Preparation of extended microtunnels in GaN by wet chemical etching

Extended microtunnels with triangular cross sections are demonstrated in GaN layers on sapphire substrates. The depths of the tunnels can easily reach several hundred micrometers by using wet chemical etching. To obtain this result, patterned growth of specially designed GaN layers is carried out on sapphire substrates with metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and subsequently hydride vapor-phase epitaxy techniques. The prepared samples are then chemically etched in molten potassium hydroxide, and microtunnels with triangularly etched cross sections are formed. The planes of the triangular bevels belong to the {112̄2} family. The etch rate of the tunnel can be as high as 10 μm/min under proper etching conditions.