Electrochemical formation of anisotropic periodic grooves on InP for quantum wire laser growth

We report on an electrochemical process whereby regular, ordered and periodic V-grooves are etched into an InP(0 0 1) surface during constant potential anodization in a 1 mol dm−3 KOH solution in dark conditions. Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were employed to characterize the morphological changes induced by the etch process. V-grooves with a periodicity of 0.15 μm were observed delineated by the {1 1 1} etch-stop planes and are preferentially elongated in the [1 1 0] direction. X-ray photoelectron and reflection anisotropy spectroscopies show that the terminating faces of the grooves are very ordered and In-rich. It is hoped that such textured surfaces can be employed in the realization of massively parallel quantum wire laser growth.