• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.63-68
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• 2014

For a nanoscale Cu/low-k wafer, inter-layer dielectric (ILD) and metal layers peelings, cracks, chipping, and delamination are the most common dicing defects by traditional diamond blade saw process. Sidewall void in sawing street is one of the key factors to bring about cracks and chipping. The aim of this research is to evaluate laser grooving & mechanical sawing parameters to eliminate sidewall void and avoid top-side chipping as well as peeling. An ultra-fast pico-second (ps) laser is applied to groove/singulate the 28-nanometer node wafer with Cu/low-k dielectric. A series of comprehensive parametric study on the recipes of input laser power, repetition rate, grooving speed, defocus amount and street index has been conducted to improve the quality of dicing process. The effects of the laser kerf geometry, grooving edge quality and defects are evaluated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and focused ion beam (FIB). Experimental results have shown that the laser grooving technique is capable to improve the quality and yield issues on Cu/low-k wafer dicing process.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.221-228
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• 2017

Various morphologies of copper oxide (CuO) have been considered to be of both fundamental and practical importance in the field of electronic materials. In this study, using Cu ($0.1{\mu}m$ and $7{\mu}m$) particles, flake-type CuO particles were grown via a wet oxidation method for 5min and 60min at $75^{\circ}C$. Using the prepared CuO, AlN, and silicone base as reagents, thermal interface material (TIM) compounds were synthesized using a high speed paste mixer. The properties of the thermal compounds prepared using the CuO particles were observed by thermal conductivity and breakdown voltage measurement. Most importantly, the volume of thermal compounds created using CuO particles grown from $0.1{\mu}m$ Cu particles increased by 192.5 % and 125 % depending on the growth time. The composition of CuO was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis; cross sections of the grown CuO particles were observed using focused ion beam (FIB), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and energy dispersive analysis by X-ray (EDAX). In addition, the thermal compound dispersion of the Cu and Al elements were observed by X-ray elemental mapping.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.589-594
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• 2020

Many electronic applications require magnetic materials with high permeability and frequency properties. We improve the magnetic permeability of soft magnetic powder by controlling the shape magnetic anisotropy of the powders and through the preparation of amorphous nanoparticles. For this purpose, the effect of the shape magnetic anisotropy of amorphous Fe-B-P nanoparticles is observed through a magnetic field and the frequency characteristics and permeability of these amorphous nanoparticles are observed. These characteristics are investigated by analyzing the composition of particles, crystal structure, microstructure, magnetic properties, and permeability of particles. The composition, crystal structure, and microstructure of the particles are analyzed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry-, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam analysis. The saturation magnetization and permeability are measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer and an LCR meter, respectively. It is confirmed that the shape magnetic anisotropy of the particles influences the permeability. Finally, the permeability and frequency characteristics of the amorphous Fe-B-P nanoparticles are improved.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.486-492
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• 2016

Tungsten (W) thin film was deposited at $400^{\circ}C$ using pulsed chemical vapor deposition (pulsed CVD); film was then evaluated as a nucleation layer for W-plug deposition at the contact, with an ultrahigh aspect ratio of about 14~15 (top opening diameter: 240~250 nm, bottom diameter: 98~100 nm) for dynamic random access memory. The deposition stage of pulsed CVD has four steps resulting in one deposition cycle: (1) Reaction of $WF_6$ with $SiH_4$. (2) Inert gas purge. (3) $SiH_4$ exposure without $WF_6$ supply. (4) Inert gas purge while conventional CVD consists of the continuous reaction of $WF_6$ and $SiH_4$. The pulsed CVD-W film showed better conformality at contacts compared to that of conventional CVD-W nucleation layer. It was found that resistivities of films deposited by pulsed CVD were closely related with the phases formed and with the microstructure, as characterized by the grain size. A lower contact resistance was obtained by using pulsed CVD-W film as a nucleation layer compared to that of the conventional CVD-W nucleation layer, even though the former has a higher resistivity (${\sim}100{\mu}{\Omega}-cm$) than that of the latter (${\sim}25{\mu}{\Omega}-cm$). The plan-view scanning electron microscopy images after focused ion beam milling showed that the lower contact resistance of the pulsed CVD-W based W-plug fill scheme was mainly due to its better plug filling capability.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.577-580
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• 2014

Indium hydroxy sulfide ($In(OH)_xS_y$) as a cadmium (Cd)-free buffer layer for $CuInGaSe_2$ (CIGS) solar cells was prepared by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) and the reaction time was optimized. The band gap energy and transmittance data alongside the thickness results from the direct observation with focused ion beam system (FIB) could be a powerful tool for optimizing the conditions. In addition, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were also employed for the layer characterization. The results indicated that the optimum reaction time for $In(OH)_xS_y$ buffer layer deposition by CBD was 20 min at $70^{\circ}C$ under the conditions employed. At the optimum conditions, the buffer layer thickness was near 57 nm and the band gap energy was 2.7 eV. In addition, it was found that there was no XPS peak shift in between the buffer layers deposited on molybdenum (Mo)/glass and that on CIGS layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.222-222
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• 2012

