• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.151-156
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• 2006

A method for fabrication of nano-scale GaN structure by inductively coupled plasma etching is proposed, exploiting a thermal dewetting of Pt thin film as an etch mask. The nano-scale Pt metal islands were formed by the dewetting of 2-dimensional film on $SiO_2$ dielectric materials during rapid thermal annealing process. For the case of 30 nm thick Pt films, pattern formation and dewetting was initiated at temperatures greater $600^{\circ}C$. Controlling the annealing temperature and time as well as the thickness of the Pt metal film affected the size and density of Pt islands. The activation energy for the formation of Pt metal island was calculated to be 23.2 KJ/mole. The islands show good resistance to dry etching by a $CF_4$ based plasma for dielectric etching indicating that the metal islands produced by dewetting are suitable for use as an etch mask in the fabrication of nano-scale structures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.284-284
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• 2011

Recently, the increasing degree of device integration in the fabrication of Si semiconductor devices, etching processes of nano-scale materials and high aspect-ratio (HAR) structures become more important. Due to this reason, etch selectivity control during etching of HAR contact holes and trenches is very important. In this study, The etch selectivity and etch rate of TEOS oxide layer using ACL (amorphous carbon layer) mask are investigated various process parameters in CH2F2/C4F8/O2/Ar plasma during etching TEOS oxide layer using ArF/BARC/SiOx/ACL multilevel resist (MLR) structures. The deformation and etch characteristics of TEOS oxide layer using ACL hard mask was investigated in a dual-frequency superimposed capacitively coupled plasma (DFS-CCP) etcher by different fHF/ fLF combinations by varying the CH2F2/ C4F8 gas flow ratio plasmas. The etch characteristics were measured by on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) And X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). A process window for very high selective etching of TEOS oxide using ACL mask could be determined by controlling the process parameters and in turn degree of polymerization. Mechanisms for high etch selectivity will discussed in detail.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.233-233
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• 2010

Magnetic random access memory (MRAM), based on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) and CMOS, is a prominent candidate among prospective semiconductor memories because it can provide nonvolatility, fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance, low operating voltage and high storage density. The etching of MTJ stack with good properties is one of a key process for the realization of high density MRAM. In order to achieve high quality MTJ stack, the use of CoFeB and IrMn magnetic films as free layers was proposed. In this study, inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching of CoFeB and IrMn thin films masked with Ti hard mask was investigated in a $Cl_2$/Ar gas mix. The etch rate of CoFeB and IrMn films were examined on varying $Cl_2$ gas concentration. As the $Cl_2$ gas increased, the etch rate monotonously decreased. The effective of etch parameters including coil rf power, dc-bais voltage, and gas pressure on the etch profile of CoFeB and IrMn thin film was explored, At high coil rf power, high dc-bais voltage, low gas pressure, the etching of CoFeB and IrMn displayed better etch profiles. Finally, the clean and vertical etch sidewall of CoFeB and IrMn free layers can be achieved by means of thin Ti hard mask in a $Cl_2$/Ar plasma at the optimized condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.318-321
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• 2005

FIB (Focused ion Beam) milling on a 500-nm-thick silicon nitride membrane was studied in order to fabricate a high-resolution shadow mask, or called a nanostencil. The silicon nitride membrane was fabricated by MEMS processes of LPCVD, photolithography, ICP etching and bulk silicon etching. The apertures made by FIB milling and normal photolithography were compared. The square metal pattern deposited through FIB milled shadow mask showed 6 times smaller comer radius than the case of photolithography. The results show high resolution patterning could be achieved by local deposition through FIB milled shadow-mask.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2002.10b
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• pp.67-68
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• 2002

The properties and mechanism of silicon protuberance and groove processing by diamond tip sliding using atomic force microscope (AFM) in atmosphere were studied. To control the height of protuberance and the depth of groove, the processed height and depth depended on load and diamond tip radius were evaluated. Nanoprotuberances and grooves were fabricated on a silicon surface by approximately 100-nm-radius diamond tip sliding using an atomic force microscope in atmosphere. To clarify the mechanical and chemical properties of these parts processed, changes in the protuberance and groove profiles due to additional diamond tip sliding and potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution etching were evaluated. Processed protuberances were negligibly removed, and processed grooves were easily removed by additional diamond tip sliding. The KOH solution selectively etched the unprocessed silicon area. while the protuberances, grooves and flat surfaces processed by diamond tip sliding were negligibly etched. Three-dimensional nanofabrication is performed in this study by utilizing these mechanic-chemically processed parts as protective etching mask for KOH solution etching.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.869-875
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• 1996

In this article the effects of process parameters of inductively coupled plasma etching with $SF_6$ /$N_2$/Ar mixture gas and mask materials on the etched profile of W were investigated. While the etched profile was improved by $N_2$-addition, low working presure, and reduced $SF_6$ flow rate, the etching selectity (W against SAL resist) was decreased. Due to the difficulty of W etching with single layer resist, sputter deposited $Al_2O_3$ film was used as a hardmask. Reduction of required EB resist thickness through $Al_2O_3$ mask application could reduce proximity effect during e-beam patterning, but the etch anisotropy was degraded by decreased sidewall passiviation effect.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1996.11a
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• pp.248-250
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• 1996

