• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.100-101
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• 2012

The plasma damage free and room temperature processedthin film deposition technology is essential for realization of various next generation organic microelectronic devices such as flexible AMOLED display, flexible OLED lighting, and organic photovoltaic cells because characteristics of fragile organic materials in the plasma process and low glass transition temperatures (Tg) of polymer substrate. In case of directly deposition of metal oxide thin films (including transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS)) on the organic layers, plasma damages against to the organic materials is fatal. This damage is believed to be originated mainly from high energy energetic particles during the sputtering process such as negative oxygen ions, reflected neutrals by reflection of plasma background gas at the target surface, sputtered atoms, bulk plasma ions, and secondary electrons. To solve this problem, we developed the NBAS (Neutral Beam Assisted Sputtering) process as a plasma damage free and room temperature processed sputtering technology. As a result, electro-optical properties of NBAS processed ITO thin film showed resistivity of $4.0{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}m$ and high transmittance (>90% at 550 nm) with nano- crystalline structure at room temperature process. Furthermore, in the experiment result of directly deposition of TCO top anode on the inverted structure OLED cell, it is verified that NBAS TCO deposition process does not damages to the underlying organic layers. In case of deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin film on the plastic polymer substrate, the room temperature processed sputtering coating of high quality TCO thin film is required. During the sputtering process with higher density plasma, the energetic particles contribute self supplying of activation & crystallization energy without any additional heating and post-annealing and forminga high quality TCO thin film. However, negative oxygen ions which generated from sputteringtarget surface by electron attachment are accelerated to high energy by induced cathode self-bias. Thus the high energy negative oxygen ions can lead to critical physical bombardment damages to forming oxide thin film and this effect does not recover in room temperature process without post thermal annealing. To salve the inherent limitation of plasma sputtering, we have been developed the Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process as the high quality oxide thin film deposition process at room temperature. The MFSS process is effectively eliminate or suppress the negative oxygen ions bombardment damage by the plasma limiter which composed permanent magnet array. As a result, electro-optical properties of MFSS processed ITO thin film (resistivity $3.9{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, transmittance 95% at 550 nm) have approachedthose of a high temperature DC magnetron sputtering (DMS) ITO thin film were. Also, AOS (a-IGZO) TFTs fabricated by MFSS process without higher temperature post annealing showed very comparable electrical performance with those by DMS process with $400^{\circ}C$ post annealing. They are important to note that the bombardment of a negative oxygen ion which is accelerated by dc self-bias during rf sputtering could degrade the electrical performance of ITO electrodes and a-IGZO TFTs. Finally, we found that reduction of damage from the high energy negative oxygen ions bombardment drives improvement of crystalline structure in the ITO thin film and suppression of the sub-gab states in a-IGZO semiconductor thin film. For realization of organic flexible electronic devices based on plastic substrates, gas barrier coatings are required to prevent the permeation of water and oxygen because organic materials are highly susceptible to water and oxygen. In particular, high efficiency flexible AMOLEDs needs an extremely low water vapor transition rate (WVTR) of $1{\times}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$. The key factor in high quality inorganic gas barrier formation for achieving the very low WVTR required (under ${\sim}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$) is the suppression of nano-sized defect sites and gas diffusion pathways among the grain boundaries. For formation of high quality single inorganic gas barrier layer, we developed high density nano-structured Al2O3 single gas barrier layer usinga NBAS process. The NBAS process can continuously change crystalline structures from an amorphous phase to a nano- crystalline phase with various grain sizes in a single inorganic thin film. As a result, the water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film have improved order of magnitude compared with that of conventional $Al_2O_3$ layers made by the RF magnetron sputteringprocess under the same sputtering conditions; the WVTR of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film was about $5{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2/day$ by just single layer.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.235-239
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• 2002

In this study mesh-type PECVD system was suggested to minimize the hydrogen concentration. The main structural difference between the triode system and a conventional system is that, a third electrode, a mesh, is inserted between the powered and the ground electrode. We investigated several conditions to compare with conventional PECVD. The main effect of mesh was to minimize the substrate damage by ion bombardment and to enhance the surface reaction to induce hydrogen desorption. It was also found that hydrogen concentration decreased but deposition rate increased as increasing applied bias. Applied DC-bia s enhanced sputtering process. Intense ion bombardment causes the weakly bonded hydrogen or hydrogen-containing species to leave the growing film and increased adatom mobility. Furthermore, addition of hydrogen gas enhance the surface diffusion of adatom.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.225-225
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• 2010

