• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.157-160
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• 2021

As an insulator for a thin film transistor(TFT) and an encapsulation material of organic light emitting diode(OLED), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) has been widely studied using several technologies. Especially, in spite of low deposition rate, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been used as a process method of Al₂O₃ because of its low process temperature and self-limiting reaction. In the Al₂O₃ deposition by ALD method, Ar Purge had some crucial effects on the film properties. After reaction gas is injected as a formation of pulse, an inert argon(Ar) purge gas is injected for gas desorption. Therefore, the process parameter of Ar purge gas has an influence on the ALD deposited film quality. In this study, Al₂O₃ was deposited on glass substrate at a different Ar purge time and its structural characteristics were investigated and analyzed. From the results, the growth rate of Al₂O₃ was decreased as the Ar purge time increases. The surface roughness was also reduced with increasing Ar purge time. In order to obtain the high quality Al₂O₃ film, it was known that Ar purge times longer than 15 sec was necessary resulting in the self-limiting reaction.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.217-220
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• 2001

The possibility of cerium dioxide $(CeO_2)$ thin films as insulators of metal erroelectric insulator semiconductor (MFIS) structures have been studied. The etching $CeO_2$ thin films have been perfonned in an inductively coupled $Cl_{2}/CF_{4}/Ar$ plasma. The high etch rate of the $CeO_2$ thin film was $250\AA /m$ at a 10 % addition of $Cl_2$ into the $Ar(80)/CF_{4}(20)$. The surface reaction of the etched $CeO_2$ thin films was investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. There are Ce-Cl and Ce-F bonding by chemical reaction between Cl, F and Ce. These products can be removed by the physical bombardment of incident Ar ions.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.740-746
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• 2002

In this study, the polycarbonate surface was treated by $O_2$/ Ar gases plasma for the enhancement of adhesion with Cu electrode. From the point of view of hydrophilicity and the functionality, the micro-roughness, new functional groups and oxygen content of the polycarbonate surface were increased by the $O_2$/ Ar gases plasma treatment. The Cu films deposited on the as-received polycarbonate were easily detached while, after the$ O_2$/ Ar gases plasma treatment the adhesive Cu films on polycarbonate could be obtained. These results can be explained that the polycarbonate had a hydrophilic surface with uniform micro-roughness and new functional groups by $O_2$/ Ar gases plasma treatment. Therefore,$O_2$/ Ar gases plasma treatment is a promising method for improvement of adhesion between polycarbonate and Cu electrode.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.52 no.10
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• pp.447-450
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• 2003

This paper presents a process optimization of antireflection (AR) coating on crystalline Si solar cells. Theoretical and experimental investigations were performed on a double-layer AR (DLAR) coating of MgF$_2$/CeO$_2$. We investigated CeO$_2$ films as an AR layer because they have a proper refractive index of 2.46 and demonstrate the same lattice constant as Si substrate. RF sputter grown CeO$_2$ film showed strong dependence on a deposition temperature. The CeO$_2$ deposited at 40$0^{\circ}C$ exhibited a strong (111) preferred orientation and the lowest surface roughness of 6.87 $\AA$. Refractive index of MgF$_2$ film was measured as 1.386 for the most of growth temperature. An optimized DLAR coating showed a reflectance as low as 2.04% in the wavelengths ranged from 0.4${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ to 1.1${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. We achieved the efficiencies of solar cells greater than 15% with 3.12% improvement with DLAR coatings. Further details on MgF$_2$, CeO$_2$ films, and cell fabrication parameters are presented in this paper.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.44 no.11
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• pp.15-19
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• 2007

This paper reports the effects of Ar ion beam surface treatment on a $SiO_2$ dielectric layer in organic thin film transistors. We compared the electrical properties of pentacene-based OTFTs, treated by $O_2$ plasma or Ar ion beam treatments and characterized the states of the surface of the dielectric by using atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. For the sample which received $O_2$ plasma treatment, the mobility increased significantly but the on/off current ratio was found very low. The Ar ion beam-treated sample showed a very high on/off current ratio as well as a moderately improved mobility. XPS data taken from the dielectric surfaces after each of treatments exhibit that the ratio of between Si-O bonds and O-Si-O bonds was much higher in the $O_2$ plasma treated surface than in the Ar ion beam treated surface. We believe that our surface treatment using an inert gas, Ar, carried out an effective surface cleaning while keeping surface damage very low, and also the improved device performances was achieved as a consequence of improved surface condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.217-220
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• 2001

