• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2012년도 제42회 동계 정기 학술대회 초록집
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• pp.408-408
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• 2012

It is well known that magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is nonvolatile memory devices using ferromagnetic materials. MRAM has the merits such as fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance and nonvolatility. Although DRAM has many advantages containing high storage density, fast access time and low power consumption, it becomes volatile when the power is turned off. Owing to the attractive advantages of MRAM, MRAM is being spotlighted as an alternative device in the future. MRAM consists of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack and complementary metal- oxide semiconductor (CMOS). MTJ stacks are composed of various magnetic materials. FePt thin films are used as a pinned layer of MTJ stack. Up to date, an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICPRIE) method of MTJ stacks showed better results in terms of etch rate and etch profile than any other methods such as ion milling, chemical assisted ion etching (CAIE), reactive ion etching (RIE). In order to improve etch profiles without redepositon, a better etching process of MTJ stack needs to be developed by using different etch gases and etch parameters. In this research, influences of $O_2$ gas on the etching characteristics of FePt thin films were investigated. FePt thin films were etched using ICPRIE in $CH_4/O_2/Ar$ gas mix. The etch rate and the etch selectivity were investigated in various $O_2$ concentrations. The etch profiles were studied in varying etch parameters such as coil rf power, dc-bias voltage, and gas pressure. TiN was employed as a hard mask. For observation etch profiles, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used.

• 한국표면공학회지
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• 제45권5호
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• pp.206-211
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• 2012

Process analysis was carried out during deposition of MgO by inductively coupled plasma assisted reactive magnetron sputtering in Ar and $O_2$ ambient. At the initiation of Mg sputtering with bipolar pulsed dc power in Ar ambient, total pressure showed sharp increase and then slow fall. To analyse partial pressure change, QMS was used in downstream region, where the total pressure was maintained as low as $10^{-5}$ Torr during plasma processing, good for ion source and quadrupole operation. At base pressure, the major impurity was $H_2O$ and the second major impurity was $CO/N_2$ about 10%. During sputtering of Mg in Ar, $H_2$ soared up to 10.7% of Ar and remained as the major impurity during all the later process time. When $O_2$ was mixed with Ar, the partial pressure of Ar decreased in proportion to $O_2$ flow rate and that of $H_2$ dropped down to 2%. It was understood as Mg target surface was oxidized to stop $H_2$ emission by Ar ion sputtering. With ICP turned on, the major impurity $H_2$ was converted into $H_2O$ consuming $O_2$ and C was also oxidized to evolve CO and $CO_2$.

• 한국표면공학회지
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.816-823
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• 1996

Chlorine containing high density plasmas are widely used to etch various materials in the microelectronic device fabrication. In this study, the characteristics of inductively coupled $Cl_2(O_2/N_2$) plasmas and their effects on the formation of silicon etching have been investigated using a Langmuir probe, quadrupole mass spectrometry(QMS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), and Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM). The addition of oxygen for chlorine plasmas reduced ion current densities and chlorine radical densities compared to the nitrogen addition by the recombination of oxygen with chlorine. Also, when silicon is etched in $Cl_2/O_2$ plasmas, etch products recombined with oxygen such as $SiCl_xO_y$ emerged. However, when nitrogen is added to chlorine, etch products recombined with nitrogen or Si-N bondings on the etched silicon surface were not found. All the silicon etch characteristics were dependent on the plasma conditions such as ion density, radical density, etc. As a result sub micron vertical silicon trench etch profiles could be effectively formed using optimized etch conditions for $Cl_2/O_2\; and \;Cl_2/N_2$ gas combinations.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2013년도 제44회 동계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.387-387
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• 2013

Currently, the flash memory and the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) have been used in a variety of applications. However, the downsizing of devices and the increasing density of recording medias are now in progress. So there are many demands for development of new semiconductor memory for next generation. Magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is one of the prospective semiconductor memories with excellent features including non-volatility, fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance, low operating voltage, and high storage density. MRAM is composed of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS). The MTJ stack consists of various magnetic materials, metals, and a tunneling barrier layer. Recently, MgO thin films have attracted a great attention as the prominent candidates for a tunneling barrier layer in the MTJ stack instead of the conventional Al2O3 films, because it has low Gibbs energy, low dielectric constant and high tunneling magnetoresistance value. For the successful etching of high density MRAM, the etching characteristics of MgO thin films as a tunneling barrier layer should be developed. In this study, the etch characteristics of MgO thin films have been investigated in various gas mixes using an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICPRIE). The Cl2/Ar, CH3OH/Ar, and CH4/Ar gas mix were employed to find an optimized etching gas for MgO thin film etching. TiN thin films were employed as a hard mask to increase the etch selectivity. The etch rates were obtained using surface profilometer and etch profiles were observed by using the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM).

