• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.202-206
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• 2012

$CoSi_2$ was formed through annealing of atomic layer deposition Co thin films. Co ALD was carried out using bis(N,N'-diisopropylacetamidinato) cobalt ($Co(iPr-AMD)_2$) as a precursor and $NH_3$ as a reactant; this reaction produced a highly conformal Co film with low resistivity ($50\;{\mu}{\Omega}cm$). To prevent oxygen contamination, $ex-situ$ sputtered Ti and $in-situ$ ALD Ru were used as capping layers, and the silicide formation prepared by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was used for comparison. Ru ALD was carried out with (Dimethylcyclopendienyl)(Ethylcyclopentadienyl) Ruthenium ((DMPD)(EtCp)Ru) and $O_2$ as a precursor and reactant, respectively; the resulting material has good conformality of as much as 90% in structure of high aspect ratio. X-ray diffraction showed that $CoSi_2$ was in a poly-crystalline state and formed at over $800^{\circ}C$ of annealing temperature for both cases. To investigate the as-deposited and annealed sample with each capping layer, high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) was employed with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). After annealing, in the case of the Ti capping layer, $CoSi_2$ about 40 nm thick was formed while the $SiO_x$ interlayer, which is the native oxide, became thinner due to oxygen scavenging property of Ti. Although Si diffusion toward the outside occurred in the Ru capping layer case, and the Ru layer was not as good as the sputtered Ti layer, in terms of the lack of scavenging oxygen, the Ru layer prepared by the ALD process, with high conformality, acted as a capping layer, resulting in the prevention of oxidation and the formation of $CoSi_2$.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.290-297
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• 2009

In case of using Asymmetric Bipolar Pulsed DC (ABPD) power generator, thin film is efficiently deposited as ions are getting higher energy by suppressing target poisoning and electric arc. In this article, the mechanical properties of CNx thin films deposited on the STS 316L were compared with DC and ABPD power generators. The CNx thin films deposited with ABPD clearly improved wear resistance by higher ratio of sp3CN as compared with DC. Nb interlayer affected to increase the value of 10N of adhesion between CNx thin films and substrate. But, CNx thin films deposited with ABPD couldn't endure to wear load and decreased wear resistance as the films were too thinner than substrate. Nevertheless the higher substrate bias energy applied to perform the dense films, it wasn't shown benefits about the wear properties from DC sputtering. But, in case of using ABPD sputtering, the wear resistance was largely improved without changing morphology despite of thin films.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.158-158
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• 1999

The post ion implantation has been applied to modify early-grown BN layer and improve the adhesion of the BN films. The effect of ion implantation doses on microstructure and interlayer was investigated by FTIR and HRTEM. And the hardness and delamination life time of N+-implanted BN films were measured. With increasing the ion dose up to 5.0×1015atoms/㎠, the change of IR spectrum is observed. At 5.0×1016atoms/㎠, a drastic transition of cubic phase into hexagonal phase is detected. The change of microstructure of early-grown layers by ion implantation is confirmed using HRTEM. Both microhardness and delamination life time of BN films increase with ion dose. The modification model of early-grown BN layers is briefly discussed based on the displacement per atom and excess boron in the BN film induced by ion irradiation.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.202-208
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• 1999

Composite cathodes of $50/50\;vol\%$ LSM-YSZ $(La_{-x}Sr_xMnO_3-yttria\;stabilized\;zirconia)$ were deposited onto dense YSZ electrolytes by colloidal deposition technique. The cathode characteristics were then examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and studied by ac-impedance spectroscopy (IS). The conditioning effects on LSM-YSZ cathodes were seen and remedies for these effects were noted in order to improve the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The effects of temperature on impedance, surface contamination on cathode bonding to YSZ electrolyte, changing Pt paste, aerosol spray technique applied to curved surface on microstructure and cell to cell variability were solved by testing at $900^{\circ}C$, sanding the YSZ surface, using only one batch of Pt paste, using flat YSZ plates and using consistent procedures and techniques, respectively. And then, reproducible impedance spectra were confirmed by using the improved cell and the typical spectra measured for an (air)LSM-YSZ/YSZ/LSM-YSZ(air) cell at $900^{\circ}C$ were composed of two depressed arcs. Impedance characteristics of the LSM-YSZ cathodes were also affected by experimental conditions such as catalytic interlayer, composite cathode compositions and applied current.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2000.02a
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• pp.173-173
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• 2000

