• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.497-497
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• 2013

Semiconducting amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) has attracted significant research attention as improved deposition techniques have made it possible to make high-quality a-IGZO thin films. IGZO thin films have several advantages over thin film transistors (TFTs) based on other semiconducting channel layers.The electron mobility in IGZO devices is relatively high, exceeding amorphous Si (a-Si) by a factor of 10 and most organic devices by a factor of $10^2$. Moreover, in contrast to other amorphous semiconductors, highly conducting degenerate states can be obtained with IGZO through doping, yet such a state cannot be produced with a-Si. IGZO thin films are capable of mobilities greaterthan 10 $cm^2$/Vs (higher than a-Si:H), and are transparent at visible wavelengths. For oxide semiconductors, carrier concentrations can be controlled through oxygen vacancy concentration. Hence, adjusting the oxygen partial pressure during deposition and post-deposition processing provides an effective method of controlling oxygen concentration. In this study, we deposited IGZO thinfilms at optimized conditions and then analyzed the film's electrical properties, surface morphology, and crystal structure. Then, we explored how to generate IGZO thin films using DC magnetron sputtering. We also describe the construction and characteristics of a bottom-gate-type TFT, including the output and transfer curves and bias stress instability mechanism.

• Journal of Information Display
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.117-120
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• 2009

A new crystallization method for amorphous silicon, called selective area heating (SAH), was proposed. The purpose of SAH is to improve the reliability of amorphous silicon films with extremely low thermal budgets to the glass substrate. The crystallization time shortened from that of the conventional solid-phase crystallization method. An isolated thin heater for SAH was fabricated on a quartz substrate with a Pt layer. To investigate the crystalline properties, Raman scattering spectra were used. The crystalline transverse optic phonon peak was at about 519 $cm^{-1}$, which shows that the films were crystallized. The effect of the crystallization time on the varying thickness of the $SiO_2$ films was investigated. The crystallization area in the 400nm-thick $SiO_2$ film was larger than those of the $SiO_2$ films with other thicknesses after SAH at 16 W for 2 min. The results show that a $SiO_2$ capping layer acts as storage layer for thermal energy. SAH is thus suggested as a new crystallization method for large-area electronic device applications.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2010

The crystallization speed (v) of amorphous (InTe)$_x$(GeTe) (x = 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) films and their thermal, optical and electrical behaviors have been investigated using nano-pulse scanner (wavelength = 658 nm, laser beam diameter < 2 ${\mu}m$), X-ray diffraction (XRD), 4-point probe and UV-vis-IR spectrophotometer. These results were compared with those of $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ (GST) film, comprehensively utilized for phase-change random access memory (PRAM). Both v-value and thermal stability of (InTe)$_{0.1}$(GeTe) and (InTe)$_{0.3}$(GeTe) films could be enhanced in comparison with those of the GST. Contrarily, the v-value in the (InTe)$_{0.5}$(GeTe) film was so drastically deteriorated that we could not quantitatively evaluate it. This deterioration is thought because amorphous (InTe)$_{0.5}$(GeTe) film has relatively high reflectance, resulting in too low absorption to cause the crystallization. Conclusively, it could be thought that a proper compositional (InTe)$_x$(GeTe) films (e.g., x < 0.3) may be good candidates with both high crystallization speed and thermal stability for PRAM application.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.351.2-351.2
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• 2014

Indium tin oxide (ITO) has a lot of variations of its properties because it is basically in an amorphous state. Therefore, the differences in composition ratio of ITO can result in alteration of electrical properties. Normally, ITO is considered as transparent conductive oxide (TCO), possessing excellent properties for the optical and electrical devices. Quantitatively, TCO has transparency over 80 percent within the range of 380nm to 780nm, which is visible light although its specific resistance is less than $10-3{\Omega}/cm$. Thus, the solar cell is the best example for which ITO has perfectly matching profile. In addition, when ITO is used as transparent conductive electrode, this material essentially has to have a proper work function with contact materials. For instance, heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cell could have both front ITO and backside ITO. Because each side of ITO films has different type of contact materials, p-type amorphous silicon and n-type amorphous silicon, work function of ITO has to be modified to transport carrier with low built-in potential and Schottky barrier, and approximately requires variation from 3 eV to 5 eV. In this study, we examine the change of work function for different sputtering conditions using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). Structure of ITO films was investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optical transmittance of the films was evaluated by using an ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.389-393
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• 2007

