• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.222-226
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• 1998

$Cu_3N$ film deposited on silicon oxide substrate by r.f. reactive sputtering technique. Synthesis and properties of copper nitride film were investigated for its possible application to Cu metallization as adhesive interlayer between copper and $SiO_2. Cu_3N$ film was synthesized at the substrate temperature ranging from $100^{\circ}C$ to $200^{\circ}C$ and at nitrogen gas ratio above $X_{N2}=0.4. Cu_3N, CuN_x$, and FGM-structured $Cu/CuN_x$ films prepared in this work passed Scotch-tape test and showed improved adhesion property to silicon oxide substrate compared with Cu film. Electrical resistivity of copper nitride film had a dependency on its lattice constant and was ranged from 10-7 to 10-1 $\Omega$cm. Copper nitride film was, however, unstable when it was annealed at the temperature above $400^{\circ}C$.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-4
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of slurry including phosphoric acid for chemical-mechanical planarization of copper and tantalum nitride. In general, the slurry for copper CMP consists of alumina or colloidal silica as an abrasive, organic acid as a complexing agent, an oxidizing agent, a film forming agent, a pH control agent and additives. Hydrogen peroxide (H$_2$O$_2$) is the material that is used as an oxidizing agent in copper CMP. But, the hydrogen peroxide needs some stabilizers to prevent decomposition. We evaluated phosphoric acid (H$_3$PO$_4$) as a stabilizer of the hydrogen peroxide as well as an accelerator of the tantalum nitride CMP process. We also estimated dispersion stability and zeta potential of the abrasive with the contents of phosphoric acid. An acceleration of the tantalum nitride CMP was verified through the electrochemical test. This approach may be useful for the development of the 2$\^$nd/ step copper CMP slurry and hydrogen peroxide stability.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.205-209
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• 2009

Wetting properties between silver-copper-titanium braze alloys with different titanium contents up to 2.8 mass% and hexagonal boron nitride ceramics were investigated using sessile drop method at 1123K in Argon. The final contact angle is less than $30^{\circ}$ when the Ti content was over 0.41 mass%. Meanwhile, the contact angle curves show different behavior. In case of using braze alloy containing 2.8 mass% of titanium, the initial contact angle is acute angle just after the melting of braze. In case of brazes containing titanium less than 2.26 mass%, the contact angle is larger than $90^{\circ}$ at the beginning and slowly decreases to acute angle. The reaction layer of titanium nitride is observed at the interface. In addition, the reaction of Ti in the braze and N in the bulk h-BN seemed to show diffusion limited spreading.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.55-60
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• 2020

The recent semiconductor packaging technology is evolving into a high-performance system-in-packaging (SIP) structure, and copper-to-copper bonding process becomes an important core technology to realize SIP. Copper-to-copper bonding process faces challenges such as copper oxidation and high temperature and high pressure process conditions. In this study, the bonding interface quality of low-temperature copper-to-copper bonding using a two-step plasma treatment was investigated through quantitative bonding strength measurements. Our two-step plasma treatment formed copper nitride layer on copper surface which enables low-temperature copper bonding. The bonding strength was evaluated by the four-point bending test method and the shear test method, and the average bonding shear strength was 30.40 MPa, showing that the copper-to-copper bonding process using a two-step plasma process had excellent bonding strength.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.426-430
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• 2005

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is an essential process in the production of integrated circuits containing copper interconnects. The effect of alanine in reactive slurries representative of those that might be used in copper CMP was studied with the aim of improving selectivity between copper(Cu) film and tantalum-nitride(TaN) film. We investigated the pH effect of nano-colloidal silica slurry containing alanine through the chemical mechanical polishing test for the 8(inch) blanket wafers as deposited Cu and TaN film, respectively. The copper and tantalum-nitride removal rate decreased with the increase of pH and reaches the neutral at pH 7, then, with the further increase of pH to alkaline, the removal rate rise to increase soddenly. It was found that alkaline slurry has a higher removal rate than acidic and neutral slurries for copper film, but the removal rate of tantalum-nitride does not change much. These tests indicated that alanine may improve the CMP process by controlling the selectivity between Cu and TaN film.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.51-57
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• 2019

To protect the Cu surface from oxidation in air, a two-step plasma process using Ar and $N_2$ gases was studied to form a copper nitride passivation as an anti-oxidant layer. The Ar plasma removes contaminants on the Cu surface and it activates the surface to facilitate the reaction of copper and nitrogen atoms in the next $N_2$ plasma process. This study investigated the effect of Ar plasma on the formation of copper nitride passivation on Cu surface during the two-step plasma process through the full factorial design of experiment (DOE) method. According to XPS analysis, when using low RF power and pressure in the Ar plasma process, the peak area of copper oxides decreased while the peak area of copper nitrides increased. The main effect of copper nitride formation in Ar plasma process was RF power, and there was little interaction between plasma process parameters.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.272-277
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• 2004

The primary aim of this study is to investigate new semi-abrasive free slurry including acid colloidal silica and hydrogen peroxide for copper chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP). In general, slurry for copper CMP consists of colloidal silica as an abrasive, organic acid as a complex-forming agent, hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizing agent, a film forming agent, a pH control agent and several additives. We developed new semi-abrasive free slurry (SAFS) including below 0.5％ acid colloidal silica. We evaluated additives as stabilizers for hydrogen peroxide as well as accelerators in tantalum nitride CMP process. We also estimated dispersion stability and Zeta potential of the acid colloidal silica with additives. The extent of enhancement in tantalum nitride CMP was verified through anelectrochemical test. This approach may be useful for the application of single and first step copper CMP slurry with one package system.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.626-631
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• 1996

Reactive dc magnetron sputtering 법을 이용하여 증착한 molybdenum mitride 박막의 Cu 확산 방지막 특성을 조사하였다. Cu 확산 방지막으로서 molybdenum nitride 박막의 열적안정성을 관찰하기 위하여 molybdenum nitride 박막 위에 Cu를 evaporation 법으로 증착하고 진공 열처리하였다. Cu/r-Mo2N/si 구조는 $600^{\circ}C$, 30분간 열처리 시까지 안정하였다. 확산 방지막의 파괴는 $650^{\circ}C$, 30분간 열처리 시부터 격자 확산(lattice diffusion)이나 입계(grain boundary)과 결함(defect)을 통한 확산에 의해 나타나기 시작하였고, 이 때 molybdenum silicide과 copper silicide의 형성에 기인된 것으로 생각되었다. 열처리 이후 Cu/r-Mo2N/Si 사이의 상호반응이 증가하였다. 이는 Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, Auger electron spectroscopy 그리고 Nomarski microscopy 등의 분석을 통해 조사되었다.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 1995.11a
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• pp.41-41
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• 1995

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2024

Austenitic stainless steel 316L has been used a lot of applications because of its high corrosion resistance and formability. In addition, copper brazing is employed to create complex shape of 316L stainless steel for various engineering parts. In such system, copper-based filler metals make galvanic cell at metal/filler metal interface, and it accelerates corrosion of stainless steel. Furthermore, Cu-rich region formed by diffused copper in austenitic stainless steel can promote a pitting corrosion. In this study, we used an ammonia (NH₃) gas to nitride the 316L stainless steel for improving the corrosion resistance. The thickness of the nitride (nitrogen high) layer increased with the treatment temperature, and the surface hardness also increased. The potentiodynamic polarization test showed the improvement of corrosion resistance of 316L stainless steel by enhancing the passivation on nitride layer. However, in case of high temperature nitriding, a chromium nitride was formed and its fraction increased, so that the corrosion resistance was decreased compared to the intact 316L stainless steel.