Local Temperature Rise during Laser Induced Etching of Gallium Arsenide in SiCl₄ Atmosphere

Abstract

Localized etching of GaAs using an argon laser beam in an SiCl 4 atmosphere has been performed for various laser powers to investigate the threshold power, i.e., the minimum local temperature, for pyrolytic etching. Local temperature rise during laser induced etching was measured by the peak shift of in situ photoluminescence and was also estimated by solving the three dimensional heat equation. It was found that the threshold power for pyrolytic etching at an SiCl 4 pressure of 76 Torr was about 0.25 W, turning out to be about 190°C, which was in good agreement with the calculated temperature.