• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.709-713
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• 2018

To improve the etch rate of $Si_3N_4$ thin film, $H_2SiF_6$ is added to increase etching rate by more than two times. $SiO_3H_2$ is gradually added to obtain a selectivity of 170: 1 at 600 ppm. Moreover, when $SiO_3H_2$ is added, the etching rate of the $SiO_2$ thin film increases in proportion to the radius of the wafer. In $Si_3N_4$ thin film, there is no difference in the etching rate according to the position. However, in the $SiO_2$ thin film, the etching rate increases in proportion to the radius. At the center of the wafer, the re-growth phenomenon is confirmed at a specific concentration or above. The difference in etch rates of $SiO_2$ thin films and the reason for regrowth at these positions are interpreted as the result of the flow rate of the chemical solution replaced with fresh solution.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.244-249
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• 2023

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the impact of surface roughness on the friction and wear properties of SUS 321, an austenitic stainless steel variant produced using the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technique, which is a prevalent additive manufacturing method. After the LPBF fabrication, the specimens go a heat treatment process aimed at alleviating residual stress. Subsequently, they are polished extensively to achieve a refined and smooth surface. To deliberately introduce controlled variations in surface roughness, an etching process is employed. This multi-step method encompassed primary etching in a 3M hydrochloric acid solution, followed by secondary etching in a 35 wt% ferric chloride solution, with varying durations applied to different specimens. A comprehensive evaluation of the surface characteristics ensued, employing precise techniques such as surface roughness measurements and meticulous assessments of water droplet contact angles. Following the surface treatment procedures, a series of friction tests are performed to explore the tribological behavior of the etched specimens. This in-depth investigation reached its peak by revealing valuable insights. It clarified a strong correlation between intentionally altered surface roughness, achieved through etching processes, and the resulting tribological performance of LPBF-fabricated SUS 321 stainless steel. This significantly advances our grasp of material behavior in tribological applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.77-77
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• 2011

These days, a growing demand for memory device is filled up with the flash memory and the dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Although DRAM is a reasonable solution for current demand, the universal novel memory with high density, high speed and nonvolatility, needs to be developed. Among various new memories, the magnetic random access memory (MRAM) device is considered as one of good candidate memories because of excellent features including high density, high speed, low operating power and nonvolatility. The etching of MTJ stack which is composed of magnetic materials and insulator such as MgO is one of the vital process for MRAM. Recently, MgO has attracted great interest in the MTJ stack as tunneling barrier layer for its high tunneling magnetoresistance values. For the successful realization of high density MRAM, the etching process of MgO thin films should be investigated. Until now, there were some works devoted to the investigations on etch characteristics of MgO thin films. Initially, ion milling was applied to the etching of MgO thin films. However, ion milling has many disadvantages such as sidewall redeposition and etching damage. High density plasma etching containing the magnetically enhanced reactive ion etching and high density reactive ion etching have been employed for the improvement of etching process. In this work, inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICPRIE) system was adopted for the improvement of etching process using MgO thin films and etching gas mixes of $CH_4$/Ar and $CH_4$/$O_2$/Ar have been employed. The etch rates are measured by a surface profilometer and etch profiles are observed using field emission scanning emission microscopy (FESEM). The effects of gas concentration and etch parameters such as coil rf power, dc-bias voltage to substrate, and gas pressure on etch characteristics will be systematically explored.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.220-220
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• 2013

Surface-normal transmission electro-absorption modulator (EAM) are attractive for high-definition (HD) three-dimensional (3D) imaging application due to its features such as small system volume and simple epitaxial structure [1,2]. However, EAM in order to be used for HD 3D imaging system requires uniform modulation performance over large area. To achieve highly uniform modulation performance of EAM at the operating wavelength of 850 nm, it is extremely important to remove the GaAs substrate over large area since GaAs material has high absorption coefficient below 870 nm which corresponds to band-edge energy of GaAs (1.424 eV). In this study, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a transmission EAM in which highly selective backside etching methods which include lapping, dry etching and wet etching is carried out to remove the GaAs substrate for achieving highly uniform modulation performance. First, lapping process on GaAs substrate was carried out for different lapping speeds (5 rpm, 7 rpm, 10 rpm) and the thickness was measured over different areas of surface. For a lapping speed of 5 rpm, a highly uniform surface over a large area ($2{\times}1\;mm^2$) was obtained. Second, optimization of inductive coupled plasma-reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) was carried out to achieve anisotropy and high etch rate. The dry etching carried out using a gas mixture of SiCl4 and Ar, each having a flow rate of 10 sccm and 40 sccm, respectively with an RF power of 50 W, ICP power of 400 W and chamber pressure of 2 mTorr was the optimum etching condition. Last, the rest of GaAs substrate was successfully removed by highly selective backside wet etching with pH adjusted solution of citric acid and hydrogen peroxide. Citric acid/hydrogen peroxide etching solution having a volume ratio of 5:1 was the best etching condition which provides not only high selectivity of 235:1 between GaAs and AlAs but also good etching profile [3]. The fabricated transmission EAM array have an amplitude modulation of more than 50% at the bias voltage of -9 V and maintains high uniformity of >90% over large area ($2{\times}1\;mm^2$). These results show that the fabricated transmission EAM with substrate removed is an excellent candidate to be used as an optical shutter for HD 3D imaging application.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2016

