MASKLESS DRY ETCHING OF GaAs BY FOCUSED LASER BEAM.

Abstract

There has been increasing interest in the application of laser beams to semiconductor processing such as etching and deposition because of the potential for low temperature and maskless processes. The possibility of maskless etching for GaAs with a linewidth less than 1 mu m was investigated using fine focused laser beams by microscope optics. The chemical composition of the GaAs sample before and after laser irradiation in ambient gas atmospheres and the local temperature rise during laser irradiation were studied to clarify the mechanism of etching.