• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.53-57
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• 2014

We describe the preparation of highly-ordered etching pits on the Nb foil through a micromachining. The effects of electrochemical polishing on the formation of uniformly-patterned protective epoxy layer was investigated. Unlike the previous process using $O_2$ plasma, well-ordered etched pits were prepared without any dry processes. As a result, the Nb foil with the well-ordered pits of $10{\mu}m{\times}5{\mu}m$ could be obtained by electrochemical etching in methanolic electrolytes for 10 min.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.569-575
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• 2021

The reactivity evaluation of copper is performed using ethylenediamine, aminoethanol, and piperidine to apply organic chelators to copper etching. It is revealed that piperidine, which is a ring-type chelator, has the lowest reactivity on copper and copper oxide and ethylenediamine, which is a chain-type chelator, has the highest reactivity via inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Furthermore, it is confirmed that the stable complex of copper-ethylenediamine can be formed during the reaction between copper and ethylenediamine using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and radio-thin layer chromatography. As a final evaluation, the copper reactivity is evaluated by wet etching using each solution. Scanning electron micrographs reveal that the degree of copper reaction in ethylenediamine is stronger than that in any other chelator. This result is in good agreement with the evaluation results obtained by ICP-MS and NMR. It is concluded that ethylenediamine is a prospective etch gas for the dry etching of the copper.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.208-213
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• 2024

With the development of industry, miniaturization and densification of semiconductor components are rapidly progressing. Particularly, as demand surges across various sectors, efficiency in productivity has emerged as a crucial issue in semiconductor component manufacturing. Maximizing semiconductor productivity requires real-time monitoring of semiconductor processes and continuous reflection of the results to stabilize processes. However, various unexpected variables and errors in judgment that occur during the process can cause significant losses in semiconductor productivity. Therefore, while the development of a reliable manufacturing system is important, the importance of developing sensor technology that can complement this and accurately monitor the process is also growing. In this study, conducted a basic research on the concept of diagnostic sensors for thickness based on the physical changes of thin films due to etching. It observed changes in resistance corresponding to variations in thin film thickness as etching processes progressed, and conducted research on the correlation between these physical changes and thickness variations. Furthermore, to assess the reliability of thin film thickness measurement sensors, it conducted multiple measurements and comparative analyses of physical changes in thin films according to various thicknesses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.257-257
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• 2012

Fault detection was carried out in a etcher of capacitive coupled plasma with OES (Optical Emission Spectroscopy) and impedance by VI probe that are widely used for process control and monitoring at semiconductor industry. The experiment was operated at conventional Ar and Fluorocarbon plasma with variable change such as pressure and addition of N2 and O2 to assume atmospheric leak, RF power and pressure that are highly possible to impact wafer yield during wafer process, in order to observe OES and VI Probe signals. The sensitivity change on OES and Impedance by VI probe was analyzed by statistical method including PCA to determine healthy of process. The main goal of this study is to find feasibility and limitation of OES and Impedances for fault detection by shift of plasma characteristics and to enhance capability of fault detection using PCA.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.315-319
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• 2007

A technique to model plasma processes was presented. This was accomplished by combining the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) and genetic algorithm (GA). Particularly, the GA was used to optimize five training factor effects by balancing the training and test errors. The technique was evaluated with the plasma etch data, characterized by a face-centered Box Wilson experiment. The etch outputs modeled include Al etch rate, AI selectivity, DC bias, and silica profile angle. Scanning electron microscope was used to quantify the etch outputs. For comparison, the etch outputs were modeled in a conventional fashion. GABPNN models demonstrated a considerable improvement of more than 25% for all etch outputs only but he DC bias. About 40% improvements were even achieved for the profile angle and AI etch rate. The improvements demonstrate that the presented technique is effective to improving BPNN prediction performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.175-175
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• 2010

The etching characteristics with etch rate of ITO thin films in an $O_2/BCl_3$/Ar plasma were investigated. The etch rate of ITO thin films increased with increasing $O_2$ content from 0 to 10 % in $BCl_3$/Ar plasma, whereas that of ITO decreased with increasing $O_2$ content from 10 % to 30 % in $BCl_3$/Ar plasma. The maximum etch rate of 65.9 nm/min for the ITO thin films was obtained at 10 % $O_2$ addition. The etch conditions were the RF power of 500 W, bias power of 200 W, and process pressure of 2 Pa. The analysis of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was carried out to investigate the chemical reactions between the surfaces of ITO thin films and etch species.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.158-159
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• 2006

