Capacitor material utilized in the downsizing passive devices and dynamic random access memory(DRAM) requires the physical and electrical properties at given area such as capacitor thickness reduction, relative dielectric constant increase, low leakage current and thermal stability. Common capacitor materials, $SiO_2$, $Si_3N_4$, $SiO_2$/$Si_3N_4$,TaN and et al., used until recently have reached their physical limits in their application to several hundred angstrom scale capacitor. $Ta_2O_{5}$ is known to be a good alternative to the existing materials for the capacitor application because of its high dielectric constant (25 ~35), low leakage current and high breakdown strength. Despite the numerous investigations of $Ta_2O_{5}$ material, there have little been established the clear understanding of the annealing effect on capacitance characteristic and conduction mechanism, design and fabrication for $Ta_2O_{5}$ film capacitor. This study presents the structure-property relationship of reactive-sputtered $Ta_2O_{5}$ MIM capacitor structure processed by annealing in a vacuum. X-ray diffraction patterns skewed the existence of amorphous phase in as-deposited condition and the formation of preferentially oriented-$Ta_2O_{5}$ in 670, $700^{\circ}C$ annealing. On 670, $700^{\circ}C$ annealing under the vacuum, the leakage current decrease and the enhanced temperature-capacitance characteristic stability. and the leakage current behavior is stable irrespective of applied electric field. The results states that keeping $Ta_2O_{5}$ annealed at vacuum gives rise to improvement of electrical characteristics in the capacitor by reducing oxygen-vacancy and the broken bond between Ta and O.

Chemical mechanical Polishing (CMP) process is widely used for the global planarization of inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer and inter-layer dielectric (ILD) for deep sub-micron technology. However, as the IMD and ILD layer gets thinner, defects such as micro-scratch lead to severe circuit failure, which affect yield. In this paper, for the improvement of CMP process, deionized water (DIW) pressure, purified $N_2$ ($PN_2$) gas, point of use (POU) slurry filler and high spray bar (HSB) were installed. Our experimental results show that DW pressure and P$N_2$ gas factors were not related with removal rate, but edge hot-spot of patterned wafer had a serious relation. Also, the filter installation in CMP polisher could reduce defects after CMP process, it is shown that slurry filter plays an important role in determining consumable pad lifetime. The filter lifetime is dominated by the defects. However, the slurry filter is impossible to prevent defect-causing particles perfectly. Thus, we suggest that it is necessary to install the high spray bar of de-ionized water (DIW) with high pressure, to overcome the weak-point of slurry filter Finally, we could expect the improvements of throughput, yield and stability in the ULSI fabrication process.

A trench shorted anode LIGBT (TSA-LIGBT) which decreases the device area and the forward voltage drop has been proposed and verified by 2D device simulations. The trench located in the shorted anode would form the shorted anode. The simulation results show that TSA-LIGBT decrease the device area by about 20% and the forward voltage drop by over 75% compared with the conventional ones. Also the troublesome negative differential resistance (NDR) regime has been eliminated successfully in the TSA-LIGBT.

In order to recognize the deterioration of insulation system by partial discharge (PD), the characteristics of PD patterns which are occurring at the interface between epoxy and rubber materials in extra high voltage cable joints, have been investigated. The artificial defects such as voids, metal particles, insulation fiber and water impregnated insulation fiber are planted between the interfaces. A high frequency partial discharge detection system was used for measuring PD signals. An analysis of the PD patterns is focused on the shape of PD pattern, phase, width and time-dependence for each artificial defect. The PD Patterns in each defect show the different behaviors and it is suggested that the precise discrimination of PD patterns could be used for the diagnosis of deterioration in the insulation systems.

In order to improve the reliability of high voltage rotating machines, it is necessary to understand the breakdown mechanism of stator windings. Especially partial discharge(PD) inception and growth are important in stator winding insulation. Recently, many research on the diagnosis of stator winding insulation for large rotating machines have been developed since the 1970s. Capacitive couplers have been the most widely used sensor for on-line partial discharge detection in rotating machines. This paper deals with the electrical on-line monitor characteristics of ceramic coupler(CC) which has been developed to continuously measure the PD activity in operating high voltage motor stator windings on site. We investigated the electrical characteristics(PD quantity, breakdown voltage and frequency response) to develop CC. This paper presents frequency characteristics and laboratory test result to compare conventional 80([F] epoxy-mica coupler(EMC) and 105[pF] CC for PD measurement with 6.6㎸ model stator windings.

In order to improve the reliability of XLPE cables, it is necessary to find the useful diagnostic parameter according to long term aging. This paper described the change of partial discharge(PD) phase Properties of XLPE cable insulation with branch type electrical tree degradation. for long term aging. To understand the PD Properties with $\phi$ -q-n distributed shape of XLPE insulation, specimens were prepared by 22.9㎸ distribution cable and made in a type of block(16${\times}$16${\times}$3[mm]). Ogura needles having tip radius of l0${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ were inserted into each block pieces. The measuring system was consisted of PD detector, digitizer for digital conversion, VXI system for signal processing. The PD properties of the specimens were measured from initiation of tree to breakdown and their characteristics were analyzed. We analyzed the relationship between electrical properties(PD Quantity, PD initiation angle, PD extinction angle, PD occurrence angle : (PD extinction angle - PD initiation angle)) and the normalized aging rate. We found PD parameter, PD initiation angle and occurrence angle, which are a useful diagnostic parameter in estimating the branch type electrical tree for XLPE insulation condition.

Recently, the research on artificial retina for the blind is active. In this paper a new optical link method for the retinal prosthesis is proposed. Laser diode system was chosen to transfer image into the eye in this project and the new optical system was designed and evaluated. The use of laser diode array in artificial retina system makes system simple for lack of signal processing part inside of the eyeball. Designed optical system is enough to focus laser diode array on photodiode array in 20$\times$20 application.