CH4/H2: A universal reactive ion etch for II-VI semiconductors?

A high resolution reactive ion etching process, capable of producing nanostructures less than 50 nm wide in a variety of II-VI semiconductors, is described. Using a mixture of methane and hydrogen, binary II-VI compound, e.g., ZnTe, ZnSe, CdTe, ZnS, CdS, and ternary compounds, e.g., CdMnTe and ZnSSe, have been etched. It would appear that the CH4/H2 gas mixture will play the same role for the II-VI semiconductors as it does for the III-Vs, that of seemingly ubiquitous etching system.