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2004년도 제27회 학술발표회 초록집
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• pp.226-226
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• 2004

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2015년도 제49회 하계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.62-62
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• 2015

In this study, we study the effects of CF4 plasma treatment on the characteristics of enhancement mode (E-mode) AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). The CF4 plasma is generated by inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) system. The CF4 gas is decomposed into fluorine ions by ICP-RIE and then fluorine ions will effect the AlGaN/GaN interface to inhibit the electron transport of two dimension electron gas (2DEG) and increase channel resistance. The CF4 plasma method neither like the recessed type which have to utilize Cl2/BCl3 to etch semiconductor layer nor ion implantation needed high power to implant ions into semiconductor. Both of techniques will cause semiconductor damage. In the experiment, the CF4 treatment time are 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 seconds. It was found that the devices treated 100 seconds showed best electric performance. In order to prove fluorine ions existing and CF4 plasma treatment not etch epitaxial layer, the secondary ion mass spectrometer confirmed fluorine ions truly existing in the sample which treatment time 100 seconds. Moreover, transmission electron microscopy showed that the sample treated time 100 seconds did not have etch phenomena. Atomic layer deposition is used to grow Al2O3 with thickness 10, 20, 30 and 40 nm. In electrical measurement, the device that deposited 20-nm-thickness Al2O3 showed excellent current ability, the forward saturation current of 210 mA/mm, transconductance (gm) of 44.1 mS/mm and threshold voltage of 2.28 V, ION/IOFF reach to 108. As IV concerning the breakdown voltage measurement, all kinds of samples can reach to 1450 V.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2011년도 제40회 동계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.168-168
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• 2011

정보화 사회가 도래함으로 개인별 정보 이용량이 급격히 증가하였고 스마트폰과 같은 모바일 기기의 개발로 정보 이용량이 최고치를 갱신 중이다. 이러한 흐름 속에 사람들은 빠른 처리 속도와 고도의 저장 능력을 요구하게 되고 이에 따라 새로운 Random Access Memory에 대한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 현재 Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)가 눈부신 발전과 성과를 이룩하고 있지만 전원 공급이 중단 될 경우 저장된 내용들이 지워진다는 단점을 가지고 있다. DRAM의 장점에 이러한 단점을 보완할 수 있는 차세대 반도체 소자로 주목 받고 있는 것이 Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM)이다. DRAM에서 Capacitor와 유사한 기능을 하는 MTJ stack은 tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) 현상을 나타내는 자기저항 박막을 이용하여 MRAM 소자에 집적된다. 본 연구에서는 MRAM의 자성 재료로 구성된 MTJ stack을 효과적으로 식각하고 우수한 식각 profile을 얻는 동시에 재증착의 문제를 해결하는데 목적을 둔다. 본 IrMn 자성 박막의 식각 연구는 유도결합 플라즈마 반응성 이온 식각 (Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching: ICPRIE)법을 이용하여 진행되었다. 특히 본 연구에서는 종래의 $Cl_2$, $BCl_3$ 그리고 HBr과 같은 부식성 가스가 아닌 부식성이 없는 $CH_4$가스를 선택하여 그 농도를 변화시키면서 식각하였고 더 나아가 $O_2$를 첨가하면서 그 효과를 극대화하려고 시도하였다. IrMn 자성 박막의 식각 속도, TiN 하드 마스크에 대한 식각 선택도 그리고 profile 등이 조사되었고 최종적으로 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)를 이용하여 식각 메카니즘을 이해하려고 하였다.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2011년도 제40회 동계학술대회 초록집
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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.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.67-70
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• 2013

In this study, we changed the input parameters (gas mixing ratio, RF power, DC bias voltage, and process pressure), and then monitored the effect on TiN etch rate and selectivity with $SiO_2$. When the RF power, DC-bias voltage, and process pressure were fixed at 700 W, - 150 V, and 15 mTorr, the etch rate of TiN increased with increasing $CF_4$ content from 0 to 20 % in $CF_4$/Ar plasma. The TiN etch rate reached maximum at 20% $CF_4$ addition. As RF power, DC bias voltage, and process pressure increased, all ranges of etch rates for TiN thin films showed increasing trends. The analysis of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was carried out to investigate the chemical reactions between the surfaces of TiN and etch species. Based on experimental data, ion-assisted chemical etching was proposed as the main etch mechanism for TiN thin films in $CF_4$/Ar plasma.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2014년도 제46회 동계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.236.1-236.1
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• 2014

Compounds of Ga, such as gallium oxide (Ga2O3) and gallium nitride (GaN), are of interest due to its unique properties in semiconductor application. In particular, GaN has the potentially application for optoelectronic device such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) [1]. Nanoparticle is an interesting material due to its unique properties compared to the bulk equivalents. In this report, we develop a synthesizing method for gallium nitride nanoparticle using non-thermal plasma. For gallium source, the gallium is heated by thermal conduction of tungsten boat which is heated by eddy current induced from RF current in antenna. Nitrogen source for nanoparticle synthesis are from inductively coupled plasma with N2 gas. The synthesized nano particles are analyzed using field-emission scanning microscope (FESEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The synthesized particles are investigated and discussed in wide range of experiment conditions such as flow rate, pressure and RF power.