• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.5-8
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• 2000

The population density of excited species in dc, rf and laser ablation plume plasmas has been measured using laser absorption spectroscopy. It was shown that, when the plasma was modulated by on and off with, the sensitivity and signal to noise (S/N) ratio became high. For example, the atomic O(3$^{5}$ S$^{o}$ $_2$) Population density, No* in $O_2$/He mixtures was obtained by the highest S/N ratio at a frequency of 2.7kHz. In a 20Torr room air, the lowest No* level to be detectable was shown to be an order of 10$^{7}$ cm$^{-3}$ . The population densities of resonance Ar(1S$_2$) and Xe(1S$_4$) levels were also measured in barrier discharges and laser ablation plasmas.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2018

Samples of anodic oxide film used in semiconductor and display manufacturing processes were prepared at different electrolyte temperatures to investigate the corrosion resistance. The anodic oxide film was grown on aluminum alloy 6061 by using a sulfuric acid ($H_2SO_4$) electrolyte of 1.5 M at $0^{\circ}C$, $5^{\circ}C$, $10^{\circ}C$, $15^{\circ}C$, and $20^{\circ}C$. The insulating properties of the samples were evaluated by measuring the breakdown voltage, which gradually increased from 0.43 kV ($0^{\circ}C$) to 0.52 kV ($5^{\circ}C$), 1.02 kV ($10^{\circ}C$), and 1.46 kV ($15^{\circ}C$) as the electrolyte temperature was increased from $0^{\circ}C$ to $15^{\circ}C$, but then decreased to 1.24 kV ($20^{\circ}C$). To evaluate the erosion of the film by fluorine plasma, the plasma erosion and the contamination particles were measured. The plasma erosion was evaluated by measuring the breakdown voltage after exposing the film to $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ and $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasmas. With exposure to $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ plasma, the breakdown voltage of the film slightly decreased at $0^{\circ}C$, by 0.41 kV; however, the breakdown voltage significantly decreased at $20^{\circ}C$, by 0.83 kV. With exposure to $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasma, the breakdown voltage of the film slightly decreased at $0^{\circ}C$, by 0.38 kV; however, the breakdown voltage significantly decreased at $20^{\circ}C$, by 0. 77 kV. In addition, for the entire temperature range, the breakdown voltage decreased more when sample was exposed to $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasma than to $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ plasma. The decrease of the breakdown voltage was lower in the anodic oxide film samples that were grown slowly at lower temperatures. The rate of breakdown voltage decrease after exposure to fluorine plasma was highest at $20^{\circ}C$, indicating that the anodic oxide film was most vulnerable to erosion by fluorine plasma at that temperature. Contamination particles generated by exposure to the $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ and $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasmas were measured on a real-time basis. The number of contamination particles generated after the exposure to the respective plasmas was lower at $5^{\circ}C$ and higher at $0^{\circ}C$. In particular, for the entire temperature range, about five times more contamination particles were generated with exposure to $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasma than for exposure to $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ plasma. Observation of the surface of the anodic oxide film showed that the pore size and density of the non-treated film sample increased with the increase of the temperature. The change of the surface after exposure to fluorine plasma was greatest at $0^{\circ}C$. The generation of contamination particles by fluorine plasma exposure for the anodic oxide film prepared in the present study was different from that of previous aluminum anodic oxide films.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.116-119
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• 2010

The etching characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) were investigated, including the etch rate and the selectivity of ZnO in a $Cl_2/BCl_3$/Ar plasma. It was found that the ZnO etch rate, the RF power, and the gas pressure showed non-monotonic behaviors with an increasing Cl2 fraction in the $Cl_2/BCl_3$/Ar plasma, a gas mixture of $Cl_2$(3 sccm)/$BCl_3$(16 sccm)/Ar (4 sccm) resulted in a maximum ZnO etch rate of 53 nm/min and a maximum etch selectivity of 0.89 for ZnO/$SiO_2$. We used atomic force microscopy to determine the roughness of the surface. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch mechanism for the plasmas. Due to the relatively low volatility of the by-products formed during etching with $Cl_2/BCl_3$/Ar plasma, ion bombardment and physical sputtering were required to obtain the high ZnO etch rate. The chemical states of the etched surfaces were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This data suggested that the ZnO etch mechanism was due to ion enhanced chemical etching.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.75-79
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• 2003

