• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-21
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• 2016

EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) pellicle which protects a mask from contamination became a critical issue for the application of EUV lithography to high-volume manufacturing. However, researches of EUV pellicle are still delayed due to no typical manufacturing methods for large-scale EUV pellicle. In this study, EUV pellicle membrane manufacturing method using not only KOH (potassium hydroxide) wet etching process but also a water bath was suggested for uniform etchant temperature distribution. KOH wet etching rates according to KOH solution concentration and solution temperature were confirmed and proper etch condition was selected. After KOH wet etching condition was set, $5cm{\times}5cm$ SiNx (silicon nitride) pellicle membrane with 80% EUV transmittance was successfully manufactured. Transmittance results showed the feasibility of wet etching method with water bath as a large-scale EUV pellicle manufacturing method.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1994.07b
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• pp.1250-1253
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• 1994

(100), (110) and (111) Si wafers are etched by isotropic etching method, anisotropic etching method using KOH etchant and EPW etchant and combined two-step etching method to compare the results. Isotopic etching method is effective in fabrication of wedge-shaped tips, especially (110) Si. Anisotropic etching method of (100) Si using EPW etchant can fabricate sharp cone-shaped tips and isotropic etching after anisotropic etching of (100) Si can fabricate wedge-shaped tips.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and information Science
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• v.2 no.5
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• pp.108-113
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• 1997

In this paper, the optimum condition of (110) Si etching with the potassium hydroxide(KOH) etchant is presented. Although several researches on (110) Si anisotropic etching have been studied, there has been lack of effects of mask quality and etching conditions on the selectivity and the roughness o the etched surface. Three kinds of masks (film, emulsion and E-beam mask) were used in order to verify the effect of etching properties. Anisotropic bulk etching depends on the crystalline orientation and the concentration and temperature of the etchant. In order to investigate the effect of etching conditions on selectivity and the roughness of the etched surface, the concentration of the etchant was varied from 35 to 45 per cent in weight with increments by 5 per cent and the temperature was changed from 70 to 90$^{\circ}C$ with increments by 10$^{\circ}C$. The combination of the temperature of 70$^{\circ}C$ and the concentration of 40wt.% was found to be the optimum etching condition for high selectivity. Etched surfaces show minimum surfaces show minimum surface roughness at a temperature of 80$^{\circ}C$ and a concentation of 40wt.%. Comb structures with various comb widths were fabricated and the lengths of the combs wree measured with several etching time durations. A micro comb structure 525$\mu\textrm{m}$ high was fabricated for MEMS application.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.640-646
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• 2003

The nanoprobe based on lithography, mainly represented by SPM based technologies, has been recognized as potential application to fabricate the surface nanostructures because of its operational versatility and simplicity. The objective of the work is to suggest new mastless pattern fabrication technique using the combination of machining by nanoindenter and KOH wet etching. The scratch option of the nanoindenter is a very promising method for obtaining nanometer scale features on a large size specimen because it has a very wide working area and load range. Sample line patterns were machined on a silicon surface, which has a native oxide on it, by constant load scratch (CLS) of the Nanoindenter with a Berkovich diamond tip, and they were etched in KOH solutions to investigate chemical characteristics of the machined silicon surface. After the etching process, the convex structure was made because of masking effect of the affected layer generated by nano-scratch. On the basis of this fact, some line patterns with convex structures were fabricated. Achieved patterns can be used as a mold that will be used for mass production processes such as nanoimprint or PDMS molding process. All morphological data of scratch traces were scanned using atomic force microscope (AFM).

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1996.07c
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• pp.1974-1976
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• 1996

An electrostatically driven comb actuator with $525{\mu}m$ height was fabricated using (110) Si anisotropic etching in the Potassium Hydroxide(KOH) solution. The etch-rate and etch-rate ratio are strongly dependent on the weight % and temperature of KOH solution. We developed the optimal condition for the anisotropic etching on (110) wafer with varying these conditions. The force that the comb-drive actuator generates is inversely proportional to the distance of gap and proportional to the height of the comb electrodes. The electrodes must have the high aspect ratio. The (110) Si anisotropic etching is very useful to get a high aspect ratio structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.351-354
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• 2004

