Process of fabricating semiconductor microcavities and photon crystals

A process of fabricating microcavities and photon crystals in GaAs structures by means of electron lithography and reactive ion etching is described. Two types of structures, with micropillars and with photon crystals, are considered. The latter structures have the form of a square or hexagonal array of holes in a planar waveguiding structure. The minimal diameter of the micropillars is 100 nm, and their height is 700 nm. The size of the holes in the photon crystals and the photon crystal period are controllably varied from 140 to 500 nm and from 400 to 1000 nm, respectively. The etch depth of the crystals is more than 350 nm.