• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.167-167
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• 2011

Magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is one of the prospective semiconductor memories for next generation. It has the excellent features including nonvolatility, fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance, low operating voltage, and high storage density. MRAM consists of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS). The MTJ stack is composed of various magnetic materials, metals, and a tunneling barrier layer. For the successful realization of high density MRAM, the etching process of magnetic materials should be developed. Among various magnetic materials, FePt has been used for pinned layer of MTJ stack. The previous etch study of FePt magnetic thin films was carried out using $CH_4/O_2/NH_3$. It reported only the etch characteristics with respect to the variation of RF bias powers. In this study, the etch characteristics of FePt thin films have been investigated using an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etcher in various etch chemistries containing $CH_4$/Ar and $CH_4/O_2/Ar$ gas mixes. TiN thin film was employed as a hard mask. FePt thin films are etched by varying the gas concentration. The etch characteristics have been investigated in terms of etch rate, etch selectivity and etch profile. Furthermore, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is applied to elucidate the etch mechanism of FePt thin films in $CH_4$/Ar and $CH_4/O_2/Ar$ chemistries.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.244-244
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• 1999

Liquid Crystal Displays(LCDs) 투명성 전도막으로 사용하는 Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)의 고밀도 식각특성을 조사하였다. 특히 ITO식각의 경우, pixel electrode 전극에서 사용되는 underlayer인 SiO2, Si3N4와의 최적의 선택비를 얻는데 중점을 두고 있다. 따라서 본 실험에서는 Inductively Coupled Plasma(ICP)를 이용하여 source power, gas combination, bias voltage, pressure 및 기판온도에 따른 ITO의 식각 특성과 이의 underlayer인 SiO2, Si3N4와의 선택비를 조사하였다. Ar과 CH4를 주된 식각가스로서 사용하였으며 첨가가스로는 O2와 HBr를 사용하였다. ITO의 식각특성을 이해하기 위하여 Quadruple Mass Spectrometry(QMS), Optical emission spectroscopy(OES) 이용하였으며, 식각된 sample의 잔류물을 조사하기 위하여 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)를 이용하여 분석하였다. Ar gas에 적정량의 CH4 혼합이 순수한 Ar 가스로 식각한 경우에 비하여 ITO와 SiO2, Si3N4의 선택비가 높았으며, 더 높은 식각 선택비를 얻기 위하여 Ar/CH 분위기에서 첨가가스 O2, HBr을 사용하였다. Source power 및 bias 증가에 따라 ITO의 식각률은 증가하나, underlayer와의 선택비는 감소함을 보였다. 본 실험에서 측정된 ITO의 high 식각률은 약 1500$\AA$/min이며, SiO2, Si3N4와의 high selectivity는 각각 7:1, 12:1로 나타났다. ITO의 etchrate 및 선택비는 source power, bias, pressure, CH 가스첨가에 의존하였지만 기판온도에는 큰 변화가 없음을 관찰하였다. 또한 적정량의 가스조합으로 식각된 시편의 잔류물을 줄일 수 있었다.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.229-233
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• 2007

In this study, we carried out an investigation of the etching characteristics(etch rate, selectivity) of $HfO_2$ thin films in the $CH_4/Ar$ inductively coupled plasma. It was found that variations of input power and negative dc-bias voltage are investigated by the monotonic changes of the $HfO_2$ etch rate as it generally expected from the corresponding variations of plasma parameters. At the same time, a change in either gas pressure or in gas mixing ratio result in non-monotonic etch rate that reaches a maximum at 2 Pa and for $CH_4(20%)/Ar(80%)$ gas mixture, respectively. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed an efficient destruction of the oxide bonds by the ion bombardment as well as showed an accumulation of low volatile reaction products on the etched surface. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch mechanism for the $CH_4-containing$ plasmas.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.247-248
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• 2008

The etching characteristics of Titanium Nitride (TiN) and etch selectivity of TiN to $SiO_2$ and $HfO_2$ in $CH_4$/Ar plasma were investigated. It was found that TiN etch rate shows a non-monotonic behavior with increasing both Ar fraction in $CH_4$ plasma, RF power, and gas pressure. The maximum TiN etch rate of nm/min was obtained for $CH_4$ (80%)/Ar(20%) gas mixture. The plasmas were characterized using optical emission spectroscopy (OES) analysis measurements. From these data, the suggestions on the TiN etch characteristics were made.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.387-387
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• 2013

Currently, the flash memory and the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) have been used in a variety of applications. However, the downsizing of devices and the increasing density of recording medias are now in progress. So there are many demands for development of new semiconductor memory for next generation. Magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is one of the prospective semiconductor memories with excellent features including non-volatility, fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance, low operating voltage, and high storage density. MRAM is composed of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS). The MTJ stack consists of various magnetic materials, metals, and a tunneling barrier layer. Recently, MgO thin films have attracted a great attention as the prominent candidates for a tunneling barrier layer in the MTJ stack instead of the conventional Al2O3 films, because it has low Gibbs energy, low dielectric constant and high tunneling magnetoresistance value. For the successful etching of high density MRAM, the etching characteristics of MgO thin films as a tunneling barrier layer should be developed. In this study, the etch characteristics of MgO thin films have been investigated in various gas mixes using an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICPRIE). The Cl2/Ar, CH3OH/Ar, and CH4/Ar gas mix were employed to find an optimized etching gas for MgO thin film etching. TiN thin films were employed as a hard mask to increase the etch selectivity. The etch rates were obtained using surface profilometer and etch profiles were observed by using the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.390-390
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• 2012

