Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching (ICP-RIE): Nanofabrication Tool for High Resolution Pattern Transfer

High resolution lithography and directional ion etching are increasingly important for the fabrication of nanostructures. As part of this equipment proposal, a reactive ion etching system was purchased from Oxford Instruments for 305,000. The Army Research Office provided 274,000, and Caltech cost share amounted to 31,500. This instrument was connected and etching conditions were optimized for the fabrication of nanostructures in silicon, silicon dioxide and gallium arsenide. In this final progress report, we will present some examples of functional devices which have been defined by using this very capable ion etching system.