This work presents a simple and cost-effective approach for maskless fabrication of positive-tone silicon master for the replica molding of hyperfine elastomeric channel. Positive-tone silicon masters were fabricated by a maskless fabrication technique using the combination of nanoscratch by Nanoindenter ⓡ XP and XOH wet etching. Grooves were machined on a silicon surface coated with native oxide by ductile-regime nanoscratch, and they were etched in a 20 wt％ KOH solution. After the KOH etching process, positive-tone structures resulted because of the etch-mask effect of the amorphous oxide layer generated by nanoscratch. The size and shape of the positive-tone structures were controlled by varying the etching time (5, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30 min) and the normal loads (1, 5 mN) during nanoscratch. Moreover, the effects of the Berkovich tip alignment (0, 45$^{\circ}$) on the deformation behavior and etching characteristic of silicon material were investigated.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2020

Silicon wafer etching in micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication is challenging to form 3-D structures. Well known Si-wet etch of silicon employs potassium hydroxide (KOH), tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). However, the existing silicon wet etching process has a fatal disadvantage that etching of the back side of the wafer is hard to avoid. In this study, a wet etching bath for 150 mm wafers was designed to prevent back-side etching of silicon wafer, and we demonstrated the optimized process recipe to have anisotropic wet etching of silicon wafer without any damage on the backside. We also presented the design of wet bath for 300 mm wafer processing as a promising process development.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.11
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• pp.748-753
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• 2009

The surface morphology and the surface roughness of n-type SiC induced by wet-treatment using 45% KOH and buffered oxide etchant (BOE-1HF : $6H_2O$) were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). While Si-face of SiC could be etched by alkali solutions such as KOH, acidic solutions such as BOE were hardly able to etch SiC. When the rough SiC samples were used, the surface roughness of etched sample was decreased after wet-treatment regardless of etchant, due to the planarization the of surface by widening of scratches formed by mechanical polishing. It was observed that the initial etching was affected by the energetically unstable sites, such as dangling bond and steps. However, when a relatively smooth sample was used, the surface roughness was rapidly increased after treatment at $180^{\circ}C$ for 1 hr and at room temperature for 4 hr by using KOH solution, resulting from the nano-sized structures such as pores and bumps. This indicates that porous SiC surface can be achieved by using purely chemical treatment.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.27.2-27.2
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• 2010

In recent years, there is a strong requirement of low cost, stable microelectro mechanical systems (MEMS) for resonators, microswitches and sensors. Most of these devices consist of freely suspended microcantilevers, which are usually made by the etching of some sacrificial materials. Herein, we have attempted to use Si nanowires, inherited from the parent Si wafer, as a sacrificial material due to its porosity, low cost and ease of fabrication. Prior to the fabrication of the Si nanowires silver nanoparticles were continuously formed on the surface of Si wafer. Vertically aligned Si nanowires were fabricated from the parent Si wafers by aqueous chemical route at $50^{\circ}C$. Afterwards, the morphological and structural characteristics of the Si nanowires were investigated. The morphology of nanowires was strongly modulated by the resistivity of the parent wafer. The 3-step etching of nanowires in diluted KOH solution was carried out at room temperature in order to control the fast etching. A layer of $Si_3N_4$ (300 nm) was used for the selective fabrication of nanowires. Finally, a freely suspended bridge of zinc oxide (ZnO) was fabricated after the removal of nanowires from the parent wafer. At present, we believe that this technique may provide a platform for the inexpensive fabrication of futuristic MEMS.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.481-486
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• 1997

This paper describes the anisotropic etching characteristics of Si in acqueous TMAH/IPA solutions. The etch rates of (100) oriented Si crystal planes decrease with increasing TMAH concentration and IPA concentration. Etchant concentration and etch temperature have a large effect on hillock density. Hillock density strongly increase with lower TMAH concentration and higher etch temperature. The etched (100) planes are covered by pyramidal-shaped hillocks below TMAH 15 wt.%, but very smooth surface is obtained TMAH 25 wt.%. The addition of IPA to TMAH solution leads to smoother surfaces of sidewalls etched planes. Undercutting ratio of pure TMAH solution is much higher than KOH. But, addition of IPA to TMAh the underrcutting ratio reduces by a factor of 3∼4. Therefore, acqueous TMAH/IPA solution is able to use as anisotropic etchant of Si because of full compability with IC fabrication process.