• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2003

Design and test results of a VRAG(Vacuum Rotary Arc Gap) switch were presented. To control the damage of electrodes caused by the vacuum arc, Lorentz's force by the radial magnetic field between spiral electrodes was used to rotate the vacuum uc. VRAG switch electrodes were made of the material of CuCr and OFHC. Gap distance between two spiral type electrodes for the rotation of the arc discharge is 8, 10, 12mm. In the cathode, one trigger electrode was inserted into each spiral wing. Normal operation of the VRAG switch was confirmed with 10.6[$mutextrm{s}$]of trigger delay and 2~3[$mutextrm{s}$] of the jitter time. The speed of the vacuum arc was measured to be 0.6 ~ 1[km/s] by a motion analyzer.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.130-136
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• 2003

Crowbar system Vacuum switches, widely used In a pulsed power system, could use the magnetic force to prevent the electrode damage. Vacuum switches using the magnetic forces are classified roughly into RMF(Radial Magnetic Field) and AMF(Axial Magnetic Field) type. The RMF type switches restrain a main electrode from aging due to high temperature and high density arc by rotating the arc which is driven by the Lorenz force. The AMF type switches generate axial magnetic field which decreases the electrode damage by diffusing arc. In this paper, we present the energy loss characteristics of both RMF and AMF type switches which are made of CuCr(75:25 wt%) electrodes. The time-dependent dynamic arc resistance of high-current pulsed discharge in a high vacuum chamber(~10$^{-6}$ Torr). which occurs in RMF and AMF type switches, was obtained by solving the circuit equation using the measured values of the arc voltage and current. In addition, we compared energy loss characteristics of both switches. Based on our results, it was found that the arc voltage and the energy loss of an AMF type switch are lower than a RMF type switch.

• Proceedings of the Korean Ceranic Society Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.161.2-161
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• 2003

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.193-197
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• 2005

Highly c-axis oriented Zinc oxide (ZnO) films were successfully deposited at room temperature by oxygen ion-assisted pulsed filtered vacuum arc. The effect of oxygen gas ratio ($O_{2}/O_{2}+Ar$ on the preferred orientation, surface morphology and resistivity of the ZnO films were investigated. Highly crystalline ZnO films with (002) orientation were obtained at over $13\%$ of oxygen gas ratio. Increasing oxygen gas ratio up to $80\%$ was found to improve crystallinity of the films. From hall measurements, it was found that the film has n-type characteristic and carrier concentration and its mobility were closely related with oxygen gas ratio. Minimal resistivity of $3.6{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ was obtained in the range of $20\%$ to $40\%$ of oxygen gas ratio.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.207-207
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• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.96-97
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• 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.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.250-254
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• 2006

Effect of hydrogen partial pressure ratio on the structural and electrical properties of highly c-axis oriented ZnO films deposited by oxygen ion-assisted pulsed filtered vacuum arc at a room temperature was investigated. The hydrogen partial pressure ratio were $1.4%\sim9.8%$ at 40% oxygen pressure ratio. The conductivity of ZnO:H films was increased from 1.4% up to 4.2% due to relatively high carrier mobility caused by improvement of crystallinity While the conductivity of ZnO:H films were decreased over than 4.2% and (0002) orientation was also deteriorated. The lowest resistivity of ZnO:H films was $2.5{\times}10^{-3}\;{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ at 4.2% of hydrogen pressure ratio. Transmittance of ZnO:H films in visible range was 85% which is lower than that of undoped ZnO films because of declined preferred orientation.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2003

Pulsed magnetron sputtering of graphite target was employed for deposition of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films. Time-resolved probe measurements of magnetron discharge plasma have been performed. It was shown that the pulsed magnetron discharge plasma density ($∼10^{17}$ $m^{-3}$ ) is close to that of vacuum arc cathode sputtering of graphite. Raman spectroscopy was sed to examine DLC films produced at low ( $U_{sub}$ / < 1 kV) pulsed bias voltages applied to the substrate. It has been shown that maximum content of diamond-like carbon in the coating (50-60%) is achieved at energy per deposited carbon atom of $E_{c}$ =100 eV. In spite of rather high percentage of $sp^3$-bonded carbon atoms and good scratch-resistance, the films showed poor adhesion because of absence of ion mixing between the film and the substrates. Electric breakdowns occurring during the deposition of the insulating DLC film also thought to decrease its adhesion.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.145-150
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• 2014

MgO thin films were deposited by internal ICP-assisted reactive-magnetron sputtering with bipolar pulse bias on a substrate to suppress random arcs. Mg is reactively sputtered by a bipolar pulsed DC power of 100 kHz into ICP generated by a dielectrically shielded internal antenna. At a mass flow ratio of $Ar/O_2$ = 10 : 2 and an ICP/sputter power ratio of 1 : 1, optimal film properties were obtained (a powder-like crystal orientation distribution and a RMS surface roughness of approximately 0.42 nm). A bipolar pulse substrate bias at a proper frequency (~a few kHz) prevented random arc events. The crystalline preferred orientations varied between the (111), (200) and (220) orientations. By optimizing the plasma conditions, films having similar bulk crystallinity characteristics (JCPDS data) were successfully obtained.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.117-117
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• 2010

나노입자 제조 기술이 점차 발전하면서 금속산화물, 반도체용 및 태양전지용, 신소재 등 다양한 응용분야에 사용하고 있다. 따라서 이와 같은 나노입자 제조방법으로는 펄스 레이저 용사법(pulsed laser ablation), 플라즈마 아크 합성법(plasma arc synthesis), 열분해법(pyrolysis), plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)법 등과 같은 기상공정이 많이 사용되고 있다. 기상공정은 기존의 공정에 비해 고순도 입자의 대량 생산, 다성분 입자의 화학적 균질성 유지, 비교적 간단하고 깨끗한 공정 등의 장점을 가지고 있다. 기상공정에서 일반적인 입자 형성 메커니즘은 기체 상태의 화학 물질이 물리적 공정 혹은 화학 반응에 의해 과포화상태에 도달하게 되며, 이 때 동질 핵생성(homogeneous nucleation)이 일어나고 생성된 핵(nuclei)에 기체가 응축되고 충돌, 응집하면서 입자는 성장하게 된다. 열분해법은 실리콘 나노입자를 생산하는 기상공정 중 하나이다. 일반적으로 열분해 공정은 지속적으로 열이 가해지는 반응기 내에 반응기체인 $SiH_4$을 주입하고, 운반기체는 He, $H_2$, Ar, $N_2$ 등을 사용하였을 때, 높은 열로 인해 $SiH_4$가 분해되며, 이 때 가스-입자 전환 현상(gas to particle conversion)이 일어나 실리콘 입자가 형성된다. 그러나 입자 형성과정은 $SiH_4$ 농도, 유량, 작동 압력, 온도 등 매우 다양한 요소에 영향을 받는다. 고, 복잡한 화학반응 메커니즘에 의해 명확히 규명되지는 못하고 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 복잡한 화학반응을 해석하는 상용코드 CHEMKIN 4.1.1을 이용하여 열분해 반응기 내에서의 실리콘 입자 형성, 성장, 응집, 전송 모델을 만들고 이를 수치해석하였다. 표면 반응, 응집, 전송에 의한 입자 성장 메커니즘을 포함하고 있는 aerosol dynamics model을 method of moment법으로 해를 구하였으며, 이를 실험 결과와 비교하여 모델링을 검증하였다. 또한 반응기의 온도, 압력, 가스 농도, 유량 등의 요소를 고려하여 실리콘 나노입자를 형성하는 최적의 조건을 연구하였다.