Analytical study of KOH wet etch surface passivation for III-nitride micropillars

III-Nitride micropillar structures show great promise for applications in micro light-emitting diodes and vertical power transistors due to their excellent scalability and outstanding electrical properties. Typically, III-Nitride micropillars are fabricated through a top-down approach using reactive ion etch which leads to roughened, nonvertical sidewalls that results in significant performance degradation. Thus, it is essential to remove this plasma etch induced surface damage. Here, we show that potassium hydroxide (KOH) acts as a crystallographic etchant for III-Nitride micropillars, preferentially exposing the vertical $$ m-plane, and effectively removing dry etch damage and reducing the structure diameter at up to 36.6 nm/min. Both KOH solution temperature and concentration have a dramatic effect on this wet etch progression. We found that a solution of 20% AZ400K (2% KOH) at 90°C is effective at producing smooth, highly vertical sidewalls with RMS surface roughness as low as 2.59 nm, ideal for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices.