• Current Applied Physics
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1436-1440
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• 2018

SiN and SiCN film production using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) is investigated in this study. A developed high-power and high-density multiple inductively coupled plasma (multi-ICP) source is used for a low temperature PE-ALD process. High plasma density and good uniformity are obtained by high power $N_2$ plasma discharge. Silicon nitride films are deposited on a 300-mm wafer using the PE-ALD method at low temperature. To analyze the quality of the SiN and SiCN films, the wet etch rate, refractive index, and growth rate of the thin films are measured. Experiments are performed by changing the applied power and the process temperature ($300-500^{\circ}C$).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.229-229
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• 2010

With the scaling down of ultra large integrated circuits (ULSI) to the sub-50 nm technology node, the need for an ultra-thin, continuous and conformal diffusion barrier and Cu seed layer is increasing. However, diffusion barrier and Cu seed layer formation with a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method has become difficult as the technology node is reduced to 30 nm and beyond. Recent work on self-forming barrier processes using PVD Cu alloys have attracted great attention due to the capability of conformal ultra-thin barrier formation using a simple technique. However, as in the case of the conventional barrier and Cu seed layer, PVD of the Cu alloy seed layer will eventually encounter the difficulty in conformal deposition in narrow line trenches and via holes. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been known for its good step coverage and precise thickness control, and is a candidate technique for the formation of a thin conformal barrier layer and Cu seed layer. Conformal Cu-Mn seed layers were deposited by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) at low temperature ($120^{\circ}C$), and the Mn content in the Cu-Mn alloys were controlled form 0 to approximately 10 atomic percent with various Mn precursor feeding times. Resistivity of the Cu-Mn alloy films decreased by annealing due to out-diffusion of Mn atoms. Out-diffused Mn atoms were segregated to the surface of the film and interface between a Cu-Mn alloy and $SiO_2$, resulting in self-formed $MnO_x$ and $MnSi_xO_y$, respectively. No inter-diffusion was observed between Cu and $SiO_2$ after annealing at $500^{\circ}C$ for 12 h, indicating an excellent diffusion barrier property of the $MnSi_xO_y$. The adhesion between Cu and $SiO_2$ was enhanced by the formation of $MnSi_xO_y$. Continuous and conductive Cu-Mn seed layers were deposited with PEALD into 32 nm $SiO_2$ trench, enabling a low temperature process, and the trench was perfectly filled using electrochemical plating (ECD) under conventional conditions. Thus, it is the resultant self-forming barrier process with PEALD Cu-Mn alloy film as a seed layer for plating Cu that has further potential to meet the requirement of the smaller than 30 nm node.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.594-597
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• 2005

The barrier characteristics of ZrN films deposited by remote plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition(PEALD) using TDEAZ and $N_2$ remote plasma have been investigated under various deposition conditions such as temperatures, plasma power and processing pressures. ZrN films showed generally improved properties as the processing temperature, pressure and plasma power increased. The optimized processing temperature, plasma power and pressure were $300^{\circ}C$, 200 Watt and 1 torr. respectively ZrN films deposited at the optimized processing conditions showed the carbon contents and resistivity of $6at.\%$ and $400{\mu}{\Omega}cm$ respectively.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 2017

Insulating $TaN_x$ films were grown by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition using butylimido tris dimethylamido tantalum and $N_2+H_2$ mixed gas as metalorganic source and reactance gas, respectively. Crossbar devices having a $Pt/TaN_x/Pt$ stack were fabricated and their electrical properties were examined. The crossbar devices exhibited temperature-dependent nonlinear I (current) - V (voltage) characteristics in the temperature range of 90-300 K. Various electrical conduction mechanisms were adopted to understand the governing electrical conduction mechanism in the device. Among them, the PooleFrenkel emission model, which uses a bulk-limited conduction mechanism, may successfully fit with the I - V characteristics of the devices with 5- and 18-nm-thick $TaN_x$ films. Values of ~0.4 eV of trap energy and ~20 of dielectric constant were extracted from the fitting. These results can be well explained by the amorphous micro-structure and point defects, such as oxygen substitution ($O_N$) and interstitial nitrogen ($N_i$) in the $TaN_x$ films, which were revealed by transmission electron microscopy and UV-Visible spectroscopy. The nonlinear conduction characteristics of $TaN_x$ film can make this film useful as a selector device for a crossbar array of a resistive switching random access memory or a synaptic device.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.183-184
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• 2009

자체 발광형 디스플레이는 잠재적인 장점에도 불구하고 수분에 대한 열화와 같은 기술적인 문제로 상업화하기 어려움이 있어 수분 투습 방지막이 필요하다. 이에 본 연구에서는 작은 결점 크기와 낮은 결점 밀도를 가지는 $TiO_2$ 보호막을 PEALD법으로 증착 하여 $N_2$와 $NH_3$ plasma 처리에 따른 표면 효과를 알아보았다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.93-93
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• 2013

