• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.24-28
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• 2007

The etching of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films has been studied using a high density plasma in a $Cl_2/Ar$ gas. The etch characteristics of ZnO thin films were systematically investigated on varying $Cl_2$ concentration, coil rf power, dc-bias voltage, and gas pressure. With increasing $Cl_2$ concentration, the etch rate of ZnO thin film increased, the redeposition around the etched patterns decreased but the sidewall slope of the etched patterns slanted. As the coil rf power and dc-bias voltage increased, the etch rates of ZnO thin films increased and etch profiles of ZnO thin films were improved. With increasing gas pressure, the etch rate of ZnO thin films slightly increased but little change in etch profile was observed. Based on these results, the optimal etching conditions of ZnO thin film were selected. Finally, the etching of ZnO thin films with a high degree of anisotropy of approximately $75^{\circ}{\sim}80^{\circ}$ without the redepositions and residues was successfully achieved at the etching conditions of 20% $Cl_2$ concentration, coil rf power of 1000 W, dc-bias voltage of 400 V, and gas pressure of 5 mTorr.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2008

In order to apply for transparent conductive oxide(TCO), we deposited ZnO thin films on the glass at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering method. Deposition conditions for high transmittance and low resistivity were optimized in our previous studies. Under the deposition condition with the RF power of 200 W, target to substrate distance of 30 mm and working pressure of 5 mTorr, highly conductive($7.4{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$) and transparent(over 85%) ZnO films were prepared. Highly oriented ZnO film in the [002] direction were obtained with specifically designed ZnO targets. Systematic study on dependence of deposition parameters on electrical and optical properties of the as-grown ZnO films were mainly investigated in this work. And for application tests using these films as transparent conductive oxide anodes, wet chemical etching behaviors of ZnO films were also investigated using various chemicals. Wet-chemical etching behavior of ZnO films were investigated using various acid solutions. The concentrations of these different acid solutions were controlled to study the etching shapes and etching rate. ZnO films were anisotropically etched at various concentrations and wet etching led to crater-like surface structure. Also we firstly found that the etching rate and etching shapes of ZnO films strongly depended on the etchant concentrations (i.e. pH) and the etching rate is exponentially decreased with increasing pH values regardless of the acid etchants.

• 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.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.08a
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• pp.926-929
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• 2007

A significant progress has been made in the characterization of zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductor as a new semiconductor layer instead of amorphous Si semiconductor used in thin film transistor due to its high electron mobility at low deposition temperature which is quite suitable for flexible display and OLED devices. The wet pattering of ZnO is another important issue with regard to mass production of ZnO thin film transistor device. However, the wet behavior of ZnO thin film in aqueous wet etching solutions conventionally used un TFT industry has not been reported yet, in this work, wet corrosion behavior of RF magnetron sputtered ZnO thin film in various wet solutions such as phosphoric and nitric acid solutions was studied using by electrochemical analysis. The effects of deposition parameters such as RF power and oxygen partial pressure on corrosion rate are also examined.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.894-898
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• 2013

Zinc oxide(ZnO) was sputtered on various glass and flexible substrates such as polyethylene terephthalate(PET) and polycarbonate(PC). A Q-switched $Nd:YVO_4$ laser with a wavelength of 1,064 nm was used for the direct etching of ZnO films. It was possible to obtain laser etched line patterns on the ZnO films on PC substrate at some specific laser beam conditions. In the flexible substrates, more thermal energy of laser beam is expected to be spreaded for the etching process.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.08a
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• pp.181-185
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• 2007

We report on our material and process research on ZnO:Al films and on our investigations on wet chemical etching using a variety of etching solutions. We achieve resistivity as low as $750{\mu}{\Omega}cm$ for ZnO:Al films with film thickness of 140 nm. Etching with phosphorous acid allows for accurate fine patterning of the ZnO:Al films on glass substrates.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.377-380
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• 2012

Laser direct patterning of indium tin oxide(ITO) is one of new methods of direct etching process to replace the conventional photolithography. A diode pumped Q-switched Nd:$YVO_4$ (${\lambda}$= 1,064 nm) laser was used to produce ITO electrode on various transparent oxide semiconductor films such as zinc oxide(ZnO). The laser direct etched ITO patterns on ZnO were compared with those on glass substrate and were considered in terms of the overlapping rate of laser beam. In case of the laser etching on double-layer, it was possible to obtain the higher overlapping rate of laser beam.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.27.2-27.2
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• 2010

In recent years, there is a strong requirement of low cost, stable microelectro mechanical systems (MEMS) for resonators, microswitches and sensors. Most of these devices consist of freely suspended microcantilevers, which are usually made by the etching of some sacrificial materials. Herein, we have attempted to use Si nanowires, inherited from the parent Si wafer, as a sacrificial material due to its porosity, low cost and ease of fabrication. Prior to the fabrication of the Si nanowires silver nanoparticles were continuously formed on the surface of Si wafer. Vertically aligned Si nanowires were fabricated from the parent Si wafers by aqueous chemical route at $50^{\circ}C$. Afterwards, the morphological and structural characteristics of the Si nanowires were investigated. The morphology of nanowires was strongly modulated by the resistivity of the parent wafer. The 3-step etching of nanowires in diluted KOH solution was carried out at room temperature in order to control the fast etching. A layer of $Si_3N_4$ (300 nm) was used for the selective fabrication of nanowires. Finally, a freely suspended bridge of zinc oxide (ZnO) was fabricated after the removal of nanowires from the parent wafer. At present, we believe that this technique may provide a platform for the inexpensive fabrication of futuristic MEMS.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 1979

The purpose of this study was to measure the roughness on the acid -etching surface. The etching agents of three-kinds composite resins were used to etch the tooth surface. Newly extracted I5-anterior teeth were invested with self-curing acrylic resin, and the labial surface was exposed. The exposed labial side was polished with abrasive papers and finally polished on polishing machine with zinc oxide powder. After the teeth were polished, the specimens were washed by water and dried by air. Surface roughness tester, Taylor-Habson's Taly Surf-10, (Fig-1) was used to measure roughness of this unetched tooth surface. And that, the specimens were divided into three groups. The first group was etched with Restodent etchant, the second group was etched with Nuva-system etchant, and Hi-pol etching agent was used in the third group. And the surface roughness tester was used to measure roughness of the etching teeth surface. The results obtained were as follows. 1. The roughness of acid-etched enamel were increased $2{\mu}m$ to $6{\mu}m$. 2. Hi-pol etchant produced the smoothest surface($2.3{\mu}m$). 3. Restodent etchant($3.8{\mu}m$) and Nuva-system etchant($3.7{\mu}m$) produced rougher surface than Hi-pol.

• Journal of Information Display
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.47-50
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• 2011

Highly stable amorphous indium.gallium.zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated with an etchstopper and via-hole structure. The TFTs exhibited 40 $cm^2$/V s field-effect mobility and a 0.21 V/dec gate voltage swing. Gate-bias stress induced a negligible threshold voltage shift (${\Delta}V_{th}$) at room temperature. The excellent stability is attribute to the via-hole and etch-stopper structure, in which, the source/drain metal contacts the active a-IGZO layer through two via holes (one on each side), resulting in minimized damage to the a-IGZO layer during the plasma etching of the source/drain metal. The comparison of the effects of the DC and AC stress on the performance of the TFTs at $60^{\circ}C$ showed that there was a smaller ${\Delta}V_{th}$ in the AC stress compared with the DC stress for the same effective stress time, indicating that the trappin of the carriers at the active layer-gate insulator interface was the dominant degradation mechanism.