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September 28, 2012

This video combines multiple frames captured in situ during wet etching.

This video combines multiple frames captured in situ during wet etching using epi-illumination diffraction phase microscopy (epi-DPM) with a laser source. To capture the images, the researchers used a 5x objective and provided a 320 micron by 240 micron field of view. The total etch depth--the height difference between the orange and purple regions--was approximately 250 nanometers after the 45 second etch. The diagonal line in the lower left corner may be a scratch in the sample. The images are false color and 3-D and represent the height profile of the University of Illinois logo etched onto the surface of a gallium-arsenide semiconductor substrate.

Credit: Chris Edwards, Amir Arbabi, Gabriel Popescu, and Lynford Goddard, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


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Related story: Semiconductor Etch Without the Sketch