• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.248-255
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• 2012

AlN thin films containing various amounts of Co, AlN-Co, and Al-Co alloy particles were prepared using a two-facing-target type dc reactive sputtering (TFTS) system. The as-deposited films exhibited the variable nature expected from an AlN-rich phase, and an amorphous-like phase, depending on the Co content in the films. Specific favorable microstructures were prepared by optimizing annealing conditions. Those microstructures and their magnetic properties and resistivity were investigated. As-deposited films showed very small saturation magnetization and an amorphous-like structure. However, when annealed, the as-deposited amorphous-like phase decomposes into phases of AlN, Co and Al-Co. These annealing induced changes in the microstructure improve the magnetization and resistivity of the films. Further improvement of soft magnetic properties could lead to the material being used for high density magnetic recording head material.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.3-6
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• 2002

Effect of Ag additive element on microstructure of $Fe_{87-x}Zr_7B_6Ag_x$, magnetic thin films on Si(001) substrates has been investigated using Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM) and X-ray Diffraction(XRD). All samples with additive Ag element were made by DC-sputtering and subjected to annealing treatments of $300^{\circ}C{\siim}600^{\circ}C$ for 1 hr. TEM and XRD showed that perfectly amorphous state in Ag-free Fe-based films was observed in as-deposited condition. The as-deposited Fe-based films with the presence of Ag constituent have a mixture of Fe-based amorphous and nano-sized Ag crystalline phases. In this case, additive element, Ag was soluted into Fe-based matrix. With the increase in additive element, Ag, insoluble nano-crystalline Ag particles were dispersed in the Fe-based amorphous matrix. Crystallization of Fe-based amorphous phase in the matrix of $Fe_{82}Zr_7B_6Ag_5$ thin films occurred at an annealing temperature of $400^{\circ}C$. Upon annealing, the amorphous-Ag crystalline state of Fe-Zr-B-Ag films was transformed into the mixture of Ag crystalline phase + Fe-based amorphous phase + ${\alpha}$-Fe cluster followed by the crystallization process of ${\alpha}$-Fe nanocrystalline + Ag crystalline phases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.634-637
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• 1999

The amorphous vanadium oxide as a cathode material is very preferable for fabricating high performance micro-battery. The amorphous vanadium oxide cathode is preferred over the crystalline form because three times more lithium ions can be inserted into the amorphous cathode, thus making a battery that has a higher capacity. The electrochemical properties of sputtered films are strongly dependent on the oxygen partial pressure in the sputtering gas. The effect of different oxygen partial pressure on the electrochemical properties of vanadium oxide thin films formed by r.f. reactive sputtering deposition were investigated. The stoichiometry of the as-deposited films were investigated by Auger electro spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy measurements were carried out to investigate structural properties and surface morphology, respectively. For high oxygen partial pressure(>30% ), the films were polycrystalline V$_2$O$_{5}$ while an amorphous vanadium oxide was obtained at the lower oxygen partial pressure(< 15%). Half-cell tests were conducted to investigate the electrochemical properties of the vanadium oxide film cathode. The cell capacity was about 60 $\mu$ Ah/$\textrm{cm}^2$ m after 200 cycle when oxygen partial pressure was 20%. These results suggested that the capacity of the thin film battery based on vanadium oxide cathode was strongly depends on crystallinity.y.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2013

We investigated the growth mechanism of amorphous-phase Si thin films in order to improve the film characteristics and circumvent photo-degradation effects by implementation of hot-wire chemical vapor deposition. Amorphous silicon thin films grown in a silane/hydrogen mixture can be decomposed by a resistive heat filament. The structural properties were observed by Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM, and TEM. The electrical properties of the films were measured by photo-conductivity, dark-conductivity, and photo-sensitivity. The contents of Si-H and $Si-H_n$ bonds were measured to be 19.79 and 9.96% respectively, at a hydrogen flow rate of 5.5 sccm, respectively. The thin film has photo-sensitivity of $2.2{\times}10^5$ without a crystalline volume fraction. The catalyst behavior of the hot-wire to decompose the chemical precursors by an electron tunneling effect depends strongly on the hydrogen mixture rate and an amorphous Si thin film is formed from atomic relaxation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.63-63
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• 1999

