Method and apparatus for etching compound semiconductor
AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorsShinichiro Takatani, Takeshi Kikawa, Chushirou Kusano, Masatoshi Nakazawa
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Abstract
A compound semiconductor is etched by a step of substituting a composite element of a compound semiconductor with other element, thereby forming a compound layer on the surface of the compound semiconductor and a step of removing the compound layer from the surface. Etching depth is controlled not by etching time, but by the number of runs (repetitions) of the etching step, and thus can be precisely controlled.
Claims28
A method for etching a compound semiconductor, which comprises a step of substituting a constituent element of the compound semiconductor, to be etched, with other element, thereby forming a compound layer having a same crystalline structure as that of the compound semiconductor, on a surface of the compound semiconductor, and a step of removing the compound layer from the surface.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of forming a compound layer and the step of removing the compound layer are successively repeated at least twice.
A method for etching a compound semiconductor, which comprises a step of substituting a constituent element of the compound semiconductor, to be etched, with other element, thereby forming a compound layer on a surface of the compound semiconductor, the other element being selected from the group consisting of selenium, sulfur and tellurium, and a step of removing the compound layer from the surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.