Advanced Chemically Assisted Ion Beam Etching (CAIBE) for Wafer Scale Fabrication of Compound Semiconductor Lasers

About the Project

The project will leverage a new CAIBE system at AMIC to investigate semiconductor architectures for high-volume laser production. This project will investigate Chemically Assisted Ion Beam Etching (CAIBE) as a precision technique for fabricating semiconductor lasers at the wafer scale.

The core objective is to investigate and optimise the fabrication of these novel semiconductor laser architectures. The research will specifically focus on understanding and controlling the etching selectivity of InP and GaN to different reactive gases.

The Project will start with training on electron microscopy techniques such as Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and Transmission electron microscopy in QUB allowing the student to build up key characterisation skills before starting process development/exploration on the CAIBE.

This CAST studentship offers a distinctive opportunity to work at the forefront of industry-aligned research through a close partnership with Seagate and the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC).