Fabrication of epitaxial GaAs/AIGaAs diaphragms by selective dry etching

A selective dry process is used to fabricate epitaxial diaphragms by etching anisotropic cavities through a GaAs substrate to an AIGaAs stop-etch layer. Active devices are built directly on the layers comprising the diaphragm. The etching process follows the device fabrication sequence facilitating integration of these structures with pre-existing electronic circuitry. Potentiai applications in optoelectronic and acoustic wave devices are discussed, and an optical interconnection technique based on the diaphragm structure is described.