• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2001.07c
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• pp.1512-1514
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• 2001

In this work, PZT thin films were etched as a function of $Cl_2$/Ar and additive $CF_4$ into $Cl_2$(80%)/Ar(20%). The etch rates of PZT films were 1600 $\AA$/min at $Cl_2$(80%)/Ar(20%) gas mixing ratio and 1973 $\AA$/min at 30% additive $CF_4$ into $Cl_2$(80%)/Ar(20%). Therefore the etch rate of PZT in $CF_4/Cl_2/Ar$ plasma is faster than in $Cl_2$/Ar. From XPS and SIMS analysis, metal halides and C-O, FCI and $CClF_2$ were detected. The etching of PZT films in Cl-based plasma is primarily chemically assisted ion etching and the remove of nonvolatile etch byproducts is the dominant step. Consequently, we suggest that the increase of Cl radicals and the volatile oxy-compound such as $CO_y$ are made by adding $CF_4$ into $Cl_2$/Ar plasma. Therefore, the etch rate of PZT in $CF_4/Cl_2/Ar$ plasma is faster than in $Cl_2$/Ar. The etched profile of PZT films was obtained above 70$^{\circ}$ by the SEM micrograph.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.99-103
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• 2009

HBr and $O_2$ in $Cl_2$ gas ambient for the high density plasma gate etching has been used to increase the performance of gate electrode in semiconductor devices. When an un-doped amorphous silicon layer was used for a gate electrode material, the notching profile was observed at the outer sidewall foot of the outermost line. This phenomenon can be explained by the electron shading effect: i.e., electrons are captured at the photoresist sidewall while ions pass through the photoresist sidewall and reach the oxide surface at a narrowly spaced pattern during the over etch step. The potential distribution between gate lines deflects the ions trajectory toward the gate sidewall. In this study, an appropriate mechanism was proposed to explain the occurrence of notching in the gate electrode of un-doped amorphous silicon.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.1-6
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• 2000

In this study, the effects of the addition of $N_2$ gas into the $Cl_2$ (90)/Ar(10) gas mixture, which has been proposed as the optimized etching gas combination, for etching of platinum was performed. The selectivity of platinum film to $SiO_2$ film etch mask increased with the addition of $N_2$ gas, and etch profile over 75 $^{\circ}$ could be obtained when 20 % additive $N_2$ gas was added. These phenomena were interpreted as the results of a formation of blocking layer such as Si-N or Si-O-N on the $SiO_2$ mask. The maximum etch rate of Pt film and selectivity of Pt to $SiO_2$ are 1425 ${\AA}$/min and 1.71, respectively. These improvements were considered to be due to the formation of more volatile compounds such as Pt-N or Pt-N-Cl.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.327-330
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• 2006

We investigated the usefulness of $NbO_{x}$ nanopillars as an etching mask of dry etching for the formation of Si nanodot arrays. The $NbO_{x}$ nanopillar arrays were prepared by the anodic aluminum oxidation process of Al and Nb thin films. The etch rate and etch profile of $NbO_{x}$ nanopillar arrays were examined by varying the experimental conditions such as the concentration of etch gas, coil rf power, and dc bias voltage in the reactive ion etch system using the inductively coupled plasma. As the concentration of $Cl_{2}$ gas increased, the etch rate of $NbO_{x}$nanopillars decreased. With increasing coil rf power and dc bias voltage, the etch rates were found to increase. The etch characteristics and etch mechanism of $NbO_{x}$ nanopillars were investigated by varying the etch time under the selected etch conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.695-699
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• 2001

Cerium dioxide (CeO$_2$) was used as the intermediate layer between the ferroelectric thin film and Si substrate in a metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor field effect transistor (MFSFET), to improve the interface property by preventing the interdiffusion of the ferroelectric material and the Si substrate. In this study, CeO$_2$ thin films were etched with a CF$_4$/Ar gas combination in inductively coupled plasma (ICP). The maximum etch rate of CeO$_2$ thin films was 270$\AA$/min under CF$_4$/(CF$_4$+Ar) of 0.2, 600 W/-200V, 15 mTorr, and $25^{\circ}C$. The selectivities of CeO$_2$ to PR and SBT were 0.21, 0.25, respectively. The surface reaction in the etching of CeO$_2$ thin films was investigated with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). There is a chemical reaction between Ce and F. Compounds such as Ce-F$_{x}$ remains on the surface of CeO$_2$ thin films. Those products can be removed by Ar ion bombardment. The results of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) were consistent with those of XPS. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine etched profiles of CeO$_2$ thin films. The etch profile of over-etched CeO$_2$ films with the 0.5${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ line was approximately 65$^{\circ}$.>.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.433-433
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• 2012