The resistance-capacitance (RC) delay of signals through interconnection materials becomes a big hurdle for high speed operation of semiconductors which contain multilayer interconnection layers. In order to reduce the RC delay, low-k materials will be used for inter-metal dielectric (IMD) materials. We have developed self-consistent simulation tool that includes neutral-species transport model, based on the relaxation continuum (RCT) model. We present the parametric study of the modeling results of a two-frequency capacitively coupled plasma (2f-CCP) with $N_2/H_2$ gas mixture that is known as promising one for organic low-k materials etching. We include the neutral transport model as well as plasma one in the calculation. The plasma and neutrals are calculated self-consistently by iterating the simulation of both species till a spatiotemporal steady state profile could be obtained.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.99-101
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• 2000

The fabrication of the submicron size hole has been interesting due to the potential application of the near field optical sensor or liquid metal ion source. The 2 micron size dot array was photolithographically patterned. After formation of the V-groove shape by anisotropic KOH etching, dry oxidation at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 600 minutes was followed. In this procedure, the orientation dependent oxide growth was performed to have an etch-mask for dry etching. The reactive ion etching by the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) system was performed in order to etch ~90 nm $SiO_2$ layer at the bottom of the V-groove and to etch the Si at the bottom. The negative ion energy would enhance the anisotropic etching by the $Cl_2$ gas. After etching, the remaining thickness of the oxide on the Si(111) surface was measured to be ~130 nm by scanning electron microscopy. The etched Si aperture can be used for NSOM sensor.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.288-295
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• 2009

We report the etch characteristics of GaAs and AlGaAs in the diffusion pump-based capacitively coupled $BCl_3$ plasma. Process variables were chamber pressure ($50{\sim}180$ mTorr), CCP power ($50{\sim}200\;W$) and $BCl_3$ gas flow rate ($2.5{\sim}10$ sccm). Surface profilometry was used for etch rate and surface roughness measurement after etching. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the etched sidewall and surface morphology. Optical emission spectroscopy was used in order to characterize the emission peaks of the $BCl_3$ plasma during etching. We have achieved $0.25{\mu}m$/min of GaAs etch rate with only 5 sccm $BCl_3$ flow rate when the chamber pressure was in the range of 50{\sim}130 mTorr. The etch rates of AlGaAs were a little lower than those of GaAs at the conditions. However, the etch rates of GaAs and AlGaAs decreased significantly when the chamber pressure increased to 180 mTorr. GaAs and AlGaAs were not etched with 50 W CCP power. With $100{\sim}200\;W$ CCP power, etch rates of the materials increased over $0.3{\mu}m$/min. It was found that the etch rates of GaAs and AlGaAs were not always proportional to the increase of CCP power. We also found the interesting result that AlGaAs did not etched at 2.5 sccm $BCl_3$ flow rate at 75 mTorr and 100 W CCP power even though it was etched fast like GaAs with more $BCl_3$ gas flow rates. By contrast, GaAs was etched at ${{\sim}}0.3{\mu}m$/min at the 2.5 sccm $BCl_3$ flow rate condition. A broad molecular peak was noticed in the range of $500{\sim}700\;mm$ wavelength during the $BCl_3$ plasma etching. SEM photos showed that 10 sccm $BCl_3$ plama produced more undercutting on GaAs sidewall than 5 sccm $BCl_3$ plasma.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.51-55
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• 2011

We investigated the etching characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films deposited by the atomic layer deposition method. The gases of the inductively coupled plasma chemistry consisted of $Cl_2$, Ar, and $O_2$. The maximum etch rate was 40.3 nm/min at a gas flow ratio of $Cl_2$/Ar=15:5 sccm, radio-frequency power of 600 W, bias power of 200 W, and process pressure of 2 Pa. We also investigated the plasma induced damage in the etched ZnO thin films using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence (PL). A highly oriented (100) peak was present in the XRD spectroscopy of the ZnO samples. The full width at half maximum value of the ZnO sample etched using the $O_2/Cl_2$/Ar chemistry was higher than that of the as-deposited sample. The roughness of the ZnO thin films increased from 1.91 nm to 2.45 nm after etching in the $O_2/Cl_2$/Ar plasma chemistry. Also, we obtained a strong band edge emission at 380 nm. The intensities of the peaks in the PL spectra from the samples etched in all of the chemistries were increased. However, there was no deep level emission.