Planarizing regrowth of InP using a low pressure hydride VPE system

The planarization of etched device structures is an important step in the fabrication of InP-based optoelectronic integrated circuits. The authors have demonstrated the suitability of the low pressure hydride vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) process for the planarizing regrowth of etched grooves. A good agreement was found for growth on unpatterned substrates with different surface orientations and selective growth in grooves. In both cases growth is mainly determined by thermodynamics and kinetics and less by mass transfer limitations. An excellent planarization behavior was found when planarizing trenches etched in exactly oriented (100) substrates. An effect of the mask on the growth rates of various planes in grooves can only be found for deep grooves with a small opening width