• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.188.2-188.2
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• 2015

The presence of the conduction interface in epitaxial $LaAlO_3/SrTiO_3$ thin films has opened up challenging applications which can be expanded to next-generation nano-electronics. The metallic conduction path is associated with two adjacent insulating materials. Such device structure is applicable to frequency-dependent impedance spectroscopy. Impedance spectroscopy allows for simultaneous measurement of resistivity and dielectric constants, systematic identification of the underlying electrical origins, and the estimation of the electrical homogeneity in the corresponding electrical origins. Such unique capability is combined with the intentional control on the interface composition composed of $SrTiO_3$ and $CaTiO_3$, which can be denoted by $SrxCa1-_xTiO_3$. The underlying $Sr_xCa1-_xTiO_3$ interface was deposited using pulsed-laser deposition, followed by the epitaxial $LaAlO_3$ thin films. The platinum electrodes were constructed using metal shadow masks, in order to accommodate 2-point electrode configuration. Impedance spectroscopy was performed as the function of the relative ratio of Sr to Ca. The respective impedance spectra were analyzed in terms of the equivalent circuit models. Furthermore, the impedance spectra were monitored as a function of temperature. The ac-based characterization in the 2-dimensional conduction path supplements the dc-based electrical analysis. The artificial manipulation of the interface composition will be discussed towards the electrical application of 2-dimensional materials to the semiconductor devices in replacement for the current Si-based devices.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.508-517
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• 2004

We described a near-field scanning microwave microscope which uses a high-quality dielectric resonator with a tunable screw. The operating frequency is f=4.5 5GHz. The probe tip is mounted in a cylindrical resonant cavity coupled to a dielectric resonator We developed a hybrid tip combining a reduced length of the tapered part with a small apex. In order to understand the function of the probe, we fabricated three different tips using a conventional chemical etching technique and observed three different NSMM images for patterened Cr films on glass substrates. We measured the reflection coefficient of different metal thin film samples with the same thickness of 300m and compared with theoretical impedance respectly. By tuning the tunable screw coming through the top cover, we could improve sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio, and spatial resolution to better than $1{\mu}m$. To demonstrate the ability of local microwave characterization, the surface resistance of metallic thin films has been mapped.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.51-54
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• 2007

By substituting Cr in inverse-spinel $Fe_3O_4,\;Cr_xFe_{3-x}O_4$ thin film samples were prepared by sol-gel spin-coating method and their structural electronic, and magnetic properties were analyzed. X-ray diffraction indicates that the lattice constant decrease with increasing Cr composition (x). This result can be explained in terms of occupation of octahedral sites by $Cr^{3+}$ ions with smaller ionic radius than that of $Fe^{3+}$ Vibrating sample magnetometry measurements on the samples at room temperature revealed that saturation magnetization ($M_s$) decrease by Cr substitution, explainable by comparing spin magnetic moment among the related transition-metal ions. A decrease of magnetoresistence effect with x was observed, similar to that of $M_s$. The coercivity of the $Cr_xFe_{3-x}O_4$ films was found to increase with x, attributed to the increase of magnetic anisotropy by the existence of octahedral $Cr^{3+}(d^3)$.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.1663-1670
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• 2006

Single crystal Fe thin films were grown directly onto n-Si(111) substrates by pulsed electrodeposition. Cyclic Voltammogram(CV) indicated that the $Fe^{2+}/n-Si(111)$ interface shows a good diode behavior by forming a Schottky barrier. From Mott-Schottky (MS) relation, it is found that the flat-band potential of n-Si(111) substrate and equilibrium redox potential of $Fet^{2+}$ ions are -0.526V and -0.316V, respectively. The nucleation and growth kinetics at the initial reaction stages of Fe/n-Si(111) substraste was studied by current transients. Current transients measurements have indicated that the deposition process starts via instantaneous nucleation and 3D diffusion limited growth. After the more deposition, the deposition flux of Fe ions was saturated with increase of deposition time. from the as-deposited sample obtained using the potential pulse of 1.4V and 300Hz, it is found that Fe nuclei grows to three dimensional(3D) islands with the average size of about 100nm in early deposition stages. As the deposition time increases, the sizes of Fe nuclei increases progressively and by a coalescence of the nuclei, a continuous Fe films grow on the Si surface. In this case, the Fe films show a highly oriented columnar structure and x-ray diffraction patterns reveal that the phase ${\alpha}-Fe$ grows on the n-Si(111) substrates.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2001

The deposition characteristics of MOCVO Cu using the (hfac)Cu(I) (1,5-DMCOD)(1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionato Cu(I) 1,5-dimethyl-cyclooctadine) as a precursor have been investigated in terms of the effects of hydrogen and H(hfac) ligand addition with He carrier gas. MOCVD Cu using a Helium carrier gas showed a low deposition rate (20~$125{\AA}/min$) at the substrate temperature range of 180~$230^{\circ}C$. Moreover, the Cu film deposited at 19$0^{\circ}C$ was very thin (~$700{\AA}$) and showed the lowest resistivity value of $2.8{\mu}{\Omega}-cm$. The deposition rate of MOCVD Cu using $H_2$or H(hfac) addition was significantly enhanced especially at the low temperature region (180~$190^{\circ}C$). Furthermore, thinner Cu films (~$500{\AA}$) provided low resistivity (3.6~$2.86{\mu}{\Omega}-cm$). From surface reflectance measurement, very thin films deposited by using different gas system revealed good surface morphology comparable with sputtered Cu film ($300^{\circ}C$, vacuum-anneal). Hence, Cu film using (hfac)Cu(1,5-DMCOD) as a precursor is expected as a good seed layer in the electrochemical deposition process for Cu metallization.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.319-322
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• 2003

To match the charge induced by the insulators $CeO_2$ with the remanent polarization of ferro electric SBT thin films, areas of Pt/SBT/Pt (MFM) and those of $Pt/CeO_2/Si$ (MIS) capacitors were ind ependently designed. The area $S_M$ of MIS capacitors to the area $S_F$ of MFM capacitors were varied from 1 to 10, 15, and 20. Top electrode Pt and SBT layers were etched with for various area ratios of $S_M\;/\;S_F$. Bottom electrode Pt and $CeO_2$ layers were respectively deposited by do and rf sputtering in-situ process. SBT thin film were prepared by the metal orgnic decomposition (MOD) technique. $Pt(100nm)/SBT(350nm)/Pt(300nm)/CeO_2(40nm)/p-Si$ (MFMIS) gate structures have been fabricated with the various $S_M\;/\;S_F$ ratios using inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE). The leakage current density of MFMIS gate structures were improved to $6.32{\times}10^{-7}\;A/cm^2$ at the applied gate voltage of 10 V. It is shown that in the memory window increase with the area ratio $S_M\;/\;S_F$ of the MFMIS structures and a larger memory window of 3 V can be obtained for a voltage sweep of ${\pm}9\;V$ for MFMIS structures with an area ratio $S_M\;/\;S_F\;=\;6$ than that of 0.9 V of MFS at the same applied voltage. The maximum memory windows of MFMIS structures were 2.28 V, 3.35 V, and 3.7 V with the are a ratios 1, 2, and 6 at the applied gate voltage of 11 V, respectively. It is concluded that ferroelectric gate capacitors of MFMIS are good candidates for nondestructive readout-nonvolatile memories.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.434-435
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• 2012

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon dioxide thin films have many applications in semiconductor manufacturing such as inter-level dielectric and gate dielectric metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). Fundamental chemical reaction for the formation of SiO2 includes SiH4 and O2, but mixture of SiH4 and N2O is preferable because of lower hydrogen concentration in the deposited film [1]. It is also known that binding energy of N-N is higher than that of N-O, so the particle generation by molecular reaction can be reduced by reducing reactive nitrogen during the deposition process. However, nitrous oxide (N2O) gives rise to nitric oxide (NO) on reaction with oxygen atoms, which in turn reacts with ozone. NO became a greenhouse gas which is naturally occurred regulating of stratospheric ozone. In fact, it takes global warming effect about 300 times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). Industries regard that N2O is inevitable for their device fabrication; however, it is worthwhile to develop a marginable nitrous oxide free process for university lab classes considering educational and environmental purpose. In this paper, we developed environmental friendly and material cost efficient SiO2 deposition process by substituting N2O with O2 targeting university hands-on laboratory course. Experiment was performed by two level statistical design of experiment (DOE) with three process parameters including RF power, susceptor temperature, and oxygen gas flow. Responses of interests to optimize the process were deposition rate, film uniformity, surface roughness, and electrical dielectric property. We observed some power like particle formation on wafer in some experiment, and we postulate that the thermal and electrical energy to dissociate gas molecule was relatively lower than other runs. However, we were able to find a marginable process region with less than 3% uniformity requirement in our process optimization goal. Surface roughness measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) presented some evidence of the agglomeration of silane related particles, and the result was still satisfactory for the purpose of this research. This newly developed SiO2 deposition process is currently under verification with repeated experimental run on 4 inches wafer, and it will be adopted to Semiconductor Material and Process course offered in the Department of Electronic Engineering at Myongji University from spring semester in 2012.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.379-384
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• 2013

