A method fabricating a GaN based sensor including: forming a gate dielectric layer over a GaN hetero-structure including a GaN layer formed over a substrate and a first barrier layer formed over the GaN layer; forming a first mask over the gate dielectric layer; etching the gate dielectric layer and the first barrier layer through the first mask, thereby forming source and drain contact openings; removing the first mask; forming a metal layer over the gate dielectric layer, wherein the metal layer extends into the source and drain contact openings; forming a second mask over the metal layer; etching the metal layer, the gate dielectric layer and the GaN heterostructure through the second mask, wherein a region of the GaN heterostructure is exposed; and thermally activating the metal layer in the source and drain contact openings. The gate dielectric may exhibit a sloped profile, and dielectric spacers may be formed.

A substrate processing system includes a chemical liquid preparation unit preparing a chemical liquid to be supplied to a substrate and a processing unit which supplies the chemical liquid, prepared by the chemical liquid preparation unit, to the substrate. The chemical liquid preparation unit supplies an oxygen-containing gas, containing oxygen gas, to a TMAH-containing chemical liquid, containing TMAH (tetramethylammonium hydroxide), to make the oxygen-containing gas dissolve in the TMAH-containing chemical liquid.

According to one embodiment, an etching solution is provided. The etching solution is used for etching of silicon nitride. The etching solution includes: phosphoric acid; tetrafluoroboric acid; a silicon compound; water; and at least one of sulfuric acid and an ionic liquid.

A technique of reducing the contact resistance between a semiconductor substrate and a metal layer is provided. A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device comprises a process of forming a metal layer on an N surface of a nitride semiconductor substrate. The process of forming the metal layer includes a first process of forming a metal layer by sputtering at a film formation rate controlled to 4 nm/minute or lower.

Methods and systems are presented for heterogeneous integration of photonics and electronics with atomic layer deposition (ALD) bonding. One method includes operations for forming a compound semiconductor and for depositing (e.g., via atomic layer deposition) a continuous film of a protection material (e.g., Al.sub.2O.sub.3) on a first surface of the compound semiconductor. Further, the method includes an operation for forming a silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer, with the SOI wafer comprising one or more waveguides. The method further includes bonding the compound semiconductor at the first surface to the SOI wafer to form a bonded structure and processing the bonded structure. The protection material protects the compound semiconductor from acid etchants during further processing of the bonded structure.

A method of processing a workpiece includes: a frame unit preparing step of preparing a frame unit including a tape affixed to an undersurface of the workpiece; a protective film forming step of forming a protective film on a top surface of the workpiece; a cutting step of cutting the workpiece by applying a laser beam; an interval expanding step of widening intervals between chips formed in the cutting step by expanding the tape outward in a radial direction; and an etching step of removing altered regions formed in the respective chips.

A method of patterning a semiconductor film is described. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a hard mask material is formed on a silicon film having a global crystal orientation wherein the semiconductor film has a first crystal plane and second crystal plane, wherein the first crystal plane is denser than the second crystal plane and wherein the hard mask is formed on the second crystal plane. Next, the hard mask and semiconductor film are patterned into a hard mask covered semiconductor structure. The hard mask covered semiconductor structured is then exposed to a wet etch process which has sufficient chemical strength to etch the second crystal plane but insufficient chemical strength to etch the first crystal plane.

A method for manufacturing a vertical JFET includes providing a III-nitride substrate having a first conductivity type; forming a first III-nitride layer coupled to the III-nitride substrate, wherein the first III-nitride layer is characterized by a first dopant concentration and the first conductivity type; forming a plurality of trenches within the first III-nitride layer, wherein the plurality of trenches extend to a predetermined depth; epitaxially regrowing a second III-nitride structure in the trenches, wherein the second III-nitride structure is characterized by a second conductivity type; forming a plurality of III-nitride fins, each coupled to the first III-nitride layer, wherein the plurality of III-nitride fins are separated by one of a plurality of recess regions; epitaxially regrowing a III-nitride gate layer in the recess regions, wherein the III-nitride gate layer is coupled to the second III-nitride structure, and wherein the III-nitride gate layer is characterized by the second conductivity type.

A method fabricating a GaN based sensor including: forming a gate dielectric layer over a GaN hetero-structure including a GaN layer formed over a substrate and a first barrier layer formed over the GaN layer; forming a first mask over the gate dielectric layer; etching the gate dielectric layer and the first barrier layer through the first mask, thereby forming source and drain contact openings; removing the first mask; forming a metal layer over the gate dielectric layer, wherein the metal layer extends into the source and drain contact openings; forming a second mask over the metal layer; etching the metal layer, the gate dielectric layer and the GaN heterostructure through the second mask, wherein a region of the GaN heterostructure is exposed; and thermally activating the metal layer in the source and drain contact openings. The gate dielectric may exhibit a sloped profile, and dielectric spacers may be formed.

A method of fabricating a high electron mobility transistor is disclosed. The method comprises using an ion implantation process to amorphize a portion of the barrier layer to a specific depth. The etch rate of this amorphized portion is much faster than that of the rest of the barrier layer. In this way, the depth of the recessed regions into which the source and drain contacts are disposed is more tightly controlled. Further, the etching process may be a wet or dry etch process. The roughness of the recessed region may also be improved using this approach.