Analytical study of KOH wet etch surface passivation for III-nitride micropillars
Summary: III-Nitride micropillar structures show great promise for applications in micro light-emitting diodes and vertical power transistors due to their excellent scalability and outstanding electrical properties. Typically, III-Nitride micropillars are fabricated through a top-down approach using...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-04-01
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| Series: | iScience |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224006448 |
| _version_ | 1797253931808587776 |
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| author | Matthew Seitz Jacob Boisvere Bryan Melanson John Wyatt Morrell Nithil Harris Manimaran Ke Xu Jing Zhang |
| author_facet | Matthew Seitz Jacob Boisvere Bryan Melanson John Wyatt Morrell Nithil Harris Manimaran Ke Xu Jing Zhang |
| author_sort | Matthew Seitz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: III-Nitride micropillar structures show great promise for applications in micro light-emitting diodes and vertical power transistors due to their excellent scalability and outstanding electrical properties. Typically, III-Nitride micropillars are fabricated through a top-down approach using reactive ion etch which leads to roughened, nonvertical sidewalls that results in significant performance degradation. Thus, it is essential to remove this plasma etch induced surface damage. Here, we show that potassium hydroxide (KOH) acts as a crystallographic etchant for III-Nitride micropillars, preferentially exposing the vertical <11¯00> m-plane, and effectively removing dry etch damage and reducing the structure diameter at up to 36.6 nm/min. Both KOH solution temperature and concentration have a dramatic effect on this wet etch progression. We found that a solution of 20% AZ400K (2% KOH) at 90°C is effective at producing smooth, highly vertical sidewalls with RMS surface roughness as low as 2.59 nm, ideal for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T21:41:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c2c90c59375844c093c0f9646096f453 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2589-0042 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T21:41:54Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | iScience |
| spelling | doaj.art-c2c90c59375844c093c0f9646096f4532024-03-21T05:37:17ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422024-04-01274109423Analytical study of KOH wet etch surface passivation for III-nitride micropillarsMatthew Seitz0Jacob Boisvere1Bryan Melanson2John Wyatt Morrell3Nithil Harris Manimaran4Ke Xu5Jing Zhang6Microsystems Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USA; Corresponding authorMicrosystems Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USAMicrosystems Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USASchool of Chemistry and Material Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USA; School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USAMicrosystems Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USAMicrosystems Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USA; School of Chemistry and Material Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USA; School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USADepartment of Electrical and Microelectronic Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USA; Corresponding authorSummary: III-Nitride micropillar structures show great promise for applications in micro light-emitting diodes and vertical power transistors due to their excellent scalability and outstanding electrical properties. Typically, III-Nitride micropillars are fabricated through a top-down approach using reactive ion etch which leads to roughened, nonvertical sidewalls that results in significant performance degradation. Thus, it is essential to remove this plasma etch induced surface damage. Here, we show that potassium hydroxide (KOH) acts as a crystallographic etchant for III-Nitride micropillars, preferentially exposing the vertical <11¯00> m-plane, and effectively removing dry etch damage and reducing the structure diameter at up to 36.6 nm/min. Both KOH solution temperature and concentration have a dramatic effect on this wet etch progression. We found that a solution of 20% AZ400K (2% KOH) at 90°C is effective at producing smooth, highly vertical sidewalls with RMS surface roughness as low as 2.59 nm, ideal for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224006448ChemistryPhysicsMaterials science |
| spellingShingle | Matthew Seitz Jacob Boisvere Bryan Melanson John Wyatt Morrell Nithil Harris Manimaran Ke Xu Jing Zhang Analytical study of KOH wet etch surface passivation for III-nitride micropillars iScience Chemistry Physics Materials science |
| title | Analytical study of KOH wet etch surface passivation for III-nitride micropillars |
| title_full | Analytical study of KOH wet etch surface passivation for III-nitride micropillars |
| title_fullStr | Analytical study of KOH wet etch surface passivation for III-nitride micropillars |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analytical study of KOH wet etch surface passivation for III-nitride micropillars |
| title_short | Analytical study of KOH wet etch surface passivation for III-nitride micropillars |
| title_sort | analytical study of koh wet etch surface passivation for iii nitride micropillars |
| topic | Chemistry Physics Materials science |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004224006448 |
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