• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.333-333
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• 2011

We have investigated the breakdown properties in liquids by high voltage pulse system. High voltage pulse power system is consisted of the Marx-generator with two capacitors (0.5 ${\mu}F$, withstanding voltage is 40 kV), to which the charging voltage can be applied to maximum 30 kV DC, spark gap switch and charging resistor of 20 $M{\Omega}$. We have made use of tungsten pin electrodes of anode-cathode (A-K), which are immersed into the liquids. The breakdown voltage and current signals are measured by high voltage probe (Tektronix P6015A) and current monitor (IPC CM-1.S). Especially the high speed breakdown or plasma propagation characteristics in the pulsed A-K gap have been investigated by using the high speed ICCD camera. We have measured the electron temperature through the Boltzmann plot method from the breakdown spectrums. Here the A-K gap has been changed by 1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm. The used liquids are distilled water and solution of salt (0.9 %). The output voltage and current signals at breakdown in distilled water are shown to be bigger than those in saline solution. The breakdown voltage and current characteristics in liquids will be discussed in accordance with A-K gap distances. It is also found that the electron temperatures and plasma densities in liquids are decreased in conformity with A-K gap.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.270-276
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• 2008

$N_2$ doped $TiO_2$ nano-sized powder was prepared using a DC arc plasma jet and investigated with XRD, BET, SEM, TEM, and photo-catalytic decomposition. Recently the research interest about the nano-sized $TiO_2$ powder has been increased to improve its photo-catalytic activity for the removal of environmental pollutants. Nitrogen gas, reacting gas, and titanium tetrachloride ($TiCl_4$) were used as the raw materials and injected into the plasma reactor to synthesize the $N_2$ doped $TiO_2$ power. The particle size and XRD peaks of the synthesized powder were analyzed as a function of the flow rate of the nitrogen gas. Also, the characteristics of the photo-catalytic decomposition using the prepared powder were studied. For comparing the photo-catalytic decomposition performance of $TiO_2$ powder with that of $TiO_2$ coating, $TiO_2$ thin films were prepared by the spin coating and the pulsed laser deposition. For the results of the acetaldehyde decomposition, the photo-catalytic activity of $TiO_{2-x}N_x$ powder was higher than that of the pure $TiO_2$ powder in the visible light region. For the methylene blue decomposition, the decomposition efficiency of $TiO_2$ powder was also higher than that of $TiO_2$ film.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.8 no.3B
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• pp.346-352
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• 1999

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) lims were deposited by using end hall type ion gun. Benzene gas was used for the generation of carbon ions. In order to systematically control the ion energy, we applied to the substrate DC, pulsed DC or 250 kHz medium frequency bias voltage, DLC films of superior mechanical properties of hardness 39$\pm$4 GPa and elastic mudulus 290$\pm$50GPa (2 to 6 times better than those of the films deposited by plasma assisted CVD method) could be obtained. Deposition rate was much higher than when using Kaufman type ion source, which results from higher ion beam current of end hall type ion gun. The mechanical properties and atomic bond structure were independent of the bias voltage type ion gun. The mechanical properties and atomic bond structure were independent of the bias voltage type but intimately related with the magnitude of the bias voltage. With increasing the negative bias voltage, the structure of the films changed to graphitic one resulting in decreased content of three dimensional inter-links. Degradation of the mechanical properties with increasing bias voltage could be thus understood in terms of the content odf three dimensional inter-links.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.193-193
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• 2010

HIPIMS(High sputtering impulse magnetron sputtering)은 수십 ${\mu}s$의 짧은 pulse 동안 수kw의 매우 높은 파워를 인가할 수 있어 밀도 $10^{13}/cm^3$ 이상의 고밀도 플라즈마 방전이 가능하여 스퍼터된 타겟 이온들의 이온화율이 매우 높은 특징을 가진다. HIPIMS를 통해 증착한 박막의 경우 매우 치밀한 조직을 가지고 있어 기존 DC, Pulsed DC, RF 증착을 통한 박막에 비해 우수한 물성을 보여준다. 본 실험에서는 대면적의 고품위 Al:ZnO 박막을 증착하기위하여 HIPIMS 증착법을 사용하였다. 1000mm폭 타겟상에서 균일한 증착을 위하여 Balanced B-field, Unbalanced field를 각각 인가하여 실험하였다. 시뮬레이션을 통하여 타겟 중심부와 가장자리의 자기장을 결정하였으며, target edge에서의 증착율과 cathode erosion 방지를 위하여 원형 트랙형으로 보조 자석을 설치하였다. $Al_2O_3$(2wt%)가 첨가된 planar target을 사용하였고, power는 700 W~2 kW, 그리고 pulse 폭은 $50-150 {\mu}s$정도로 변화시켜 가면서 상온에서 증착하였다. 플라즈마 가스로는 Ar만을 사용하여 두께는 60-100 nm정도로 증착하였다. Plasma emission monitoring을 통해 측정한 결과 Balanced B-field 에 비해 Unbalanced B-field 조건 에서 스퍼터된 이온들의 균일도가 우수하였으며 증착된 박막의 균일도 또한 증가하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.14-14
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• 2001