In recent years, multifunctional ternary nitride thin films have received extenstive attention due to its versatility in many applications. In particular, noble metal based ternary nitride thin films showed a promising properties in the application of Multifunctional heating resistor films because its good electrical properties and excellent resistance against oxidation and corrosion. In this study, we prepared multifunctional noble metal based ternary nitride thin films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and plasma-enhanced ALD (PEALD) method. ALD and PEALD techniques were used due to their inherent merits such as a precise composition control and large area uniformity, which is very attractive for preparing multicomponent thin films on large area substrate. Here, we will demonstrate the design concept of multifunctional noble metal based ternary thin films. And, the relationship between microstructural evolution and electrical resistivity in noble metal based ternary thin films will be systemically presented. The useful properties of noble metal based ternary thin films including anti-corrosion and anti-oxidation will be discussed in terms of hybrid functionality.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.675-679
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• 2009

$Ti_xSi_{1-x}O_y$ (TSO) thin films are fabricated using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition. The Ti content in the TSO films is controlled by adjusting the sub-cycle ratio of $TiO_2$ and $SiO_2$. The refractive indices of $SiO_2$ and $TiO_2$ are 1.4 and 2.4, respectively. Hence, tailoring of the refractivity indices from 1.4 to 2.4 is feasible. The controllability of the refractive index and film thickness enables application of an antireflection coating layer to TSO films for use as a thin film solar cell. The TSO coating layer on an Si wafer dramatically reduces reflectivity compared to a bare Si wafer. In the measurement of the current-voltage characteristics, a nonlinear coefficient of 13.6 is obtained in the TSO films.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.149-149
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• 2008

Metal-Insulator-Metal(MIM) capacitors have been studied extensively for next generation of high-density dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices. Of several candidates for metal electrodes, Ru or its conducting oxide $RuO_2$ is the most promising material due to process maturity, feasibility, and reliability. ALD can be used to form the Ru and RuO2 electrode because of its inherent ability to achieve high level of conformality and step coverage. Moreover, it enables precise control of film thickness at atomic dimensions as a result of self-limited surface reactions. Recently, ALD processes for Ru and $RuO_2$, including plasma-enhanced ALD, have been studied for various semiconductor applications, such as gate metal electrodes, Cu interconnections, and capacitor electrodes. We investigated Ru/$RuO_2$ thin films by thermal ALD with various deposition parameters such as deposition temperature, oxygen flow rate, and source pulse time. Ru and $RuO_2$ thin films were grown by ALD(Lucida D150, NCD Co.) using RuDi as precursor and O2 gas as a reactant at $200\sim350^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.221-221
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• 2014

The present work proposes an improved numerical simulator for design and modification of large area capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) processing chamber. CCP, as notoriously well-known, demands the tremendously huge computational cost for carrying out transient analyses in realistic multi-dimensional models, because electron dissociations take place in a much smaller time scale (${\Delta}t{\approx}10-8{\sim}10-10$) than time scale of those happened between neutrals (${\Delta}t{\approx}10-1{\sim}10-3$), due to the rf drive frequencies of external electric field. And also, for spatial discretization of electron flux (Je), exponential scheme such as Scharfetter-Gummel method needs to be used in order to alleviate the numerical stiffness and resolve exponential change of spatial distribution of electron temperature (Te) and electron number density (Ne) in the vicinity of electrodes. Due to such computational intractability, it is prohibited to simulate CCP deposition in a three-dimension within acceptable calculation runtimes (<24 h). Under the situation where process conditions require thickness non-uniformity below 5%, however, detailed flow features of reactive gases induced from three-dimensional geometric effects such as gas distribution through the perforated plates (showerhead) should be considered. Without considering plasma chemistry, we therefore simulated flow, temperature and species fields in three-dimensional geometry first, and then, based on that data, boundary conditions of two-dimensional plasma discharge model are set. In the particular case of SiH4-NH3-N2-He CCP discharge to produce deposition of SiNxHy thin film, a cylindrical showerhead electrode reactor was studied by numerical modeling of mass, momentum and energy transports for charged particles in an axi-symmetric geometry. By solving transport equations of electron and radicals simultaneously, we observed that the way how source gases are consumed in the non-isothermal flow field and such consequences on active species production were outlined as playing the leading parts in the processes. As an example of application of the model for the prediction of the deposited thickness uniformity in a 300 mm wafer plasma processing chamber, the results were compared with the experimentally measured deposition profiles along the radius of the wafer varying inter-electrode gap. The simulation results were in good agreement with experimental data.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.7 no.s1
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• pp.85-99
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• 1998

A ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition(UHVCVD)/metalorganic chemical vapor deposition(MOMBE) system equipped with a radio frequency(RF)-plasma cell was employed to grow GaN layer on the sapphire at a low temperature. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of nitrogen composition on the nitridated sapphite surface indicated that a nitridation process is mostly affected by the RF power at low temperature. Atomic force microscope images of nitridated surface the protrusion density on the nitridated sapphire is dependent on the nitridation temperature. The crystallinity of GaN grown at $450^{\circ}C$ was found to be much improved when the sapphire was nitridated at low temperature prior to the GaN layer growth. Moreover, a strong photoluminescence spectrum of GaN grown by UHVCVD/MOMBE with a rf-nitrogen plasma was observed for the first time at room temperature.