Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 June 1999
An argon Ion Beam Etching (IBE) simulation model has been developed to investigate the mesa profile evolution in III-V semiconductors' technology. Particular attention hasbeen focused on the sputtering yield angular dependence effect, on the influence ofthe material and 2D-morphology of the mask onto the pattern transfer. Experimentalsputtering yield versus ion incidence angle is injected into the simulation model.The equations which govern the surface evolution, stem from the current method of characteristics. The simulated profiles show that the trenching phenomenon can appearby only considering the variation of the sputtering yield versus the etched surfacecanting. This is obtained when neither the ion reflection nor the electric field linedeviation are taken into account. On the other hand, the slope transfer from the maskto the GaAs and InP substrates is studied.