistep RIE process involving a high-pressure (75 mTorr) condition, followed by a lower pressure (15 mTorr) etching to the completion of the structure was developed that leads to very smooth sidewalls. This process was successfully utilized in the fabrication of vertically coupled microdisk resonators. (C) 2002 American Vacuum Society.