Nitride films such as TiN, CrN etc. deposited on glass by PVD processes have been developed for many industrial applications. These nitride films deposited on glass were widely used for not only decorative and optical coatings but also wear and corrosion resistance coatings employed as dies and molds made of glass for the example of lens forming molds. However, the major problem of nitride coatings on glass by PVD process is non-uniform film owing to pin-hole and micro crack. It is estimated that nonuniform coating is influenced by a different surface energy between metal nitrides and glass due to binding states. In this work, therefore, for the evaluation of nucleation and growth mechanism of nitride films on glass TiN and CrN film were synthesized on glass with various nitrogen partial pressure by unbalanced magnetron sputtering. Prior to deposition, for the examination of relationship between surface energy and film microstructure plasma pre-treatment process was carried out with various argon to hydrogen flow rate and substrate bias voltage, duty cycle and frequency by using pulsed DC power supply. Surface energy owing to the different plasma pre-treatment was calculated by the measurement of wetting angle and surface conditions of glass were investigated by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy(XPS) and Atomic Force Microscope(AFM). The microstructure change of nitride films on glass with increase of film thickness were analyzed by X-Ray Diffraction(XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM).

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.164-175
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• 2009

CFD is used to analyze gas flow characteristics, power absorption, electron temperature, electron density and chemical species profile of an internal antenna type inductively coupled plasma system. An optimized grid generation technology is used for a complex real-scale models for industry. A bare metal antenna shows concentrated power absorption around rf a feeding line. Skin depth of power absorption for a system is modeled to 50 mm, which is reported 53 mm by experiments. For an application of bipolar plates for hydrogen fuel cells, multi-sheet loading ICP nitriding system is proposed using an internal ICP antenna. It shows higher atomic nitrogen density than reported simple pulsed dc nitriding systems. Minimum gap between sheets for uniform nitriding is modeled to be 39 mm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.211-211
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• 1999

Titanium nitride (TiN) thin films have useful properties including high hardness, good electrical conductivity, high melting point, and chemical inertness. The applications have included wear-resistant hard coatings on machine tools and bearings, decorative coating making use of the golden color, thermal control coatings for widows, and erosion resistant coatings for spacecraft plasma probes. For all these applications as feature sizes shrink and aspect ratios grow, the issue of good step coverage becomes increasingly important. It is therefore essential to manufacture conformal coatings of TiN. The growth of TiN thin films by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is of great interest for achieving conformal deposition. The most widely used precursor for TiN is TiCl4 and NH3. However, chlorine impurity in the as-grown films and relatively high deposition temperature (>$600^{\circ}C$) are considered major drawbacks from actual device fabrication. To overcome these problems, recently, MOCVD processes including plasma assisted have been suggested. In this study, therefore, we have doposited Ti(C, N) thin films on Si(100) and D2 steel substrates in the temperature range of 150-30$0^{\circ}C$ using tetrakis diethylamido titanium (TDEAT) and titanium isopropoxide (TIP) by pulsed DC plamsa enhanced metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (PEMOCVD) method. Polycrystalline Ti(C, N) thin films were successfully grown on either D2 steel or Si(100) surfaces at temperature as low as 15$0^{\circ}C$. Compositions of the as-grown films were determined with XPS and RBS. From XPS analysis, thin films of Ti(C, N) with low oxygen concentration were obtained. RBS data were also confirmed the changes of stoichiometry and microhardness of our films. Radical formation and ionization behaviors in plasma are analyzed by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) at various pulsed bias and gases conditions. H2 and He+H2 gases are used as carrier gases to compare plasma parameter and the effect of N2 and NH3 gases as reactive gas is also evaluated in reduction of C content of the films. In this study, we fond that He and H2 mixture gas is very effective in enhancing ionization of radicals, especially N resulting is high hardness. The higher hardness of film is obtained to be ca. 1700 HK 0.01 but it depends on gas species and bias voltage. The proper process is evident for H and N2 gas atmosphere and bias voltage of 600V. However, NH3 gas highly reduces formation of CN radical, thereby decreasing C content of Ti(C, N) thin films in a great deal. Compared to PVD TiN films, the Ti(C, N) film grown by PEMOCVD has very good conformability; the step coverage exceeds 85% with an aspect ratio of more than 3.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.96-97
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• 2012

