• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.185-186
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• 2007

• Proceedings of the Korean Society Of Semiconductor Equipment Technology
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.12-17
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• 2003

본 연구에서는 MICP Etching system 을 이용한 Via contact 및 Deep contact hole etch process 특성을 연구하였다. Langmuir probe 를 이용한 MICP source 의 Plasma density & electron temperature 측정하였고 탄소와 플로우르를 포함하는 혼합 Plasma 를 형성하여 RF frequency, wall temperature, chamber gap, gas chemistry 등의 변화에 따른 식각 특성을 조사하였다. Plasma density 는 1000w 에서 $10^{11}$/$cm^3$ 이상의 high density plasma와 uniform plasma 형성을 확인하였고 $CH_{2}F_{2}$와 CO의 적절한 혼합비를 이용하여 Oxide to PR 선택비가 10 이상인 고선택비 조건을 확보하였다. 고선택비 형성에 따라 Polymer 형성이 많이 되었고 이를 개선하기 위하여 반응 챔버의 온도 조절을 통하여 Polymer 증착 방지에 효과적인 것을 확인하였다. MICP source를 이용하여 탄소와 플로우르의 혼합 가스와 식각 챔버의 온도 조절에 의한 선택비 증가를 확보하여 High Aspect Ratio Contact Hole Etch 가능성을 확보하였다.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.72-74
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• 2004

In this study, we used a inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source for etching $Al_2O_3$ thin films because of its high plasma density, low process pressure and easy control bias power. $Al_2O_3$ thin films were etched using $Cl_2/BCl_3$, $N_2/Cl_2/BCl_3$, and Ar/$Cl_2/BCl_3$ plasma. The experiments were carried out measuring the etch rates and the selectivities of $Al_2O_3$ to $SiO_2$ as a function of gas mixing ratio, rf power, and chamber pressure. When $Cl_2$ 50% was added to $Cl_2/BCl_3$ plasma, the etch rate of the $Al_2O_3$ films was 118 nm/min. We also investigated the effect of gas addition. In case of $N_2$ addition, the etch rate of the $Al_2O_3$ films decreased while $N_2$ was added into $Cl_2/BCl_3$ plasma. However, the etch rate increased slightly as Ar added into $Cl_2/BCl_3$ plasma, and then further increase of Ar decreased the etch rate. The maximum etch rate was 130 nm/min at Ar 20% in $Cl_2/BCl_3$ plasma, and the highest etch selectivity was 0.81 in $N_2$ 20% in $Cl_2/BCl_3$ plasma. And, we obtained the results that the etch rate increases as rf power increases and chamber pressure decreases. The characteristics of the plasmas were estimated using optical emission spectroscopy (OES).

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.109-110
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• 2007

Plasma etching process에서 magnetic field 영향에 관한 연구이다. High level dry etch process를 위해서는 high density plasma(HDP)가 요구된다. HDP를 위해서 MERIE(Magnetical enhancement reactive ion etcher) type의 설비가 사용되며 process chamber side에 4개의 magnetic coil을 사용한다. 이런 magnetic factor가 특히 wafer edge부문에 plasma charging에 의한 damage를 유발시키고 이로 인해 device Vth(Threshold voltage)가 shift 되면서 제품의 program 동작 문제의 원인이 되는 것을 발견하였다. 이번 연구에서 magnetic field와 관련된 plasma charge damage를 확인하고 damage free한 공정조건을 확보하게 되었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.381.1-381.1
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• 2014

In this study, we investigated the deposition behavior and the etch resistivity of plasma polymerized carbon hardmask (ppCHM) film with the variation of process temperature. The etch resistivity of deposited ppCHM film was analyzed by thickness measurement before and after direct contact reactive ion etching process. The physical and chemical properties of films were characterized on the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscope, Raman spectroscope, stress gauge, and ellipsometry. The deposition behavior of ppCHM process with the variation of temperature was correlated refractive index (n), extinction coefficient (k), intrinsic stress (MPa), and deposition rate (A/s) with the hydrocarbon concentration, graphite (G) and disordered (D) peak by analyzing the Raman and FT-IR spectrum. From this experiment we knew an optimal deposition condition for structure of carbon hardmask with the higher etch selectivity to oxide. It was shown the density of ppCHM film had 1.6~1.9 g/cm3 and its refractive index was 1.8~1.9 at process temperature, $300{\sim}600^{\circ}C$. The etch selectivity of ppCHM film was shown about 1:4~1:8 to undoped siliconoxide (USG) film (etch rate, 1300 A/min).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.523-523
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• 2012