Multilayered films (MLF) consisting of transition metals and semiconductors have drawn a great deal of interest because of their unique properties and potential technological applications. Fe/Si MLF are a particular topic of research due to their interesting antiferromagnetic coupling behavior. although a number of experimental works have been done to understand the mechanism of the interlayer coupling in this system, the results are controversial and it is not yet well understood how the formation of an iron silicide in the spacer layers affects the coupling. The interpretation of the coupling data had been hampered by the lack of knowledge about the intermixed iron silicide layer which has been variously hypothesized to be a metallic compound in the B2 structure or a semiconductor in the more complex B20 structure. It is well known that both magneto-optical (MO0 and optical properties of a metal depend strongly on their electronic structure that is also correlated with the atomic and chemical ordering. In order to understand the structure and physical properties of the interfacial regions, Fe/Si multilayers with very thin sublayers were investigated by the MO and optical spectroscopies. The Fe/si MLF were prepared by rf-sputtering onto glass substrates at room temperature with a totall thickness of about 100nm. The thicknesses of Fe and Si sublayers were varied from 0.3 to 0.8 nm. In order to understand the fully intermixed state, the MLF were also annealed at various temperatures. The structure and magnetic properties of Fe/Si MLF were investigated by x-ray diffraction and vibrating sample magnertometer, respectively. The MO and optical properties were measured at toom temperature in the 1.0-4.7 eV energy range. The results were analyzed in connection with the MO and optical properties of bulk and thin-film silicides with various structures and stoichiometries.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.265-273
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• 1997

The MR ratios and the exchange biasing field and interlayer coupling field were investigated in $Ni_{91}Fe_{19}/Co_{90}Fe_{10}/Cu/Co_{90}Fe_{10}/NiO$ spin-valve sandwiches grown on antiferromagnetic NiO films as a function of the NiO thickness, the thickness of Cu and pinning layer $Co_{90}Fe_{10}$. The spin-valve sandwiches were deposited on the Corning glass 7059 by means of the 3-gun dc and 1-gun rf magnetron sputtering at a 5 mtorrpartial Ar pressure and room temperature. The deposition field was 50 Oe. The MR curve was measured by the four-terminal method with applied magnetic soft bilayer [NiFe/CoFe] (90$\AA$) decreased dramatically to less than 10 Oe when the NiFe/CoFe bilayer used an NiFe bilayer thicker that 20$\AA$. So NiFe layer improved the softmagnetic properties in the NiFe/CoFe bilayer. The GMR ratio and the magnetic field sensitivity of the spin-valve film $Ni_{91}Fe_{19}(40{\AA})/Co_{90}Fe_{10}(50{\AA}) /Cu(30{\AA})/Co_{90}Fe_{10}(35{\AA})/NiO(800{\AA})$ was 6.3% and about 0.5 (%/Oe), respectively. The MR ratio had 5.3% below an annealing temperature of 20$0^{\circ}C$ which slowly decreased to 3% above 30$0^{\circ}C$. The large blocking temperature of the spin-valve film was taken (as being) due to the good stability of the NiO films. Thus, the spin-valve films with a free NiFe/CoFe layer clearly had a high large GMR output and showed a effective magnetic field sensitivity for a suitable spin-valve head material.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.421-427
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• 2009

We successfully fabricated 4.7-inch organic thin film transistors array with $640{\times}480$ pixels on flexible substrate. All the processes were done by photolithography, spin coating and ink-jet printing. The OTFT-Electrophoretic (EP) pixel structure, based on a top gate OTFT, was fabricated. The mobility, ON/OFF ratio, subthreshold swing and threshold voltage of OTFT on flexible substrate are: 0.01 ^2/V-s, 1.3 V/dec, 10E5 and -3.5 V. After laminated the EP media on OTFT array, a panel of 4.7-inch $640{\times}480$ OTFT-EPD was fabricated. All of process temperature in OTFT-EPD is lower than $150^{\circ}C$. The pixel size in our panel is $150{\mu}m{\times}150{\mu}m$, and the aperture ratio is 50 %. The OTFT channel length and width is 20 um and 200um, respectively. We also used OTFT to drive EP media successfully. The operation voltages that are used on the gate bias are -30 V during the row data selection and the gate bias are 0 V during the row data hold time. The data voltages that are used on the source bias are -20 V, 0 V, and 20 V during display media operation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.239-240
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• 2008