In this study, the optimum structure of a magnetic thin film inductor was designed for application of DC-DC converters. The $Ni_{81}Fe_{19}$ (at%) alloy was selected as a high-frequency($\geq$ MHz) magnetic thin film core material and deposited on various substrates (bare Si, $SiO_2$ coated Si) using a high vacuum RF magnetron sputtering system. As-deposited NiFe thin films show similar magnetic properties compared to bulk NiFe alloys, indicating that they have a good film quality. The optimum design of solenoid-type magnetic thin film inductors was performed utilizing a Maxwell computer simulator (Ansoft HFSS V7.0 for PC) and parameters obtained from the magnetic properties of magnetic core materials selected. The high-frequency characteristics of the inductance(L) and quality factor(Q) obtained for the designed inductors through simulation agreed well with those obtained by theoretical calculations, confirming that the simulated result is realistic. The optimum structure of high-performance ($Q{\geq}60$, $L\;=\;1{\mu}H$, efficiency${\geq}90%$), high-frequency (${\geq}5MHz$), and solenoid-type magnetic thin film inductors was designed successfully.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.6-6
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• 2010

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)를 포함한 Transparent Conduction Oxide (TCO)는 LCD, OLED와 같은 Display, 그리고 Solar Cell 등 광신호와 전기신호간 변환이 필요한 모든 Device에 반드시 필요한 핵심 물질로, 특히 고특성 Display의 투명전극에서 요청되는 95% 이상의 투과도와 $15\;{\Omega}/{\square}$ 이하의 면저항 특성을 동시에 만족할 수 있는 기술은 현재까지 Plasma Sputtering 공정으로 $160^{\circ}C$ 이상에서 증착된 ITO 박막이 유일하다. 그러나, 최근 차세대 기술로서 Plastic Film을 기반으로 하는 Flexible Display 및 Flexible Solar Cell 구현에 대한 요구가 급증하면서, Plastic Film 기판위에 Plasma Damage이 없이 상온에 가까운 저온 ($100^{\circ}C$ 이하)에서 특성이 우수한 ITO 투명전극을 형성 할 수 있는 기술의 확보가 중요한 현안이 되고 있다. 지난 10년 동안 $100^{\circ}C$이하 저온에서 고특성의 ITO 또는 TCO 박막을 얻기위한 다양한 연구와 구체적인 공정이 활발히 연구되어 왔으나, ITO의 결정화 온도 (통상 $150{\sim}180^{\circ}C$)이하에서 증착된 ITO박막은 비정질 상태의 물성적 특성을 보여 원하는 전기적, 광학적 특성확보가 어려웠다. 본 논문에선 기본적으로 절연체 특성을 가져야 하는 산화물인 TCO가 반도체 또는 도체의 물리적 특성을 보여주는 기본원리의 고찰을 토대로, 재료학적 특성상 Crystalline 구조를 보여야 하는 ITO (Complex Cubic Bixbyte Structure)가 Plasma Sputtering 공정으로 저온에서 증착될 때 비정질 구조를 갖게 되는 원인을 규명하고, 이를 바탕으로 저온에서 증착된 ITO가 Crystalline 구조를 유지 할 수 있게 하고, Stress Control에 유리한 Nano-Crystalline 박막을 형성하면서 Crystallinity를 임의로 조절 할 수 있는 새로운 기술인 Magnetic Field Shielding Sputtering (MFSS) 공정과 최근 성과를 소개한다. 한편, 또 다른 새로운 저온 TCO 박막형성 기술로서, 유기반도체와 같은 Process Damage에 매우 취약한 유기물 위에 Plasma Damage 없이 TCO 박막을 직접 형성할 수 있는 Neutral Beam Assisted Sputtering (NBAS) 기술의 원리를 설명하고, 본 공정을 적용한 Top Emission OLED 소자의 결과를 소개한다. 또한, 고온공정이 수반되는 Solar Cell용 투명전극의 경우, 통상의 TCO박막이 고온공정을 거치면서 전기적 특성이 열화되는 원인을 규명하고, 이에 대한 근본적 해결 방법으로 ITO 박막의 Dopant인 Tin (Sn) 원자의 활성화를 증가시킨 Inductively Coupled Plasma Assisted DC Magnetron Sputtering (ICPDMS)의 원리와 박막의 물성적 특성과 내열 특성을 소개한다.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.94-97
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• 2017

Amorphous Si has been used for data processing circuits in flat panel displays. However, low mobility of the amorphous Si is a limiting factor for the data transmission speed. Metal oxides such as ZnO have been studied to replace the amorphous Si. ZnO is a wide bandgap (3.3 eV) semiconductor with high mobility and good optical transparency. When ZnO is grown by sputtering with $O_2$ as an oxidizer, there can be many ion species arising from $O_2$ decomposition. $O^+$, $O_2{^+}$, and $O^-$ ions are expected to be the most abundant species, and it is not clear which one contributes to the ZnO growth. We applied alternating substrate voltage (0 V and -70 V) during sputtering growth. We studied changes in transistor characteristics induced by the voltage switching. We also compared ZnO grown by dc and rf sputtering. ZnO film was grown at $450^{\circ}C$ substrate temperature. ZnO thin-film transistor grown with these methods showed $7.5cm^2/Vsec$ mobility, $10^6$ on-off ratio, and -2 V threshold voltage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.19-19
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• 2009