The stability of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films under the light soaking are very important since the applications of a-Si:H films are solar cells, color sensors, photosensors, and thin film transistors(TFTs). We found the changes of the electric conductivity and the conductivity activation energy (Ea) of a-Si:H films by argon radical annealing. The deposition rate of a-Si:H films depends on the argon radical annealing time. The optical band gap and the hydrogen contents in the a-Si:H films are changes along the argon radical annealing time. We will discuss the microscopic processes of argon radical annealing in a-si:H films.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.69-76
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• 2000

The rf plasma chemical vapor deposition is a common method employed for diamond or amorphous carbon deposition. Diamond possesses the strongest bonding, as exemplified by a number of unique properties-extraordinary hardness, high thermal conductivity, and a high melting tempera tore. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the synthesis of semiconducting diamond and its use as semiconductor devices. An inductively coupled rf plasma CVD system for producing amorphous carbon films were developed. Uniform temperature and concentration profiles are requisites for the deposition of high quality large-area films. The system consists of rf matching network, deposition chamber, pumping lines for gas system. Gas mixtures with methane, and hydrogen have been used and Si (100) wafers used as a substrate. Amorphous carbon films were deposited with methane concentration of 1.5% at the process pressure of S torr~20 torr, and process temperature of about $750^{\circ}C$. The nucleation and growth of the amorphous carbon films have been characterized by several methods such as SEM and XRD.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.234-240
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• 2001

Using RF magnetron sputtering, amorphous carbon(a-C) thin films as electron filed emitter were fabricated. these a-C thin films were deposited on Si(001) substrate at several temperatures. The field electron emission property of these a-C thin films was estimated by a diode technique. As the result, we observed that the field emission properties of the films were changed singnificantly with the substrate temperature and structural features of a-C film. The field emission properties were promoted by higher substrate temperatures. Furthermore N-doped a-C film exhibits more field emission property than that of undoped a-C film. These results are explained as change of surface morphology and structural properties of a-C film.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.26-35
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• 1997

The substrate effects on solid-phase crystallization of amorphous silicon (a-Si) films deposited by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) using $Si_2H_6$ gas have been extensively investigated. The a-Si films were prepared on various substrates, such as thermally oxidized Si wafer ($SiO_2$/Si), quartz and LPCVD-oxide, and annealed at 600$^{\circ}C$ in an $N_2$ ambient for crystallization. The crystallization behavior was found to be strongly dependent on the substrate even though all the silicon films were deposited in amorphous phase. It was first observed that crystallization in a-Si films deposited on the $SiO_2$/Si starts from the interface between the a-Si and the substrate, so called interface-interface-induced crystallization, while random nucleation process dominates on the other substrates. The different kinetics and mechanism of solid-phase crystallization is attributed to the structural disorderness of a-Si films, which is strongly affected by the surface roughness of the substrates.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.55-71
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• 2017

Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO), especially Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) films are almost prepared by DC magnetron sputtering because of the advantage of obtaining homogeneous large area coatings with high reproducibility. The purpose of this report is describe a detailed investigation of key factors dominating electrical and structural properties of sputtered ITO films. It was confirmed that crystallinity and electrical properties of ITO films were strongly depend on the sputtering pressure and kinetic energy of sputtered particles which are expected to have a close relation with the transport processes between target and substrate. And also, nodule formation on the ITO target was suppressed by both $CaCO_3$ addition and decreasing micro-pore in the target. On the other hand, we focused on the characteristics of amorphous TCO film to use as transparent electrode for various applications. To realize high thermoelectric performance, it was tried to control both high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity for the amorphous IZO:Sn films.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.05c
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• pp.83-87
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• 2003

Thin films of amorphous carbon (a-C) generally combine high wear resistance with low friction coefficients and a-C films have widespread applications as protective coatings and passivation of electrical circuit and insulating layer. In this work we deposited the amorphous carbon (a-C) films on silicon substrate with a high rate DC magnetron sputtering system. It is obtained parameters on the deposition rate and physical properties of a-C films using a wide range of Ar gas pressure and DC power. The physical properties of the films were analyzed by Nanoindenter and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy), The electrical properties were investigated by electrical conductivity measurement.