High rate epitaxial lift-off of InGaP films from GaAs substrates

Centimeter sized, crack-free single crystal InGaP films of 1 mu m thickness were released from GaAs substrates by a weight-induced epitaxial lift-off process. At room temperature, the lateral etch rate of the process as a function of the applied Al0.85Ga0.15As release layer thickness was found to have a maximum of 3 mm/h at 3 nm. Using 5-nm-thick AlAs release layers, the etch rate increased exponentially with temperature up to 11.2 mm/h at 80 degrees C. Correlation of the experimental data with the established theoretical description of the process indicate that the model is qualitatively correct but fails to predict the etch rates quantitatively by orders of magnitude. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)01715-0].