• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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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).

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.6-11
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• 2018

As embedded memory technology evolves, the traditional Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) technology has reached the end of development. For deepening the manufacturing process technology, the next generation memory technology is highly required because of the exponentially increasing leakage current of SRAM. Non-volatile memories such as STT-MRAM (Spin Torque Transfer Magnetic Random Access Memory), PCM (Phase Change Memory) are good candidates for replacing SRAM technology in embedded memory systems. They have many advanced characteristics in the perspective of power consumption, leakage power, size (density) and latency. Nonetheless, nonvolatile memories have two major problems that hinder their use it the next-generation memory. First, the lifetime of the nonvolatile memory cell is limited by the number of write operations. Next, the write operation consumes more latency and power than the same size of the read operation.These disadvantages can be solved using the compiler. The disadvantage of non-volatile memory is in write operations. Therefore, when the compiler decides the layout of the data, it is solved by optimizing the write operation to allocate a lot of data to the SRAM. This study provides insights into how these compiler and architectural designs can be developed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnestics Society Conference
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• 2003.12a
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• pp.52-52
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• 2003

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnestics Society Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.137.1-137.1
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• 2007

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnestics Society Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.89.2-89.2
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• 2007

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnestics Society Conference
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.109-110
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• 2015

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnestics Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.24-25
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnestics Society Conference
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• 2016.05a
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• pp.107-108
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• 2016

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.380-385
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• 2013

We find a metastable vortex state of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy free layer in spin transfer torque magnetic tunneling junctions by using micromagnetic simulations. The metastable vortex state does not exist in a single layer, and it is only found in the trilayer structure with the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy polarizer layer. It is revealed that the physical origin is the non-uniform stray field from the polarizer layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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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.