• Applied Microscopy
• /
• 제50권
• /
• pp.7.1-7.10
• /
• 2020

Tantalum nitride (TaN_x) thin films were grown utilizing an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) assisted direct current (DC) sputtering, and 20-100% improved microhardness values were obtained. The detailed microstructural changes of the TaN_x films were characterized utilizing transmission electron microscopy (TEM), as a function of nitrogen gas fraction and ICP power. As nitrogen gas fraction increases from 0.05 to 0.15, the TaN_x phase evolves from body-centered-cubic (b.c.c.) TaN_0.1, to face-centered-cubic (f.c.c.) δ-TaN, to hexagonal-close-packing (h.c.p.) ε-TaN phase. By increasing ICP power from 100 W to 400 W, the f.c.c. δ- TaN phase becomes the main phase in all nitrogen fractions investigated. The higher ICP power enhances the mobility of Ta and N ions, which stabilizes the δ-TaN phase like a high-temperature regime and removes the micro-voids between the columnar grains in the TaN_x film. The dense δ-TaN structure with reduced columnar grains and micro-voids increases the strength of the TaN_x film.

• 한국표면공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국표면공학회 2016년도 추계학술대회 논문집
• /
• pp.102-102
• /
• 2016

본 연구에서는 직류 전원(direct current; DC)을 이용한 스퍼터링과 고전력펄스 마그네트론 스퍼터링(high-power impulse magentron sputtering; HIPIMS)의 두 가지 방법과 빗각 증착을 적용하여 제조한 티타늄 질화물(TiN) 박막의 미세구조 변화가 물성에 미치는 영향을 확인하였다. TiN 박막은 99.5%의 Ti 타겟을 사용하고, Ar가스와 $N_2$ 분위기에서 스테인리스(SUS304)와 초경(cdmented carbide; WC-10wt.%Co) 기판위에 코팅하였다. 기판은 알코올과 아세톤으로 초음파 세척을 실시한 후 진공용기에 장착하고 기본 진공도인 ${\sim}2.0{\times}10^{-5}Torr$ 까지 진공배기를 실시하였다. 기판과 타겟 간의 거리는 DC 스퍼터링은 10 cm, HIPIMS 스퍼터링은 8.5 cm 이었다. 진공용기의 압력이 기본 진공도까지 배기되면 Ar 가스를 ${\sim}10^{-2}Torr$로 주입한 후 기판에 라디오 주파수(radio frequency; RF) 전원으로 약 -800 V의 전압을 인가하여 글로우 방전을 발생시키고 약 30 분간 청정을 실시하였다. 기판의 청정이 끝난 후 기본 진공도까지 배기한 후 Ar와 $N_2$ 가스를 ${\sim}10^{-3}Torr$로 주입하여 TiN 코팅을 실시하였다. 빗각의 크기는 $45^{\circ}$와 $-45^{\circ}$이며, TiN 박막의 총 두께는 약 $2.5{\sim}4.0{\mu}m$ 로 유지하였다. 공정조건에 따라 TiN 박막의 주상정은 형태와 기울어진 각도가 다른 것을 확인하였다. DC 스퍼터링으로 제조된 TiN 박막은 기판홀더에 약 -100 V 의 bias 전압을 인가하면 인가하지 않은 박막에 비해 치밀한 박막의 성장과 경도 값도 증가하는 사실을 확인하였다. 또한 빗각을 적용하고 bias 전압을 인가하지 않은 시편에서 박리현상이 일어났다. HIPIMS로 제조한 TiN 박막은 bias 전압을 인가한 박막과 인가하지 않은 박막의 주상정 형상과 경도 값에 큰 차이가 없었으며, 박막의 박리현상은 모든 시편에서 일어나지 않았다. DC 스퍼터링으로 제조한 TiN 박막은 bias 전압을 인가하지 않으면 색상이 노란색이 아닌 갈색으로 나타났으며, HIPIMS으로 제조한 박막은 bias 전압 인가 유무에 상관없이 노란색 색상을 나타냈다. 앞서 설명한 DC 스퍼터링과 HIPIMS의 공정조건에 따라 나타난 박막의 경도, 색상, 물성변화 차이는 DC 스퍼터링보다 높은 HIPIMS의 이온화율에서 기인한 것으로 생각된다. 본 연구결과를 이용하면 다양한 형태의 박막 구조 제어가 가능하고 이러한 미세구조 제어를 통해서 박막의 물성도 제어가 가능할 것으로 판단된다.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
• /
• 제12권3호
• /
• pp.106-109
• /
• 2011

