High-Resolution Thermal Processing of Semiconductors Using Pulsed-Laser Interference Patterning

Interference patterns from overlapping beams of an intense pulsed laser are used to realize high-resolution thermal processing for direct structuring of semiconductor films. Line and dot arrays have been realized, with periods down to 130 nm. In AlGaAs/GaAs systems, a two-dimensional electron gas could be modulated with a periodic lateral potential, sufficient to form barriers as determined by optical and magnetotransport measurements. The thermal patterning is also a very attractive means of physically structuring GaN and related materials, because rapid thermal decomposition with the evolution of nitrogen can be induced.