The possibility of cerium dioxide (CeO$_{7}$ ) thin films as insulators of metal erroelectric insulator semiconductor (MFIS) structures have been studied. The etching CeO$_2$ thin films have been performed in an inductively coupled C1$_2$/CF$_4$/Ar plasma. The high etch rate of the CeO$_2$ thin film was 250 ${\AA}$/m at a 10% addition of Cl$_2$ into the Ar(80)/CF$_4$(20). The surface reaction of the etched CeO$_2$ thin films was investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. There are Ce-Cl and Ce-F bonding by chemical reaction between Cl, F and Ce. These products can be removed by the physical bombardment of incident Ar ions.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.164-169
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• 2014

We investigated the etching characteristics of $HfAlO_3$ thin films in $O_2/Cl_2/Ar$ and $O_2/BCl_3/Ar$ gas, using a high-density plasma (HDP) system. The etch rates of the $HfAlO_3$ thin film obtained were 30.1 nm/min and 36 nm/min in the $O_2/Cl_2/Ar$ (3:4:16 sccm) and $O_2/BCl_3/Ar$ (3:4:16 sccm) gas mixtures, respectively. At the same time, the etch rate was measured as a function of the etching parameter, namely as the process pressure. The chemical states on the surface of the etched $HfAlO_3$ thin films were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Auger electron spectroscopy was used for elemental analysis on the surface of the etched $HfAlO_3$ thin films. These surface analyses confirm that the surface of the etched $HfAlO_3$ thin film is formed with nonvolatile by-product. Also, Cl-O can protect the sidewall due to additional $O_2$.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.202-205
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• 2010

In this study, the etch properties of $Al_2O_3$ thin films deposited by atomic layer deposition were investigated as a function of the $O_2$ content in $BCl_3$/Ar inductively coupled plasma. The experiments were performed by comparing the etch rates and selectivity of $Al_2O_3$ over the hard mask materials as functions of the input plasma parameters, such as the gas mixing ratio, DC-bias voltage, ratio-frequency (RF) power and process pressure. The highest obtained etch rate was 477 nm/min at an RF power of 700 W, $O_2$ to $BCl_3$/Ar gas ratio of 15%, DC-bias voltage of -100 V and process pressure of 15 mTorr. The deposition occurred on the surfaces when the amount of $O_2$ added to the $BCl_3$/Ar gas was too high at a low DC-bias voltage or high process pressure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to investigate the chemical reactions on the etched surface.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.195-201
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• 2003

The (Ba,Bi,Sr)TiO$_3$[BBST] thin films were fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO$_2$ /Si substrate by RF sputtering method. The effects of Ar/O$_2$ ratio on the structural and dielectric properties of BBST thin films were investigated. Increasing the Ar/O$_2$ ratio, the intensity of BaBi$_4$Ti$_4$O$_{15}$ and Bi$_4$Ti$_3$O$_{12}$ peaks were increased but (Ba$_{0.5}$Sr$_{0.5}$)TiO$_3$ peak was decreased. In the BBST thin films deposited with condition of Ar/O$_2$(90/10) ratio, the composition ratio of the Ba, Bi and Sr atoms were 0.35, 0.25 and 0.4 respectively. The Bi and Ti atoms were diffused into the Pt layers. Increasing the Ar/O$_2$ ratio, the dielectric constant of the BBST thin films were increased but the dielectric loss of the BBST thin films were decreased. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the BBST deposited at 90/10 of Ar/O$_2$ ratio were 319 and 2.2%. respectively . Increasing the applied voltage, the capacitance of the BBST thin films were decreased.reased.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.752-758
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• 2010

The etching characteristics of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films in an $O_2/BCl_3/Ar$ plasma were investigated. The etch rate of ITO thin films increased with increasing $O_2$ content from 0 to 2 sccm in $BCl_3$/Ar plasma, whereas that of ITO decreased with increasing $O_2$ content from 2 sccm to 6 sccm in $BCl_3$/Ar plasma. The maximum etch rate of 65.9 nm/m in for the ITO thin films was obtained at 2 sccm $O_2$ addition. The etch conditions were the RF power of 500 W, the bias power of 200 W, the process pressure of 15 mTorr, and the substrate temperature of $40^{\circ}C$. The analysis of x-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) was carried out to investigate the chemical reactions between the surfaces of ITO thin films and etch species.