A method to fabricate GaAs microcavities using only a soft mask with an electrolithographic pattern in an inductively coupled plasma etching is presented. A careful characterization of the fabrication process pinpointing the main routes for a smooth device sidewall is discussed. Using the final recipe, optomechanical microdisk resonators are fabricated. The results show very high optical quality factors of Qopt > 2 × 105, among the largest already reported for dry-etching devices. The final devices are also shown to present high mechanical quality factors and an optomechanical vacuum coupling constant of g0 = 2π × 13.6 kHz enabling self-sustainable mechanical oscillations for an optical input power above 1 mW.
