• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.50-54
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• 2004

Nanoparticles of iron oxides have been prepared by the levitational gas condensation (LGC) method, and their structural and magnetic properties were studied by XRD, TEM and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Fe clusters were evaporated from a surface of the levitated liquid Fe droplet and then condensed into nanoparticles of iron oxide with particle size of 14 to 30 nm in a chamber filled with mixtures of Ar and $O_2$ gases. It was found that the phase transition from both $\gamma$-$Fe_2O_3$ and $\alpha$-Fe to $Fe_3O_4$, which was evaluated from the results of Mossbauer spectra, strongly depended on the $O_2$ flow rate. As a result, $\gamma$-$Fe_2O_3$ was synthesized under the $O_2$ flow rate of 0.1$\leq$$Vo_2$(Vmin)$\leq$0.15, whereas $Fe_3O_4$ was synthesized under the $O_2$, flow rate of 0.15$\leq$$Vo_2$(Vmin)$\leq$0.2.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.53-58
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• 2010

In this study, we have investigated the effect of the ambient gases on the characteristics of IZO thin films for the OLED (organic light emitting diodes) devices. For this purpose, IZO thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering under various ambient gases (Ar, $Ar+O_2$ and $Ar+H_2$) at $150^{\circ}C$. In order to investigate the influences of the oxygen and hydrogen, the flow rate of oxygen and hydrogen in argon mixing gas has been changed from 0.1sccm to 0.5sccm, respectively. All the samples show amorphous structure regardless of ambient gases. The electrical resistivity of IZO film increased with increasing flow rate of $O_2$ under $Ar+O_2$ while under $Ar+H_2$ atmosphere the electrical resistivity showed minimum value near 0.5sccm of $H_2$. All the films showed the average transmittance over 85% in the visible range. The OLED device was fabricated with different IZO substrates made by configuration of IZO/${\alpha}$-NPD/DPVB/$Alq_3$/LiF/Al to elucidate the performance of IZO substrate. OLED devices with the amorphous-IZO (a-IZO) anode film show better current densityvoltage-luminance characteristics than that of OLED devices with the commercial crystalline-ITO (c-ITO) anode film. It can be explained that very flat surface roughness and high work function of a-IZO anode film lead to more efficient hole injection by reduction of interface barrier height between anode and organic layers. This suggests that a-IZO film is a promising anode materials substituting conventional c-ITO anode in OLED devices.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.8 no.4A
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• pp.476-481
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• 1999

Characteristics of platinum dry etching were investigated in a cryogenic magnetized inductively coupled plasma (MICP). The problem with platinum etching is the redeposition of sputtered platinum on the sidewall. Because of the redeposits on the sidewall, the etching of patterned platinum structure produces feature sizes that exceed the original dimension of the PR size and the etch profile has needle-like shape [1]. The main object of this study was to investigate a new process technology for fence-free Pt etching As bias voltage increased, the height of fence was reduced. In cryogenic etching, the height of fence was reduced to 20% at-$190^{\circ}C$ compared with that of room temperature, however the etch profile was not still fence-free. In Ar/$SF_6$ Plasma, fence-free Pt etching was possible. As the ratio of $SF_6$ gas flow is more than 14% of total gas flow, the etch profile had no fence. Chemical reaction seemed to take place in the etch process.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.21-25
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• 2009

Extinguishing limits of laminar ethylene/oxygen flames in both normal and inverse co-flow jet burner have been determined experimentally and computationally. An inert gas($N_2$, Ar, $CO_2$) was added into the oxidizer to find the critical concentration and the effectiveness of the agents on flame extinction. The experimental results showed that the physical aspect of inert gases was main mechanism for flame blow-out as same as cup burner test, but the flow effect should be considered to determine the extinction concentration. The numerical prediction was performed with modified WSR model and the result was in good agreement with the measurements. The experimental and numerical methods could be used for the assessment of various flame suppression agents such as minimum extinguishing concentration.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.354-361
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• 2008

Cold rolled steel sheet for automotive was treated by Ar/$O_2$ atmospheric pressure plasma to improve the adhesive bonding strength. Through the contact angle test and calculation of surface free energy for cold rolled steel sheet, the changes of surface properties were investigated before and after plasma treatment. The contact angle was decreased and surface free energy was increased after plasma treatment. And the change of surface roughness and morphology were observed by AFM(Atomic Force Microscope). The surface roughness of steel sheet was slightly changed. Based on Taguchi method, single lap shear test was performed to investigate the effect of experimental parameter such as plasma power, treatment time and flow rate of $O_2$ gas. Results shows that the bonding strength of steel sheet treated in Ar/$O_2$ atmospheric pressure plasma was improved about 20% compared with untreated sheet.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.74-74
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• 2009

