• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.455-459
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• 2002

I have investigated the effects of annealing on a polymeric $\alpha-C_3N_{4.2}$ at high pressure and temperature in the presence of seeds of crystalline carbon nitride films prepared by a high voltage discharge plasma. The samples were evaluated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), infrared spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction(XRD). Notably, XPS studies of the film composition before and after annealing demonstrate that the nitrogen composition in $\alpha-C_3N_{4.2}$ material initially containing more than 58% nitrogen decreases during the annealing process and reaches a common, stable composition of ~43%. XPS analysis also shows that the nitrogen composition in the annealed films without polymeric $\alpha-C_3N_{4.2}$ was reduced from 35% to 17%. Furthermore the concentration of the sp$^3$bonded phase increased with the increment of the annealing temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.11-14
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• 2003

[ $HfO_2$ ] thin films were deposited at $300^{\circ}C$ on p-type Si (100) substrates using $HfO_2(HfO_xN_y)$ as the precursor by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and were annealed at $300^{\circ}C$ in nitrogen plasma ambient. Compared with $HfO_2$, nitrogen plasma annealed $HfO_2$ show good chemical stability, higher crystallization temperature, lower leakage current and thermal stability. Leakage current density of nitrogen plasma annealed $HfO_2$ is approximately one order of magnitude lower than that of $HfO_2$ for the same EOT. The improvement in electrical characteristics of nitrogen plasma annealed $HfO_2$ can be explained by the better thermal stability due to nitrogen incorporation.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.258-263
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• 2001

Siloxane thin films were fabricated on a silicon wafer by spin-coating using a siloxane solution made by the sol-gel process. Fluorine was doped using$ CF_4$ plasma treatment. The film was then annealed in-situ state in the nitrogen atmosphere. In order to examine the influence of annealing and fluorine doping on the siloxane thin film, thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used and the dielectric constant was determined by the high-frequency capacitance-voltage method. Stable siloxane films could be obtained by in-situ annealing in a nitrogen atmosphere after $CF_4$ plasma treatment, and the dielectric value of the film was $\varepsilon$ 2.5.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.72-78
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• 2004

Cu seed layers deposited by magnetron sputtering onto tantalum nitride barrier films were treated with ECR plasma and then the copper films were electroplated and rapid thermal annealed in an argon or nitrogen atmosphere at various temperatures ranging from 200 to $500^{\circ}C$. Changes in the microstructure and physical properties of the copper films electroplated on the hydrogen ECR plasma cleaned copper seed layers were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses. It was found that the copper film undergoes complete recrystallization during annealing at a temperature higher than $400^{\circ}C$. The resistivity of the Cu film tends to decrease and the degree of (111) preferred orientation tends to increase as the annealing temperature increases. Theoptimum annealing condition for obtaining the film with the lowest resistivity, the smoothest surface and the highest degree of the (111) preferred orientation is rapid thermal annealing in a nitrogen atmosphere at $400^{\circ}C$ for 120 s. The resistivity and the surface roughness of the electroplated copper film annealed under this condition are 1.98 $\mu$O-cm and 17.77 nm, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.701-706
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• 2006

In addition to its similarity to genuine diamond film, diamond-like carbon (DLC) film has many advantages, including its wide band gap and variable refractive index. In this study, DLC films were prepared by the RF PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) method on silicon substrates using methane $(CH_4)$ and hydrogen $(H_2)$ gas. We examined the effects of the post annealing temperature on the structural variation of the DLC films. The films were annealed at temperatures ranging from 300 to $900^{\circ}C$ in steps of $200^{\circ}C$ using RTA equipment in nitrogen ambient. The thickness of the film and interface between film and substrate were observed by surface profiler, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), respectively. Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that DLC films were graphitized ($I_D/I_G$, G-peak position and $sp^2/sp^3$ increased) ratio at higher annealing temperature. The variation of surface as a function of annealing treatment was verified by a AFM and contact angle method.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2009

