Wet Chemical Etching of the (111)In and (111) Sb Planes of InSb Substrates

摘要

This paper examines etching of the polar planes (111)In and (111) Sb of InSb wafers for liquid phase epitaxy in various etchants after mechanical and chemomechanical polishing. We describe procedures for polishing wafers and removing residual abrasive particles from the_surface of polished wafers. A tartaric-acid-based etchant is shown to ensure a mirror-smooth finish of the (111) Sb surface, with no visible oxidation. Etching of the (111)In surface with a lactic-acid-based etchant produces planes inclined to the parent surface at an angle close to the misalignment angle between the surface and (111) plane.