Open AccessInductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching of AlGaAsSb and InGaAsSb for Quaternary Antimonide MIM Thermophotovoltaics
Author(s) -
M. N. Palmisiano,
Gregory M. Peake,
R. J. Shul,
Carol I. H. Ashby,
Jeffrey G. Cederberg,
M. J. Hafich,
R. M. Biefeld
Publication year - 2002
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/805334
Subject(s) - thermophotovoltaic , antimonide , materials science , inductively coupled plasma , optoelectronics , etching (microfabrication) , reactive ion etching , plasma , common emitter , nanotechnology , physics , layer (electronics) , quantum mechanics
In this letter we report on the inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) of InGaAsSb and AlGaAsSb for the fabrication of quaternary monolithic interconnected module (MIM) thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices. A rapid dry etch process is described that produces smooth surfaces using BCl[sub]3 for AlGaAsSb and InGaAsSb capped with GaSb. Uncapped InGaAsSb was etched by adding an H[sub]2 plasma preclean to reduce surface oxides. InGaAsSb etch rate was studied as a function of accelerating voltage, RF power, temperature and pressure. The etch conditions found for InGaAsSb were used for AlGaAsSb etching to determine the effectiveness for isolation of the MIM cells