Soft ferromagnetic materials are very useful for many sensors using magnetic materials demanding high permeability, low coercivity and low hysteresis loss. Among them, FeCoSiBNi amorphous magnetic films show a good impedance change (about 5.01 %/Oe, at 10 MHz) by the exterinal magnetic field in this experiment. The magnetic films are produced by melt-spun method, one of the rapid solidification process. Ribbon shape wires were made from the films, and let them annealed in DC magnetic field to increase the maximum Giant Magneto Impedance ratio. Field annealing decreases the stress and changes the effective anisotropy. Thus, we can find that the impedance change (200.47 %) is improved and the fabricated magnetic wire has characteristics of good sensor element.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.304-304
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• 2014

Quaternary Ti-Al-Si-N films were deposited on WC-Co substrates by a hybrid deposition system of arc ion plating (AIP) method for Ti-Al source and DC magnetron sputtering technique for Si incorporation. The synthesized Ti-Al-Si-N films were revealed to be composites of solid-solution (Ti,Al)N crystallites and amorphous $Si_3N_4$ by instrumental analyses. The Si addition in Ti-Al-N films affected the refinement and uniform distribution of crystallites by percolation phenomenon of amorphous silicon nitride, similarly to Si effect in TiN film. As the Si content increased up to about 9 at.%, the hardness of Ti-Al-N film steeply increased from 30 GPa to about 50 GPa. The highest microhardness value (~50 GPa) was obtained from the Ti-Al-Si-N film having the Si content of 9 at.%, the microstructure of which was characterized by a nanocomposite of $nc-(Ti,Al)N/a-Si_3N_4$.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.322-325
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• 2008

3,3-Dimethyl-1-butene ($C_6H_{12}$) monomer was deposited using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) instrument. The more the R.F. power/pressure ratio in FT-IR spectrum, the less the hydrogen quantity and the dangling bond in amorphous carbon films observed so that the mechanical property of the films are improved related to the density. Also, with the increase D peak in Raman spectrum is increased and the ring structure's films are produced. According to these results, hardness and modulus are 12 GPa and 85 GPa, respectively. The refractive index (n) and extinction coefficients (k) of the deposited films are increased with the increase in a power/pressure ratio.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.328-334
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• 2023

The carbon-based films have various properties, which have been widely applied in industrial application. However, it has critical drawback for poor adhesion between films and metal substrate. In the present work, we have deposited carbon-based films on injection mold steel by plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (PACVD). In order to improve adhesion, prior to film deposition, the substrate was nitriding-treated using PACVD. And its effect on the adhesion was investigated. Due to the pre-nitriding, the amorphous carbon nitride (a-CN:H) films presented 10 times higher adhesion (34.9 N) than that of un-nitirided. In addition, a friction coefficient was decreased from 0.29 to 0.15 for the amorphous carbon (a-C:H) due to improved adhesion. The obtained results demonstrated that pre-nitriding considerably improved the adhesion, and the relationship among adhesion, hardness, and surface roughness was discussed in detail.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.89-93
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• 2009

Amorphous $Ge_{1-x}Mn_x$ semiconductor thin films grown by low temperature vapor deposition were annealed, and their electrical and magnetic properties have been studied. The amorphous thin films were $1,000{\sim}5,000\;{\AA}$ thick. Amorphous $Ge_{1-x}Mn_x$ thin films were annealed at $300^{\circ}C$, $400^{\circ}C$, $500^{\circ}C$, $600^{\circ}C$ and $700^{\circ}C$ for 3 minutes in high vacuum chamber. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that as-grown $Ge_{1-x}Mn_x$ semiconductor thin films are amorphous and are crystallized by annealing. Crystallization temperature of amorphous $Ge_{1-x}Mn_x$ semiconductor thin films varies with Mn concentration. Amorphous $Ge_{1-x}Mn_x$ thin films have p-type carriers and the carrier type is not changed during annealing, but the electrical resistivity increases with annealing temperature. Magnetization characteristics show that the as-grown amorphous $Ge_{1-x}Mn_x$ thin films are ferromagnetic and the Curie temperatures are around 130 K. Curie temperature and saturation magnetization of annealed $Ge_{1-x}Mn_x$ thin films increase with annealing temperature. Magnetization behavior and X-ray analysis implies that formation of ferromagnetic $Ge_3Mn_5$ phase causes the change of magnetic and electrical properties of annealed $Ge_{1-x}Mn_x$ thin films.

• Journal of Information Display
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.1-3
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• 2003

For excimer laser annealing (ELA), energy density, number of pulses, beam uniformity, and condition of initial amorphous Si (a-Si) films are significant factors contributing to the final microstructure and the performance of low-temperature polycrystalline Si (LTPS) TFTs. Although the process and equipment have been significantly improved, the environmental factors associated with initial amorphous Si (a-Si) films and process conditions are yet to be optimized.