• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.17-18
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• 2011

Plasma in liquid phase has attracted great attention in the last few years by the wide domain of applications in material processing, decomposition of organic and inorganic chemical compounds and sterilization of water. The plasma in liquid is characterized by three main regions which interact each - other during the plasma operation: the liquid phase, which supply the plasma gas phase with various chemical compounds and ions, the plasma in the gas phase at atmospheric pressure and the interface between these two regions. The most complex region, but extremely interesting from the fundamental, chemical and physical processes which occur here, is the boundary between the liquid phase and the plasma gas phase. In our laboratory, plasma in liquid which behaves as a glow discharge type, is generated by using a bipolar pulsed power supply, with variable pulse width, in the range of 0.5~10 ${\mu}s$ and 10 to 30 kHz repetition rate. Plasma in water and other different solutions was characterized by electrical and optical measurements. Strong emissions of OH and H radicals dominate the optical spectra. Generally water with 500 ${\mu}S/cm$ conductivity has a breakdown voltage around 2 kV, depending on the pulse width and the repetition rate of the power supply. The characteristics of the plasma initiated in ultrapure water between pairs of different materials used for electrodes (W and Ta) were investigated by the time-resolved optical emission and the broad-band absorption spectroscopy. The deexcitation processes of the reactive species formed in the water plasma depend on the electrode material, but have been independent on the polarity of the applied voltage pulses. Recently, Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy method was employed to investigate the chemistry in the liquid phase and at the interface between the gas and the liquid phases of the solution plasma system. The use of the solution plasma allows rapid fabrication of the metal nanoparticles without being necessary the addition of different reducing agents, because plasma in the liquid phase provides a reaction field with a highly excited energy radicals. We successfully synthesized gold nanoparticles using a glow discharge in aqueous solution. Nanoparticles with an average size of less than 10 nm were obtained using chlorauric acid solutions as the metal source. Carbon/Pt hybrid nanostructures have been obtained by treating carbon balls, synthesized in a CVD chamber, with hexachloro- platinum acid in a solution plasma system. The solution plasma was successfully used to remove the template remained after the mesoporous silica synthesis. Surface functionalization of the carbon structures and the silica surface with different chemical groups and nanoparticles, was also performed by processing these materials in the liquid plasma.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.310-311
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• 2011

Dual-frequency (DF) capacitively coupled plasmas (CCP) are used to separately control the mean ion energy and flux at the electrodes [1]. This separate control in capacitively coupled radio frequency discharges is one of the most important issues for various applications of plasma processing. For instance, in the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition processes such as used for solar cell manufacturing, this separate control is most relevant. It principally allows to increase the ion flux for high deposition rates, while the mean ion energy is kept constant at low values to prevent highly energetic ion bombardment of the substrate to avoid unwanted damage of the surface structure. DF CCP can be analyzed in a fashion similar to single-frequency (SF) driven with effective parameters [2]. It means that DF CCP can be converted into SF CCP with effective parameters such as effective frequency and effective current density. In this study, comparison of DF CCP and its converted effective SF CCP is carried out through particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo (PIC-MCC) simulations. The PIC-MCC simulation shows that DF CCP and its converted effective SF CCP have almost the same plasma characteristics. In DF CCP, the negative resistance arises from the competition of the effective current and the effective frequency [2]. As the high-frequency current increases, the square of the effective frequency increases more than the effective current does. As a result, the effective voltage decreases with the effective current and it leads to an increase of the ion flux and a decrease of the mean ion energy. Because of that, the negative resistance regime can be called the preferable regime for solar cell manufacturing. In this preferable regime, comparison of DF (13.56+100 or 200 MHz) CCP and SF (60 MHz) CCP with the same effective current density is carried out. At the lower effective current density (or at the lower plasma density), the mean ion energy of SF CCP is lower than that of DF CCP. At the higher effective current density (or at the higher plasma density), however, the mean ion energy is lower than that of SF CCP. In this case, using DF CCP is better than SF CCP for solar cell manufacturing processes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.451-458
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• 2008

After more than 10 years construction, KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) had finally completed its assembly in June 2007, and then achieved the goal of first-plasma in July 2008 through the four month's commissioning. KSTAR was constructed with fully superconducting magnets with material of $Nb_3Sn$ and NbTi, and their operation temperatures are maintained below 4.5K by the help of Helium Refrigerator System. During the first-plasma operation, plasmas of maximum current of 133kA and maximum pulse width of 865ms were obtained. The KSTAR Integrated Control System (KICS) has successfully fulfilled its missions of surveillance, device operation, machine protection interlock, and data acquisition and management. These and more were all KSTAR commissioning requirements. For reliable and safe operation of KSTAR, 17 local control systems were developed. Those systems must be integrated into the logically single control system, and operate regardless of their platforms and location installed. In order to meet these requirements, KICS was developed as a network-based distributed system and adopted a new framework, named as EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). Also, KICS has some features in KSTAR operation. It performs not only 24 hour continuous plant operation, but the shot-based real-time feedback control by exchanging the initiatives of operation between a central controller and a plasma control system in accordance with the operation sequence. For the diagnosis and analysis of plasma, 11 types of diagnostic system were implemented in KSTAR, and the acquired data from them were archived using MDSpius (Model Driven System), which is widely used in data management of fusion control systems. This paper will cover the design and implementation of the KSTAR integrated control system and the data management and visualization systems. Commissioning results will be introduced in brief.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2015

