Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T23:40:19.891Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Gas Cluster Ion Beam Processing of GaSb and InSb Surfaces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

K. Krishnaswami
Affiliation:
Photonics Center, Dept. of Physics, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854
S.R. Vangala
Affiliation:
Photonics Center, Dept. of Physics, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854
B. Krejca
Affiliation:
Photonics Center, Dept. of Physics, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854
L.P. Allen
Affiliation:
Galaxy Compound Semiconductor, 9922 E.Montgomery #7, Spokane, WA 99206 Epion Corporation, 37 Manning Road, Billerica, MA 01821, USA
C. Santeufemio
Affiliation:
Epion Corporation, 37 Manning Road, Billerica, MA 01821, USA
H. Dauplaise
Affiliation:
Air Force Research Laboratory/SNHC, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731
X. Liu
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854
J. Whitten
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854
M. Ospina
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854
C. Sung
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Materials, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854
D. Bliss
Affiliation:
Air Force Research Laboratory/SNHC, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731
W.D. Goodhue
Affiliation:
Photonics Center, Dept. of Physics, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854
Get access

Abstract

Gas Cluster Ion Beam (GCIB) processing has recently emerged as a novel surface smoothing technique to improve the finish of chemical-mechanical polished (CMP) GaSb (100) and InSb (111) wafers. This technique is capable of improving the smoothness CMP surfaces and simultaneously producing a thin desorbable oxide layer for molecular beam epitaxial growth. By implementing recipes with specific gas mixtures, cluster energy sequences, and doses, an engineered oxide can be produced. Using GaSb wafers with a high quality CMP finish, we have demonstrated surface smoothing of GaSb by reducing the average roughness from 2.8Å to 1.7Å using a dual energy CF4/O2-GCIB process with a total charge fluence of 4×1015ions/cm2. For the first time, a GCIB grown oxide layer that is comprised of mostly gallium oxides which desorbed at 530°C in our molecular beam epitaxy system is reported, after which GaSb/AlGaSb epilayers have been successfully grown. Using InSb, we successfully demonstrated substrate smoothing by reducing the average roughness from 2.5Å to 1.6Å using a triple energy O2-GCIB process with a charge fluence 9×1015ions/cm2. In order to further demonstrate the ability of GCIB to smooth InSb surfaces, sharp ∼900nm high tips have been formed on a poorly mechanically polished InSb (111)A wafer and subsequently reduced to a height of ∼100nm, an improvement by a factor of eight, using a triple energy SF6/O2-GCIB process with a total charge fluence of 6×1016ions/cm3.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Dutta, P.S., Bhatt, H.L., Kumar, V., “Physics and technology of gallium antimonide: An emerging optoelectronic material,” J. of Appl. Phys., Vol. 81(9), 58215870 (1997)Google Scholar
2 Mohan, P., Senguttuvan, N., Babu, S.M., Santhnaraghavan, P., and Ramaswamy, P., “Bulk growth of InSb Crystals for infrared device applications,” J. of Crystal Growth, Vol. 200, 96100 (1999)Google Scholar
3 Yamada, I., Matsuo, J., Toyoda, N., Kirkpatrick, A., “Materials processing by gas cluster ion beams,” Materials Science and Engineering, Vol. R 34(6), 231295 (2001)Google Scholar
4 Li, X., Goodhue, W.D., Santeufemio, C., MacCrimmon, R., Allen, L.P., Krishnaswami, K., Bliss, D., and Sung, C., “Gas cluster ion beam processing of gallium antimonide wafers for surface and sub-surface damage reduction,” Applied Surface Science, Vol. 218, 251258 (2003)Google Scholar
5 Allen, L.P., Tetrault, T.G., Santeufemio, C., Tabat, M., Li, X., Goodhue, W., Sung, C., Bliss, D., and Jones, K.S., “Gas cluster ion beam smoothing of CMP damaged GaSb(100) substrates,” Jour. Electron. Mat., Vol. 32, 842 (2003)Google Scholar
6 Krejca, B., Vangala, S.R., Krishnaswami, K., Kolluru, R., Ospina, M., Sung, C., and Goodhue, W.D., “Fabrication of nanotips and microbeams in antimonide based semiconductor material using bromine ion beam assisted etching,” in print, Mat. Res. Symp. Proc., Vol. 792 (2003)Google Scholar