Photoelectrochemical (PEC) etching of Ga2O3

In recent years, interest in the use of gallium oxide (Ga2O3) in semiconductor devices has increased due to its wide bandgap that permits device operation at high temperatures and high voltages. As the size of these devices decrease, it becomes more important to be able to produce features on the micro and nanoscale. Traditional etching (both wet and dry) have several limitations which either are unable to produce nano-features at the required scale or degrade device quality. Consequently, photoelectrochemical etching of Ga2O3 is of interest to researchers for its potential to produce features on the order of magnitude required while also causing minimal device degradation. Photoelectrochemical etching introduces a number of parameters that can be adjusted to control the etching process. In this work, we demonstrated photoelectrochemical etching of Ga2O3 by showing the effect of changing electrolyte concentration, anodic voltage, and etching time on the etching process. This etching method could be useful for a variety of applications which require complex patterning of Ga2O3 with high degrees of control compared to simple wet or dry etching processes.

Automated summary

The interest in using gallium oxide (Ga2O3) in semiconductor devices has increased due to its wide bandgap allowing device operation at high temperatures and high voltages. Photoelectrochemical etching of Ga2O3 introduces adjustable parameters to control the etching process, making it suitable for applications requiring complex patterning with high degrees of control compared to traditional etching methods. This method has the potential to produce nano-features at the required scale while causing minimal device degradation.