• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.136.1-136.1
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• 2015

In the present study, UHF (320 MHz) in combination with RF (13.56 MHz) plasmas was used for the synthesis of hydrogenated silicon nitride (SiNx:H) films by PECVD process at low temperature. RF/UHF hybrid plasmas were maintained at a fixed pressure of 410 mTorr in the N2/SiH4 and N2/SiH4/NH3 atmospheres. To investigate the radical generation and plasma formation and their control for the growth of the film, plasma diagnostic tools like vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (VUVAS), optical emission spectroscopy (OES), and RF compensated Langmuir probe (LP) were utilized. Utilization of RF/UHF hybrid plasmas enables very high plasma densities ~ 1011 cm-3 with low electron temperature. Measurements using VUVAS reveal the UHF source is quite effective in the dissociation of the N2 gas to generate more active atomic N. It results in the enhancement of the Si-N bond concentration in the film. Consequently, the deposition rate has been significantly improved up to 2nm/s for the high rate synthesis of highly transparent (up to 90 %) SiNx:H film. The films properties such as optical transmittance and chemical composition are investigated using different analysis tools.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.61.1-61.1
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• 2015

Nanoscale semiconductor plasma processing has become one of the most challenging issues due to the limits of physicochemical fabrication routes with its inherent complexity. The mission of future and emerging plasma processing for development of next generation semiconductor processing is to achieve the ideal nanostructures without abnormal profiles and damages, such as 3D NAND cell array with ultra-high aspect ratio, cylinder capacitors, shallow trench isolation, and 3D logic devices. In spite of significant contributions of research frontiers, these processes are still unveiled due to their inherent complexity of physicochemical behaviors, and gaps in academic research prevent their predictable simulation. To overcome these issues, a Korean plasma consortium began in 2009 with the principal aim to develop a realistic and ultrafast 3D topography simulator of semiconductor plasma processing coupled with zero-D bulk plasma models. In this work, aspects of this computational tool are introduced. The simulator was composed of a multiple 3D level-set based moving algorithm, zero-D bulk plasma module including pulsed plasma processing, a 3D ballistic transport module, and a surface reaction module. The main rate coefficients in bulk and surface reaction models were extracted by molecular simulations or fitting experimental data from several diagnostic tools in an inductively coupled fluorocarbon plasma system. Furthermore, it is well known that realistic ballistic transport is a simulation bottleneck due to the brute-force computation required. In this work, effective parallel computing using graphics processing units was applied to improve the computational performance drastically, so that computer-aided design of these processes is possible due to drastically reduced computational time. Finally, it is demonstrated that 3D feature profile simulations coupled with bulk plasma models can lead to better understanding of abnormal behaviors, such as necking, bowing, etch stops and twisting during high aspect ratio contact hole etch.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.498-498
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• 2013

Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas have pioneered a new field of plasma for biomedical application bridging plasma physics and biology. Biological and medical applications of plasmas have attracted considerable attention due to promising applications in medicine such as electro-surgery, dentistry, skin care and sterilization of heat-sensitive medical instruments [1]. Traditional approaches using electronic devices have limits in heating, high voltage shock, and high current shock for patients. It is a great demand for plasma medical industrial acceptance that the plasma generation device should be compact, inexpensive, and safe for patients. Microwave-excited micro-plasma has the highest feasibility compared with other types of plasma sources since it has the advantages of low power, low voltage, safety from high-voltage shock, electromagnetic compatibility, and long lifetime due to the low energy of striking ions [2]. Recent experiment [2] shows three-log reduction within 180-s treatment of S. mutans with a low-power palm-size microwave power module for biomedical application. Experiments using microwave plasma are discussed. This low-power palm-size microwave power module board includes a power amplifier (PA) chip, a phase locked loop (PLL) chip, and an impedance matching network. As it has been a success, more compact-size module is needed for the portability of microwave devices and for the various medical applications of microwave plasma source. For the plasma generator, a 1.35-GHz coaxial transmission line resonator (CTLR) [3] is used. The way of reducing the size and enhancing the performances of the module is examined.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.26-34
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• 1996

