• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.249-255
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• 2002

For a formation of membrane structures, single crystal silicon wafers have been anisotropically etched with solutions of KOH and KOH-IPA. The etching rate was observed to be strongly dependent upon the etchant temperature and concentration. Mask patterns for the etching experiment was aligned to incline $45^{\circ}$on the primary flat of the silicon wafer. The different etching characteristics were observed according to pattern directions and etchant concentration. When the KOH concentration was fixed to 20 wt%, the U-groove etching shape was observed for the etching temperature of above $80^{\circ}C$, and V-groove shapes observed at below $80^{\circ}C$. Hillocks, which were generated at the etched silicon surfaces, has been decreased as the increasing of the etchant temperature and concentration.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.217-222
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• 2008

Characteristics of etching and induced surface morphology variation by wet-etching of n-face n-type GaN were investigated using KOH solutions. It was observed that hexagonal pyramids were formed on the etched surface regardless of etching conditions. However, the size of the hexagonal pyramids was changed as the etching time and temperature increased, respectively. Initially, as the etching time and concentration of KOH solution increased, the hexagonal pyramid was observed to be dissociated into smaller pyramids. However, as the etching time increased further, the size of the hexagonal pyramids increased again, indicating that the etching of N-face n-type GaN by KOH solutions proceeded through the evolution of hexagonal pyramids, such as formation, dissociation and enlargement of pyramids. Furthermore, it was also observed that there is a correlation between the photoluminescence intensity of the etched surface and the value of root-mean-square roughness. The intensity of PL increased as the roughness value increased due to the enhancement of the extraction efficiency of the generated photons.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.135-139
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• 2014

The hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) grown GaN samples to precisely measure the surface characteristics was applied to a molten KOH/NaOH wet chemical etching. The etching rate by molten KOH/NaOH wet chemical etching method was slower than that by conventional etching methods, such as phosphoric and sulfuric acid etching, which may be due to the formation of insoluble coating layer. Therefore, the molten KOH/NaOH wet chemical etching is a better efficient method for the evaluation of etch pits density. The grown GaN single crystals were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray rocking curve (XRC). The etching characteristics and surface morphologies were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). From etching results, the optimum etching condition that the etch pits were well independently separated in space and clearly showed their shape, was $410^{\circ}C$ and 25 min. The etch pits density obtained by molten KOH/NaOH wet chemical etching under optimum etching condition was around $2.45{\times}10^6cm^{-2}$, which is commercially an available materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.299.2-299.2
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• 2013

We investigated the potassium remaining on a crystalline silicon solar cell after potassium hydroxide (KOH) etching and its effect on the lifetime of the solar cell. KOH etching is generally used to remove the saw damage caused by cutting a Si ingot; it can also be used to etch the rear side of a textured crystalline silicon solar cell before atomic layer-deposited Al2O3 growth. However, the potassium remaining after KOH etching is known to be detrimental to the efficiency of Si solar cells. In this study, we etched a crystalline silicon solar cell in three ways in order to determine the effect of the potassium remnant on the efficiency of Si solar cells. After KOH etching, KOH and tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) were used to etch the rear side of a crystalline silicon solar cell. To passivate the rear side, an Al2O3 layer was deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD). After ALD Al2O3 growth on the KOH-etched Si surface, we measured the lifetime of the solar cell by quasi steady-state photoconductance (QSSPC, Sinton WCT-120) to analyze how effectively the Al2O3 layer passivated the interface of the Al2O3 layer and the Si surface. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) was also used to measure how much potassium remained on the surface of the Si wafer and at the interface of the Al2O3 layer and the Si surface after KOH etching and wet cleaning.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.37-40
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• 2003

We have studied micro-machining technologies to fabricate parts and sensors used in the semiconductor equipment. The studies were based on the silicon integrated circuit processes, and composed of the anisotropic etching of single crystal silicon to fabricate a membrane structure for hot and cold junctions in the infrared absorber. KOH and TMAH were used as etching solutions for the anisotropic wet etching for membrane structure formation. The etching characteristic was observed for the each solution, and etching rate was measured depending upon the temperature and concentration of the etching solution. The different characteristics were observed according to pattern directions and etchant concentration. The pattern was made to incline $45^{\circ}$ on the primary flat, and optimum etching property was obtained in the case of 30 wt% and $90^{\circ}C$ of KOH etching solution for the formation of the membrane structure.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.61-64
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• 2007

V-groove device was fabricated for precision coupling of planar optical splitter and optical fibers. V-groove was made through select wet etching of Si wafer by using KOH solution. Etching rate and surface roughness were checked, changing KOH composition(10, 20, 30, 33, 40 wt.%) and etching temperature (50, 60, 70, $80^{\circ}C$) to fabricate V-groove device effectively. Etching rate was the fastest as $1.84\;{\mu}m/min$ in case of etching by 20 wt.% KOH on $80^{\circ}C$, surface roughness was the best in case of etching by 33 wt. % KOH on $80^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.449-455
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• 1997

The anisotropic etching behavior of single crystal silicon were studied in aqueous KOH solution. N-type (100) oriented single crystal silicon wafers were used for the study, and the $SiO_2$ layer, whose etching rate is known to be much slower than that of silicon in the KOH solution, was used as a mask for the silicon etching. The silicon etching rate and the etching properties are shown to be a function of etchant temperature uniformity, circulation speed, and circulation direction of the etchant as well as the etchant concentration and the temperature. The etching rate is increased as the temperature is increased from $10\mu \textrm{m}/hr$ to $250\mu \textrm{m}/hr$ in the range of $50^{\circ}C~105^{\circ}C$. Hillock density and height is observed to be correlated with the etchant concentration and the etch temperature. The variation of the hillock density was explained by the ratio between the etching rate of (100) orientation and that of (111) orientation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.448-451
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• 2003

This study describes a new maskless nano-fabrication technique of Si (100) using the combination of nanometer-scale mechanical forming by nano-indenter XP and KOH wet etching. First the surface of a Si (100) specimen was machined by using the nano-machining system, which utilizes the mechanism of the nano-indenter XP. Next, the specimen was etched by KOH solution. After the etching process, the convex structure or deeper hole is made because of masking or promotion effect of the affected layer generated by nano-machining. On the basis of this interesting fact, some sample structures were fabricated.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.65-71
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• 1999

The effects of mask materials and etching solutions on the dimensional accuracy of V-groove were studied for the alignment between optoelectronic devices and optical fibers in optical packaging. PECVD nitride, LPCVD nitride, or thermal oxide($SiO_2$) was used as a mask material. The anisotropic etching solution was KOH(40wt%) or the mixture of KOH and IPA. LPCVB nitride has the best etching selectivity and thermal oxide was etched most rapidly in KOH(40wt%) at $85^{\circ}C$ among the mask materials studied here. The V-groove size enlarged than the designed value. This phenomenon was due to the undercutting benearth the mask layer from the etching toward Si (111) plane. The etch rate of (111) plane wart 0.034 - 0.037 $\mu\textrm{m}$/min in KOH(40wt%). This rate was almost same regardless of mask materials. When IPA added to KOH(40wt%), the etch rate of (100) plane and (111) plane decreased, but etching ratio of (100) to (111) plane increased. Consequently, the undercutting phenomenon due to etching toward (111) plane decreased and the size of V-groove could be controlled more accurately.

• 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.