As semiconductor devices are scaled down for better performance and more functionality, the Cu-based interconnects suffer from the increase of the resistivity of the Cu wires. The resistivity increase, which is attributed to the electron scattering from grain boundaries and interfaces, needs to be addressed in order to further scale down semiconductor devices [1]. The increase in the resistivity of the interconnect can be alleviated by increasing the grain size of electroplating (EP)-Cu or by modifying the Cu surface [1]. Another possible solution is to maximize the portion of the EP-Cu volume in the vias or damascene structures with the conformal diffusion barrier and seed layer by optimizing their deposition processes during Cu interconnect fabrication, which are currently ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD)-based Ta/TaN bilayer and IPVD-Cu, respectively. The use of in-situ etching, during IPVD of the barrier or the seed layer, has been effective in enlarging the trench volume where the Cu is filled, resulting in improved reliability and performance of the Cu-based interconnect. However, the application of IPVD technology is expected to be limited eventually because of poor sidewall step coverage and the narrow top part of the damascene structures. Recently, Ru has been suggested as a diffusion barrier that is compatible with the direct plating of Cu [2-3]. A single-layer diffusion barrier for the direct plating of Cu is desirable to optimize the resistance of the Cu interconnects because it eliminates the Cu-seed layer. However, previous studies have shown that the Ru by itself is not a suitable diffusion barrier for Cu metallization [4-6]. Thus, the diffusion barrier performance of the Ru film should be improved in order for it to be successfully incorporated as a seed layer/barrier layer for the direct plating of Cu. The improvement of its barrier performance, by modifying the Ru microstructure from columnar to amorphous (by incorporating the N into Ru during PVD), has been previously reported [7]. Another approach for improving the barrier performance of the Ru film is to use Ru as a just seed layer and combine it with superior materials to function as a diffusion barrier against the Cu. A RulTaN bilayer prepared by PVD has recently been suggested as a seed layer/diffusion barrier for Cu. This bilayer was stable between the Cu and Si after annealing at $700^{\circ}C$ for I min [8]. Although these reports dealt with the possible applications of Ru for Cu metallization, cases where the Ru film was prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have not been identified. These are important because of ALD's excellent conformality. In this study, a bilayer diffusion barrier of Ru/TaCN prepared by ALD was investigated. As the addition of the third element into the transition metal nitride disrupts the crystal lattice and leads to the formation of a stable ternary amorphous material, as indicated by Nicolet [9], ALD-TaCN is expected to improve the diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-Ru against Cu. Ru was deposited by a sequential supply of bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)ruthenium [Ru$(EtCp)_2$] and $NH_3$plasma and TaCN by a sequential supply of $(NEt_2)_3Ta=Nbu^t$ (tert-butylimido-trisdiethylamido-tantalum, TBTDET) and $H_2$ plasma. Sheet resistance measurements, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis showed that the bilayer diffusion barriers of ALD-Ru (12 nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) and ALD-Ru (4nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) prevented the Cu diffusion up to annealing temperatures of 600 and $550^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, respectively. This is found to be due to the excellent diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-TaCN film against the Cu, due to it having an amorphous structure. A 5-nm-thick ALD-TaCN film was even stable up to annealing at $650^{\circ}C$ between Cu and Si. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis revealed that the ALD-Ru/ALD-TaCN diffusion barrier failed by the Cu diffusion through the bilayer into the Si substrate. This is due to the ALD-TaCN interlayer preventing the interfacial reaction between the Ru and Si.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.62-66
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• 2000

Annealing cycle number and nonmagnetic layer thickness dependences of interlayer coupling field ( $H_{inf}$ ) and coercivity ( $H_{cf}$ ) of free magnetic layer on NiMn alloy-spin valve films (SVF) were investigated. The SVF is Glass (7059)/N $i_{81}$F $e_{l9}$(70 $\AA$)/Co(10 $\AA$)/Cu(t $\AA$)/Co(15 $\AA$)N $i_{81}$$Fe_{19}$(35 $\AA$)/N $i_{25}$M $n_{75}$(250 $\AA$)Ta(50 $\AA$) films, it were fabricated using the dc sputtering method at different pinning layer thickness and nonmagnetic spacer thickness (Cu thickness; 30 $\AA$, 35 $\AA$, 40 $\AA$) of NiMn alloy with 25 at.%. Ni In case that Cu thickness of SVF is 35 $\AA$ and peak exchange coupling field ( $H_{ex}$) was 620 Oe, while coercivity $H_{c}$ = 280 Oe and MR ratio showed 2.5%. As for $H_{inf}$ and $H_{cf}$ , every SVF increased up to the stabilized values with the increase of annealing cycle number 15, which were $H_{inf}$ of 120 Oe and $H_{cf}$ of 75 Oe. The increase of $H_{cf}$ with the annealing cycle number seems to be caused by the effective reduction of Cu layer thickness due to the increase of interfacial mixing of Cu layer and Co layer. In addition, the $H_{inf}$ and $H_{cf}$ dependences of free NiFe layer by the interfacial mixing effect were appeared the different aspects when Cu layer becomes more thinner and thicker than Cu layer thickness of 35 $\AA$, respectively.ively....

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.52-56
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• 2009

Interlayer coupling field, coercivity, magnetoresitance ratio, and magnetic sensitivity depending on the thickness of free CoFe layer for the CoFe/Cu/CoFe/IrMn multilayer are investigated. In case of CoFe layer of $30\;{\AA}$ thickness for the CoFe(t)/Cu($25\;{\AA}$)/CoFe($60\;{\AA}$)/IrMn($80\;{\AA}$) multilayer with ferromagnet/non-magnet/ferromagnet structure induced by IrMn layer, the lowest coercivity and the highest magnetic sensitivity, which is contained soft magnetic property, are observed. On the other side, in case of CoFe layer of $90\;{\AA}$ thickness, there are the highest coercivity and the lowest magnetic sensitivity. The fabricated CoFe($30\;{\AA}$)/Cu($25\;{\AA}$)/CoFe($60\;{\AA}$)]/IrMn($80\;{\AA}$) spin valve device with $2{\times}8{\mu}m^2$ patterning size are measured by two probe method, which is selected the sensing current as the longitudinal direction and the easy axis as the transversal direction. The measuring magntoresistance ratio and magnetic sensitivity of GMR-SV device having the soft magnetic property are 3.0% and 0.3%/Oe, respectively.