A method to determine the trace amount of Se and Bi in the scalp hair using the hydride generation inductively coupled plasma atomic emmission spectrometry was studied. The optimum operation conditions of ICP for hydride generation are 0.6~0.8L/min for the carrier gas flow rate, and 6mm above the induction coil for the observation height. Hydrochloric acid concentrations for the optimum hydride generation conditions were greater than 1.5M when 2.5% $NaBH_4$ and NaOH were used, and greater than 0.5M when 2.5% $NaBH_4$ and 0.1% NaOH were used. Severe interference effects are observed from transition metals such as Cu and Ni, and they could be circumvented by the coprecipitation with lanthanum hydroxide.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.199-199
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• 2013

The distinctive cellular and mitochondrial dysfunctions of a human epithelial lung cancer cell line (H460) from a human lung fibroblastic normal cell line (MRC5) have been studied by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment. The DBD plasma device have generated large amount of H2O2 and NOx in culture media which is dependent on plasma exposure time. It is found that the cell number of lung cancer cell H460 has been reduced more than the lung normal cell MRC5 as being increased exposure and incubation time. Also these both cell lines have showed mitochondria fragmentation under 5 minutes' plasma exposure, which is a clue of apoptosis. It is noted in this study that AnnexinV staining has showed not only early apoptosis, but also late apoptosis in lung cancer cell H460. Mitochondria enzyme activity and ATP generation have been also much reduced in lung cancer cell H460. Their mitochondrial membrane potential (${\Delta}{\psi}m$) has been found to be reduced in magnitude and shifted to the induced-potential level of cccp, while MRC5 mitochondrial membrane potential has been shifted slightly to that. These distinctively selective responses of lung cancer cell H460 from lung normal cell MRC5 gives us possibility of applying plasma to cancer therapy.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.863-871
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• 2013

Dielectric discharges are an emerging technique in environmental pollutant degradation, which that are characterized by the production of hydroxyl radicals as the primary degradation species. For practical application of the plasma reactor, reactor that can handle large amounts of water are needed. Plasma research to date has focused on small-scale water treatment. This study was carried out basic study for scale-up of a single DBD (dielectric barrier discharge) plasma reactor. The degradation of N, N-Dimethyl-4-nitrosoaniline (RNO, indicator of the generation of OH radical) was used as a performance indicator of multi-plasma reactor. The experiments is divided into two parts: design parameters [effect of distance of single plasma module (1~14 cm), arrangement of ground electrode (single and multi), rector number (1~5) and power number (1~5)]; operation parameter [effect of applied voltage (60~220 V), air flow rate (1~5 L/min), electric conductivity of solution ($1.4{\mu}S/cm$, deionized water)~18.8 mS/cm (addition of NaCl 10 g/L) and pH (5~9)]. Considering the electric stability of the plasma reactor, optimum spacing between the single plasma module was 2 cm. Multi discharge electrodes - single ground electrode array was selected. Combination of power 3-plasma module 5 was the optimal combination for maximum RNO degradation. The optimum 1st voltage and air flow rate for RNO degradation were 180 V and 4 L/min, respectively. The pH and conductivity of the solution was not influencing the RNO degradation.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.42.1-42.6
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• 2019

Robust identification of genetic alterations is important for the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of tumors. Screening for genetic alterations using tumor tissue samples may lead to biased interpretations because of the heterogeneous nature of the tumor mass. Liquid biopsy has been suggested as an attractive tool for the non-invasive follow-up of cancer treatment outcomes. In this study, we aimed to verify whether the mutations identified in primary tumor tissue samples could be consistently detected in plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) by digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR). We first examined the genetic alteration profiles of three colorectal cancer (CRC) tissue samples by targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) and identified 11 non-silent amino acid changes across six cancer-related genes (APC, KRAS, TP53, TERT, ARIDIA, and BRCA1). All three samples had KRAS mutations (G12V, G12C, and G13D), which were well-known driver events. Therefore, we examined the KRAS mutations by dPCR. When we examined the three KRAS mutations by dPCR using tumor tissue samples, all of them were consistently detected and the variant allele frequencies (VAFs) of the mutations were almost identical between targeted NGS and dPCR. When we examined the KRAS mutations using the plasma cfDNA of the three CRC patients by dPCR, all three mutations were consistently identified. However, the VAFs were lower (range, 0.166% to 2.638%) than those obtained using the CRC tissue samples. In conclusion, we confirmed that the KRAS mutations identified from CRC tumor tissue samples were consistently detected in the plasma cfDNA of the three CRC patients by dPCR.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.577-585
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• 2014

