An optimized deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process for the fabrication of SiC microstructures has been developed. The optimized process enables the etching of 4H and 6H SiC to depths > 100 μm with the required characteristics of (1) high rate (>0.5 μm/min), (2) vertical sidewalls, (3) minimal microtrenching at the sidewall base, and (4) smooth etched surfaces. The optimized process was deter...

Semiconductor nanowaveguides are the key structure for light-guiding nanophotonics applications. Efficient guiding and confinement of single-mode light in these waveguides require high aspect ratio geometries. In these conditions, sidewall verticality becomes crucial. We fabricated such structures using a top-down process combining electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) ...

At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) we are using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) based silicon micromachining to develop the critical waveguide components at submillimeter wavelengths that will lead to highly integrated multi-pixel spectrometers, imagers, and radars. The advantage of DRIE over wet anisotropic etching is that DRIE exhibits little crystal plane dependence and therefore reduce...

A detailed procedure is presented for fabrication of free-standing silicon photonic devices that accurately reproduces design dimensions while minimizing surface roughness. By reducing charging effects during inductively coupled-plasma reactive ion etching, undercutting in small, high-aspect ratio openings is reduced. Slot structures with a width as small as 40 nm and an aspect ratio of 5.5:1 c...

Plasma etching to As2S3 thin films for optical waveguide fabrication has been studied using a helicon plasma etcher. The etching effects using the processing gases or gas mixtures of O2, Ar, and CF4 were compared. It was found that the O2 plasma had no chemical etching effect to the As2S3, but it could oxidize the surface of the As2S3. The Ar plasma provided a strong ion sputtering effect to th...

A detailed computer model which predicts etch rates and spatial uniformity for chemical vapor etching of GaAs with CH3I in a vertical rotating-disk organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) reactor has been developed. Etch rate predictions compare favorably with experiments performed in the vertical reactor at several temperatures ranging from 525 to 590°C and CH3I mole fractions from 0.005 to...

Wet-chemical etching of the barrier oxide layer of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) was systematically investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and a newly devised experimental setup that allows accurate in situ determination of the pore opening point during chemical etching of the barrier oxide layer. We found that opening of the barrier oxid...

background and aims. er:yag laser irradiation has been claimed to improve the adhesive properties of dentin; therefore, it has been proposed as an alternative to acid etching. the aim of this in vitro study was to investigate the shear bond strength of an etch-and-rinse adhesive system to dentin surfaces following er:yag laser and/or phosphoric acid etching. materials and methods. the roots of ...