We investigated the etching characteristics of titanium nitride (TiN) thin film in $BCl_3$/Ar inductively coupled plasma. The etching parameters were the gas mixing ratio, radio frequency (RF) power, direct current (DC)-bias voltages and process pressures. The standard conditions were as follows: total flow rate = 20 sccm, RF power = 500 W, DC-bias voltage = -100 V, substrate temperature = $40^{\circ}C$, and process pressure = 15 mTorr. The maximum etch rate of TiN thin film and the selectivity of TiN to $Al_2O_3$ thin film were 54 nm/min and 0.79. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed no accumulation of etch byproducts from the etched surface of TiN thin film. The TiN film etch was dominated by the chemical etching with assistance by Ar sputtering in reactive ion etching mechanism, based on the experimental results.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• 제18권5호
• /
• pp.206-211
• /
• 2019

Silicon carbide (SiC) thin films become superhard when they have microstructures of nanocolumnar crystalline grains (NCCG) with an intergranular amorphous SiC matrix. We investigated the role of ion bombardment and deposition temperature in forming the NCCG in SiC thin films. A direct-current (DC) unbalanced magnetron sputtering method was used with pure Ar as sputtering gas to deposit the SiC thin films at fixed target power of 200 W and chamber pressure of 0.4 Pa. The Ar ion bombardment of the deposited films was conducted by applying a negative DC bias voltage 0-100 V to the substrate during deposition. The deposition temperature was varied between room temperature and $450^{\circ}C$. Above a critical bias voltage of -80 V, the NCCG formed, whereas, below it, the SiC films were amorphous. Additionally, a minimum thermal energy (corresponding to a deposition temperature of $450^{\circ}C$ in this study) was required for the NCCG formation. Transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and glancing angle X-ray diffraction analysis (GAXRD) were conducted to probe the samples' structural characteristics. Of those methods, Raman spectroscopy was a particularly efficient non-destructive tool to analyze the formation of the SiC NCCG in the film, whereas GAXRD was insufficiently sensitive.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국진공학회 2012년도 제42회 동계 정기 학술대회 초록집
• /
• pp.96-97
• /
• 2012

In nitride and oxide film deposition, sputtered metals react with nitrogen or oxygen gas in a vacuum chamber to form metal nitride or oxide films on a substrate. The physical properties of sputtered films (metals, oxides, and nitrides) are strongly influenced by magnetron plasma density during the deposition process. Typical target power densities on the magnetron during the deposition process are ~ (5-30) W/cm2, which gives a relatively low plasma density. The main challenge in reactive sputtering is the ability to generate a stable, arc free discharge at high plasma densities. Arcs occur due to formation of an insulating layer on the target surface caused by the re-deposition effect. One current method of generating an arc free discharge is to use the commercially available Pinnacle Plus+ Pulsed DC plasma generator manufactured by Advanced Energy Inc. This plasma generator uses a positive voltage pulse between negative pulses to attract electrons and discharge the target surface, thus preventing arc formation. However, this method can only generate low density plasma and therefore cannot allow full control of film properties. Also, after long runs ~ (1-3) hours, depends on duty cycle the stability of the reactive process is reduced due to increased probability of arc formation. Between 1995 and 1999, a new way of magnetron sputtering called HIPIMS (highly ionized pulse impulse magnetron sputtering) was developed. The main idea of this approach is to apply short ${\sim}(50-100){\mu}s$ high power pulses with a target power densities during the pulse between ~ (1-3) kW/cm2. These high power pulses generate high-density magnetron plasma that can significantly improve and control film properties. From the beginning, HIPIMS method has been applied to reactive sputtering processes for deposition of conductive and nonconductive films. However, commercially available HIPIMS plasma generators have not been able to create a stable, arc-free discharge in most reactive magnetron sputtering processes. HIPIMS plasma generators have been successfully used in reactive sputtering of nitrides for hard coating applications and for Al2O3 films. But until now there has been no HIPIMS data presented on reactive sputtering in cluster tools for semiconductors and MEMs applications. In this presentation, a new method of generating an arc free discharge for reactive HIPIMS using the new Cyprium plasma generator from Zpulser LLC will be introduced. Data (or evidence) will be presented showing that arc formation in reactive HIPIMS can be controlled without applying a positive voltage pulse between high power pulses. Arc-free reactive HIPIMS processes for sputtering AlN, TiO2, TiN and Si3N4 on the Applied Materials ENDURA 200 mm cluster tool will be presented. A direct comparison of the properties of films sputtered with the Advanced Energy Pinnacle Plus + plasma generator and the Zpulser Cyprium plasma generator will be presented.

