• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.331-331
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• 2009

Hafnium oxide ($HfO_2$) attracted by one of the potential candidates for the replacement of si-based oxides. For applications of the high-k gate dielectric material, high thermodynamic stability and low interface-trap density are required. Furthermore, the amorphous film structure would be more effective to reduce the leakage current. To search the gate oxide materials, metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors was fabricated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass with different oxygen pressures (30 and 50 mTorr) at room temperature, and they were deposited by Au/Ti metal as the top electrode patterned by conventional photolithography with an area of $3.14\times10^{-4}\;cm^2$. The results of XRD patterns indicate that all films have amorphous phase. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images show that the thickness of the $HfO_2$ films is typical 50 nm, and the grain size of the $HfO_2$ films increases as the oxygen pressure increases. The capacitance and leakage current of films were measured by a Agilent 4284A LCR meter and Keithley 4200 semiconductor parameter analyzer, respectively. Capacitance-voltage characteristics show that the capacitance at 1 MHz are 150 and 58 nF, and leakage current density of films indicate $7.8\times10^{-4}$ and $1.6\times10^{-3}\;A/cm^2$ grown at 30 and 50 mTorr, respectively. The optical properties of the $HfO_2$ films were demonstrated by UV-VIS spectrophotometer (Scinco, S-3100) having the wavelength from 190 to 900 nm. Because films show high transmittance (around 85 %), they are suitable as transparent devices.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.230-234
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• 2002

Metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor(MFS) capacitors by using rapid thermal annealed $LiNbO_3$/Si structures were successfully fabricated and demonstrated nonvolatile memory operations of the MFS capacitors. The C-V characteristics of MFS capacitors showed a hysteresis loop due to the ferroelectric nature of the $LiNbO_3$thin film. The dielectric constant of the $LiNbO_3$film calculated from the capacitance in the accumulation region in the capacitance-voltage(C-V) curve was about 25. The gate leakage current density of MFS capacitor using a platinum electrode showed the least value of $1{\times}10^{-8}\textrm{A/cm}^2$ order at the electric field of 500 kV/cm. The minimum interface trap density around midgap was estimated to be about $10^{11}/cm^2$.eV. The typical measured remnant polarization(2Pr) value was about 1.2 $\mu\textrm{C/cm}^2$, in an applied electric field of $\pm$ 300 kv/cm. The ferroelectric capacitors showed no polarization degradation up to about $10^{10}$ switching cycles when subjected to symmetric bipolar voltage pulse in the 500 kHz.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1998.07d
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• pp.1352-1354
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• 1998

$LiNbO_3$ transistor showed relatively stable characteristic, low interface trap density, and large remanent polarization. This paper reports ferroelectric $LiNbO_3$ thin films grown directly on p-type Si(100) substrates by 13.56 MHz rf magnetron sputtering system for FRAM applications. To take advantage of low temperature requirement for growing films, we deposited $LiNbO_3$ films lower than $300 ^{\circ}C$. RTA(Rapid Thermal Anneal) treatment was performed for as-deposited films in an oxygen atmosphere at $600^{\circ}C$ for 60 sec. We learned from X-ray diffraction that the RTA annealed films were changed from amorphous to poly-crystalline $LiNbO_3$ which exhibited (012), (015), and (022) orientations. The I-V characteristics of $LiNbO_3$ films before and after anneal treatment showed that RTA improved the leakage current of films. The leakage current density of films decreased from $10^{-5}$ to $10^{-7} A/cm^2$ at room temperature measurement. Breakdown electric field of the films exhibited higher than 500 kV/cm. The C-V curves showed the clockwise hysteresis represents ferroelectric switching characteristics. From C-V curves, we calculated dielectric constant of thin film $LiNbO_3$ as 27.5 which is close to that of bulk value.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.40-47
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• 2014

In this paper, $Al_2O_3$ film deposited by thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) with diluted $NH_4OH$ instead of $H_2O$ was suggested for passivation layer and anti-reflection (AR) coating of the p-type crystalline Si (c-Si) solar cell application. It was confirmed that the deposition rate and refractive index of $Al_2O_3$ film was proportional to the $NH_4OH$ concentration. $Al_2O_3$ film deposited with 5 % $NH_4OH$ has the greatest negative fixed oxide charge density ($Q_f$), which can be explained by aluminum vacancies ($V_{Al}$) or oxygen interstitials ($O_i$) under O-rich condition. $Al_2O_3$ film deposited with $NH_4OH$ 5 % condition also shows lower interface trap density ($D_{it}$) distribution than those of other conditions. At $NH_4OH$ 5 % condition, moreover, $Al_2O_3$ film shows the highest excess carrier lifetime (${\tau}_{PCD}$) and the lowest surface recombination velocity ($S_{eff}$), which are linked with its passivation properties. The proposed $Al_2O_3$ film deposited with diluted $NH_4OH$ is very promising for passivation layer and AR coating of the p-type c-Si solar cell.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 2005

The silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer fabrication technique has been developed by using ion-cut process, based on proton implantation and wafer bonding techniques. It has been shown by SRIM simulation that 65keV proton implantation is required for a SOI wafer (200nm SOI, 400nm BOX) fabrication. In order to investigate the optimum proton dose and primary annealing condition for wafer splitting, the surface morphologic change has been observed such as blistering and flaking. As a result, effective dose is found to be in the $6\~9\times10^{16}\;H^+/cm^2$ range, and the annealing at $550^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes is expected to be optimum for wafer splitting. Direct wafer bonding is performed by joining two wafers together after creating hydrophilic surfaces by a modified RCA cleaning, and IR inspection is followed to ensure a void free bonding. The wafer splitting was accomplished by annealing at the predetermined optimum condition, and high temperature annealing was then performed at $1,100^{\circ}C$ for 60 minutes to stabilize the bonding interface. TEM observation revealed no detectable defect at the SOI structure, and the interface trap charge density at the upper interface of the BOX was measured to be low enough to keep 'thermal' quality.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-74
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• 1994

The ultrathin oxide films less than 100$\AA$ were grown by thermal oxidation in $N_2O$ ambient to improve the controllability of thickness, thickness uniformity, process reproducibility and their electrical properties. Oxidation rate was reduced significantly at very thin region due to the formation of oxynitride layer in $N_2O$ ambient and moreover nitridation of the oxide layer was simultaneously accompanied during growth. The nitrogen incorporation in the grown oxide layer was characterized with the wet chemical etch-rate and ESCA analysis of the grown oxide layer. All the oxides thin films grown in $N_2O$, pure and dilute $O_2$ ambients show Fowler-Nordheim electrical conduction. The electrical characteristics of thin oxide films grown in $N_2O$ such as leakage current, electrical breakdown, interface trap density generation due to the injected electron and reliability were better than those in pure or dilute ambient. These improved properties can be explained by the fact that the weak Si-0 bond is reduced by stress relaxation during oxidation and replacement by strong Si-N bond, and thus the trap sites are reduced.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.941-948
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• 2009

The present study aims at the examination of the effects of 1 mol% NiO addition on the reaction, microstructure development, resultant electrical properties, and especially the bulk trap and interface state levels of $ZnO-Bi_2O_3-Sb_2O_3$ (Sb/Bi=0.5, 1.0, and 2.0) systems (ZBS). The samples were prepared by conventional ceramic process, and characterized by density, XRD, SEM, I-V, impedance and modulus spectroscopy (IS & MS) measurement. The sintering and electrical properties of Ni-doped ZBS (ZBSN) systems were controlled by Sb/Bi ratio. Pyrochlore ($Zn_2Bi_3Sb_3O_{14}$) was decomposed more than $100^{\circ}C$ lowered in ZBS (Sb/Bi=1.0) by Ni doping. The reproduction of pyrochlore was suppressed by the addition of Ni in ZBS. Between two polymorphs of $Zn_7Sb_2O_{12}$ spinel ($\alpha$ and $\beta$), microstructure of ZBSN (Sb/Bi=0.5) composed of a-spinel was more homogeneous than $Sb/Bi{\geq}1.0$ composed of $\beta$-spinel phase. In ZBSN, the varistor characteristics were not improved drastically (non-linear coefficient $\alpha\;=\;6{\sim}11$) and independent on microstructure according to Sb/Bi ratio. Doping of Ni to ZBS seemed to form ${V_0}^{\cdot}$ (0.33 eV) as dominant bulk defect. From IS & MS, especially the grain boundaries of Sb/Bi=0.5 systems were divided into two types, i.e. sensitive to oxygen and thus electrically active one and electrically inactive intergranular one with temperature.

