EXTREMELY SMOOTH VERTICAL FACETS OF INP FORMED BY REACTIVE ION ETCHING AND SELECTIVE CHEMICAL BEAM EPITAXY REGROWTH

A new fabrication process, utilizing reactive ion etching (RIE) and se lective regrowth by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE), was developed to form (011)-oriented InP facets vertical to the (100) substrate surface. Th e ridge structures were formed along the [011] direction by RIE from t he wafers of InP and undoped InGaAs/InP double heterostructure (DH). T he smoothness and the verticality of the sidewalls formed by RIE were improved during the selective regrowth by CBE. Scanning electron-micro scope observation showed that the (011) facets formed by this process were as excellent as those formed by cleavage. Similar results were re producibly obtained for the selective CBE regrowth on the sidewalls of the InGaAs/InP DH etched by RIE. This process is applicable to obtain highly reflective facet miners that are essential to fabricate short or micro cavity laser diodes.