• ETRI Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.383-393
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• 2008

The etching mechanism of $ZrO_2$ thin films and etch selectivity over some materials in both $BCl_3$/Ar and $BCl_3/CHF_3$/Ar plasmas are investigated using a combination of experimental and modeling methods. To obtain the data on plasma composition and fluxes of active species, global (0-dimensional) plasma models are developed with Langmuir probe diagnostics data. In $BCl_3$/Ar plasma, changes in gas mixing ratio result in non-linear changes of both densities and fluxes for Cl, $BCl_2$, and ${BCl_2}^+$. In this work, it is shown that the non-monotonic behavior of the $ZrO_2$ etch rate as a function of the $BCl_3$/Ar mixing ratio could be related to the ion-assisted etch mechanism and the ion-flux-limited etch regime. The addition of up to 33% $CHF_3$ to the $BCl_3$-rich $BCl_3$Ar plasma does not influence the $ZrO_2$ etch rate, but it non-monotonically changes the etch rates of both Si and $SiO_2$. The last effect can probably be associated with the corresponding behavior of the F atom density.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.116-119
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• 2010

The etching characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) were investigated, including the etch rate and the selectivity of ZnO in a $Cl_2/BCl_3$/Ar plasma. It was found that the ZnO etch rate, the RF power, and the gas pressure showed non-monotonic behaviors with an increasing Cl2 fraction in the $Cl_2/BCl_3$/Ar plasma, a gas mixture of $Cl_2$(3 sccm)/$BCl_3$(16 sccm)/Ar (4 sccm) resulted in a maximum ZnO etch rate of 53 nm/min and a maximum etch selectivity of 0.89 for ZnO/$SiO_2$. We used atomic force microscopy to determine the roughness of the surface. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch mechanism for the plasmas. Due to the relatively low volatility of the by-products formed during etching with $Cl_2/BCl_3$/Ar plasma, ion bombardment and physical sputtering were required to obtain the high ZnO etch rate. The chemical states of the etched surfaces were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This data suggested that the ZnO etch mechanism was due to ion enhanced chemical etching.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.236-243
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• 2004

The oxide etching process was characterized in a magnetically enhanced reactive ion etching (MERIE) reactor with a $CHF_3CF_4$ gas chemistry. A statistical experimental design plus one center point was used to characterize relationships between process factors and etch response. The etch response modeled are etch rate, etch selectivity to TiN and uniformity. Etching uniformity was improved with increasing $CF_4$ flow ratio, increasing source power, and increasing pressure depending on source power. Characterization of via etching in $CHF_3CF_4$ MERIE using neural networks was successfully executed giving to highly valuable information about etching mechanism and optimum etching condition. It was found that etching uniformity was closely related to surface polymerization, DC bias, TiN and uniformity.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 1999

GaN etching was performed using planar inductively coupled $Cl_2$-based plasmas and the effects of main process parameters on the characteristics of the plasmas and their relations to GaN etch rates were studied. Also, the GaN etch mechanism was investigated using a Langmuir probe and optical emission spectroscopy (OES) during the etching, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the etched surfaces. The GaN etch rates increased with the increase of chlorine radical density and ion energy, and a vertical etch profile haying the etch rate close to 4000 $\AA$/min could be obtained. The addition of 10% Ar to $Cl_2$ gas increased the GaN etch rate and the addition of Ar (more than 20%) and HBr generally reduced the GaN etch rate. The GaN etch rate appeared to be more affected by the chemical reaction between Cl radicals and GaN compared to the physical sputtering itself under the sufficient ion bombardments to break GaN bonds.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.416-422
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• 1999

The characteristics of inductively coupled Cl$_2$/BCl$_3$ plasmas during the GaN etching were studied using plasma mass spectrometry by measuring the relative amounts of reactive ions, neutrals, and etch products. GaN etch rates increased with the increase of pressure and showed a maximum near 25mTorr for the pure $Cl_2$ and near 30mTorr for $Cl_2$$BCl_3$. The addition of$ BCl_3$ to $Cl_2$ also was increased GaN etch rates until 50%BCl$_3$ was mixed to $Cl_2$. The GaN etching with pure $Cl Cl_2$ appears to be related to the combination of Cl$_2^{+}$ ion bombardment and the chemical reaction of Cl radicals. In the case of the GaN etching with Cl$_2$/BCl$_3$, in addition to the combined effect of$_2^{ +}$ ions and Cl radicals, $_BCl2^{+ }$ ions appear to be responsible for some of GaN etching even though they do not have significant effect on the GaN etching compared to $Cl_2^{+}$ and Cl. $Ga^{+ }$ , $GaCl^{+}$ , $GaCl_2^{+}$ , and $N_2^{+}$ were observed as the positive ions of etch products, and the intensities of these etch products showed the same trends as those of GaN etch rate. Among the etch products, Ga and $N_2$ appear to be the main etch products.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.8 no.4B
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• pp.565-571
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• 1999

