• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제23권10호
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• pp.747-751
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• 2010

In the study, the characteristics of the etched Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films surface, the etch rate of ZnO thin film in $Cl_2/BCl_3/Ar$ plasma was investigated. The maximum ZnO etch rate of 53 nm/min was obtained for $Cl_2/BCl_3/Ar$=3:16:4 sccm gas mixture. According to the x-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), the etched ZnO thin film was investigated to the chemical reaction of the ZnO surface in $Cl_2/BCl_3/Ar$ plasma. The field emission auger electron spectroscopy (FE-AES) analysis showed an elemental analysis from the etched surfaces. According to the etching time, the ZnO thin film of etched was obtained to The AES depth-profile analysis. We used to atomic force microscopy to determine the roughness of the surface. So, the root mean square of ZnO thin film was 17.02 in $Cl_2/BCl_3/Ar$ plasma. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch mechanism for the plasmas.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.29-34
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• 2003

Ferroelectric YMnO$_3$ thin films were etched with Ar/C1$_2$ and CF$_4$/C1$_2$ Plasma. The maximum etch rate of YMnO$_3$ thin film was 300 $\AA$/min at a Cl$_2$/Ar gas mixing ratio of 8/2, an RF power of 800 W, a do bias of-200 V, a chamber pressure of 15 mTorr, and a substrate temperature of 3$0^{\circ}C$. From the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, yttrium was not only etched by chemical reactions with Cl atoms, but also assisted by Ar ion bombardments in Ar/C1$_2$ plasma. In CF$_4$/C1$_2$ plasma, yttrium formed nonvolatile YF$_{x}$ compounds and remained on and the etched surface of YMnO$_3$. Manganese etched effectively by forming volatile MnCl$_{x}$ and MnF$_{y}$. From the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the (0004) diffraction peak intensity of the YMnO$_3$ thin film etched in Ar/Cl$_2$ plasma shows lower than that in CF$_4$/Cl$_2$ plasma. It indicates that the crystallinty of the YMnO$_3$ thin film is more easily damaged by the Af ion bombardment than the changes of stoichiometry due to nonvolatile etch by-products.cts.s.

• 마이크로전자및패키징학회지
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.13-17
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• 2000

ECR (Electron Cyclotron Resonance) 식각 공정에 따른 층간 절연막 폴리이미드의 전기적 특성에 관하여 연구하였다. 알루미늄 식각시 일반적으로 사용되는 $Cl_2$플라즈마는 폴리이미드의 유전상수 값을 증가시킨 반면에 $SF_{6}$플라즈마의 경우는 높은 식각률과 유전상수 값의 감소를 가져왔다. 폴리이미드의 누설 전류는 ECR 식각 공정 후에 감소되었다. 다중 금속화 구조를 구현하는데 있어 $Cl_2$플라즈마를 사용하여 알루미늄을 식각하고 $SF_{6}$ 플라즈마를 사용하여 폴리이미드를 식각하는 것이 최적일 것으로 판단된다.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2009년도 제38회 동계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.213-213
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• 2010

Magnetic random access memory (MRAM), based on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) and CMOS, is one of the best semiconductor memories because it can provide nonvolatility, fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance, low operating voltage and high storage density. For the realization of high density MRAM, the etching of MTJ stack with good properties is one of a key process. Recently, there has been great interest in the MTJ stack using MgO as barrier layer for its huge room temperature MR ratio. The use of MgO barrier layer will undoubtedly accelerate the development of MTJ stack for MRAM. In this study, high-density plasma reactive ion etching of MgO films was investigated in an inductively coupled plasma of $Cl_2$/Ar gas mixes. The etch rate, etch selectivity and etch profile of this magnetic film were examined on vary gas concentration. As the $Cl_2$ gas concentration increased, the etch rate of MgO monotonously decreased and etch slop was slanted. The effective of etch parameters including coil rf power, dc-bais voltage, and gas pressure on the etch profile of MgO thin film was explored, At high coil rf power, high dc-bais voltage, low gas pressure, the etching of MgO displayed better etch profiles. Finally, the clean and vertical etch sidewall of MgO films was achieved using $Cl_2$/Ar plasma at the optimized etch conditions.

