Investigation of point defect generation in dry etched InP ridge waveguide structures

Waveguides engraved in InP by dry etching, reactive ion etching and inductively coupled plasma (ICP), were studied by cathodoluminescence. The dry etching processes were found to induce nonradiative recombination centers, which reduce the luminescence emission from the ridge structures. In addition, the ICP process introduced intrinsic defects, probably In vacancy related defects, which were generated at the dielectric cap/InP interface at the ridge top.