Titanium nitride has been used as hardmask for semiconductor process, capacitor of MIM type and diffusion barrier of DRAM, due to it's low resistivity, thermodynamic stability and diffusion coefficient. Characteristics of the TiN film are high intensity and chemical stability. The TiN film also has compatibility with high-k material. This study is an experimental test for better condition of TiN film etching process. The etch rate of TiN film was investigated about etching in $BCl_3/Ar/O_2$ plasma using the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching system. The base condition were 4 sccm $BCl_3$ /16 sccm Ar mixed gas and 500 W the RF power, -50 V the DC bias voltage, 10 mTorr the chamber pressure and $40\;^{\circ}C$ the substrate temperature. We added $O_2$ gas to give affect etch rate because $O_2$ reacts with photoresist easily. We had changed $O_2$ gas flow rate from 2 sccm to 8 sccm, the RF power from 500 W to 800 W, the DC bias voltage from -50 V to -200 V, the chamber pressure from 5 mTorr to 20 mTorr and the substrate temperature from $20\;^{\circ}C$ to $80\;^{\circ}C$.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.51-55
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• 2011

We investigated the etching characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films deposited by the atomic layer deposition method. The gases of the inductively coupled plasma chemistry consisted of $Cl_2$, Ar, and $O_2$. The maximum etch rate was 40.3 nm/min at a gas flow ratio of $Cl_2$/Ar=15:5 sccm, radio-frequency power of 600 W, bias power of 200 W, and process pressure of 2 Pa. We also investigated the plasma induced damage in the etched ZnO thin films using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence (PL). A highly oriented (100) peak was present in the XRD spectroscopy of the ZnO samples. The full width at half maximum value of the ZnO sample etched using the $O_2/Cl_2$/Ar chemistry was higher than that of the as-deposited sample. The roughness of the ZnO thin films increased from 1.91 nm to 2.45 nm after etching in the $O_2/Cl_2$/Ar plasma chemistry. Also, we obtained a strong band edge emission at 380 nm. The intensities of the peaks in the PL spectra from the samples etched in all of the chemistries were increased. However, there was no deep level emission.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.141-141
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• 2013

We have generated the needle-typed nonthermal plasma jet by using an Ar gas flow at atmospheric pressure. Diagnostics of electron temperature anddensity is critical factors in optimization of the atmospheric plasma jet source in accordance with the gas flow rate. We have investigated the electron temperature and density of plasma jet by selecting the four metastable Ar emission lines based on the atmospheric collisional radiative model and radial profile characteristics of current density, respectively. The averaged electron temperature and electron density for this plasma jet are found to be ~1.6 eV and ~$3.2{\times}10^{12}cm^{-3}$, respectively, in this experiment. The densities of OH radical species inside the various bio-solutions are found to be higher by about 4~9 times than those on the surface when the argon bioplasma jet has been bombarded onto the bio-solution surface. The densities of the OH radicalspecies inside the DI water, DMEM, and PBS are measured to be about $4.3{\times}10^{16}cm^{-3}$, $2.2{\times}10^{16}cm^{-3}$, and $2.1{\times}10^{16}cm^{-3}$, respectively, at 2 mm downstream from the surface under optimized Ar gas flow 250 sccm.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.503-508
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• 1999

We have investigated the physical and diffusion barrier property of Ti-Si-N film for Cu metallization. The ternary compound was deposited by using reactive rf magnetron sputtering of a TiSi$_2$target in an Ar/$N_2$gas mixture. Resistivities of the films were in range of 358$\mu$$\Omega$-cm, to 307941$\mu$$\Omega$-cm, and tended to increase with increasing the $N_2$/Ar flow rate ratio. The crystallization of the Ti-Si-N compound started to occur at 100$0^{\circ}C$ with the phases of TiN and Si$_3$N$_4$identified by using XRD(X-ray Diffractometer). The degree of the crystallization was influenced by the $N_2$/Ar flow ratio. The diffusion barrier property of Ti-Si-N film for Cu metallization was determined by AES, XRD and etch pit by secco etching, revealing the failure temperature of 90$0^{\circ}C$ in 43~45at% of nitrogen content. In addition, the very thin compound (10nm) with 43~45at% nitrogen content remained stable up to $700^{\circ}C$. Furthermore, thermal treatment in vacuum at $600^{\circ}C$ improved the barrier property of the Ti-Si-N film deposited at the $N_2$(Ar+$N_2$) ratio of 0.05. The addition of Ti interlayer between Ti-Si-N films caused the drastic decrease of the resistivity with slight degradation of diffusion barrier properties of the compound.