We studied InP etch results in high density planar inductively coupled $BCl_3$ and $BCl_3$/Ar plasmas. The investigated process parameters were ICP source power, RIE chuck power, chamber pressure and $BCl_3$/Ar gas composition. It was found that increase of ICP source power and RIE chuck power raised etch rate of InP, while that of chamber pressure decreased etch rate. Etched InP surface was clean and smooth (RMS roughness < 2 nm) with a moderate etch rate ($300\;{\sim}\;500\;{\AA}/min$) after the planar $BCl_3/Ar$ ICP etching. It may make it possible to open a new regime of InP etching with $CH_4/H_2$ - free plasma chemistry. Some amount of Ar addition (< 50%) also improved etch rates of InP, while too much Ar addition reduced etch rates of InP.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.230-234
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• 2011

High density plasma etching of ZnO film was performed in $CF_4$/Ar and $SF_6$/Ar inductively coupled plasmas. Maximum etch rates of ~1950 ${\AA}$/min and ~1400 ${\AA}$/min were obtained for $10CF_4$/5Ar and $10SF_6$/5Ar ICP discharges, respectively. The etched ZnO surfaces showed better RMS roughness values than the unetched control sample under most of the conditions examined. In the $10CF_4$/5Ar ICP discharges, very high etch selectivities were obtained for ZnO over Ni (max. 11) while Al showed etch selectivities in the range of 1.6~4.7 to ZnO.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.96-96
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• 2016

Nanotechnology mostly employs nano-materials and nano-structures with distinctive properties based on their size, structure, and composition. It is quite difficult to produce nano-materials and nano-structures with identical sizes, structures, and compositions in large quantities, because of spatiotemporal fluctuation of production processes. In other words, fluctuation is the bottleneck in nanotechnology. We propose three strategies to suppress such fluctuations: employing 1) difference between linear and nonlinear phenomena, 2) difference in time constants, and 3) nucleation as a bottleneck phenomenon. We are also developing nano- and micro-scale guided assembly using plasmas as a plasma nanofabrication.1-5) We manipulate nano- and micro-objects using electrostatic, electromagnetic, ion drag, neutral drag, and optical forces. The accuracy of positioning the objects depends on fluctuation of position and energy of an object in plasmas. Here we evaluate such fluctuations and discuss the mechanism behind them. We conducted in-situ evaluation of local plasma potential fluctuation using tracking analysis of fine particles (=objects) in plasmas. Experiments were carried out with a radio frequency low-pressure plasma reactor, where we set two quartz windows at the top and bottom of the reactor. Ar plasmas were generated at 200 Pa by applying 13.56MHz, 450V peak-to-peak voltage. The injected fine particles were monodisperse methyl methacrylate-polymer spheres of $10{\mu}m$ in diameter. Fine particles were injected into the reactor and were suspended around the plasma/sheath boundary near the powered electrode. We observed binary collision of fine particles with a high-speed camera. The frame rate was 1000-10000 fps. Time evolution of their distance from the center of mass was measured by tracking analysis of the two particles. Kinetic energy during the collision was obtained from the result. Potential energy formed between the two particles was deduced by assuming the potential energy plus the kinetic energy is constant. The interaction potential is fluctuated during the collision. Maximum amplitude of the fluctuation is 25eV, and the average is 8eV. The fluctuation can be caused by neutral molecule collisions, ion collisions, and fluctuation of electrostatic force. Among theses possible causes, fluctuation of electrostatic force may be main one, because the fine particle has a large negative charge of -17000e and the corresponding electrostatic force is large compared to other forces.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.62-62
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• 2003

