The influence of the AlN film texture on the wet chemical etching

The influence of the aluminum nitride (AlN) film texture on the chemical etching in KOH solution was invested. The AlN films with the different texture and crystal quality were prepared by sputtering. It is found that the chemical etching behaviors, including the etch rate, the activation energy, the surface morphology and the anisotropy, are strongly dependent on the film texture. There is a faster etching in the case of mixed (1 0 0) and (0 0 2) texture and a lower rate in the case of only (0 0 2) texture. The etch rate also decreases with the crystal quality. The sample with the only (0 0 2) texture forms discontinuous column structure after etching and exhibits lower porosity compared to that of the mixed (1 0 0) and (0 0 2) texture. Due to the strong anisotropy of the AlN wurtzite structure, the morphology of the film deposited at 700 °C shows the homogeneous pyramid shape after etching. The cross-section micrographs of etching patterns indicate that the anisotropy of the chemical etching is improved with the improving of the crystal quality.