As the wafer geometric requirements continuously complicated and minutes in tens of nanometers, the expectation of real-time add-on sensors for in-situ plasma process monitoring is rapidly increasing. Various industry applications, utilizing plasma impedance monitor (PIM) and optical emission spectroscopy (OES), on etch end point detection, etch chemistry investigation, health monitoring, fault detection and classification, and advanced process control are good examples. However, process monitoring in semiconductor manufacturing industry requires non-invasiveness. The hypothesis behind the optical monitoring of plasma induced ion current is for the monitoring of plasma induced charging damage in non-invasive optical way. In plasma dielectric via etching, the bombardment of reactive ions on exposed conductor patterns may induce electrical current. Induced electrical charge can further flow down to device level, and accumulated charges in the consecutive plasma processes during back-end metallization can create plasma induced charging damage to shift the threshold voltage of device. As a preliminary research for the hypothesis, we performed two phases experiment to measure the plasma induced current in etch environmental condition. We fabricated electrical test circuits to convert induced current to flickering frequency of LED output, and the flickering frequency was measured by high speed optical plasma monitoring system (OPMS) in 10 kHz. Current-frequency calibration was done in offline by applying stepwise current increase while LED flickering was measured. Once the performance of the test circuits was evaluated, a metal pad for collecting ion bombardment during plasma etch condition was placed inside etch chamber, and the LED output frequency was measured in real-time. It was successful to acquire high speed optical emission data acquisition in 10 kHz. Offline measurement with the test circuitry was satisfactory, and we are continuously investigating the potential of real-time in-situ plasma induce current measurement via OPMS.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.124-124
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• 2010

Currently, extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is being investigated for next generation lithography. EUVL is one of competitive lithographic technologies for sub-22nm fabrication of nano-scale Si devices that can possibly replace the conventional photolithography used to make today's microcircuits. Among the core EUVL technologies, mask fabrication is of considerable importance due to the use of new reflective optics having a completely different configuration compared to those of conventional photolithography. Therefore, new materials and new mask fabrication process are required for high performance EUVL mask fabrication. This study investigated the etching properties of SnO2 (Tin Oxide) as a new absorber material for EUVL binary mask. The EUVL mask structure used for etching is SnO2 (absorber layer) / Ru (capping / etch stop layer) / Mo-Si multilayer (reflective layer) / Si (substrate). Since the Ru etch stop layer should not be etched, infinitely high selectivity of SnO2 layer to Ru ESL is required. To obtain infinitely high etch selectivity and very low LER (line edge roughness) values, etch parameters of gas flow ratio, top electrode power, dc self - bias voltage (Vdc), and etch time were varied in inductively coupled Cl2/Ar plasmas. For certain process window, infinitely high etch selectivity of SnO2 to Ru ESL could be obtained by optimizing the process parameters. Etch characteristics were measured by on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. Detailed mechanisms for ultra-high etch selectivity will be discussed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.775-778
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• 2003

We studied InP etching in high density planar inductively coupled $BCl_3$and $BCl_3$/Ar plasmas(PICP). The investigated process parameters were PICP source power, RIE chuck power, chamber pressure and $BCl_3$/Ar gas composition. It was found that increase of PICP source power and RIE chuck power increased etch rate of InP, while that of chamber pressure decreased etch rate. Etched InP surface was clean and smooth (RMS roughness <2 nm) with a moderate etch rate (300-500 $\AA$/min) after the planar $BCl_3$/Ar ICP etching. It may make it possible to open a new regime of InP etching with $CH_4$$H_2$-free plasma chemistry. Some amount of Ar addition (<50%) also improved etch rates of InP, while too much Ar addition reduced etch rates of InP.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.1305-1308
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• 2003

A new technique is presented to construct a predictive model of plasma etch process. This was accomplished by combining a backpropagation neural network (BPNN) and a genetic algorithm (GA). The predictive model constructed in this way is referred to as a GA-BPNN. The GA played a role of controlling training factors simultaneously. The training factors to be optimized are the hidden neuron, training tolerance, initial weight magnitude, and two gradients of bipolar sigmoid and linear functions. Each etch response was optimized separately. The proposed scheme was evaluated with a set of experimental plasma etch data. The etch process was characterized by a $2^3$ full factorial experiment. The etch responses modeled are aluminum (A1) etch rate, silica profile angle, A1 selectivity, and dc bias. Additional test data were prepared to evaluate model appropriateness. The GA-BPNN was compared to a conventional BPNN. Compared to the BPNN, the GA-BPNN demonstrated an improvement of more than 20% for all etch responses. The improvement was significant in the case of A1 etch rate.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.75-79
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• 2017

Honeycomb-shaped Ag-grid transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) were fabricated using two different processes, high density plasma etching and lift-off, and the optical and electrical properties were compared according to the fabrication method. For the fabrication of the Ag-grid TCEs by plasma etching, etch characteristics of the Ag thin film in $10CF_4/5Ar$ inductively coupled plasma (ICP) discharges were studied. The Ag etch rate increased as the power increased at relatively low ICP source power or rf chuck power conditions, and then decreased at higher powers due to either decrease in $Ar^+$ ion energy or $Ar^+$ ion-assisted removal of the reactive F radicals. The Ag-grid TCEs fabricated by the $10CF_4/5Ar$ ICP etching process showed better grid pattern transfer efficiency without any distortion or breakage in the grid pattern and higher optical transmittance values of average 83.3 % (pixel size $30{\mu}m/line$ width $5{\mu}m$) and 71 % (pixel size $26{\mu}m/line$ width $8{\mu}m$) in the visible range of spectrum, respectively. On the other hand, the Ag-grid TCEs fabricated by the lift-off process showed lower sheet resistance values of $2.163{\Omega}/{\square}$ (pixel size $26{\mu}m/line$ width $18{\mu}m$) and $4.932{\Omega}/{\square}$ (pixel size $30{\mu}m/line$ width $5{\mu}m$), respectively.