• ETRI Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.383-393
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• 2008

The etching mechanism of $ZrO_2$ thin films and etch selectivity over some materials in both $BCl_3$/Ar and $BCl_3/CHF_3$/Ar plasmas are investigated using a combination of experimental and modeling methods. To obtain the data on plasma composition and fluxes of active species, global (0-dimensional) plasma models are developed with Langmuir probe diagnostics data. In $BCl_3$/Ar plasma, changes in gas mixing ratio result in non-linear changes of both densities and fluxes for Cl, $BCl_2$, and ${BCl_2}^+$. In this work, it is shown that the non-monotonic behavior of the $ZrO_2$ etch rate as a function of the $BCl_3$/Ar mixing ratio could be related to the ion-assisted etch mechanism and the ion-flux-limited etch regime. The addition of up to 33% $CHF_3$ to the $BCl_3$-rich $BCl_3$Ar plasma does not influence the $ZrO_2$ etch rate, but it non-monotonically changes the etch rates of both Si and $SiO_2$. The last effect can probably be associated with the corresponding behavior of the F atom density.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.853-856
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• 2005

Inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack, which is one of the key elements in magnetic random access memory, was studied. The MTJ stacks were patterned in nanometer size by electron(e)-beam lithography, and TiN thin films were employed as a hard mask. The etch process of TiN hard mask was examined using Ar, $Cl_2/Ar$, and $SF_6/Ar$. The TiN hard mask patterned by e-beam lithography was first etched and then the etching of MTJ stack was performed. The MTJ stacks were etched using Ar, $Cl_2/Ar$, and $BCl_3/Ar$ gases by varying gas concentration and pressure.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.07c
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• pp.1382-1383
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• 2006

ZnO 박막은 wide band gap(Eg=3.37eV)의 derect band gap을 갖고 있기 때문에 여러 소자로의 응용가능성에 큰 기대를 하고 있는 물질이다. 본 논문에서는 소자 제조과정에서 요구되는 ZnO 박막의 식각변수에 따른 식각율과 식각특성에 관하여 연구하였으며 Inductively coupled plasma(ICP)를 사용하여 $BCl_3$/Ar 가스를 혼합하여 식각을 하였다. $BCl_3$/Ar=8/2 플라즈마에서 화학적 식각의 도움을 받아 ZnO 박막의 식각률은 1724 ${\AA}/min$ 로 최고를 보였으며 이때의 공정 조건은 800 W 의 RF power, 400 W 의 bias power, 1 Pa 의 공정 압력이었다. 식각시에 플라즈마 내부의 이온 거동상태를 측정하기위해 quadrupolemass spectrometer(QMS)를 사용하여 분석하였고 식각후 ZnO 박막의 식각률은 surface profiler(KLA fencer, ${\alpha}$-step 500)을 이용하여 측정하고 ZnO 박막과 B, Cl 라디칼과의 표면 반응 상태를 고찰하기 위하여 식각된 ZnO 박막의 표면을 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)로 분석하였다. XPS를 통하여 ZnO 박막과 Cl 라디칼과 반응을 하여 식각된다는 것과 낮은 휘발성으로 인하여 Ar 이온에 의한 스퍼터링 효과의 도움에 의해서 식각이 진행됨을 확인하였다.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.62-62
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• 2003

고밀도 유도결합 플라즈마(high density inductively coupled plasma) 식각은 GaAs 이종접합 양극성 트랜지스터(HBTs)와 고속전자 이동도 트랜지스터(HEMTs)와 같은 GaAs 기반 반도체의 정교한 패턴을 형성하는데 더욱 많이 이용되고 있다 본 연구는 고밀도 플라즈마 소스(source)인 평판형(planar) 고밀도 유도결합 플라즈마 식각장치를 이용하여 $BCl_3$ 와 $BCl_3/Ar$ 가스에 따른 GaAs 식각결과를 비교 분석하였다. 공정변수는 ICP 소스 파워를 0-500W, RIE 척(chuck) 파워를 0-150W, 공정압력을 0-15 mTorr 이었다. 그리고 가스 유량은 20sccm(standard cubic centimeter per minute)으로 고정시킨 상태에서 Ar 첨가 비율에 따른 GaAs의 식각결과를 관찰하였다. 공정 결과는 식각률(etch rate), GaAs 대 PR의 선택도(selectivity), 표면 거칠기(roughness)와 식각후 표면에 남아 있는 잔류 가스등을 분석하였다. 20 $BCl_3$ 플라즈마를 이용한 GaAs 식각률 보다 Ar이 첨가된 (20-x) $BC1_3/x Ar$ 플라즈마의 식각률이 더 우수하다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 식각률 증가는 Ar 가스의 첨가로 인한 GaAs 반도체와 Ar 플라즈마의 충돌로 나타난 결과로 예측된다. $BCl_3$ 와 $BC1_3/Ar$ 플라즈마에 노출된 GaAs 반도체 모두 표면이 평탄하였고 수직 측벽도 또한 우수하였다. 그리고 표면에 잔류하는 성분은 Ga와 As 이외에 $Cl_2$ 계열의 불순물이 거의 발견되지 않아 매우 깨끗함을 확인하였다. 이번 발표에서는 $BCl_3$ 와 $BCl_3/Ar$ 플라즈마를 이용한 GaAs의 건식식각 비교에 대해 상세하게 보고 할 것이다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.135-136
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• 2009

The etching characteristics of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) and etch selectivity of ZnO to $SiO_2$ in $BCl_3/Ar/Cl_2$ plasma were investigated. It was found that ZnO etch rate shows a non-monotonic behavior with increasing both Ar fraction in $BCl_3$ plasma, RF power, and gas pressure. The maximum ZnO etch rate of 53 nm/min was obtained for $BCl_3$(16 sccm)/Ar(4 sccm)/$Cl_2$(3 sccm) gas mixture. The chemical state of etched surfaces was investigated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). From these data, the suggestions on the ZnO etch mechanism were made.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.322-325
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• 2003

BST thin films were etched with inductively coupled plasmas. A chemically assisted physical etch of BST was experimentally confirmed by ICP under various gas mixtures. After a 20 % addition of $BCl_3$ to the $Cl_2/Ar$ mixture, resulting in an increased the chemical effect. As a increases of RF power, substrate power, and substrate temperature, and decrease of working pressure, the ion energy flux and chlorine atoms density increased. The maximum etch rate of the BST thin films was 90.1 nm/min at the RF power, substrate power, working pressure, and substrate temperature were 700 W, 300 W, 1.6 Pa, and 20 $^{\circ}C$, respectively. It was proposed that sputter etching is dominant etching mechanism while the contribution of chemical reaction is relatively low due to low volatility of etching product.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.74-77
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• 2002

The channel of the superconducting Flux Flow Transistor has been fabricated with plasma etching method using ICP. The ICP conditions were 700 W of ICP power, 150 W of rf chuck power, 5 mTorr of the pressure in chamber and 1:1 of Ar : Cl$_2$, respectively. The channel etched by plasma gas showed superconducting characteristics of over 77 K and superior surface morphology. The critical current of SFFT was altered by varying the external applied current. As the external applied current increased from 0 to 12 mA, the critical current decreased from 28 to 22 mA. Then the obtained r$\sub$m/ values were smaller than 0.1Ω at a bias current of 40 mA. The current gain was about 0.5. Output resistance was below 0.2 Ω.

• 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 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.382-382
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• 2010

The etch characteristics of the $HfAlO_3$ thin films and selectivity of $HfAlO_3$ to $SiO_2$ in $Cl_2/BCl_3$/Ar plasma were investigated in this work. The maximum etch rate was 108.7 nm/min and selectivity of $HfAlO_3$ to $SiO_2$ was 1.11 at $Cl_2$(3sccm)/$BCl_3$(4sccm)/Ar(16sccm), RF power of 500 W, DC-bias voltage of - 100 V, process pressure of 1 Pa and substrate temperature of $40^{\circ}C$. As increasing RF power and DC-bias voltage, etch rates of the $HfAlO_3$ thin films increased. Whereas as decreasing of the process pressure, those of the $HfAlO_3$ thin films were increased. The chemical reaction on the surface of the etched the $HfAlO_3$ thin films was investigated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.83-87
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• 2008

This study described the effects of RF power, DC bias voltage, chamber pressure and gas mixing ratio on the etch rates of TiN thin film and selectivity of TiN thin film to $SiO_2$ with $BCl_3$/Ar gas mixture. When the gas mixing ratio was $BCl_3$(20%)/Ar(80%) with other conditions were fixed, the maximum etch rate of TiN thin film was 170.6 nm/min. When the DC bias voltage increased from -50 V to -200 V, the etch rate of TiN thin film increased from 15 nm/min to 452 nm/min. As the RF power increased and chamber pressure decreased, the etch rate of TiN thin film showed an increasing tendency. When the gas mixing ratio was $BCl_3$(20%)/Ar(80%) under others conditions were fixed, the intensity of optical emission spectra from radical or ion such as Ar(750.4 nm), $Cl^+$(481.9 nm) and $Cl^{2+}$(460.8 nm) was highest. The TiN thin film was effectively removed by the chemically assisted physical etching in $BCl_3$/Ar ICP plasma.