Fabrication of nanostructures in GaN

We have fabricated wires and dots in the nanometre-scale in gallium nitride using electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching (RIE). The influence of N-2 content in the SF6/N-2 plasma on the etching characteristics has been studied using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Results indicate that the addition of N-2 in the gas mixture increases the etch rate, changes the etched profile to more vertical and smoothens the surface roughness microscopically.