Information technology industries has grown rapidly and demanded alternative memories for the next generation. The most popular random access memory, dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), has many advantages as a memory, but it could not meet the demands from the current of developed industries. One of highlighted alternative memories is magnetic random-access memory (MRAM). It has many advantages like low power consumption, huge storage, high operating speed, and non-volatile properties. MRAM consists of magnetic-tunnel-junction (MTJ) stack which is a key part of it and has various magnetic thin films like CoFeB, FePt, IrMn, and so on. Each magnetic thin film is difficult to be etched without any damages and react with chemical species in plasma. For improving the etching process, a high density plasma etching process was employed. Moreover, the previous etching gases were highly corrosive and dangerous. Therefore, the safety etching gases are needed to be developed. In this research, the etch characteristics of CoFeB magnetic thin films were studied by using an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching in $CH_4/O_2/Ar$ gas mixes. TiN thin films were used as a hardmask on CoFeB thin films. The concentrations of $O_2$ in $CH_4/O_2/Ar$ gas mix were varied, and then, the rf coil power, gas pressure, and dc-bias voltage. The etch rates and the selectivity were obtained by a surface profiler and the etch profiles were observed by a field emission scanning electron microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was employed to reveal the etch mechanism.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.31-36
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• 2001

Teflon-like fluorocarbon thin film was deposited by using difluoromethane$(CH_2F_2$) added with Ar, $O_2$, and $CH_4$ on Si, $SiO_2$, TEOS, and Al substrate. The deposited thin film was characterized by static contact angles for measuring hydrophobicity in various additive gas ratio. temperature, and working pressure. In case of addition with Ar, the static contact angles decreased as additive gas ratio and power increased. But the static contact angles increased as working pressure increased. Specially, super-hydrophobic surface was obtained using the powder-like fluorocarbon thin film above 2 Torr. Added with $O_2$, the static contact angles decreased as the $O_2$ ratio and working pressure increased. And the static contact angles did not change in 100W, but hydrophilic surface was obtained at 200W. In case of addition of CE$_4$, static contact angles dramatically increased in $CH_4/CH_2F_2$ ratio 5. And continuous static contact angles obtained above ratio 5. As compare with previous experiments by thermal evaporation, the fluorocarbon thin film by plasma polymerization was obtained very low hysteresis. This results shows more homogenous surface by plasma polymerization than thermal evaporation process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.77-77
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• 2011

These days, a growing demand for memory device is filled up with the flash memory and the dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Although DRAM is a reasonable solution for current demand, the universal novel memory with high density, high speed and nonvolatility, needs to be developed. Among various new memories, the magnetic random access memory (MRAM) device is considered as one of good candidate memories because of excellent features including high density, high speed, low operating power and nonvolatility. The etching of MTJ stack which is composed of magnetic materials and insulator such as MgO is one of the vital process for MRAM. Recently, MgO has attracted great interest in the MTJ stack as tunneling barrier layer for its high tunneling magnetoresistance values. For the successful realization of high density MRAM, the etching process of MgO thin films should be investigated. Until now, there were some works devoted to the investigations on etch characteristics of MgO thin films. Initially, ion milling was applied to the etching of MgO thin films. However, ion milling has many disadvantages such as sidewall redeposition and etching damage. High density plasma etching containing the magnetically enhanced reactive ion etching and high density reactive ion etching have been employed for the improvement of etching process. In this work, inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICPRIE) system was adopted for the improvement of etching process using MgO thin films and etching gas mixes of $CH_4$/Ar and $CH_4$/$O_2$/Ar have been employed. The etch rates are measured by a surface profilometer and etch profiles are observed using field emission scanning emission microscopy (FESEM). The effects of gas concentration and etch parameters such as coil rf power, dc-bias voltage to substrate, and gas pressure on etch characteristics will be systematically explored.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.408-408
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• 2012

It is well known that magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is nonvolatile memory devices using ferromagnetic materials. MRAM has the merits such as fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance and nonvolatility. Although DRAM has many advantages containing high storage density, fast access time and low power consumption, it becomes volatile when the power is turned off. Owing to the attractive advantages of MRAM, MRAM is being spotlighted as an alternative device in the future. MRAM consists of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack and complementary metal- oxide semiconductor (CMOS). MTJ stacks are composed of various magnetic materials. FePt thin films are used as a pinned layer of MTJ stack. Up to date, an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICPRIE) method of MTJ stacks showed better results in terms of etch rate and etch profile than any other methods such as ion milling, chemical assisted ion etching (CAIE), reactive ion etching (RIE). In order to improve etch profiles without redepositon, a better etching process of MTJ stack needs to be developed by using different etch gases and etch parameters. In this research, influences of $O_2$ gas on the etching characteristics of FePt thin films were investigated. FePt thin films were etched using ICPRIE in $CH_4/O_2/Ar$ gas mix. The etch rate and the etch selectivity were investigated in various $O_2$ concentrations. The etch profiles were studied in varying etch parameters such as coil rf power, dc-bias voltage, and gas pressure. TiN was employed as a hard mask. For observation etch profiles, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.90-94
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• 2015

In this study, the characterizations of oxide contact hole etching are investigated with C₄F₈/O₂/Ar and CH₂F₂/C₄F₈/O₂/ Ar plasma. As the percent composition of C₄F₈ in a C₄F₈/O₂/Ar mixture increases, the amount of polymer deposited on the etched surface also increases because the C_xF_y polymer layer retards the reaction of oxygen atoms with PR. Adding CH₂F₂ into the C₄F₈/O₂/Ar plasma increases the etch rate of the oxide and the selectivity of oxide to PR. The profile of contact holes was close to 90°, and no visible residue was seen in the SEM image at a C₄F₈/(C₄F₈+O₂) ratio of 58%. The changes of chemical composition in the chamber were analyzed using optical emission spectroscopy, and the chemical reaction on the etched surface was investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.