Cl/sub 2//O/sub 2/- and Cl/sub 2//N/sub 2/-based inductively coupled plasma etching of photonic crystals in InP: sidewall passivation

We have fabricated two-dimensional photonic crystals in InP-based materials with Cl/sub 2/-based inductively coupled plasma etching. To obtain vertical sidewalls, we employ sidewall passivation through addition of N/sub 2/ or O/sub 2/ to the plasma. With the Cl/sub 2/O/sub 2/-process we are able to etch 3.2 /spl mu/m deep holes that have nearly cylindrical shape in the upper 2 /spl mu/m. The first optical results illustrate the feasibility of our approach, showing over 30 dB transmission reduction in the /spl Gamma/K-stopband.