A series of experiments using atmospheric-pressure non-thermal plasma coupled with transition metal catalysts were performed to remove ethylene from agricultural storage facilities. The non-thermal plasma was created by dielectric barrier discharge, which was in direct contact with the catalyst pellets. The transition metals such as Ag and $V_2O_5$ were supported on ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$. The effect of catalyst type, specific input energy (SIE) and oxygen content on the removal of ethylene was examined to understand the behavior of the hybrid plasma-catalytic reactor system. With the other parameters kept constant, the plasma-catalytic activity for the removal of ethylene was in order of $V_2O_5/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > $Ag/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ from high to low. Interestingly, the rate of plasma-catalytic ozone generation was in order of $V_2O_5/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > $Ag/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$, implying that the catalyst activation mechanisms by plasma are different for different catalysts. The results obtained by varying the oxygen content indicated that nitrogen-derived reactive species dominated the removal of ethylene under oxygen-lean condition, while ozone and oxygen atoms were mainly involved in the removal under oxygen-rich condition. When the plasma was coupled with $V_2O_5/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$, nearly complete removal of ethylene was achieved at oxygen contents higher than 5% by volume (inlet ethylene: 250 ppm; gas flow rate: $1.0Lmin^{-1}$; SIE: ${\sim}355JL^{-1}$).

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.213-217
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• 2005

In this paper, we introduced a LIF measurement method and summarized the theoretical side. When an altered wavelength of laser and electric power, lamp applied electric power, we measured the relative density of the metastable state in mercury after observing a laser induced fluorescence signal of 404.8nm and 546.2nm, and confirmed the horizontal distribution of plasma density in the discharge lamp. Due to this generation, the extinction of atoms in a metastable state occurred through collision, ionization, and excitation between plasma particles. The density and distribution of the metastable state depended on the energy and density of plasma particles, intensely This highlights the importance of measuring density distribution in plasma electric discharge mechanism study The results confirmed the resonance phenomenon regarding the energy level of atoms along a wavelength change, and also confirmed that the largest fluorescent signal in 436nm, and that the density of atoms in 546.2nm ($6^3S_1 {\to} 6^3P_2$ ) were larger than 404.8nm ($6^3S_1 {\to} 6^3P_1$). According to the increase of lamp applied electric power, plasma density increased, too. When increased with laser electric power, the LIF signal reached a saturation state in more than 2.6mJ. When partial plasma density distribution along a horizontal axis was measured using the laser induced fluorescence method, the density decreased by recombination away from the center.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.52 no.12
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• pp.783-794
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• 2014

Since the introduction of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma in the field of the dentistry, numerous applications have been investigated. Especially with its advantages over existing vacuum plasma in terms of portability, low cost, and non-thermal damage, it can be directly applied in the oral cavity, giving number of potentials for dental application. First, possible application of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma in the field of dentistry is relation to dental caries and periodontal diseases. Teeth and alveolar bones are one of the strongest bony structures in our body, but it cannot be regenerated when they are damaged by dental caries or periodontal disease. Hence many studies to prevent such diseases have been carried out, though no perfect solution has been found yet. With recent studies of modifying surfaces through non-thermal atmospheric pressure application that can prevent attachment of bacteria, or studies on bactericidal effects of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma can be applied here to prevent oral pathogen and 'biofilm' attachment to the surface of teeth or directly eliminate the dental caries/periodontal disease causing germs. Secondly, non-thermal atmospheric pressure application will be useful on the surface of dental implant. It is well known that the success of dental implant surgery depends on the process known as 'osseointegration' that result from osteoblast attachment, proliferation and differentiation. As the application of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma on the surface of dental implant just before its introduction by the chair-side of dental surgery. Despite its long history, the generation of non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma has been greatly increased with its application in dentistry.