Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a metal oxide semiconductor of interest for a wide range of electronic and optoelectronic device applications. Many devices require etching of ZnO structures and there have been many investigations of ZnO wet-etching processes. However, most reported etches have problems with reproducibility and especially control of vertical and lateral (or undercut) etching uniformity. In this work, we report new buffer solutions that provide controlled vertical and lateral etching of ZnO. We compare the ZnO etch characteristics of buffer etchants to a previously reported ammonium chloride etch. Using buffer etchants of suitable composition we find reaction-rate-limited, uniform, reproducible etching, and similar vertical and lateral etch rates. [2020-0009]

中文翻译：

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使用缓冲溶液对 ZnO 进行精密湿蚀刻

氧化锌 (ZnO) 是一种金属氧化物半导体，可用于广泛的电子和光电器件应用。许多器件需要蚀刻 ZnO 结构，并且已经对 ZnO 湿蚀刻工艺进行了许多研究。然而，大多数报道的蚀刻在再现性方面存在问题，尤其是对垂直和横向（或底切）蚀刻均匀性的控制。在这项工作中，我们报告了新的缓冲溶液，可提供受控的 ZnO 垂直和横向蚀刻。我们将缓冲蚀刻剂的 ZnO 蚀刻特性与先前报道的氯化铵蚀刻进行比较。使用合适组成的缓冲蚀刻剂，我们发现反应速率受限、均匀、可重复的蚀刻，以及类似的垂直和横向蚀刻速率。[2020-0009]