• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.83-87
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• 2008

This study described the effects of RF power, DC bias voltage, chamber pressure and gas mixing ratio on the etch rates of TiN thin film and selectivity of TiN thin film to $SiO_2$ with $BCl_3$/Ar gas mixture. When the gas mixing ratio was $BCl_3$(20%)/Ar(80%) with other conditions were fixed, the maximum etch rate of TiN thin film was 170.6 nm/min. When the DC bias voltage increased from -50 V to -200 V, the etch rate of TiN thin film increased from 15 nm/min to 452 nm/min. As the RF power increased and chamber pressure decreased, the etch rate of TiN thin film showed an increasing tendency. When the gas mixing ratio was $BCl_3$(20%)/Ar(80%) under others conditions were fixed, the intensity of optical emission spectra from radical or ion such as Ar(750.4 nm), $Cl^+$(481.9 nm) and $Cl^{2+}$(460.8 nm) was highest. The TiN thin film was effectively removed by the chemically assisted physical etching in $BCl_3$/Ar ICP plasma.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.56-56
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• 1999

For advanced TFT-LCD manufacturing processes, dry etching of thin-film layers(a-Si, $SiN_x$, SID & gate electrodes, ITO etc.) is increasingly preferred instead of conventional wet etching processes. To dry etch Al gate electrode which is advantageous for reducing propagation delay time of scan signals, high etch rate, slope angle control, and etch uniformity are required. For the Al gate electrode, some metals such as Ti and Nd are added in Al to prevent hillocks during post-annealing processes in addition to gaining low-resistivity($<10u{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$), high performance to heat tolerance and corrosion tolerance of Al thin films. In the case of AI-Nd alloy films, however, low etch rate and poor selectivity over photoresist are remained as a problem. In this study, to enhance the etch rates together with etch uniformity of AI-Nd alloys, magnetized inductively coupled plasma(MICP) have been used instead of conventional ICP and the effects of various magnets and processes conditions have been studied. MICP was consisted of fourteen pairs of permanent magnets arranged along the inside of chamber wall and also a Helmholtz type axial electromagnets was located outside the chamber. Gas combinations of $Cl_2,{\;}BCl_3$, and HBr were used with pressures between 5mTorr and 30mTorr, rf-bias voltages from -50Vto -200V, and inductive powers from 400W to 800W. In the case of $Cl_2/BCl_3$ plasma chemistry, the etch rate of AI-Nd films and etch selectivity over photoresist increased with $BCl_3$ rich etch chemistries for both with and without the magnets. The highest etch rate of $1,000{\AA}/min$, however, could be obtained with the magnets(both the multi-dipole magnets and the electromagnets). Under an optimized electromagnetic strength, etch uniformity of less than 5% also could be obtained under the above conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1051-1056
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• 2008

In this study, the investigations of the TiN etching characteristics were carried out with addition of $Cl_2$ gas in an inductively coupled $BCl_3$-base plasma system. Dry etching of the TiN was studied by varying the etching parameters including $Cl_2$ gas addition ratio, RF power, DC-bias voltage and pressure. The etch rate of TiN thin film was maximum when the $Cl_2$ gas addition flow was 2 sccm with fixed other conditions. As the RF power DC-bias voltage were increased, the etch rate of TiN thin film showed increasing tendency. $BCl_3/Cl_2$/Ar plasmas were characterized by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) analysis. The chemical reaction on the surface of the etched TiN films was investigated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.309-314
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• 1999

The magnetized helical resonator plasma etcher has been built. Electron density and temperature were measured as functions of rf source power, axial magnetic field, and pressure. The results show electron density increases as the magnetic field increases and reached $2\times1012cm^{-3}$,/TEX>. The oxide etch rate and selectivity to polysilicon were investigated as the above mentioned conditions and self-bias voltage. We can obtain the much improved oxide etch selectivity to polysilicon (60 : 1) by applying the external axial weak magnetic field in magnetized helical resonator plasma etcher.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.752-758
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• 2010

The etching characteristics of indium tin oxide (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 2 sccm in $BCl_3$/Ar plasma, whereas that of ITO decreased with increasing $O_2$ content from 2 sccm to 6 sccm in $BCl_3$/Ar plasma. The maximum etch rate of 65.9 nm/m in for the ITO thin films was obtained at 2 sccm $O_2$ addition. The etch conditions were the RF power of 500 W, the bias power of 200 W, the process pressure of 15 mTorr, and the substrate temperature of $40^{\circ}C$. The analysis of x-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) was carried out to investigate the chemical reactions between the surfaces of ITO thin films and etch species.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.144-147
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• 2011

In this work, we present a study regarding the etching characteristics on titanium nitride (TiN) thin films using an inductively coupled plasma system. The TiN thin film was etched using a $N_2/BCl_3$/Ar plasma. The studied etching parameters were the gas mixing ratio, the radio frequency (RF) power, the direct current (DC)-bias voltages, and the process pressures. The baseline conditions were as follows: RF power = 500 W, DC-bias voltage = -150 V, substrate temperature = $40^{\circ}C$, and process pressure = 15 mTorr. The maximum etch rate and the selectivity of the TiN to the $SiO_2$ thin film were 62.38 nm/min and 5.7, respectively. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed no accumulation of etching byproducts from the etched surface of the TiN thin film. Based on the experimental results, the etched TiN thin film was obtained by the chemical etching found in the reactive ion etching mechanism.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.7-11
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• 2012

SiNx films have been wildly used as anti-reflection coatings and passivation for crystalline silicon solar cells. In this study, the SiNx films were deposited by using high frequency (13.56MHz) PECVD and optical & passivation properties were investigated. The RF power was changed in a certain range for the film deposition. Then, the refractive index, etch rate, minority carrier lifetime and cell efficiency were measured to study the properties of the film respectively. The optimal deposition conditions for application to crystalline silicon solar cells were proposed as results of the study. Finally, the best cell efficiency of 16.98% was obtained from the solar cell with the SiNx films deposited by RF power of 550W.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.724-728
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• 2004

This paper describes on RIE(Reactive Ion Etching) characteristics of 3C-SiC(Silicon Carbide) grown on Si(100) wafers. In this work, CHF$_3$ gas was used to form the polymer as a function of a side-wall for excellent anisotropy etching during the RIE process. The ranges of the etch rate were obtained from 60 $\AA$/min to 980 $\AA$/min according to the conditions such as working gas pressure, RF power, distance between electrodes and the $O_2$ addition ratio in working gas pressure. Under the condition such as 100 mTorr of working gas pressure, 200 W of RF power and 30 mm of the distance between electrodes, mesa structures with about 40 of the etch angle were formed, and the vertical structures could be improved with 50 % of $O_2$ addition ratio in reactive gas during the RIE process. As a result of the investigation, we know that it is possible to apply the RIE process of 3C-SiC using CHF$_3$ for the development of electronic parts and MEMS applications in harsh environments.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.62-66
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• 2004

This paper investigated the characteristics of a newly developed high density hollow cathode plasma (HCP) system and its application for the etching of silicon wafers. We used SF$_{6}$ and $O_2$ gases in the HCP dry etch process. Silicon etch rate of $0.5\mu\textrm{m}$/min was achieved with $SF_6$$O_2$plasma conditions having a total gas pressure of 50mTorr, and RF power of 100 W. This paper presents surface etching characteristics on a crystalline silicon wafer and large area cast type multicrystlline silicon wafer. The results of this experiment can be used for various display systems such as thin film growth and etching for TFT-LCDs, emitter tip formations for FEDs, and bright plasma discharge for PDP applications.s.