• Journal of Information Display
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.209-212
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• 2011

The threshold voltage shift (${\Delta}V_{th}$) under positive-voltage bias stress (PBS) of InGaZnO (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) annealed at different temperatures in air was investigated. The dramatic degradation of the electrical performance was observed at the sample that was annealed at $700^{\circ}C$. The degradation of the saturation mobility (${\mu}_{sat}$) resulted from the diffusion of indium atoms into the interface of the IGZO/gate insulator after crystallization, and the degradation of the subthreshold slope (S-factor) was due to the increase in the interfacial and bulk trap density. In spite of the degradation of the electrical performance of the sample that was annealed at $700^{\circ}C$, it showed a smaller ${\Delta}V_{th}$ under PBS conditions for $10^4$ s than the samples that were annealed at $500^{\circ}C$, which is attributed to the nanocrystal-embedded structure. The sample that was annealed at $600^{\circ}C$ showed the best performance and the smallest ${\Delta}V_{th}$ among the fabricated samples with a ${\mu}_{sat}$ of $9.38cm^2/V$ s, an S-factor of 0.46V/decade, and a ${\Delta}V_{th}$ of 0.009V, which is due to the passivation of the defects by high thermal annealing without structural change.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.24-28
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• 2012

In this study, we fabricated an amorphous InGaZnO pseudo-MOS transistor (a-IGZO ${\Psi}$-MOSFET) with a stacked $Si_3N_4/SiO_2$ (NO) gate dielectric and evaluated reliability of the devices with various thicknesses of a $SiO_2$ buffer layer. The roles of a $SiO_2$ buffer layer are improving the interface states and preventing degradation caused by the injection of photo-created holes because of a small valance band offset of amorphous IGZO and $Si_3N_4$. Meanwhile, excellent electrical properties were obtained for a device with 10-nm-thick $SiO_2$ buffer layer of a NO stacked dielectric. The threshold voltage shift of a device, however, was drastically increased because of its thin $SiO_2$ buffer layer which highlighted bias and light-induced hole trapping into the $Si_3N_4$ layer. As a results, the pseudo-MOS transistor with a 20-nm-thick $SiO_2$ buffer layer exhibited improved electrical characteristics and device reliability; field effective mobility(${\mu}_{FE}$) of 12.3 $cm^2/V{\cdot}s$, subthreshold slope (SS) of 148 mV/dec, trap density ($N_t$) of $4.52{\times}1011\;cm^{-2}$, negative bias illumination stress (NBIS) ${\Delta}V_{th}$ of 1.23 V, and negative bias temperature illumination stress (NBTIS) ${\Delta}V_{th}$ of 2.06 V.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.104-104
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• 2010

현재 디스플레이 시장은 급변하게 변화하고 있다. 특히, 비정질 실리콘의 경우 디스플레이의 채널층으로 주로 상용화되어 왔다. 비정질 실리콘 기반의 박막 트랜지스터는 제작의 경제성 및 균일성을 가지고 있어서 널리 상용화되고 있다. 하지만 비정질 실리콘의 경우 낮은 전자 이동도(< $1\;cm^2/Vs$)로 인하여 디스플레이의 대면적화에 부적합하며, 광학적으로 불투명한 특성을 갖기 때문에 차세대 디스플레이의 응용에 불리한 점이 있다. 이런 문제점의 대안으로 현재 국내외 여러 연구 그룹에서 산화물 기반의 반도체를 박막 트랜지스터의 채널층으로 사용하려는 연구가 진행중이다. 산화물 기반의 반도체는 밴드갭이 넓어서 광학적으로 투명하고, 상온에서 증착이 가능하며, 비정질 실리콘에 비해 월등히 우수한 이동도를 가짐으로 디스플레이의 대면적화에 유리하다. 특히 Zinc Oxide, Tin Oxide, Titanum Oxide등의 산화물이 연구되고 있으며, indium이나 aluminum등을 첨가하여 전기적인 특성을 향상시키려는 노력을 보이고 있다. Tin oxide의 경우 천연적으로 풍부한 자원이며, 낮은 가격이 큰 이점으로 작용을 한다. 또한, $SnO_2$의 경우 ITO나 ZnO 열적으로 화학적 과정에서 더 안정하다고 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 $SnO_2$ 기반의 박막 트랜지스터를 DC magnetron sputtering를 이용하여 상온에서 제작을 하였다. 일반적으로, $SnO_2$의 경우 증착 과정에서 산소 분압 조절과 oxygen vacancy 조절를 통하여 박막의 전도성을 조절할 수 있다. 이렇게 제작된 $SnO_2$의 박막을 High-resolution X-ray diffractometer, photoluminescence spectra, Hall effect measurement를 이용하여 전기적 및 광학적 특성을 알 수 있다. 그리고 후열처리 통하여 박막의 전기적 특성 변화를 확인하였다. gate insulator의 처리를 통하여 thin film의 interface의 trap density를 감소시킴으로써 소자의 성능 향상을 시도하였다. 그리고 semiconductor analyzer로 소자의 출력 특성 및 전이 특성을 평가하였다. 그리고 Temperature, Bias Temperature stability, 경시변화 등의 다양한 조건에서의 안정성을 평가하여 안정성이 확보된다면 비정질 실리콘을 대체할 유력한 후보 중의 하나가 될 것이라고 기대된다.