Waveguides engraved in InP by dry etching, reactive ion etching and inductively coupled plasma, were studied by cathodoluminescence. The dry etching processes were found to induce non-radiative recombination centres, which reduce the luminescence emission from the ridge structures. In addition, the inductively coupled plasma process introduced intrinsic defects, probably In vacancy related defects, which were generated at the dielectric cap/InP interface at the ridge top.

Investigation of Point Defect Generation in Dry Etched InP Ridge Waveguide Structures. M.Avella, J.Jiménez, F.Pommereau, J.P.Landesman, A.Rhallabi: Applied Physics Letters, 2007, 90[22], 223510