• 한국자기학회지
• /
• 제2권3호
• /
• pp.277-281
• /
• 1992

입력코일과 변조코일이 박막 형태로 집적화된 planar DC SQUID를 제작하고 그 특성을 조사하였다. SQUID loop은 균일한 외부자장의 영향을 받지 않도록 두개의 ring이 '8'자형으로 직렬로 연결된 구조를 하고 있으며, 조셉슨 접합으로는 Pd shunt 저항을 가지는 Nb/Al-oxide/Nb 턴넬 접합을 이용하였다. 소자는 포토리소그라피 기술과 RF 마그네트론 스퍼터링 및 양극산화 방법으로 제작하였으며, 제작된 SQUID는 4.2 K에서 기본적인 특성을 측정한 결과 standard readout 시스템에 적합한 매끄러운 특성을 보였으며 전압 잡음은 측정할 수 없을 정도로 작아 white noise는 최대 $10^{-4}\;{\phi}_o/\;\sqrt{H_z}$ 이하로 나타났다. 현재 matching 코일을 사용하여 잡음 특성을 측정중에 있으며 앞으로 SQUID parameter를 최적화할 경우 매우 고감도의 자기센서로 활용될 수 있을것으로 기대된다.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국진공학회 2010년도 제39회 하계학술대회 초록집
• /
• pp.207-207
• /
• 2010

Both ZnO and GaN have excellent physical properties in optoelectronic devices such as blue light emitting diode (LED), blue laser diode (LD), and ultra-violet (UV) detector. The ZnO/GaN heterostructure, which has a potential to achieve the cost efficient LED technology, has been fabricated by using radio frequency (RF) sputtering, pyrolysis, metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), direct current (DC) arc plasmatron, and pulsed laser deposition (PLD) methods. Among them, the PLD system has a benefit to control the composition ratio of the grown film from the mixture target. A 500-nm-thick ZnO film was grown by PLD technique on c-plane GaN/sapphire substrates. The post annealing process was executed at some varied temperature between from $300^{\circ}C$ to $900^{\circ}C$. The morphology and crystal structural properties obtained by using atomic force microscope (AFM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the crystal quality of ZnO thin films can be improved as increasing the annealing temperature. We will discuss the post-treatment effect on film quality (uniformity and reliability) of ZnO/GaN heterostructures.

• 한국표면공학회지
• /
• 제52권3호
• /
• pp.145-149
• /
• 2019

Transparent and conductive ZnO/Ag/SnO2 (ZAS) tri-layer films were deposited onto glass substrates at room temperature by using radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering. The thickness values of the ZnO and $SnO_2$ thin films were kept constant at 50 nm and the value for Ag interlayer was varied as 5, 10, 15, and 20 nm. In the XRD pattern the diffraction peaks were identified as the (002) and (103) planes of ZnO, while the (111), (200), (220), and (311) planes could be attributed to the Ag interlayer. The optical transmittance and electrical resistivity were dependent on the thickness of the Ag interlayer. The ZAS films with a 10 nm thick Ag interlayer exhibited a higher figure of merit than the other ZAS films prepared in this study. From the observed results, a ZAS film with a 10 nm thick Ag interlayer was believed to be an alternative transparent electrode candidate for various opto-electrical devices.

• 열처리공학회지
• /
• 제28권2호
• /
• pp.63-67
• /
• 2015

$TiO_2/Ag/TiO_2$ trilayer films were deposited with radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering onto the glass substrate to consider the influence of Ag interlayer on the optical properties of the films. The thickness of $TiO_2$ films was kept at 24 nm, while the thickness of Ag interlayer was varied as 5, 10, 15, and 20 nm. As-deposited $TiO_2$ single layer films show the optical transmittance of 66.7% in the visible wave-length region and the optical reflectance of 16.5%, while the $TiO_2$ films with a 15 nm thick Ag interlayer show the enhanced optical transmittance of 80.2% and optical reflectance of 77.8%. The carrier concentration was also influenced by Ag interlayer. The highest carrier concentration of $1.01{\times}10^{23}cm^{-3}$ was observed for a 15 nm thick Ag interlayer in $TiO_2/Ag/TiO_2$ films. The observed result means that an optimized Ag interlayer in $TiO_2/Ag/TiO_2$ films enhanced the structural and optical properties of the films.

• 한국진공학회지
• /
• 제20권3호
• /
• pp.195-199
• /
• 2011

RF 마그네트론 스퍼터와 DC 마그네트론 스퍼터를 병행하여 ITO/Au/ITO, ITO/Cu/ITO, 그리고 ITO/Ni/ITO 박막을 유리기판 위에 증착하였다. 증착 후 진공열처리를 통하여 층간 금속 층이 ITO박막의 메탄올 검출 민감도에 미치는 영향을 분석하였다. 모든 박막센서의 두께는 100 nm로 동일하게 ITO 50 nm/metal 10 nm/ITO 40 nm로 제작되었고 메탄올 농도는 100에서 1,000 ppm까지 달리하였다. ITO/Au/ITO 박막센서가 가장 높은 민감도를 보임으로써 ITO/Au/ITO 다층박막이 기존의 ITO메탄올 센서를 대체할 수 있는 센서임을 확인하였다.