Controlling the parameters of wet lateral oxidation for VCSEL fabrication

Physical parameters that need to be controlled during the wet oxidation of VCSEL mesas are numerous and include: temperature uniformity, vapor flow pattern, epitaxial thickness and composition uniformity, diffusion through adjacent layers, oxidation onset delay, etch skirt, and wafer surface prep. We report the results of our studies on some of these factors including vapor flow patterns, and oxidation front monitoring. The results are being used for the optimization of our commercial system for wet lateral oxidation.