In nitride and oxide film deposition, sputtered metals react with nitrogen or oxygen gas in a vacuum chamber to form metal nitride or oxide films on a substrate. The physical properties of sputtered films (metals, oxides, and nitrides) are strongly influenced by magnetron plasma density during the deposition process. Typical target power densities on the magnetron during the deposition process are ~ (5-30) W/cm2, which gives a relatively low plasma density. The main challenge in reactive sputtering is the ability to generate a stable, arc free discharge at high plasma densities. Arcs occur due to formation of an insulating layer on the target surface caused by the re-deposition effect. One current method of generating an arc free discharge is to use the commercially available Pinnacle Plus+ Pulsed DC plasma generator manufactured by Advanced Energy Inc. This plasma generator uses a positive voltage pulse between negative pulses to attract electrons and discharge the target surface, thus preventing arc formation. However, this method can only generate low density plasma and therefore cannot allow full control of film properties. Also, after long runs ~ (1-3) hours, depends on duty cycle the stability of the reactive process is reduced due to increased probability of arc formation. Between 1995 and 1999, a new way of magnetron sputtering called HIPIMS (highly ionized pulse impulse magnetron sputtering) was developed. The main idea of this approach is to apply short ${\sim}(50-100){\mu}s$ high power pulses with a target power densities during the pulse between ~ (1-3) kW/cm2. These high power pulses generate high-density magnetron plasma that can significantly improve and control film properties. From the beginning, HIPIMS method has been applied to reactive sputtering processes for deposition of conductive and nonconductive films. However, commercially available HIPIMS plasma generators have not been able to create a stable, arc-free discharge in most reactive magnetron sputtering processes. HIPIMS plasma generators have been successfully used in reactive sputtering of nitrides for hard coating applications and for Al2O3 films. But until now there has been no HIPIMS data presented on reactive sputtering in cluster tools for semiconductors and MEMs applications. In this presentation, a new method of generating an arc free discharge for reactive HIPIMS using the new Cyprium plasma generator from Zpulser LLC will be introduced. Data (or evidence) will be presented showing that arc formation in reactive HIPIMS can be controlled without applying a positive voltage pulse between high power pulses. Arc-free reactive HIPIMS processes for sputtering AlN, TiO2, TiN and Si3N4 on the Applied Materials ENDURA 200 mm cluster tool will be presented. A direct comparison of the properties of films sputtered with the Advanced Energy Pinnacle Plus + plasma generator and the Zpulser Cyprium plasma generator will be presented.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.752-758
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• 2004

This paper reports on the DC and RF characteristics of AlGaN/InGaN/GaN high electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown by molecular beau epitaxy(MBE) on sapphire substrates. The devices with a 0.5 ${\mu}$m gate-length exhibited relatively flat transconductance(g$\_$m/), which results from the enhanced carrier confinement of the InGaN channel. The maximum drain current was 880 mA/mm with a peak g$\_$m/ of 156 mS/mm, an f$\_$T/ of 17.3 GHz, and an f$\_$MAX/ or 28.7 GHz. In addition to promising DC and RF results, pulsed I-V and current-switching measurements showed little dispersion in the unpassivated AlGaN/InGaN HEMTs. These results suggest that the addition of In to the GaN channel improves the electron transport characteristics as well as suppressing current collapse that is related to the surface trap states.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.441-447
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• 2001

A study on the TiN coating layer in small holes on the Purpose of die-casting dies application has been performed with a PACVD process. For the hole having diameter of 4 mm. the uniform TiN coating layer in the hole to the depth of 20 mm was achieved using DC pulsed power source. To understand the forming mechanism of TiN coating layer, plasma diagnosis on Ti, $N_{2}^{+}$ and A $r^{+}$ emissions was carried out during plasma coaling process by optical emirssion spectroscopy. When the duty ratio was equal or over 50%, the Peaks of Ti,$ N_{2}^{+}$ and A $r^{+}$ emission were obviously observed. While duty ratio was equal or under 28.6%, no peaks for Ti, $N_{2}^{+}$ and A $r^$ were observed and the formation of TiN coating layer was rarely observed. For the coating in 4 mm hole diameter, the coating layer with bipolar process was two times deeper than that with unipolar process.