• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2007.07a
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• pp.1319-1320
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• 2007

본 연구는 ZnO 박막을 유도 결합 플라즈마를 이용하여, $BCl_3$/Ar 가스 혼합비, RF 전력, 직류 바이어스 전압과 공정 압력을 변경하면서 실험하였다. ZnO 박막의 최고 식각속도는 80%의 $BCl_{3}/(BCl_{3}+Ar)$에서 700 W의 RF 전력, -150 V의 직류 바이어스 전압, 15 mTorr의 공정 압력, $28^{\circ}C$의 기판 온도로 고정시켰을 때 50 nm/min 이었다. 이 조건에서 ZnO 박막과 $SiO_2$의 선택비는 0.75 이었다.

• 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).

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.341-346
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• 2010

In this paper, anti-reflection coating was investigated for decreasing the reflection in visible range of 400~650 [nm] through four staked layers of $Si_xO_y$ and $Si_xN_y$ thin films prepared by reactive sputtering method. Si single crystal of 6 [inch] diameter was used as a sputtering target. Ar and $O_2$ gases were used as sputtering gases for reactive sputtering for the $Si_xO_y$ thin film, and Ar and $N_2$ gases were used for reactive sputtering for the $Si_xN_y$ thin film. DC pulse power of 1900 [W] was used for the reactive sputtering. Refractive index and deposition rate were 1.50 and 2.3 [nm/sec] for the $Si_xO_y$, and 1.94 and 1.8 [nm/sec] for the $Si_xN_y$ thin film, respectively. Considering the simulation of the four layer anti-reflection coating structure with the above mentioned films, the $Si_xO_y-Si_xN_y$ stacked four-layer structure was prepared. The reflection measurement result for that structure showed that a "W" shaped anti-reflection was obtained successfully with a reflection of 1.7 [%] at 550 [nm] region and a reflection of 1 [%] at 400~650 [nm] range.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.05b
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• pp.84-87
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• 2001

In this study, $CeO_2$ thin films were etched with a $CF_4/Ar$ gas combination in inductively coupled plasma (ICP), The maximum etch rate of $CeO_2$ thin films is $270{\AA}/min$under $CF_4/(CF_4+Ar)$ of 0.2, 600 W/-200 V, 15 mTorr, and $25^{\circ}C$. The selectivities of $CeO_2$ to PR and SBT are 0.21, 0.25. respectively. The surface reaction of the etched $CeO_2$ thin films was investigated with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). There is a chemical reaction between Ce and F, Compounds such as $Ce-F_x$ are remains on the surface of $CeO_2$ thin films. Those products can be removed by Ar ion bombardment effect, The results of secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS) were equal to these of XPS. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine etched profiles of $Ce-F_x$ thin films. The etch profile of over-etched $CeO_2$ films with the $0.5 {\mu}m$ line was approximately $65^{\circ}$.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.6 no.S1
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• pp.75-79
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• 1997

Optical and mechanical characteristics of $TiO-2, ZrO_2 \;and\; SiO_xN_y$ thin films prepared by ion assisted deposition (IAD) were investigated. IAD films were bombarded by Ar or nitrogen ion beam from a Kaufman ion source while they were grown in as e-beam evaporator. The result shows that the Ae IAD increases the refractive index and packing density of $TiO_2 films close to those of the bulk. For $ZrO_2$ films the Ar IAD increases the average refractive index decreases the negative inhomogeneity of refractive index and reverses to the positive inhomogeneity. The optical properties result from improved packing density and denser outer layer next to air The Ar-ion bombardment also induces the changes in microstructure of $ZrO_2$ films such as the preferred (111) orientation of cubic phase increase in compressive stress and reduction of surface roughness. Inhomogeneous refractive index SiOxNy films were also prepared by nitrogen IAD and variable refractive index of $SiO_xN_y$ film was applied to fabricate a rugate filter.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.826-830
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• 2013

In this paper, we carried out the investigations of both etch characteristics and mechanisms for the $SnO_2$ thin films in $O_2/BCl_3/Ar$ plasma. The dry etching characteristics of the $SnO_2$ thin films was studied by varying the $O_2/BCl_3/Ar$ gas mixing ratio. We determined the optimized process conditions that were as follows: a RF power of 700 W, a DC-bias voltage of - 150 V, and a process pressure of 2 Pa. The maximum etch rate was 509.9 nm/min in $O_2/BCl_3/Ar$=(3:4:16 sccm) plasma. From XPS analysis, the etch mechanism of the $SnO_2$ thin films in the $O_2/BCl_3/Ar$ plasma can be identified as the ion-assisted chemical reaction while the role of ion bombardment includes the destruction of the metal-oxide bonds as well as the cleaning of the etched surface form the reaction products.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.61 no.5
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• pp.705-710
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• 2012

An anti-reflection layer (AR) is used in the solar cell to improve the amount of the irradiated light, resulting in the improvement of the performance of the solar cell. In this study, the zinc oxide (ZnO) AR is applied to the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) by using zinc nitrate solution. The conditions such as solution concentration and sintering temperature for fabricating the ZnO AR are changed to optimize the performance of the AR. As a result, the best performance is shown when the zinc nitrate solution with 100mM concentration is used and the sintering temperature is $600^{\circ}C$. And then, the ZnO AR formed with these optimal conditions is applied to the DSC. Consequently, a DSC with a ZnO AR had an increased current density up to 13.86$mA/cm^2$ and an enhanced efficiency of 6.32%.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.354-361
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• 2008

Cold rolled steel sheet for automotive was treated by Ar/$O_2$ atmospheric pressure plasma to improve the adhesive bonding strength. Through the contact angle test and calculation of surface free energy for cold rolled steel sheet, the changes of surface properties were investigated before and after plasma treatment. The contact angle was decreased and surface free energy was increased after plasma treatment. And the change of surface roughness and morphology were observed by AFM(Atomic Force Microscope). The surface roughness of steel sheet was slightly changed. Based on Taguchi method, single lap shear test was performed to investigate the effect of experimental parameter such as plasma power, treatment time and flow rate of $O_2$ gas. Results shows that the bonding strength of steel sheet treated in Ar/$O_2$ atmospheric pressure plasma was improved about 20% compared with untreated sheet.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.836-840
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• 2013

In this study, the surface modification of copper foil using an inductively coupled $O_2$ / Ar plasma as $O_2$ gas fraction (0~100%) was investigated in order to improve the surface characteristics. After plasma treatment, the measurement of the surface roughness, surface contact angle and surface energy were performed for the surface analysis of copper foil. As a result, the surface roughness and the surface energy were increased. And plasma diagnostics was performed by a double Langmuir probe (DLP) and optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Using these results, the plasma surface modification mechanism was investigated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.74-76
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• 2008