• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.75-87
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• 2010

For two input-protection schemes suitable for RF ICs utilizing the thyristor and diode protection devices, which can be fabricated in standard CMOS processes, we attempt an in-depth comparison on HBM ESD robustness in terms of lattice heating inside protection devices and peak voltages developed across gate oxides in input buffers, based on DC, mixed-mode transient, and AC analyses utilizing a 2-dimensional device simulator. For this purpose, we construct an equivalent circuit for an input HBM test environment of a CMOS chip equipped with the input ESD protection circuits, which allows mixed-mode transient simulations for various HBM test modes. By executing mixed-mode simulations including up to six active protection devices in a circuit, we attempt a detailed analysis on the problems, which can occur in real tests. In the procedure, we suggest to a recipe to ease the bipolar trigger in the protection devices and figure out that oxide failure in internal circuits is determined by the junction breakdown voltage of the NMOS structure residing in the protection devices. We explain the characteristic differences of two protection schemes as an input ESD protection circuit for RF ICs, and suggest valuable guidelines relating design of the protection devices and circuits.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.363-363
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• 2014

Ruthenium (Ru) has attractive material properties due to its promising characteristics such as a low resistivity ($7.1{\mu}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ in the bulk), a high work function of 4.7 eV, and feasibility for the dry etch process. These properties make Ru films appropriate for various applications in the state-of-art semiconductor device technologies. Thus, it has been widely investigated as an electrode for capacitor in the dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a metal gate for metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), and a seed layer for Cu metallization. Due to the continuous shrinkage of microelectronic devices, better deposition processes for Ru thin films are critically required with excellent step coverages in high aspect ratio (AR) structures. In these respects, atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a viable solution for preparing Ru thin films because it enables atomic-scale control of the film thickness with excellent conformality. A recent investigation reported that the nucleation of ALD-Ru film was enhanced considerably by using a zero-valent metallorganic precursor, compared to the utilization of precursors with higher metal valences. In this study, we will present our research results on the synthesis and characterization of novel ruthenium complexes. The ruthenium compounds were easy synthesized by the reaction of ruthenium halide with appropriate organic ligands in protic solvent, and characterized by NMR, elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. The molecular structures of the complexes were studied by single crystal diffraction. ALD of Ru film was demonstrated using the new Ru metallorganic precursor and O2 as the Ru source and reactant, respectively, at the deposition temperatures of $300-350^{\circ}C$. Self-limited reaction behavior was observed as increasing Ru precursor and O2 pulse time, suggesting that newly developed Ru precursor is applicable for ALD process. Detailed discussions on the chemical and structural properties of Ru thin films as well as its growth behavior using new Ru precursor will be also presented.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.173-181
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• 1992

Tantalum pentoxide($Ta_{2}O_{5}$) thin films on p-type (100) silicon wafer were fabricated by RF reactive sputtering. Physical properties and structure of the specimens were examined by XRD and AES. From the C-V analysis, the dielectric constant of $Ta_{2}O_{5}$ films was in the range of 10-12 in the reactive gas atmosphere in which 10% of oxygen gas is mixed. The ratio of Ta : 0 was 1 : 2 and 1 : 2.49 by AES and RBS examination, respectively. The heat-treatment at $700^{\circ}C$ in $O_{2}$ ambient led to induce crystallization. When the heat-treatment temperature was $1000^{\circ}C$, the dielectric constant was 20.5 in $O_{2}$ ambient and 23 in $N_{2}$ ambient, respectively. The crystal structure of $Ta_{2}O_{5}$ film was pseudo hexagonal of ${\delta}-Ta_{2}O_{5}$. The flat band voltage shift(${\Delta}V_{FB}$) of the specimens and the leakage current density were decreased for higher oxygen mixing ratio. The maximum breakdown field was 2.4MV/cm at the oxygen mixing ratio of 10%. The $Ta_{2}O_{5}$ films will be applicable to hydrogen ion sensitive film and gate oxide material for memory device.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.315-320
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• 2000

We have investigated the crystal structure and electrical properties of Pt/SBT/$ZrO_2$/Si (MFIS) and Pt/SBT/Si (MFS) structures for the gate oxide of ferroelectric memory. XRD spectra and SEM showed that the SBT film of SBT/$ZrO_2$/Si structure had larger grain than that of SBT/Si structure. $ZrO_2$ film between SBT film and Si substrate is confirmed as a good candidate for a diffusion barrier by the analysis of AES. The remanent polarization decreased and coercive voltage increased in Pt/SBT/$ZrO_2$/Pt/$SiO_2$/Si structure. This effect may increase memory window of MFIS structure directly related to the coercive voltage. From the capacitance-volt-age characteristics, the memory windows of Pt/SBT (210 nm)/$ZrO_2$ (28 nm)/Si structure were in the range of 1~l.5 V at the applied voltage of 4~6 V. The current densities of Pt/SBT/ZrO$_2$/Si with as -deposited Pt electrode and annealed at $800^{\circ}C$ in $O_2$ambient were $8\times10^{-8} A/\textrm{cm}^2$ and $4\times10^{-8}A/\textrm{cm}^2$ , respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.169-169
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• 2008

