Abstract

Reactive ion etching (RIE) has been used to transfer high resolution sub-micron patterns into Si, SiO₂, and Si₃N₄ substrates. One example of this is the patterning of square wave gratings 250Å deep with 3200Å periodicity into SiO₂⁽¹⁾. The utility of this technique for the fabrication of component devices for integrated optics is manifest. We report the first successful application of this technique to GaAs, InP and In_.83Ga_.17As_.37P_.63. All edges of the etched structures are sharply defined, the smoothness of the walls are at present limited only by the quality of the masking. The floors of the substrate are largely flat and featureless.

© 1980 Optical Society of America