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Laser-Assisted Etching of Lithium Niobate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

Glennis J. Orloff
Affiliation:
Princeton University, Department of Chemistry, Princeton, NJ 08544
Steven L. Bernasek
Affiliation:
Princeton University, Department of Chemistry, Princeton, NJ 08544
Gary L. Wolk
Affiliation:
AT&T Engineering Research Center, Princeton, NJ 08540
R. J. Coyle
Affiliation:
AT&T Engineering Research Center, Princeton, NJ 08540
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Abstract

Laser-assisted dry etching of lithium niobate, LiNbO3, as well as other electro-optic materials could be an industrially important process in the fabrication of optical waveguides. In this investigation, an excimer laser (ArF; 193nm) was used to conduct etching reactions using nitrogen trifluoride, NF3. Enhancement of etching was observed by comparing the etch rate for a gas assisted process with that of a purely photoablative process. Chemical analysis of the etched features via Auger electron spectroscopy and correlation of a simple rate equation with the experimental data revealed that lasersurface interactions are responsible for the laser-assisted etching process.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1988

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References

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