Lithium Niobate Reactive Ion Etching

Abstract

Reactive ion etching (RIE) of lithium niobate substrates has been performed using CF4:O2 chemistry. A maximum etch rate of 38 A/min was obtained, and a deepest etch of 1.2 microns was achieved. The x-cut crystal orientation of the lithium niobate crystal etched more slowly than the z-cut orientation, at a ratio of 8:15. Sidewall roughness was minimised at the expense of etch rate by increasing the oxygen flow rate for fixed CF4 flow rate. The achieved etch rate is suitable for low refractive index contrast devices such as integrated optical gratings or lenses. However the low etch rate is impractical for low drive voltage etched modulators.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA381148

Entities

People

  • Saul Winderbaum
  • Stephen Winnall

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Electronic Warfare

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Australia
  • Chemistry
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Electronics
  • Etching
  • Flow Rate
  • Information Exchange
  • Lithium Niobates
  • Materials
  • Modulators
  • Optical Modulators
  • Orientation (Direction)
  • Piezoceramics
  • Radio Frequency Generators
  • Reactive Ion Etching
  • Substrates

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology