• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.109-113
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• 2003

We have developed a planar-type single layer second-order $high-T_{c}$ SQUID gradiometer, which can detect the $d^2$$B_{z/}$dxdy of the second-order field gradient. This SQUID gradiometer consists of four-way 'clover-leaf' pick-up loops and is coupled directly to a 4-junction dc SQUID in such a way that the coupling polarity of the two diagonal loops is opposite to that of the other two loops. The pickup loops are intrinsically balanced for both uniform field and the 1 st-order field gradient. The $YBa_2$$Cu_3$$O_{7}$ thin film was made by pulsed laser deposition method on $SrTiO_3$ single crystal substrate and patterned by photolithography with Ar ion milling technique. Response of this gradiometer was tested for both uniform field and the 2nd-order field gradient. Details of the design, fabrication, and results will be discussed.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.252-259
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• 1990

This paper present new scheme for a Side Wall Masked Isolation(SWAMI) technology which take all the advatages provided by conventional LOCOS process. A new SWAMI process incorporates a sloped sidewall by reactive ion etch and a layer of thin nitride around the side walls such that both intrinsic nitride stress and volume expansion induced stress are greatly reduced. As a fabricate results, a defect-free fully recessed zero bird's beak local oxidation process can be realized by the sloped wall anisotropic oxide isolation. No additional masking step is required. The leakage current of PN diodes of this process were reduced than PN diode of conventional LOCOS process. On the other hand, the edge junction part was larger than the flat juction part in the density of leakage current.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.1-7
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• 2002

Deep sub-micron bulk CMOS circuits require gate electrode materials such as metal silicide and titanium silicide for gate oxides. Many authors have conducted research to improve the quality of the sub-micron gate oxide. However, few have reported on the electrical quality and reliability of an ultra-thin gate. In this paper, we will recommend a novel shallow trench isolation structure and a two-step TiS $i_2$ formation process to improve the corner metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) for sub-0.1${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ VLSI devices. Differently from using normal LOCOS technology, deep sub-micron CMOS devices using the novel shallow trench isolation (STI) technology have unique "inverse narrow-channel effects" when the channel width of the device is scaled down. The titanium silicide process has problems because fluorine contamination caused by the gate sidewall etching inhibits the silicide reaction and accelerates agglomeration. To resolve these Problems, we developed a novel two-step deposited silicide process. The key point of this process is the deposition and subsequent removal of titanium before the titanium silicide process. It was found by using focused ion beam transmission electron microscopy that the STI structure improved the narrow channel effect and reduced the junction leakage current and threshold voltage at the edge of the channel. In terms of transistor characteristics, we also obtained a low gate voltage variation and a low trap density, saturation current, some more to be large transconductance at the channel for sub-0.1${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ VLSI devices.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2005

We have studied feasibility of single-layer second-order $high-T_c$ SQUID gradiometers in magnetocardiography. We have measured human cardiomagnetic signals using a short-baseline (5.8 mm) single-layer second-order YBCO gradiometer in partially shielded environments. The gradiometer has an overall size of $17.6\;mm{\times}6\;mm$ and contains three parallel-connected pickup coils which are directly coupled to a step-edge junction SQUID. The gradiometer showed an unshielded gradient noise of $0.84\;pT/cm^2/Hz^{1/2}$ at 1 Hz, which corresponds to an equivalent field noise of $280\;fT/Hz^{1/2}$. The balancing factor was $10^3$. Based on the same design rules as the short-baseline devices, we have studied fabrication of 30 mm-long baseline gradiometers. The devices had an overall size of $70.2\;mm{\times}10.6\;mm$ with each pickup coil of $10\;mm{\times}10\;mm$ in outer size. As Josephson elements we made two types of submicron bridges, which are variable thickness bridge (VTB) and constant thickness bridge (CTB), from $3\;{\mu}m-wide$ and 300 nm-thick YBCO lines with a thin layer of Au on top by using a focused ion beam (FIB) patterning method. VTB was 300 nm wide, 200 nm thick, 30 nm long with Au removed and CTB 100 nm wide and 30 nm long. In temperature-dependent critical currents, $I_c(T)$, VTB showed an nonmetallic barrier-type behavior and CTB an SNS behavior. We believe that those characteristics are ascribed to naturally formed grain boundaries crossing the bridges.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.50-54
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• 2003

We have fabricated $∂^2$$B_{z}$ /$∂x^2$ type planar gradiometers and studied their properties in operation under various field conditions. $YBa_2$$Cu_3$$O_{7}$ film was deposited on $SrTiO_3$ (100) substrate by a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) system and patterned into a device by the photolithography with ion milling technique. The device consists of 3 pickup loops designed symmetrically Inner dimension and the width of the square side loops are 3.6 mm and 1.2 mm, respectively, and the corresponding dimensions of the center loop are 2.0 mm and 1.13 mm. The length of baseline gradiometer is 5.8 mm. Step-edge junction width is 3.0 $\mu\textrm{m}$ and the hole size of the SQUID loop is 3 $\mu\textrm{m}$ ${\times}$ 52 $\mu\textrm{m}$. The SQUID inductance is estimated to be 35 pH. The device was formed on a 20 mm ${\times}$ 10 mm substrate. We have tested the behavior of the device in various field conditions. The unshielded gradiometer was stable under extremely hostile conditions on a laboratory bench. Noise level 0.45 pT/$\textrm{cm}^2$/(equation omitted)Hz and 0.84 pT/$\textrm{cm}^2$/(equation omitted)Hz at 1 Hz for the shielded and the unshielded cases, which correspond to equivalent field noises of 150 fT/(equation omitted)Hz and 280 fT/(equation omitted)Hz, respectively. In spite of the short baseline of 5.8 mm, the high common-mode-rejection-ratio of the gradiometer, $10^3$, allowed us to successfully record magnetocardiogram of a human subject, which demonstrates the feasibility of the design in biomagnetic studies.