Open circuit potential monitored digital photocorrosion of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well microstructures

Nanostructuring of semiconductor wafers with an atomic level depth resolution is a challenging task, primarily due to the limited availability of instruments for in situ monitoring of such processes. Conventional digital etching relies on calibration procedures and cumbersome diagnostics applied between or at the end of etching cycles. We have developed a photoluminescence (PL) based process for monitoring in situ digital photocorrosion (DPC) of GaAs/AlGaAs microstructures at rates below 0.2 nm per cycle. In this communication, we demonstrate that DPC of GaAs/AlGaAs microstructures could be monitored with open circuit potential (OCP) measured between the photocorroding surface of a microstructure and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode installed in the sample chamber. The excellent correlation between the position of both PL and OCP maxima indicates that the DPC process could be monitored in situ for materials that do not necessarily exhibit measurable PL emission.