Reactive ion beam etching of GaN grown by MOVPE

A dry etch technique using Cl-2 based reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) has been developd for GaN-based semiconductor lasers. The etching rate of 350 - 1000 Angstrom/min was obtained. This is applicable for micro fabrication of GaN based materials in the same way as used for other III-V group semiconductors. Furthermore, it is found that the surface damage of GaN layers induced by the RIBE-etch can be removed using ultra-violet assisted wet-etching using alkali solution. The PL intensity of damaged GaN layers is increased after the post-process wet-etching.