Magnetron enhanced etching of GaAs

Magnetron reactive ion etching of GaAs in a freon‐12 discharge has been studied. Electrical characteristics of the etched samples were investigated by current–voltage and capacitance–voltage measurements on Schottky diodes. The ideality factors were found to be close to that of the control sample. Magnetron etching causes no apparent change in the carrier concentration profile. Magnetron enhancement is shown to yield high etch rates with minimal residual damage to the wafer.