Metal oxide gas sensors based on semiconductor type have attracted a great deal of attention due to their low cost, flexible production and simple usability. However, most works have been focused on n-type oxides, while the characteristics of p-type oxide gas sensors have been barely studied. An investigation on p-type oxides is very important in that the use of them makes possible the novel sensors such as p-n diode and tandem devices. Monoclinic cupric oxide (CuO) is p-type semiconductor with narrow band gap (~1.2 eV). This is composed of abundant, nontoxic elements on earth, and thus low-cost, environment-friendly devices can be realized. However, gas sensing properties of neat CuO were rarely explored and the mechanism still remains unclear. In this work, the neat CuO layers with highly ordered mesoporous structures were prepared by a template-free, one-pot solution-based method using novel ink solutions, formulated with copper formate tetrahydrate, hexylamine and ethyl cellulose. The shear viscosity of the formulated solutions was 5.79 Pa s at a shear rate of 1 s-1. The solutions were coated on SiO2/Si substrates by spin-coating (ink) and calcined for 1 h at the temperature of $200{\sim}600^{\circ}C$ in air. The surface and cross-sectional morphologies of the formed CuO layers were observed by a focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) and porosity was determined by image analysis using simple computer-programming. XRD analysis showed phase evolutions of the layers, depending on the calcination temperature, and thermal decompositions of the neat precursor and the formulated ink were investigated by TGA and DSC. As a result, the formation of the porous structures was attributed to the vaporization of ethyl cellulose contained in the solutions. Mesoporous CuO, formed with the ink solution, consisted of grains and pores with nano-meter size. All of them were strongly dependent on calcination temperature. Sensing properties toward H2 and C2H5OH gases were examined as a function of operating temperature. High and fast responses toward H2 and C2H5OH gases were discussed in terms of crystallinity, nonstoichiometry and morphological factors such as porosity, grain size and surface-to-volume ratio. To our knowledge, the responses toward H2 and C2H5OH gases of these CuO gas sensors are comparable to previously reported values.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.77-77
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• 2017

Titanium and its alloys offer attractive properties in a variety of applications. These are widely used for the field of biomedical implants because of its good biocompatibility and high corrosion resistance. Titanium anodizing is often used in the metal finishing of products, especially those can be used in the medical devices with dense oxide surface. Based on SAE/AMS (Society of Automotive Engineers/Aerospace Material Specification) 2488D, it has the specification for industrial titanium anodizing that have three different types of titanium anodization as following: Type I is used as a coating for elevated temperature forming; Type II is used as an anti-galling coating without additional lubrication or as a pre-treatment for improving adherence of film lubricants; Type III is used as a treatment to produce a spectrum of surface colours on titanium. In this study, we have focused on Type II anodization for the medical (dental and orthopedic) application, the anodized surface was modified with gray color under alkaline electrolyte. The surface characteristics were analyzed with Focused Ion Beam (FIB), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), surface roughness, Vickers hardness, three point bending test, biocompatibility, and corrosion (potentiodynamic) test. The Ti-6Al-4V alloy was used for specimen, the anodizing procedure was conducted in alkaline solution (NaOH based, pH>13). Applied voltage was range between 20 V to 40 V until the ampere to be zero. As results, the surface characteristics of anodic oxide layer were analyzed with SEM, the dissecting layer was fabricated with FIB method prior to analyze surface. The surface roughness was measured by arithmetic mean deviation of the roughness profile (Ra). The Vickers hardness was obtained with Vickers hardness tester, indentation was repeated for 5 times on each sample, and the three point bending property was verified by yield load values. In order to determine the corrosion resistance for the corrosion rate, the potentiodynamic test was performed for each specimen. The biological safety assessment was analyzed by cytotoxic and pyrogen test. Through FIB feature of anodic surfaces, the thickness of oxide layer was 1.1 um. The surface roughness, Vickers hardness, bending yield, and corrosion resistance of the anodized specimen were shown higher value than those of non-treated specimen. Also we could verify that there was no significant issues from cytotoxicity and pyrogen test.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Cobalt silicide was used as a counter electrode in order to confirm its reliability in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) devices. 100 nm-Co/300 nm-Si/quartz was formed by an evaporator and cobalt silicide was formed by vacuum heat treatment at $700^{\circ}C$ for 60 min to form approximately 350 nm-CoSi. This process was followed by etching in $80^{\circ}C$-30% $H_2SO_4$ to remove the cobalt residue on the cobalt silicide surface. Also, for the comparison against Pt, we prepared a 100 nm-Pt/glass counter electrode. Cobalt silicide was used for the counter electrode in order to confirm its reliability in DSSC devices and maintained for 0, 168, 336, 504, 672, and 840 hours at $80^{\circ}C$. The photovoltaic properties of the DSSCs employing cobalt silicide were confirmed by using a simulator and potentiostat. Cyclic-voltammetry, field emission scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometry analyses were used to confirm the catalytic activity, microstructure, and composition, respectively. The energy conversion efficiency (ECE) as a function of time and ECE of the DSSC with Pt and CoSi counter electrodes were maintained for 504 hours. However, after 672 hours, the ECEs decreased to a half of their initial values. The results of the catalytic activity analysis showed that the catalytic activities of the Pt and CoSi counter electrodes decreased to 64% and 57% of their initial values, respectively(after 840 hours). The microstructure analysis showed that the CoSi layer improved the durability in the electrolyte, but because the stress concentrates on the contact surface between the lower quartz substrate and the CoSi layer, cracks are formed locally and flaking occurs. Thus, deterioration occurs due to the residual stress built up during the silicidation of the CoSi counter electrode, so it is necessary to take measures against these residual stresses, in order to ensure the reliability of the electrode.