Laser-enhanced reactive ion etching of GaAs with CCl4 and H2 mixed gas

Abstract

Localized enhancement of the reactive ion etching by laser irradiation has been investigated on GaAs by using CCl4 and H2 mixed gas. A laser-enhanced etching rate more than ten times as large as that for without laser irradiation was obtained. It was conjectured that the enhanced mechanism results mainly from the laser-assisted vaporization of the reaction-product species by localized heating of the sample.