GaN Etching

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GaN Etching

GaN (Gallium Nitride) Etching

Samco’s advanced GaN etching process delivers precise, damage-controlled plasma dry etching for high-quality GaN device fabrication. From power transistors and RF components to microLEDs and laser diodes, Samco systems provide stable plasma control, high selectivity, and finely tunable etch profiles for a wide range of GaN structures.

Built on decades of plasma process expertise, our ICP-RIE systems such as the RIE-400iP and RIE-800iPC enable finely tuned GaN etching performance for next-generation semiconductor and optoelectronic devices.

Benefits & Capabilities

Process Data

GaN Technical Reports

Why GaN? Material Properties & Applications

Gallium Nitride (GaN) is a wide-bandgap III-V semiconductor defined by:

Band gap: 3.4 eV
Electron mobility: 440 cm²/V·s
Thermal conductivity: 1.3 W/(cm·K)
Typically grown by MOCVD or MBE on sapphire, silicon, or SiC substrates

These properties make GaN essential for:

High-power devices (HEMTs, MOSFETs)
RF and microwave components
High-brightness LEDs
Blue/UV laser diodes
Advanced photonic and microLED structures

GaN fabrication requires highly controlled plasma processing—especially low-damage etching and precise depth control—both of which are strengths of Samco’s ICP-RIE technology.

Advanced Plasma Etching for GaN Devices

Samco’s GaN etching technology supports a wide range of compound semiconductor applications, including LEDs, laser diodes, and GaN-based power devices. Our systems achieve excellent profile control and high selectivity between GaN and AlGaN, while minimizing plasma-induced damage on sensitive device layers.

Key performance features include:

Damage reduction using low RF bias power
High etch selectivity of 60:1 (GaN/AlGaN)
Wide control of trench shape—from vertical to forward taper
Stable etching performance across various substrate types (sapphire, SiC, etc.)

These capabilities support both production environments and advanced R&D applications.

GaN Etching Benefits & Capabilities

Damage reduction on AlGaN layer

Bias Power, Low Damage Etch

Plasma ashing employs ions and radicals generated in plasma to remove photoresist. This process uses two primary mechanisms:

Physical sputtering by ion bombardment.
Chemical reactions forming volatile molecules like H₂O and CO₂.

High etch selectivity of GaN over AlGaN

60:1

Selectivity Rate

Samco solved the selectivity issue by using a small flow of an additive gas (“Gas X”) in a chlorine-based gas plasma mixture. As a result, an etch selectivity of 60:1 (GaN/AlGaN) is achieved, and the etch process is successfully stopped on the AlGaN interface without over-etching. Additionally, the plasma damage on the AlGaN layer is reduced by employing lower RF bias power.

Smooth Sidewalls and Surface Quality

Properly tuned ICP conditions suppress micro-masking and byproduct redeposition, enabling smooth etched surfaces without skirts, notching, or pillar formation—critical for laser diodes, LEDs, and ELO-based GaN structures.

GaN Etching Process Data

GaN forward taper trench etch

Wide control of the trench shape from vertical to forward tapered processing. We used GaN epitaxially grown on sapphire substrates and etched them with Samco’s RIE-400iP.