• 한국표면공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국표면공학회 1999년도 추계학술발표회 초록집
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• pp.59-59
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• 1999

In this study, planer inductively coupled $Cl_2$ based plasmas were used to etch InGaN and the effects of plasma conditions on the InGaN etch properties have been characterized using quadrupole mass spectrometry(QMS) and optical emission spectroscopy(OES). As process conditions used to study the effects of plasma characteristics on the InGaN etch properties, $Cl_2$ was used as the main etch gas and $CHF_3,{\;}CH_4$, and Ar were used as additive gases. Operational pressure was varied from SmTorr to 3OmTorr, inductive power and bias voltage were varied from 400W to 800W and -50V to -250V, respectively while the substrate temperature was fixed at 50 centigrade. For the $Cl_2$ plasmas, selective etching of GaN to InGaN was obtained regardless of plasma conditions. The small addition of $CHF_3$ or Ar to $Cl_2$ and the decrease of pressure generally increased InGaN etch rates. The selective etching of InGaN to GaN could be obtained by the reduction of pressure to l5mTorr in $CI_2/IO%CHF_3{\;}or{\;}CI_2/IO%Ar$ plasma. The enhancement of InGaN etch rates was related to the ion bombardment for $CI_2/Ar$ plasmas and the formation of $CH_x$ radicals for $CI_2/CHF_3(CH_4)$ plasmas.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2012년도 제42회 동계 정기 학술대회 초록집
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• pp.391-392
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• 2012

In these days, the desire for the precise and tiny displays in mobile application has been increased strongly. Currently, laser displays ranging from large-size laser TV to mobile projectors, are commercially available or due to appear on the market [1]. In order to achieve a mobile projectors, the semiconductor laser diodes should be used as a laser source due to their size and weight. In this presentation, the continuous etch characteristics of Pd and AlGaN/GaN superlattice for the fabrication of blue laser diodes were investigated by using inductively coupled $CHF_3$ and $Cl_2$ -based plasma. The GaN laser diode samples were grown on the sapphire (0001) substrate using a metal organic chemical vapor deposition system. A Si-doped GaN layer was grown on the substrate, followed by growth of LD structures, including the active layers of InGaN/GaN quantum well and barriers layer, as shown in other literature [2], and the palladium was used as a p-type ohmic contact metal. The etch rate of AlGaN/GaN superlattice (2.5/2.5 nm for 100 periods) and n-GaN by using $Cl_2$ (90%)/Ar (10%) and $Cl_2$ (50%)/$CHF_3$ (50%) plasma chemistry, respectively. While when the $Cl_2$/Ar plasma were used, the etch rate of AlGaN/GaN superlattice shows a similar etch rate as that of n-GaN, the $Cl_2/CHF_3$ plasma shows decreased etch rate, compared with that of $Cl_2$/Ar plasma, especially for AlGaN/GaN superlattice. Furthermore, it was also found that the Pd which is deposited on top of the superlattice couldn't be etched with $Cl_2$/Ar plasma. It was indicating that the etching step should be separated into 2 steps for the Pd etching and the superlattice etching, respectively. The etched surface of stacked Pd/superlattice as a result of 2-step etching process including Pd etching ($Cl_2/CHF_3$) and SLs ($Cl_2$/Ar) etching, respectively. EDX results shows that the etched surface is a GaN waveguide free from the Al, indicating the SLs were fully removed by etching. Furthermore, the optical and electrical properties will be also investigated in this presentation. In summary, Pd/AlGaN/GaN SLs were successfully etched exploiting noble 2-step etching processes.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• 제12권2호
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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.

• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제16권12S호
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• pp.1187-1194
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• 2003

A BCl$_3$/Ne plasma chemistry was used to etch Ga-based (GaAs, AIGaAs, GaSb) and In-based (InGaP, InP, InAs and InGaAsP) compound semiconductors in a Planar Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) reactor. The addition of the Ne instead of Ar can minimize electrical and optical damage during dry etching of III-V semiconductors due to its light mass compared to that of Ar All of the materials exhibited a maximum etch rate at BCl$_3$ to Ne ratios of 0.25-0.5. Under all conditions, the Ga-based materials etched at significantly higher rates than the In-based materials, due to relatively high volatilities of their trichloride etch products (boiling point CaCl$_3$ : 201 $^{\circ}C$, AsCl$_3$ : 130 $^{\circ}C$, PCl$_3$: 76 $^{\circ}C$) compared to InCl$_3$ (boiling point : 600 $^{\circ}C$). We obtained low root-mean-square(RMS) roughness of the etched sulfate of both AIGaAs and GaAs, which is quite comparable to the unetched control samples. Excellent etch anisotropy ( > 85$^{\circ}$) of the GaAs and AIGaAs in our PICP BCl$_3$/Ne etching relies on some degree of sidewall passivation by redeposition of etch products and photoresist from the mask. However, the surfaces of In-based materials are somewhat degraded during the BCl$_3$/Ne etching due to the low volatility of InCl$_{x}$./.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2011년도 제40회 동계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.169-169
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• 2011

STT-MRAM (수직자화 자기메모리)는 자화반전 현상을 원리로 구동하는 비휘발성 메모리로 기존의 메모리 장치에 비해 빠른 접근 속도와 높은 저장 밀도를 가지며 영구적인 기록이 가능하다. 이러한 장점들에 더해 적은 소모 전력을 지니므로 기존의 SRAM등의 한계를 극복할 대안으로 각광받고 있으며 차세대 메모리 군의 선두주자로 가장 적합한 후보중 하나이다. STT-MRAM의 건식 식각 방식에 있어 가장 큰 이슈는 소자 구동에 핵심적인 역할을 하는 MTJ(Magnetic Tunnel Junction)의 식각이다. MTJ는 free layer, tunnel barrier, pinned layer 3개의 층으로 구성되어 있으며 양 끝 layer에는 강자성체인 CoFeB가 사용되고 tunnel barrier에는 절연층인 MgO가 사용되고 있다. 이러한 물질들은 기존의 반도체 소자에서는 사용되지 않았던 물질들로 기존 공정에서 사용되던 Cl2 based plasma etching에서는 측벽에 비화발성 반응물과 잔류 Cl2에 의해 부식이 발생하는 문제점이 드러나고 있다. 이러한 문제점을 해결하기 위한 새로운 대안으로 CO/NH3/Ar나 CH4/Ar 같은 새로운 가스 조합을 사용하는 연구가 진행되고 있다. 이러한 연구에 의해 기존의 Cl2 plasma를 이용한 식각에서 나타나는 문제점은 해결이 되었으나 또 다른 문제점들이 보고되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 stack MRAM sample을 사용하여 기존의 사용되는 Cl2/Ar plasma와 대안 gas인 CO/NH3, CH4/Ar plasma에서의 식각을 진행하였으며 실험 조건(gas 비율 변화, Bias power 변화, 식각 시간)에 따른 식각 속도의 변화나 식각 후의 profile에 대하여 관찰하였다. 이에 따라 식각후에 어떠한 차이점이 있는 지를 알아보았으며 CO/NH3나 CH4/Ar plasma에서 식각시 나타나는 문제점에 대하여도 조명해 보았다.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.6-9
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• 2012

In this study, we carried out an investigation of the etching characteristics (etch rate, selectivity to $SiO_2$) of ZnO thin films in $N_2/Cl_2$/Ar inductivity coupled plasma. A maximum etch rate and selectivity of 108.8 nm/min and, 3.21, respectively, was obtained for ZnO thin film at a $N_2/Cl_2$/Ar gas mixing ratio of 15:16:4 sccm. The plasmas were characterized by optical emission spectroscopy. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed the efficient destruction of oxide bonds by ion bombardment. An accumulation of low volatile reaction products on the etched surface was also shown. Based on this data, an ion-assisted chemical reaction is proposed as the main etch mechanism for plasmas containing $Cl_2$.