A comparative study of selective dry and wet etching of germanium-tin (Ge1-xSnx) on germanium
Journal article, 2018

A comparative study of selective dry and wet etching methods for germanium-tin (Ge1-xSnx) alloys (3.5% < x < 7.7%) and germanium (Ge) is carried out. Both etching methods are optimized from the perspectives of selectivity and morphology, and then compared. A special behavior of the selective dry etching process is discovered and explained, whereby the selectivity has a dramatic increase to as high as 336 when the Sn concentration is above 6%. Different morphologies of suspended microstructures fabricated by different etching methods are investigated. Comparative study shows that the selective dry etching is a better choice for high Sn concentration GeSn (above 7%) against Ge to have better morphology, selectivity and verticality. While for low Sn concentration GeSn (below 6%), wet etching is a better way to fabricate a suspended GeSn microstructure on Ge. This work provides a comparative understanding of both methods of selective etching for GeSn. This comparative understanding is expected to be applied in the processing of next generation electronic and photonic devices.

GeSn

microstructure

etching process

Author

Y. Han

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Y Li

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Y Song

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Chaodan Chi

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Z. Zhang

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ShanghaiTech University

J. J. Liu

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Z. S. Zhu

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ShanghaiTech University

Shu Min Wang

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Photonics

Chinese Academy of Sciences

ShanghaiTech University

Semiconductor Science and Technology

0268-1242 (ISSN) 1361-6641 (eISSN)

Vol. 33 8 085011

Subject Categories

Chemical Process Engineering

Other Materials Engineering

Metallurgy and Metallic Materials

DOI

10.1088/1361-6641/aace43

More information

Latest update

8/21/2018