In order to produce size-controllable Ag nanoparticles and a nanomesh-patterned Si substrate, we introduce a rapid thermal annealing(RTA) method and a metal assisted chemical etching(MCE) process. Ag nanoparticles were self-organized from a thin Ag film on a Si substrate through the RTA process. The mean diameter of the nanoparticles was modulated by changing the thickness of the Ag film. Furthermore, we controlled the surface energy of the Si substrate by changing the Ar or $H_2$ ambient gas during the RTA process, and the modified surface energy was evaluated through water contact angle test. A smaller mean diameter of Ag nanoparticles was obtained under $H_2$ gas at RTA, compared to that under Ar, from the same thickness of Ag thin film. This result was observed by SEM and summarized by statistical analysis. The mechanism of this result was determined by the surface energy change caused by the chemical reaction between the Si substrate and $H_2$. The change of the surface energy affected on uniformity in the MCE process using Ag nanoparticles as catalyst. The nanoparticles formed under ambient Ar, having high surface energy, randomly moved in the lateral direction on the substrate even though the etching solution consisting of 10 % HF and 0.12 % $H_2O_2$ was cooled down to $-20^{\circ}C$ to minimize thermal energy, which could act as the driving force of movement. On the other hand, the nanoparticles thermally treated under ambient $H_2$ had low surface energy as the surface of the Si substrate reacted with $H_2$. That's why the Ag nanoparticles could keep their pattern and vertically etch the Si substrate during MCE.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.573-579
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• 2011

Highly textured Ag, Al and Al:Si back reflectors for flexible n-i-p silicon thin-film solar cells were prepared on 100-${\mu}m$-thick stainless steel substrates by DC magnetron sputtering and the influence of their surface textures on the light-scattering properties were investigated. The surface texture of the metal back reflectors was influenced by the increased grain size and by the bimodal distribution that arose due to the abnormal grain growth at elevated deposition temperatures. This can be explained by the structure zone model (SZM). With an increase in the deposition temperatures from room temperature to $500^{\circ}C$, the surface roughness of the Al:Si films increased from 11 nm to 95 nm, whereas that of the pure Ag films increased from 6 nm to 47 nm at the same deposition temperature. Although Al:Si back reflectors with larger surface feature dimensions than pure Ag can be fabricated at lower deposition temperatures due to the lower melting point and the Si impurity drag effect, they show poor total and diffuse reflectance, resulting from the low reflectivity and reflection loss on the textured surface. For a further improvement of the light-trapping efficiency in solar cells, a new type of back reflector consisting of Ag/Al:Si bilayer is suggested. The surface morphology and reflectance of this reflector are closely dependent on the Al:Si bottom layer and the Ag top layer. The relationship between the surface topography and the light-scattering properties of the bilayer back reflectors is also reported in this paper.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.50-60
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• 2008

The majority of the described experimental results deal with relatively pure aluminium. Variations were made in the pretreatment of the aluminum substrates and an investigation was performed on the resulting changes in oxide layer composition and chemistry. Subsequently, the bonding behavior of the surfaces was investigated by using model adhesion molecules. These molecules were chosen to represent the bonding functionality of an organic polymer. They were applied onto the pretreated surfaces as a monolayer and the bonding behavior was studied using infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. A direct and clear relation was found between the hydroxyl fraction on the oxide surfaces and the amount of molecules that subsequently bonded to the surface. Moreover, it was found that most bonds between the oxide surface and organic functional groups are not stable in the presence of water. The best performance was obtained using molecules, which are capable of chemisorption with the oxide surface. Finally, it was found that freshly prepared relatively pure aluminum substrates, which are left in air, rapidly lose their bonding capacity towards organic functional groups. This can be attributed to the adsorption of contamination and water to the oxide surface. In addition the adhesion of a typical epoxy-coated aluminum system was investigated during exposure to water at different temperatures. The coating was found to quite rapidly lose its adhesion upon exposure to water. This rapid loss of adhesion corresponds well with the data where it was demonstrated that the studied epoxy coating only bonds through physisorptive hydrogen bonding, these bonds not being stable in the presence of water. After the initial loss the adhesion of the coating was however found to recover again and even exceeded the adhesion prior to exposure. The improvement could be ascribed to the growth of a thin oxyhydroxide layer on the aluminum substrate, which forms a new, water-stable and stronger bond with the epoxy coating. Two routes for improvement of adhesion are finally decribed including an interphasial polymeric thin layer and a treatment in boiling water of the substrate before coating takes place. The adhesion properties were finely also studied as a function of the Mg content of the alloys. It was shown that an enrichment of Mg in the oxide could take place when Mg containing alloys are heat-treated. It is expected that for these alloys the (hydr)oxide fraction also depends on the pre-treatment and on the distribution of magnesium as compared to the aluminium hydroxides, with a direct impact on adhesive properties.