Ridge microstructures were prepared by reactive ion etching (RIE) of a series of stacked InAsxP$_{1-x}$ quantum wells (QWs) with step graded compositions grown on InP by molecular beam epitaxy. These microstructures were characterized by low temperature micro-photoluminescence. The photoluminescence (PL) emission associated with each of the QWs was clearly identified and a model for their line shape was implemented. PL line-scans were measured across etched ridge stripes of various widths in an optical cryostat, with a spatial resolution of 1 µm. The model for the PL spectra allowed accurate extraction of the local PL integrated intensities, spectral positions and line widths. Two different RIE processes, using CH4/H2 and CH4/Cl2, were investigated. The PL line-scans showed strong variations of the integrated PL intensities across the etched stripes. The PL intensities for all QWs increased gradually from the edge to the center of the ridge microstructures, over a length scale of 10–20 µm. On the other hand, the spectral peak position of the PL lines remained constant (within an accuracy of 0.2–0.4 meV, depending on which QW was considered) across the microstructures. These observations are discussed in terms of the mechanical stress induced by the RIE processes, the relaxation of the biaxial built-in compressive stress in the InAsP QWs (induced by the free surfaces at the vertical etched sidewalls), and also by the non-radiative recombination at these sidewalls. Altogether, this study illustrates the contribution that specially designed test structures, coupled with advanced spectroscopic characterization, can provide to the development of semiconductor photonic devices (e.g. lasers or waveguides) involving RIE processing.
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