This paper proposes a novel fabrication method for a capacitive type micro-accelerometer with uniform nano-gap using photo-assisted electro-chemical etching. The sensitivity of the accelerometer should be improved while the electrodes between the inertial mass and the sensing comb should be narrowed. In this paper the nano-gap trench structure is fabricated using the photo-assisted electrochemical etching method. The sensor was designed and analysed using ANSYS simulator. The characteristics of the etching were observed according to the dc bias, the light intensity, the composition of the solution, the temperature of the solution, and the pattern pitch variation. The optimum etching conditions were dc bias of 2V, Blue LED of 20mA, 49wt% HF:DMF:D.I.Water=1:20:10, the pattern pitch of $20{\mu}m$. Uniform trench structure with width of 344nm and depth of $11.627{\mu}m$ are formed using the optimum condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.86-86
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• 2012

The new approaches for silicon solar cell of new concept have been actively conducted. Especially, solar cells with wire array structured radial p-n junctions has attracted considerable attention due to the unique advantages of orthogonalizing the direction of light absorption and charge separation while allowing for improved light scattering and trapping. One-dimenstional semiconductor nano/micro structures should be fabricated for radial p-n junction solar cell. Most of silicon wire and/or pillar arrays have been fabricated by vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) growth because of its simple and cheap process. In the case of the VLS method has some weak points, that is, the incorporation of heavy metal catalysts into the growing silicon wire, the high temperature procedure. We have tried new approaches; one is electrochemical etching, the other is noble metal catalytic etching method to overcome those problems. In this talk, the silicon pillar formation will be characterized by investigating the parameters of the electrochemical etching process such as HF concentration ratio of electrolyte, current density, back contact material, temperature of the solution, and large pre-pattern size and pitch. In the noble metal catalytic etching processes, the effect of solution composition and thickness of metal catalyst on the etching rate and morphologies of silicon was investigated. Finally, radial p-n junction wire arrays were fabricated by spin on doping (phosphor), starting from chemical etched p-Si wire arrays. In/Ga eutectic metal was used for contact metal. The energy conversion efficiency of radial p-n junction solar cell is discussed.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.101-109
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• 2016

The purpose of this research was to develop a flat panel display device's glass etchant which can replace hydrofluoric acid. The glass etchant was composed of 18~19% wt% of ammonium hydrogen fluoride, 24~25 wt% of sulfuric acid, 45~46 wt% of water, 4~5 wt% of sulfate and 7~8 wt% of fluoro-silicate. By replenishing the etchant which has the amount of 5% of initial solution's mass, it was possible to reuse the etchant continuously. The developed etchant showed $5{\mu}m/min$ of etching rate at $30^{\circ}C$. The reusable etchant, with replenishing 5% of initial etchant mass showed the stable etching rate, which has the deviation of less than $0.1{\mu}m/min$ etching rate. The glass surface of flat panel display device created from our etching process was in good condition with any defects such as pin hole and dimple.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.93-102
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• 2009

The direct-current electroetching of high purity aluminum in hot aqueous-chloride solution produces a high density of micrometer-wide tunnels whose walls are made up of the {100} planes and penetrate aluminum in the <100> directions at rates of micrometer per second. In the process of the alternating-current pitting of aluminum, cathodic polarization plays an important role in the nucleation and growth of the pits during the subsequent polarization. The direct-current tunnel etching and alternating-current etching of aluminum are basically related to the formation of poorly crystallized or amorphous passive films. If the passive film forms on the wall, a natural misfit exists between the film and the aluminum substrate, which in turn gives rise to stress in both the film and the substrate. Even though the amorphous films do not have directed properties, their stresses are influenced by the substrate orientation. The films on elastically soft substrate are likely to be less stressed and more stable than those on elastically hard substrate. The hardest and softest planes of aluminum are the {111} and {100} planes, respectively. Therefore, the films on the {111} substrates are most likely to be attacked, and those on the {100} substrates are least likely to be attacked. For the tunnel etching, it follows that the tunnel walls tend to consist of the {100} planes. Meanwhile, the tunnel tip, where active corrosion takes place, tend to be made of four closely packed {111} planes in order to minimize the surface energy, which gives rise to the <100> tunnel etching.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1465-1468
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• 2010

The wet etching is a process using chemical solution and occurring chemical reaction on substrate surface. when we do wet etching process, we have to consider stoichiometry, etching time and temperature of etchant for good resolution. In this experiment, we used Cr, Al andIndium-tin-oxide (ITO) metal and we deposited them with DC sputtering machine. The Cr thin film metal thickness is about $1300{\AA}$, ITO films show a low electrical resistance and high transmittance in the visible range of an optical spectrum and Ai film is used for signal line. We measured and analysed wet etching properties on the metal thin films.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.61-64
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• 2007

V-groove device was fabricated for precision coupling of planar optical splitter and optical fibers. V-groove was made through select wet etching of Si wafer by using KOH solution. Etching rate and surface roughness were checked, changing KOH composition(10, 20, 30, 33, 40 wt.%) and etching temperature (50, 60, 70, $80^{\circ}C$) to fabricate V-groove device effectively. Etching rate was the fastest as $1.84\;{\mu}m/min$ in case of etching by 20 wt.% KOH on $80^{\circ}C$, surface roughness was the best in case of etching by 33 wt. % KOH on $80^{\circ}C$.