TiNxOy/TiNx multilayer thin films with a high resistance (~ k$Omega$) were deposited on SiO2/Si substrates at room temperature by sputtering. The TiNx thin films show island and smooth surface morphology in samples prepared by dc and rf magnetron sputtering, respectively. TiNxOy/TiNx multilayer has been developed to control temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) by the incorporation of TiNx layer (positive TCR) inserted into TiNxOy layers(negative TCR). Electrical and structural properties of sputtered TiNxOy/TiNx multilayer films were investigated as a function of annealing temperature. In order to achieve a stable high resistivity, multilayer films were annealed at various temperatures in oxygen ambient. Samples annealed at 700 oC for 1 min exhibit a good TCR value and a stable high resistivity.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2007

In MIS capacitor structure, we have studied the electrical properties in Ammonium Sulfide solution treatment while AIN thin film as a insulator is being formed by reactive sputtering method. The deposition process conditions of AIN thin film we temperature $250^{\circ}C$, DC Power 150 W, pressure 5 mTorr and 8 sccm(Ar : 4 sccm, $N_{2}$ : 4 sccm). The surface of GaAs was treated with Ammonium Sulfide solution, it was shown the leakage current was less than $10^{-8}\;A/cm^{2}$. The deep depletion phenomena of inverse area with treating Ammonium Sulfide solution in C-V analysis was improved as compared the condition of without Ammonium Sulfide solution and hysteresis property as well.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.587-591
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• 1998

AZO transparent conducting thin film were fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering using the Zn: Al (2% aluminu contained ) alloy target with inducing microwave to the plasma, and the effect of microwave was studied. The optical transmittance, the resistivity and dynamic deposition rate at the applied voltage to target of 420 V was 50~70%, $ 5.5{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}$cm and 6,000 $\AA\textrm{mm}^2$/J, respectively. After annealing AZO coated glass at $400^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes, the light transmittance was increased to 80% and electrical conductivity was also increased two times, reached to resistivity of $2.0{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}$cm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.533-533
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• 2013

본 연구에서는 선형 대향 타겟 스퍼터 시스템을 이용하여 hetero sputtering방법으로 증착한Al-Ga-Zn-O (AGZO) 박막의 기판-타겟간 거리(Target-to-Substrate distance)에 따른 전기적, 광학적, 구조적 특성을 분석하였다. 타겟과 기판 사이의 거리 변화(30~120 mm)에 따른 AGZO 박막의 특성 변화를 관찰하기 위하여 일정한 DC 파워 250 W, 공정압력 0.3 mTorr, Ar 20 sccm에서 서로 다른 AZO 타겟과 GZO 타겟을 이용하여 hetero-sputtering 공정을 진행하였다. 최적의 타겟과 기판 사이의 거리를 결정하기 위해 AGZO 박막의 투과도(T)와 면저항($R_{sh}$)을 기반으로 figure of merit ($T^{10}/R_{sh}$)값을 계산하였다. 기판-타겟간 거리는 AGZO 박막의 밀도에 영향을 주는 핵심 인자로 30 mm에서 120 mm로 증가수록 밀도가 낮은 AGZO 박막이 형성되었다. 최적의 타겟과 기판 사이의 거리(30 mm)에서 AGZO 박막은 132 Ohm/sq의 낮은 면저항과 87.2%의 높은 투과도를 나타내었다. 그러나 기판-타겟간 거리가 증가할수록 같은 두께에서 면저항은 급격히 증가함을 발견할 수 있었으며 이러한 특성 변화는 스퍼터되어 기판에 도달하는 입자의 에너지 차이로 설명이 가능하다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 기판-타겟간 거리에 따른 AGZO 박막의 특성 변화를 설명할 수 있는 메커니즘을 다양한 분석을 통해 제시하였다. 또한 적화된 AGZO 투명 전극을 이용해 제작한 GaN-LED의 Damage free sputtering 기술에 대해서 소개한다.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.169-172
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• 2009

The ZnO/CuSn/ZnO (ZCSZ) multilayer films were deposited on polycarbonate substrates using reactive RF and DC magnetron sputtering. The thickness of each layer was 50 nm/5 nm/45 nm, respectively. The ZCSZ films showed a sheet resistance of $44{\Omega}$/Sq, which was an order of magnitude lower than that indium tin oxide (ITO) films. Although the ZCSZ films had a CuSn interlayer that absorbed visible light, both films had similar optical transmittances of 74% in the visible wavelength region. The figure of merit of the ZCSZ films was $1.0{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}^{-1}$ and was greater than the value of the ITO films, $1.6{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}^{-1}$. From the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the ITO films did not show any diffraction peaks, whereas the ZCSZ films showed diffraction peaks for the ZnO (100) and (002) phases. The hardness of the ITO and ZCSZ films were 5.8 and 7.1 GPa, respectively, which were determined using nano-indentation. From these results, the ZCSZ films exhibited greater optoelectrical performance and hardness compared to the conventional ITO films.