• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2004.08a
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• pp.226-226
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• 2004

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.335-340
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• 2013

In this study, the plasma etching of the TaN thin film with $CH_4/BCl_3/Ar$ gas chemistries was investigated. The etch rate of the TaN thin film and the etch selectivity of TaN to $SiO_2$ was studied as a function of the process parameters, including the amount of $CH_4$. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to investigate the chemical states of the surface of the TaN thin film.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.116-121
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• 2009

The 2-step low temperature plasma processes (the combined carburizing and post-nitriding) offer the increase of both surface hardness and thickness of hardened layer and corrosion resistance than the individually processed low temperature nitriding and low temperature carburizing techniques. The 2-step low temperature plasma processes were carried out for improving both the surface hardness and corrosion resistance of AISI 316L stainless steel. The influence of gas compositions on the surface properties during nitriding step were investigated. The expanded austenite (${\gamma}_N$) was formed on all of the treated surface. The thickness of ${\gamma}_N$ and concentration of N on the surface increased with increasing both nitrogen gas and Ar gas levels in the atmosphere. The thickness of ${\gamma}_N$ increased up to about $20{\mu}m$ and the thickness of entire hardened layer was determined to be about $40{\mu}m$. The surface hardness was independent of nitrogen and Ar gas contents and reached up to about 1200 $HV_{0.1}$ which is about 5 times higher than that of untreated sample (250 $HV_{0.1}$). The corrosion resistance in 2-step low temperature plasma processed austenitic stainless steels was also much enhanced than that in the untreated austenitic stainless steels due to a high concentration of N on the surface.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2002.06b
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• pp.229-232
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• 2002

In this paper, etching characteristics of Zr-silicate in Ar/ClrCH4 plasma is studied, and possible plasma damage is investigated by fabricating MIS capacitors. We'could increase the selectivity to near 2 while keeping the etch rate of Zr-silicate to about 70 nm/min. Leakage current and flat band voltage shift of PUZr-silicate/si capacitors are measured before and after plasma etching. Using capacitor patterns with the same area but different circumference lengths, we try to separate etching damage mechanisms and to optimize the process. The leakage current of 1.2$\times$10-3 A/cm2 and smaller capacitance variation of 0.2 nF at -2V are obtained in Ar/Cl2/CF4 plasma at 200 W RF power

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.210-210
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• 2011

The effects of CH2F2 and N2 gas flow rates on the etch selectivity of silicon nitride (Si3N4) layers to extreme ultra-violet (EUV) resist and the variation of the line edge roughness (LER) of the EUV resist and Si3N4 pattern were investigated during etching of a Si3N4/EUV resist structure in dual-frequency superimposed CH2F2/N2/Ar capacitive coupled plasmas (DFS-CCP). The flow rates of CH2F2 and N2 gases played a critical role in determining the process window for ultra-high etch selectivity of Si3N4/EUV resist due to disproportionate changes in the degree of polymerization on the Si3N4 and EUV resist surfaces. Increasing the CH2F2 flow rate resulted in a smaller steady state CHxFy thickness on the Si3N4 and, in turn, enhanced the Si3N4 etch rate due to enhanced SiF4 formation, while a CHxFy layer was deposited on the EUV resist surface protecting the resist under certain N2 flow conditions. The LER values of the etched resist tended to increase at higher CH2F2 flow rates compared to the lower CH2F2 flow rates that resulted from the increased degree of polymerization.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.60-65
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• 2013

Ar, $N_2$, and He are the conventional kind of shield gas that are used for laser welding. Many researches on the impact of laser welding shield gas have been done, and it is on going until now. However, there are few studies that analyze the changes and differences of the plasma emission signal. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the change in the penetration characteristics according to the type of shield gas during fiber laser welding impacts to the plasma signal. As a result, if was checked that the difference in molecular weight of Ar, $N_2$, and He affects to the amount of spatter, and also found that the measured plasma radiation signal changes similar to the order of the molecular weight of the gases. Especially, clear change on the signal intensity per each shield gas was measured through RMS, and found that the shield gas was nothing to do with the FFT analyzed result.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.189-193
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• 2008

In this study, we carried out an investigation of the etching characteristics (etch rate, selectivity to $SiO_2$ and $HfO_2$) of TiN thin films in the $CH_4$/Ar inductively coupled plasma. The maximum etch rate of $274\;{\AA}/min$ for TiN thin films was obtained at $CH_4$(80%)/Ar(20%) gas mixing ratio. At the same time, the etch rate was measured as function of the etching parameters such as RF power, Bias power, and process pressure. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed an efficient destruction of the oxide bonds by the ion bombardment as well as showed an accumulation of low volatile reaction products on the etched surface. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch mechanism for the $CH_4$ containing plasmas.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.287-291
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• 2012

We investigated the etching characteristics of TaN thin films in an $O_2/BCl_3/Cl_2/Ar$ gas using a high density plasma (HDP) system. A maximum etch rate of the TaN thin films and the selectivity of TaN to $SiO_2$ were obtained as 172.7 nm/min and 6.27 in the $O_2/BCl_3/Cl_2/Ar$ (3:2:18:10 sccm) gas mixture, respectively. At the same time, the etch rate was measured as a function of the etching parameters, such as the RF power, DC-bias voltage, and process pressure. The chemical states on the surface of the etched TaN thin films were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Auger electron spectroscopy was used for elemental analysis on the surface of the etched TaN thin films. These surface analyses confirm that the surface of the etched TaN thin film is formed with the nonvolatile by-product.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.253.1-253.1
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• 2014

Plasma technology has been widely used for decontamination, differentiation, and disease treatment. Recently, studies show that plasma has effects on increasing seed germination and plant growth. In spite of increasing number of studies about plasma effects, the interaction between plasma and plants has been rarely informed. In this study, we have analyzed the effects of nonthermal atmospheric pressure plasma on seed germination and growth of coriander (Coriandum sativum), a medicinal plant. We used to Ar, air, and N2 plasma on seed as feeding gases. Plasma was discharged at 0.62 kV, 200 mA, 9.2 W. Seed germination was increased over time when treated with N2 based DBD plasma for exposure times of 30 seconds and 1 minute, everyday. After 7 days, about 80~100% of seeds were germinated in the treatment with N2 based DBD plasma, compared to control (about 40%, only gas treated seeds). In order to elucidate the mechanism of increased germination, we have analyzed characteristics of changes in plant hormones and seed surface structure by SEM.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.76-76
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• 2006