Plasma is an ionized gas mixture, consisting of neutral particles, positive ions, negative electrons, electronically excited atoms and molecules, radicals, UV photons, and various reactive species. Also, plasma has unique physical properties distinct from gases, liquids, and solids. Until now, non-thermal plasmas have been widely utilized in bio-medical applications (called bio-plasma) and have been developed for the plasma-related devices that are used in the medical field. Although numerous bio-plasma studies have been performed in biomedicine, there is no confirmation of the nonthermal effect induced by bio-plasma. Standardization of the biological application of plasma has not been evaluated at the molecular level in living cells. In this context, we investigated the biological effect of bio-plasma on living cells. Hence, we treated the fibroblasts with Dielectric Bauvier Discharge bio-plasma (DBD), and assessed the characteristic change at the molecular level, one of the typical cellular responses. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) regulates its own protein level in response to stimuli. HSP70 responds to heat shock by increasing its own expression at the molecular level in cells. Hence, we confirmed the level of HSP70 after treatment of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) with DBD. Interestingly, DBD-plasma induced cell death, but there was no difference in the level of HSP70, which is induced by heat shock stimuli, in DBD-treated MEFs. Our data provide the basic information on the interaction between MEFs and DBD, and can help to design a molecular approach in this field.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.46-47
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• 2005

이번 연구는 $BCl_3/CF_4$ 플라즈마를 사용하여 반도체소자 제조 시 널리 이용되는 GaAs 계열반도체 중 대표적인 재료인 GaAs/AlGaAs 및 GaAs/InGaP 구조를 선택적으로 건식 식각한 후 분석한 것이다. 공정변수로는 ICP 소스파워를 0-500W, RIE 파워를 0-50W 그리고 $BCl_3/CF_4$ 가스 혼합비를 중점적으로 변화시켰다. $BCl_3$ 플라즈마만을 사용한 경우 (20$BCl_3$, 20W RIE power, 300W ICP source power, 7.5mTorr) 는 GaAs:AlGaAs의 선택비가 0.5:1 이었으며 이때 GaAs의 식각률은 ~2200${\AA}/min$ 이었으며 AlGaAs의 식각률은 ~4500${\AA}/min$ 이었다. 식각 후 표면의 RMS roughness은 < 2nm로 깨끗한 결과를 보여주었다. 15% $CF_4$ 가스가 혼합된 $17BCl_3/3CF_4$, 20W RIE power, 300W ICP source power, 7.5mTorr의 조건에서 3분 동안 공정한 결과 순수한 $BCl_3$ 플라즈마만을 사용한 경우보다 표면은 다소 거칠었지만 (RMS roughness: ~8.4) GaAs의 식각률 (~980nm/min)과 AlGaAs와 InGaP에 대한 GaAs의 선택도 (GaAs:AlGaAs=16:1, GaAs:InGaP=38:1)는 크게 증가하였다. 그리고 AlGaAs 및 InGaP의 경우 식각 시 나타난 휘발성이 낮은 식각 부산물 ($AlF_3:1300^{\circ}C$, $InF_3:1200^{\circ}C$)로 인하여 50nm/min 이하의 낮은 식각률을 보였고, 62.5%의 $CF_4$가 혼합된 $7.5BCl_3/12.5CF_4$플라즈마의 조건에서는 AlGaAs 및 InGaP에 대한 GaAs의 선택도가 각각 280:1, 250:1을 나타내었다.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.288-295
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• 2009

We report the etch characteristics of GaAs and AlGaAs in the diffusion pump-based capacitively coupled $BCl_3$ plasma. Process variables were chamber pressure ($50{\sim}180$ mTorr), CCP power ($50{\sim}200\;W$) and $BCl_3$ gas flow rate ($2.5{\sim}10$ sccm). Surface profilometry was used for etch rate and surface roughness measurement after etching. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the etched sidewall and surface morphology. Optical emission spectroscopy was used in order to characterize the emission peaks of the $BCl_3$ plasma during etching. We have achieved $0.25{\mu}m$/min of GaAs etch rate with only 5 sccm $BCl_3$ flow rate when the chamber pressure was in the range of 50{\sim}130 mTorr. The etch rates of AlGaAs were a little lower than those of GaAs at the conditions. However, the etch rates of GaAs and AlGaAs decreased significantly when the chamber pressure increased to 180 mTorr. GaAs and AlGaAs were not etched with 50 W CCP power. With $100{\sim}200\;W$ CCP power, etch rates of the materials increased over $0.3{\mu}m$/min. It was found that the etch rates of GaAs and AlGaAs were not always proportional to the increase of CCP power. We also found the interesting result that AlGaAs did not etched at 2.5 sccm $BCl_3$ flow rate at 75 mTorr and 100 W CCP power even though it was etched fast like GaAs with more $BCl_3$ gas flow rates. By contrast, GaAs was etched at ${{\sim}}0.3{\mu}m$/min at the 2.5 sccm $BCl_3$ flow rate condition. A broad molecular peak was noticed in the range of $500{\sim}700\;mm$ wavelength during the $BCl_3$ plasma etching. SEM photos showed that 10 sccm $BCl_3$ plama produced more undercutting on GaAs sidewall than 5 sccm $BCl_3$ plasma.