Importance

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Abstract

The present invention is a combination of in-situ etching with a grating mask pattern comprised only of semiconductor material, together with the fabrication of a protective layer beneath the semiconductor grating mask that protects the semiconductor material that readily oxidises. As such the present invention is based on a two-stage process. First the grating pattern is defined in a semiconductor material, wherein this pattern is called the semiconductor grating mask. The semiconductor grating mask sits on top of a layer of protective material, which in turn is on top of the semiconductor material that readily oxidises, wherein the protective layer prevents oxidation of the material below. The semiconductor structure is then moved to a reactor, where, in the second stage, the mask pattern is transferred into the underlying protective layer and the semiconductor material that readily oxidises, by in-situ etching. The grating is then overgrown in the same reactor without exposing the etched grating to the atmosphere. The overgrown material protects the underlying semiconductor material from oxidation when the structure is removed from the reactor.

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First Claim