Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
We report the first investigation of the effect of dry etching parameters on the sidewall carrier recombination rate of GaAs/AIGaAs and lnPilnGaAsP microstructures. Surface recombination was measured as a function of ion voltage and etching time. The increase in recombination rate due to etching can be reversed by subsequent chemical removal of the immediate sidewall layer. By monitoring the recovery in recombination rate as a function of the amount of sidewall layer removed, the effective damage depth is inferred.