• ETRI Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.211-220
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• 2002

This study characterizes an oxide etching process in a magnetically enhanced reactive ion etching (MERIE) reactor with a $CHF_3/CF_4$ gas chemistry. We use a statistical $2^{4-1}$ experimental design plus one center point to characterize the relationships between the process factors and etch responses. The factors that we varied in the design include RF power, pressure, and gas composition, and the modeled etch responses were the etch rate, etch selectivity to TiN, and uniformity. The developed models produced 3D response plots. Etching of $SiO_2$ mainly depends on F density and ion bombardment. $SiO_2$ etch selectivity to TiN sensitively depends on the F density in the plasma and the effects of ion bombardment. The process conditions for a high etch selectivity are a 0.3 to 0.5 $CF_4$ flow ratio and a -600 V to -650 V DC bias voltage according to the process pressure in our experiment. Etching uniformity was improved with an increase in the $CF_4$ flow ratio in the gas mixture, an increase in the source power, and a higher pressure. Our characterization of via etching in a $CHF_3/CF_4$ MERIE using neural networks was successful, economical, and effective. The results provide highly valuable information about etching mechanisms and optimum etching conditions.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.589-592
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• 1998

The performance of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) is enhanced by axial magnetic field driven by alternating current Helmholtz coils in this work. Langmuir pobe is used to characterize the plasma, and the etching performance is demonstrated with phororesist stripping process. It is shown that its density and uniformity depends on the frequency of driving current to the magnetic field.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.32.5-32
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• 2002

Processing plasmas are playing a crucial role in either depositing thin films or etching fine patterns. Any variability in process factors (such as radio frequency power or pressure) can cause a significant shift in plasma state. When this shift becomes large enough to change operating condition beyond an acceptable level, overall product quality can greatly be jeopardized. Thus, timely and accurate diagnosis of plasma malfunction is crucial to maintaining device yield and throughput. Many diagnostic systems have been developed, including HIPOCRATES [1] and PIES [2]. Plasma equipment was also diagnosed by combining neural network and expert system called Dempster-Schafer Theory [3]. A fact c...

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.137-141
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• 2006

Process window for infinite etch selectivity of silicon nitride $(Si_3N_4)$ layers to ArF photoresist (PR) was investigated in dual frequency superimposed capacitive coupled plasma (DFS-CCP) by varying the process parameters such as low frequency power $(P_{LF})$, $CH_2F_2$ and $H_2$ flow rate in $CH_2F_2/H_2/Ar$ plasma. It was found that infinite etch selectivities of $Si_3N_4$ layers to the ArF PR on both blanket and patterned wafers can be obtained for certain gas flow conditions. The etch selectivity was increased to the infinite values as the $CH_2F_2$ flow rate increases, while it was decreased from the infinite etch selectivity as the $H_2$ flow rate increased. The preferential chemical reaction of the hydrogen with the carbon in the polymer film and the nitrogen on the $Si_3N_4$ surface leading to the formation of HCN etch by-products results in a thinner steady-state polymer and, in turn, to continuous $Si_3N_4$ etching, due to enhanced $SiF_4$ formation, while the polymer was deposited on the ArF photoresist surface.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.61-66
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• 2021

In this study, we studied the alternative of plasma resistant ceramic parts that constitute plasma chambers in the semiconductor dry etching process. MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂(MAS) glass was made of 13 types of glass using the Design Of Experiments(DOE) and the effect on thermal properties such as glass transition temperature and crystallization temperature depending on the content of each composition and etching resistance to CF₄/O₂/Ar plasma gas. MAS glass showed excellent plasma resistance and surface roughness up to 20 times higher than quartz glass. As the content of Al₂O₃ and MgO increases, the plasma resistance is improved, and it has been confirmed that it has an inverse relationship with SiO₂.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.74-74
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• 2009