VTR 자기헤드의 핵심소재로 사용되는 ferrite는 VTR 의 주기능인 영상의 기록 및 재생역할에 가장 중요한 소재이다. 이러한 종류의 head는 지금까지 mask wet chemical etching과 mechanical Process 에 의해 제작 되어왔다. 그러나 기록용량의 중가로 자기장치의 recording density를 높일것이 요구됨에 따라 자기헤드의 gap width를 줄일 필요가 있게 되었다. 본 연구는 mask와 photoresist를 사용하지 않고 ferrite를 직접 미세가공 하는 laser-induced wet etching을 이용하여 자기헤드의 기록용량을 높이고자 하였다. $Ar^+$ laser ( 파장 514 nm )를 빔 확장기와 렌즈를 사용 하여 직경 $1.8{\mu}m$ 로 집속하고, $100{\sim}500\;mW$의 출력 변화를 주어 실험을 하였다. 인산 수용액 (45, 65, 85 %)을 etchant로 사용하여 $5{\sim}30{\mu}m/sec$의 주사속도로 etching 하여, 미세선폭과 high aspect ratio를 갖는 groove를 얻을 수 있었다.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.08a
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• pp.711-714
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• 2004

A new design for improving the aperture ratio of bottom emission type AMOLED is investigated. In conventional, the TFT of AMOLED fabrication method is "Etch Stopper (7-mask)", so the aperture ratio is limited in 28${\sim}$33% by Cs(Storage Capacitor). A high aperture ratio TFT is designed by using BCE(Back Channel Etching 5-mask) fabrication way and the aperture ratio is up to 40% shown in 2.2"AMOLED display.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.189-189
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• 2015

Plasmonics, sensor, field effect transistors, solar cells 등 다양한 적용분야를 가지는 실리콘 구조체는 제작공정에 의해 전기적 및 광학적 특성이 달라지기 때문에 적합한 나노구조 제작방법이 요구되고 있다. 나노구조체 제작방법으로는 Photo lithography, Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), Nano imprinting lithography (NIL), Block copolymer (BCP) 방식의 방법들이 연구되고 있으며, 특히 BCP는 direct self-assembly 특성을 가지고 있으며 가격적인 면에서도 큰 장점을 가진다. 하지만 BCP를 mask로 사용하여 식각공정을 진행할 경우 BCP가 버티지 못하고 변형되어 mask로서의 역할을 하지 못한다. 이러한 문제를 해결하기 위하여 본 논문에서는 BCP와 질화막을 이용한 double mask 방법을 사용하였다. 기판 위에 BCP를 self-assembly 시키고 mask로 사용하여 hole 부분으로 노출된 기판을 Ion gun을 통해 질화 시킨 후에 BCP를 제거한다. 기판 위에 hole 모양의 질화막 표면은 BCP와 다르게 etching 공정 중 변형되지 않는다. 이러한 질화막 표면을 mask로 사용하여 pillar pattern의 실리콘 나노구조체를 제작하였다. 질화막 mask로 사용되는 template은 PS와 PMMA로 구성된 BCP를 사용하였다. 140kg/mol의 polystyrene과 65kg/mol의 PMMA를 톨루엔으로 용해시키고 실리콘 표면 위에 spin coating으로 도포하였다. Spin coat 후 230도에서 40시간 동안 열처리를 진행하여 40nm의 직경을 가진 PS-b-PMMA self-assembled hole morphology를 형성하였다. 질화막 형성 및 etching을 위한 장비로 low-energy Ion beam system을 사용하였다. Reactive Ion beam은 ICP와 3-grid system으로 구성된 Ion gun으로부터 형성된다. Ion gun에 13.56 MHz의 frequency를 갖는 200W 전력을 인가하였다. Plasma로부터 나오는 Ion은 $2{\Phi}$의 직경의 hole을 가지는 3-grid hole로 추출된다. 10~70 voltage 범위의 전위를 plasma source 바로 아래의 1st gird에 인가하고, 플럭스 조절을 위해 -150V의 전위를 2nd grid에 인가한다. 그리고 3rd grid는 접지를 시켰다. chamber내의 질화 및 식각가스 공급은 2mTorr로 유지시켰다. 그리고 기판의 온도는 냉각칠러를 이용하여 -20도로 냉각을 진행하였다. 이와 같은 공정 결과로 100 nm 이상의 높이를 갖는 40 nm직경의 균일한 Silicon pillar pattern을 형성 할 수 있었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.285-285
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• 2011

EUVL (Extreme Ultra Violet Lithography) is one of competitive lithographic technologies for sub-30nm fabrication of nano-scale Si devices that can possibly replace the conventional photolithography used to make today's microcircuits. Among the core EUVL technologies, mask fabrication is of considerable importance since the use of new reflective optics having a completely different configuration compared to those of conventional photolithography. Therefore new materials and new mask fabrication process are required for high performance EUVL mask fabrication. This study investigated the etching properties of SnO2 (Tin Oxide) as a new absorber material for EUVL binary mask. The EUVL mask structure used for etching is SnO2 (absorber layer) / Ru (capping / etch stop layer) / Mo-Si multilayer (reflective layer) / Si (substrate). Since the Ru etch stop layer should not be etched, infinitely high selectivity of SnO2 layer to Ru ESL is required. To obtain infinitely high etch selectivity and very low LER (line edge roughness) values, etch parameters of gas flow ratio, top electrode power, dc self - bias voltage (Vdc), and etch time were varied in inductively coupled Cl2/Ar plasmas. For certain process window, infinitely high etch selectivity of SnO2 to Ru ESL could be obtained by optimizing the process parameters. Etch characteristics were measured by on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. Detailed mechanisms for ultra-high etch selectivity will be discussed.