고밀도 유도결합 플라즈마(high density inductively coupled plasma) 식각은 GaAs 이종접합 양극성 트랜지스터(HBTs)와 고속전자 이동도 트랜지스터(HEMTs)와 같은 GaAs 기반 반도체의 정교한 패턴을 형성하는데 더욱 많이 이용되고 있다 본 연구는 고밀도 플라즈마 소스(source)인 평판형(planar) 고밀도 유도결합 플라즈마 식각장치를 이용하여 $BCl_3$ 와 $BCl_3/Ar$ 가스에 따른 GaAs 식각결과를 비교 분석하였다. 공정변수는 ICP 소스 파워를 0-500W, RIE 척(chuck) 파워를 0-150W, 공정압력을 0-15 mTorr 이었다. 그리고 가스 유량은 20sccm(standard cubic centimeter per minute)으로 고정시킨 상태에서 Ar 첨가 비율에 따른 GaAs의 식각결과를 관찰하였다. 공정 결과는 식각률(etch rate), GaAs 대 PR의 선택도(selectivity), 표면 거칠기(roughness)와 식각후 표면에 남아 있는 잔류 가스등을 분석하였다. 20 $BCl_3$ 플라즈마를 이용한 GaAs 식각률 보다 Ar이 첨가된 (20-x) $BC1_3/x Ar$ 플라즈마의 식각률이 더 우수하다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 식각률 증가는 Ar 가스의 첨가로 인한 GaAs 반도체와 Ar 플라즈마의 충돌로 나타난 결과로 예측된다. $BCl_3$ 와 $BC1_3/Ar$ 플라즈마에 노출된 GaAs 반도체 모두 표면이 평탄하였고 수직 측벽도 또한 우수하였다. 그리고 표면에 잔류하는 성분은 Ga와 As 이외에 $Cl_2$ 계열의 불순물이 거의 발견되지 않아 매우 깨끗함을 확인하였다. 이번 발표에서는 $BCl_3$ 와 $BCl_3/Ar$ 플라즈마를 이용한 GaAs의 건식식각 비교에 대해 상세하게 보고 할 것이다.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.137-141
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• 2006

Process window for infinite etch selectivity of silicon nitride $(Si_3N_4)$ layers to ArF photoresist (PR) was investigated in dual frequency superimposed capacitive coupled plasma (DFS-CCP) by varying the process parameters such as low frequency power $(P_{LF})$, $CH_2F_2$ and $H_2$ flow rate in $CH_2F_2/H_2/Ar$ plasma. It was found that infinite etch selectivities of $Si_3N_4$ layers to the ArF PR on both blanket and patterned wafers can be obtained for certain gas flow conditions. The etch selectivity was increased to the infinite values as the $CH_2F_2$ flow rate increases, while it was decreased from the infinite etch selectivity as the $H_2$ flow rate increased. The preferential chemical reaction of the hydrogen with the carbon in the polymer film and the nitrogen on the $Si_3N_4$ surface leading to the formation of HCN etch by-products results in a thinner steady-state polymer and, in turn, to continuous $Si_3N_4$ etching, due to enhanced $SiF_4$ formation, while the polymer was deposited on the ArF photoresist surface.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1051-1056
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• 2008

In this study, the investigations of the TiN etching characteristics were carried out with addition of $Cl_2$ gas in an inductively coupled $BCl_3$-base plasma system. Dry etching of the TiN was studied by varying the etching parameters including $Cl_2$ gas addition ratio, RF power, DC-bias voltage and pressure. The etch rate of TiN thin film was maximum when the $Cl_2$ gas addition flow was 2 sccm with fixed other conditions. As the RF power DC-bias voltage were increased, the etch rate of TiN thin film showed increasing tendency. $BCl_3/Cl_2$/Ar plasmas were characterized by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) analysis. The chemical reaction on the surface of the etched TiN films was investigated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).