To keep pace with scaling trends of CMOS technologies, high-k metal oxides are to be introduced. Due to their high permittivity, high-k materials can achieve the required capacitance with stacks of higher physical thickness to reduce the leakage current through the scaled gate oxide, which make it become much more promising materials to instead of $SiO_2$. As further studying on high-k, an understanding of the relation between the etch characteristics of high-k dielectric materials and plasma properties is required for the low damaged removal process to match standard processing procedure. There are some reports on the dry etching of different high-k materials in ICP and ECR plasma with various plasma parameters, such as different gas combinations ($Cl_2$, $Cl_2/BCl_3$, $Cl_2$/Ar, $SF_6$/Ar, and $CH_4/H_2$/Ar etc). Understanding of the complex behavior of particles at surfaces requires detailed knowledge of both macroscopic and microscopic processes that take place; also certain processes depend critically on temperature and gas pressure. The choice of $BCl_3$ as the chemically active gas results from the fact that it is widely used for the etching o the materials covered by the native oxides due to the effective extraction of oxygen in the form of $BCl_xO_y$ compounds. In this study, the surface reactions and the etch rate of $Al_2O_3$ films in $BCl_3/Cl_2$/Ar plasma were investigated in an inductively coupled plasma(ICP) reactor in terms of the gas mixing ratio, RF power, DC bias and chamber pressure. The variations of relative volume densities for the particles were measured with optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The surface imagination was measured by AFM and SEM. The chemical states of film was investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which confirmed the existence of nonvolatile etch byproducts.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.456-456
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• 2010

CMOS 소자가 서브마이크론($0.1\;{\mu}m$) 이하로 스케일다운 되면서 단채널 효과(short channel effect), 게이트 산화막(gate oxide)의 누설전류(leakage current)의 증가와 높은 직렬저항(series resistance) 등의 문제가 발생한다. CMOS 소자의 구동전류(drive current)를 높이고, 단채널 효과를 줄이기 위한 가장 효율적인 방법은 소스 및 드레인의 얕은 접합(shallow junction) 형성과 직렬 저항을 줄이는 것이다. 플라즈마 도핑 방법은 플라즈마 밀도 컨트롤, 주입 바이어스 전압 조절 등을 통해 저 에너지 이온주입법보다 기판 손상 및 표면 결함의 생성을 억제하면서 고농도로 얕은 접합을 형성할 수 있다. 그리고 얕은 접합을 형성하기 위해 주입된 불순물의 활성화와 확산을 위해 후속 열처리 공정은 높은 온도에서 짧은 시간 열처리하여 불순물 물질의 활성화를 높여주면서 열처리로 인한 접합 깊이를 얕게 해야 한다. 그러나 접합의 깊이가 줄어듦에 따라서 소스 및 드레인의 표면 저항(sheet resistance)과 접촉저항(contact resistance)이 급격하게 증가하는 문제점이 있다. 이러한 표면저항과 접촉저항을 줄이기 위한 방안으로 실리사이드 박막(silicide thin film)을 형성하는 방법이 사용되고 있다. 본 논문에서는 (100) p-type 웨이퍼 He(90 %) 가스로 희석된 $PH_3$(10 %) 가스를 사용하여 플라즈마 도핑을 실시하였다. 10 mTorr의 압력에서 200 W RF 파워를 인가하여 플라즈마를 생성하였고 도핑은 바이어스 전압 -1 kV에서 60 초 동안 실시하였다. 얕은 접합을 형성하기 위한 불순물의 활성화는 ArF(193 nm) excimer laser를 통해 $460\;mJ/cm^2$의 에니지로 열처리를 실시하였다. 그리고 낮은 접촉비저항과 표면저항을 얻기 위해 metal sputter를 통해 TiN/Ti를 $800/400\;{\AA}$ 증착하고 metal RTP를 사용하여 실리사이드 형성 온도를 $650{\sim}800^{\circ}C$까지 60 초 동안 열처리를 실시하여 $TiSi_2$ 박막을 형성하였다. 그리고 $TiSi_2$의 두께를 측정하기 위해 TEM(Transmission Electron Microscopy)을 측정하였다. 화학적 결합상태를 분석하기 위해 XPS(X-ray photoelectronic)와 XRD(X-ray diffraction)를 측정하였다. 접촉비저항, 접촉저항과 표면저항을 분석하기 위해 TLM(Transfer Length Method) 패턴을 제작하여 I-V 특성을 측정하였다. TEM 측정결과 $TiSi_2$의 두께는 약 $580{\AA}$ 정도이고 morphology는 안정적이고 실리사이드 집괴 현상은 발견되지 않았다. XPS와 XRD 분석결과 실리사이드 형성 온도가 $700^{\circ}C$에서 C54 형태의 $TiSi_2$ 박막이 형성되었고 가장 낮은 접촉비저항과 접촉저항 값을 가진다.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.139-145
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• 2024

This paper presents the design of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) which is one of the key building blocks in modern wireless communication systems with small VCO gain (K_vco) variation. To compensate conventional large K_vco variation, a series varactor bank has been added to the conventional LC-tank with parallel capacitor bank array. And also, in order to achieve excellent phase noise performance while maintaining wide tuning range, a mixed coarse/fine tuning scheme(series varactor array and parallel capacitor array) is chosen. The switched varactor array bank is controlled by the same digital code for switched capacitor array without additional digital circuits. For use at a low voltage of 1.2V, the proposed current reference circuit in this paper used a current reference circuit for safety with the common gate removed more safely. Implemented in a TSMC 0.13㎛ CMOS RF technology, the proposed VCO can be tuned from 4.4GH to 5.3GHz with the K_vco (VCO gain ) variation of less than 9.6%. While consuming 3.1mA from a 1.2V supply, the VCO has -120dBc/Hz phase noise at 1MHz offset from the carrier of the 5.3 GHz.