In this study, high-density plasma etching characteristics of ITO(indium tin oxide) films used for transparent electrode in dispaly devices were investigated. Plasma diagnostic and surface analysis tools were used to understand etch reaction mechanism. The etch rate of ITO was increased by the increase of reactive radicals such as H and $CH_3$ with the addition of moderate amount of $CH_4$ to Ar. However, the addition of excess amount of $CH_4$ decreased possibly due to the increased polymer formation on the ITO surface being etched. The increase of source power and bias boltage increased ITO etch rates but it decreased selectivities over under-layers $(SiO_2, Si_3N_4)$. The increase of working pressure up to 20mTorr also increased ITO etch rates, however the further increased of the pressure decreased ITO etch rates. From the analysis of XPS, a peak related to the polymer of hydrocarbon was observed on the etched ITO surface especially for high $CH_4$ conditions and it appears to affect ITO etch rates.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.327-330
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• 2006

We investigated the usefulness of $NbO_{x}$ nanopillars as an etching mask of dry etching for the formation of Si nanodot arrays. The $NbO_{x}$ nanopillar arrays were prepared by the anodic aluminum oxidation process of Al and Nb thin films. The etch rate and etch profile of $NbO_{x}$ nanopillar arrays were examined by varying the experimental conditions such as the concentration of etch gas, coil rf power, and dc bias voltage in the reactive ion etch system using the inductively coupled plasma. As the concentration of $Cl_{2}$ gas increased, the etch rate of $NbO_{x}$nanopillars decreased. With increasing coil rf power and dc bias voltage, the etch rates were found to increase. The etch characteristics and etch mechanism of $NbO_{x}$ nanopillars were investigated by varying the etch time under the selected etch conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.167-167
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• 2011

Magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is one of the prospective semiconductor memories for next generation. It has the excellent features including nonvolatility, fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance, low operating voltage, and high storage density. MRAM consists of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS). The MTJ stack is composed of various magnetic materials, metals, and a tunneling barrier layer. For the successful realization of high density MRAM, the etching process of magnetic materials should be developed. Among various magnetic materials, FePt has been used for pinned layer of MTJ stack. The previous etch study of FePt magnetic thin films was carried out using $CH_4/O_2/NH_3$. It reported only the etch characteristics with respect to the variation of RF bias powers. In this study, the etch characteristics of FePt thin films have been investigated using an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etcher in various etch chemistries containing $CH_4$/Ar and $CH_4/O_2/Ar$ gas mixes. TiN thin film was employed as a hard mask. FePt thin films are etched by varying the gas concentration. The etch characteristics have been investigated in terms of etch rate, etch selectivity and etch profile. Furthermore, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is applied to elucidate the etch mechanism of FePt thin films in $CH_4$/Ar and $CH_4/O_2/Ar$ chemistries.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.189-193
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• 2008

In this study, we carried out an investigation of the etching characteristics (etch rate, selectivity to $SiO_2$ and $HfO_2$) of TiN thin films in the $CH_4$/Ar inductively coupled plasma. The maximum etch rate of $274\;{\AA}/min$ for TiN thin films was obtained at $CH_4$(80%)/Ar(20%) gas mixing ratio. At the same time, the etch rate was measured as function of the etching parameters such as RF power, Bias power, and process pressure. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed an efficient destruction of the oxide bonds by the ion bombardment as well as showed an accumulation of low volatile reaction products on the etched surface. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch mechanism for the $CH_4$ containing plasmas.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.216-220
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• 2013

The etching characteristics of indium zinc oxide (IZO) in $Cl_2/Ar$ plasma were investigated, including the etch rate and selectivity of IZO. The IZO etch rate showed non-monotonic behavior with increasing $Cl_2$ fraction in the $Cl_2/Ar$ plasma, and with increasing source power, bias power, and process pressure. In the $Cl_2/Ar$ (75:25%) gas mixture, a maximum IZO etch rate of 87.6 nm/min and etch selectivity of 1.09 for IZO to $SiO_2$ were obtained. Owing to the relatively low volatility of the by-products formation, ion bombardment was required, in addition to physical sputtering, to obtain high IZO etch rates. The chemical state of the etched surfaces was investigated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. These data suggested that the IZO etch mechanism was ion-enhanced chemical etching.