Chemical etching of InP assisted by graphene oxide

Chemical etching of semiconductor surfaces assisted by various types of carbon-based materials is drawing much attention for the fabrication of those micro-nano structures. We herein demonstrated to apply graphene oxide (GO), a 2D nano-carbon material, as a catalyst for the InP etching reaction, and a possible mechanism of GO-assisted InP etching was suggested by combining XPS analyses. The solubility of the InP oxide layer towards the etching solution affected the rate-determining step of InP etching reaction. When the oxidant reduction reaction catalyzed by GO was the rate-determining step, the etching reaction under GO was enhanced. Furthermore, the etching behavior was different in utilizing different oxidants, which means that the catalytic activity of GO for the oxidant reduction also affects the etching behavior.