Silicon dioxide as gate dielectrics was grown at $400^{\circ}C$ on a polycrystalline Si substrate by inductively coupled plasma oxidation using a mixture of $O_2$ and $N_2O$ to improve the performance of polycrystalline Si thin film transistors. In conventional high-temperature $N_2O$ annealing, nitrogen can be supplied to the $Si/SiO_2$ interface because a NO molecule can diffuse through the oxide. However, it was found that nitrogen cannot be supplied to the Si/$SiO_2$ interface by plasma oxidation as the $N_2O$ molecule is broken in the plasma and because a dense Si-N bond is formed at the $SiO_2$ surface, preventing further diffusion of nitrogen into the oxide. Nitrogen was added to the $Si/SiO_2$ interface by the plasma oxidation of mixtures of $O_2/N_2O$ gas, leading to an enhancement of the field effect mobility of polycrystalline Si TFTs due to the reduction in the number of trap densities at the interface and at the Si grain boundaries due to nitrogen passivation.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.62-65
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• 2017

Passivation of surface defects by the formation of chemically inert structure at the surface of $TiO_2$ nanocrystals can be potentially useful in enhancing their photocatalytic activity. In this regard, we have studied the surface chemical states of $TiO_2$ surfaces prepared by a treatment in the afterglow of $N_2$ microwave plasma using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). We find that nitrogen is incorporated into the surface after the treatment up to a few atomic percent. Interestingly, the surface oxynitride layer is found to be chemically stable when it's in contact with water at room temperature (RT). The surface nitrogen species were also found to be thermally stable upon annealing up to $150^{\circ}C$ in the atmospheric pressure. Thus, we conclude that the treatment of oxide materials such as $TiO_2$ in the afterglow of $N_2$ plasma can be effective way to passivate the surface with nitrogen species.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.35 no.11A
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• pp.1091-1096
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• 2010

Stiction in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has been a major failure mechanism. Especially, in RF MEMS switches, moving parts often suffered in-use and release related stiction problems. Some materials and methods have been used to prevent this problem. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) has not only been used as a protective material owing to its good mechanical properties but also has been used as a hydrophobic material. Its properties could be controlled by post annealing treatment in various conditions. We synthesized DLC films using a radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF PECVD) method on silicon substrates using methane ($CH_4$) and hydrogen ($H_2$) gas. Then, the change of the hydrophobic property of the films was investigated undervarious annealing temperatures in nitrogen and in oxygen ambient. The films, that were annealed above $700^{\circ}C$ in nitrogen ambient, showed a high contact angle of water (> $90^{\circ}$) even though their mechanical property was sacrificed to some degree. The structural variation and the changes of the hydrophobic and mechanical properties of the DLC films were analyzed by Raman spectrum, contact angle measurement, surface profiler, and a nanoindentation test.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.118-122
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• 2006

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were prepared on silicon substrates by the RF PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) method using methane $(CH_4)$ and hydrogen $(H_2)$ gas. We examined the effects of the post annealing temperature on the tribological properties of the DLC films using friction force microscopy (FFM). The films were annealed at various temperatures ranging from 300 to $900^{\circ}C$ in steps of $200^{\circ}C$ using RTA equipment in nitrogen ambient. The thickness of the film was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and surface profile analysis. The surface morphology and surface energy of the films were examined using atomic force microscopy and contact angle measurement, respectively. The hardness of the DLC film was measured as a function of the post annealing temperature using a nano-indenter. The tribological characteristics were investigated by atomic force microscopy in FFM mode.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.1256_1257
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• 2009

We have grown, for the first time to our knowledge, N-doped ZnO thin films on sapphire substrate by employing novel dielectric barrier discharge in pulsed laser deposition (DBD-PLD). DBD guarantees an effective way for massive in-situ generation of N-plasma under the conventional PLD process condition. Low-temperature photoluminescence spectra of the N-doped ZnO film provided near band-edge emission after thermal annealing process. The emission peak was resolved by Gaussian fitting to find a dominant acceptor-bound exciton peak ($A^0X$) that indicates the successful p-type doping of ZnO with N.