SELECTIVE PLASMA ETCHING OF DIELECTRIC MASKS IN THE PRESENCE OF NATIVE OXIDES OF GROUP III-V COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTORS

摘要

A plasma etching process is used to selectively remove a layer (22, FIG. 1) of a dielectric material from a surface of a group III-V compound semiconductor (18) without also removing significant amounts of either the semiconductor or a native oxide (26, FIG. 2) thereof. In contrast with standard selective removal processes, the native oxide need not be stabilized in a separate process to enable it to survive the dielectric removal process. When the dielectric material is SiO2 or Si3N4, the plasma etching is performed in an atmosphere containing a halocarbon, and when the dielectric material is a photoresist, the atmosphere contains oxygen as well.