As the requirement in patterning geometry continuously shrinks down, the termination of etch process at the exact time became crucial for the success in nano patterning technology. By virtue of real-time optical emission spectroscopy (OES), etch end point detection (EPD) technique continuously develops; however, it also faced with difficulty in low open ratio etching, typically in self aligned contact (SAC) and one cylinder contact (OCS), because of very small amount of optical emission from by-product gas species in the bulk plasma glow discharge. In developing etching process, one may observe that coupon test is being performed. It consumes costs and time for preparing the patterned sample wafers every test in priority, so the coupon wafer test instead of the whole patterned wafer is beneficial for testing and developing etch process condition. We also can observe that etch open area is varied with the number of coupons on a dummy wafer. However, this can be a misleading in OES study. If the coupon wafer test are monitored using OES, we can conjecture the endpoint by experienced method, but considering by data, the materials for residual area by being etched open area are needed to consider. In this research, we compare and analysis the OES data for coupon wafer test results for monitoring about the conditions that the areas except the patterns on the coupon wafers for real-time process monitoring. In this research, we compared two cases, first one is etching the coupon wafers attached on the carrier wafer that is covered by the photoresist, and other case is etching the coupon wafers on the chuck. For comparing the emission intensity, we chose the four chemical species (SiF2, N2, CO, CN), and for comparing the etched profile, measured by scanning electron microscope (SEM). In addition, we adopted the Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm for analyzing the chose OES data patterns, and analysis the covariance and coefficient for statistical method. After the result, coupon wafers are over-etched for without carrier wafer groups, while with carrier wafer groups are under-etched. And the CN emission intensity has significant difference compare with OES raw data. Based on these results, it necessary to reasonable analysis of the OES data to adopt the pre-data processing and algorithms, and the result will influence the reliability for relation of coupon wafer test and whole wafer test.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.24-28
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• 2007

The etching of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films has been studied using a high density plasma in a $Cl_2/Ar$ gas. The etch characteristics of ZnO thin films were systematically investigated on varying $Cl_2$ concentration, coil rf power, dc-bias voltage, and gas pressure. With increasing $Cl_2$ concentration, the etch rate of ZnO thin film increased, the redeposition around the etched patterns decreased but the sidewall slope of the etched patterns slanted. As the coil rf power and dc-bias voltage increased, the etch rates of ZnO thin films increased and etch profiles of ZnO thin films were improved. With increasing gas pressure, the etch rate of ZnO thin films slightly increased but little change in etch profile was observed. Based on these results, the optimal etching conditions of ZnO thin film were selected. Finally, the etching of ZnO thin films with a high degree of anisotropy of approximately $75^{\circ}{\sim}80^{\circ}$ without the redepositions and residues was successfully achieved at the etching conditions of 20% $Cl_2$ concentration, coil rf power of 1000 W, dc-bias voltage of 400 V, and gas pressure of 5 mTorr.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.213-216
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• 2001

Etching behaviors of ferroelectric YMn $O_3$ thin films were studied by an inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Etch characteristic on ferroelectric YMn $O_3$ thin film have been investigated in terms of etch rate, selectivity and etch profile. The maximum etch rate of YMn $O_3$ thin film is 300 $\AA$/min at Ar/C $l_2$ of 2/8, RF power of 800W, dc bias voltage of 200V, chamber pressure of 15mTorr and substrate temperature of 3$0^{\circ}C$. Addition of C $F_4$ gas decrease the etch rate of YMn $O_3$ thin film. From the results of XPS analysis, Y $F_{X}$ compunds were found on the surface of YMn $O_3$ thin film which is etched in Ar/C1/C $F_4$ plasma. The etch profile of YMn $O_3$ film is improved by addition of C $F_4$ gas into the Ar/C $l_2$ plasma. These results suggest that fluoride yttrium acts as a sidewall passivants which reduce the sticking coefficient of chlorine on YMn $O_3$.>.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.393-397
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• 2002

Polyimide (PI) films have been studied widely as the interlayer dielectric materials due to a low dielectric constant, low water absorption, high gap-fill and planarization capability. The polyimide film was etched using inductively coupled plasma system. The etcying characteristics such as etch rate and selectivity were evaluated at different $CF_4/(CF_4+O_2)$chemistry. The maximum etch rate was 8300 ${\AA}/min$ and the selectivity of polyimide to SiO$_2$was 5.9 at $CF_4/(CF_4+O_2)$ of 0.2. Etch profile of polyimide film with an aluminum pattern was measured by a scanning electron microscopy. The vertical profile was approximately $90^{\circ}$ at $CF_4/(CF_4+O_2)$ of 0.2. As 20% $CF_4$ were added into $O_2$ plasma from the results of the optical emission spectroscopy, the radical densities of fluorine and oxygen increased with increasing $CF_4$ concentration in $CF_4/O_2$ from 0 to 20%, resulting in the increased etch rate. The surface reaction of etched PI films was investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1995.05a
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• pp.58-61
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• 1995

Instead of using CCl$_4$CCl$_2$F$_2$ gases, we used a alternative reaction gas of CFCs which we have developed, for the experiment of laser induced dry etching of laser induced dry etching of GaAs, and compared with the etch profile of a usual reation gas. Laser powers(power density) on the sample surface were varied from 100 mW(12.7 MW/$\textrm{cm}^2$) to 210mW(27 MW/$\textrm{cm}^2$) The laser beam was scanned over the sample by moving the cell with a speed raging from 8.3$\mu\textrm{m}$/sec and the gas pressure also was varied form 260 Torr to 760 Torr, High etching rates up to 136 $\mu\textrm{m}$/sec and an aspect ratio of 2.6 have been achieved by single scan of laser beam. The chemical compositions of the reaction products deposited on the etched groove were measured by Auger electron spectroscopy(AES) Etch profiles, including depth and width were observed by scanning electron microscopy(SEM)