Titanium nitride has been used as hardmask for semiconductor process, capacitor of MIM type and diffusion barrier of DRAM, due to it's low resistivity, thermodynamic stability and diffusion coefficient. Characteristics of the TiN film are high intensity and chemical stability. The TiN film also has compatibility with high-k material. This study is an experimental test for better condition of TiN film etching process. The etch rate of TiN film was investigated about etching in $BCl_3/Ar/O_2$ plasma using the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching system. The base condition were 4 sccm $BCl_3$ /16 sccm Ar mixed gas and 500 W the RF power, -50 V the DC bias voltage, 10 mTorr the chamber pressure and $40\;^{\circ}C$ the substrate temperature. We added $O_2$ gas to give affect etch rate because $O_2$ reacts with photoresist easily. We had changed $O_2$ gas flow rate from 2 sccm to 8 sccm, the RF power from 500 W to 800 W, the DC bias voltage from -50 V to -200 V, the chamber pressure from 5 mTorr to 20 mTorr and the substrate temperature from $20\;^{\circ}C$ to $80\;^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.101-102
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• 2006

PZT thin films, which are the representative ferroelectric materials in ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), have some serious problem such as the imprint, retention and fatigue which ferroelectric properties are degraded by repetitive polarization. BL T thin film capacitors were fabricated by plasma etching, however, the plasma etching of BLT thin film was known to be very difficult. In our previous study, the ferroelectric materials such as PZT and BLT were patterned by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) using damascene process to top electrode/ferroelectric material/bottom electrode. It is also possible to pattern the BLT thin film capacitors by CMP, however, the CMP damage was not considered in the experiments. The properties of BLT thin films were changed by the change of polishing pressure although the removal rate was directly proportional to the polishing pressure in CMP process.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.244-250
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• 2008

An inductively coupled plasma etching process to replace an existing slower rate reactive ion etching process for $60{\mu}m$ diameter via-holes using Cl2/BCl3 gases has been investigated. Process pressure and platen power were varied at a constant ICP coil power to reproduce the RIE etched $200{\mu}m$ deep via profile, at high etch rate. Desired etch profile was obtained at 40 m Torr pressure, 950 W coil power, 90W platen power with an etch rate ${\sim}4{\mu}m$/min and via etch yield >90% over a 3-inch wafer, using $24{\mu}m$ thick photoresist mask. The etch uniformity and reproducibility obtained for the process were better than 4%. The metallized via-hole dc resistance measured was ${\sim}0.5{\Omega}$ and via inductance value measured was $\sim$83 pH.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.281-283
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• 2005

Processing Plasmas are very sensitive to a variation in process parameters, To maintain process quality and device field, plasma malfunction should be tightly monitored with high sensitivity. A new monitoring method is presented and this was accomplished by applying discrete wavelet transformation to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. XPS data were collected during a plasma etching of silicon carbide. Various effects of DWT factor on fault sensitivity were optimized experimentally. Compared to raw data, total percent sensitivity for DWT data demonstrated a significantly improved sensitivity to plasma faults induced by bias power.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.139-143
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• 2012

Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) is often used for real-time analysis of the plasma processes. OES has been suggested as a primary plasma process monitoring tool. It has the advantage of non-invasive in-situ monitoring capability but selecting the proper wavelengths for the analysis of OES data generally relies on empirically established methods. In this paper, we propose a practical method for the selection of OES wavelength peaks for the analysis of plasma etch process and this is done by investigating reactants and by-product gas species that reside in the plasma etch chamber. Wavelength selection criteria are based on the standard deviation and correlation coefficients. Moreover, chemical actinometry is employed for the normalization of the selected wavelengths. We also present the importance of chemical actinometry of OES data for quantitative analysis of plasma. Then, the suggested OES peak selection method is employed.. This method is used to find out the reason behind abnormal etching of PR erosion during a series of $SiO_2$ etch processes using the same recipe. From the experimental verification, we convinced that OES is not only capable for real-time detection of abnormal plasma process but it is also useful for the analysis of suspicious plasma behavior.