• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.211-211
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• 2012

The electrical loss of the photo-generated carriers is dominated by the recombination at the metal- semiconductor interface. In order to enhance the performance of the solar cells, many studies have been performed on the surface treatment with passivation layer like SiN, SiO2, Al2O3, and a-Si:H. In this work, Al2O3 thin films were investigated to reduce recombination at surface. The Al2O3 thin films have two advantages, such as good passivation properties and back surface field (BSF) effect at rear surface. It is usually deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. However, ALD process is a very expensive process and it has rather low deposition rate. In this study, the ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering method was used to deposit Al2O3 thin films. For optimization of the properties of the Al2O3 thin film, various fabrication conditions were controlled, such as ICP RF power, substrate bias voltage and deposition temperature, and argon to oxygen ratio. Chemical states and atomic concentration ratio were analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In order to investigate the electrical properties, Al/(Al2O3 or SiO2,/Al2O3)/Si (MIS) devices were fabricated and characterized using the C-V measurement technique (HP 4284A). The detailed characteristics of the Al2O3 passivation thin films manufactured by ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering technique will be shown and discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2016.11a
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• pp.102-102
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• 2016

본 연구에서는 직류 전원(direct current; DC)을 이용한 스퍼터링과 고전력펄스 마그네트론 스퍼터링(high-power impulse magentron sputtering; HIPIMS)의 두 가지 방법과 빗각 증착을 적용하여 제조한 티타늄 질화물(TiN) 박막의 미세구조 변화가 물성에 미치는 영향을 확인하였다. TiN 박막은 99.5%의 Ti 타겟을 사용하고, Ar가스와 $N_2$ 분위기에서 스테인리스(SUS304)와 초경(cdmented carbide; WC-10wt.%Co) 기판위에 코팅하였다. 기판은 알코올과 아세톤으로 초음파 세척을 실시한 후 진공용기에 장착하고 기본 진공도인 ${\sim}2.0{\times}10^{-5}Torr$ 까지 진공배기를 실시하였다. 기판과 타겟 간의 거리는 DC 스퍼터링은 10 cm, HIPIMS 스퍼터링은 8.5 cm 이었다. 진공용기의 압력이 기본 진공도까지 배기되면 Ar 가스를 ${\sim}10^{-2}Torr$로 주입한 후 기판에 라디오 주파수(radio frequency; RF) 전원으로 약 -800 V의 전압을 인가하여 글로우 방전을 발생시키고 약 30 분간 청정을 실시하였다. 기판의 청정이 끝난 후 기본 진공도까지 배기한 후 Ar와 $N_2$ 가스를 ${\sim}10^{-3}Torr$로 주입하여 TiN 코팅을 실시하였다. 빗각의 크기는 $45^{\circ}$와 $-45^{\circ}$이며, TiN 박막의 총 두께는 약 $2.5{\sim}4.0{\mu}m$ 로 유지하였다. 공정조건에 따라 TiN 박막의 주상정은 형태와 기울어진 각도가 다른 것을 확인하였다. DC 스퍼터링으로 제조된 TiN 박막은 기판홀더에 약 -100 V 의 bias 전압을 인가하면 인가하지 않은 박막에 비해 치밀한 박막의 성장과 경도 값도 증가하는 사실을 확인하였다. 또한 빗각을 적용하고 bias 전압을 인가하지 않은 시편에서 박리현상이 일어났다. HIPIMS로 제조한 TiN 박막은 bias 전압을 인가한 박막과 인가하지 않은 박막의 주상정 형상과 경도 값에 큰 차이가 없었으며, 박막의 박리현상은 모든 시편에서 일어나지 않았다. DC 스퍼터링으로 제조한 TiN 박막은 bias 전압을 인가하지 않으면 색상이 노란색이 아닌 갈색으로 나타났으며, HIPIMS으로 제조한 박막은 bias 전압 인가 유무에 상관없이 노란색 색상을 나타냈다. 앞서 설명한 DC 스퍼터링과 HIPIMS의 공정조건에 따라 나타난 박막의 경도, 색상, 물성변화 차이는 DC 스퍼터링보다 높은 HIPIMS의 이온화율에서 기인한 것으로 생각된다. 본 연구결과를 이용하면 다양한 형태의 박막 구조 제어가 가능하고 이러한 미세구조 제어를 통해서 박막의 물성도 제어가 가능할 것으로 판단된다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics D
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• v.34D no.3
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• pp.87-92
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• 1997

Inductively coupled Cl$_{2}$ plasma has been studied to etch Pt thin films, which hardly form volatile compound with any reactive gas at normal process temperature. Low etch rate and residue problems are frequently observed. For higher etch rate, high density plasma and higher process temperature is adopted observed. For higher etch rate, high density plasma and higher process temperature is adopted and thus SiO$_{2}$ is used as for patterning mask instead of photoresist. The effect of O$_{2}$ or Ar addition to Cl$_{2}$ was investigated, and the chamber pressure, gas flow rate, surce RF power and bias RF power are also varied to check their effects on etch rate and selectivity. The major etching mechanism is the physical sputtering, but the ion assisted chemical raction is also found to be a big factor. The proposs can be optimized to obtain the etch rate of Pt up to 200nm/min and selectivity to SiO$_{2}$ at 2.0 or more. Patterning of submicron Pt lines are successfully demonstrated.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.17 no.9 s.112
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• pp.860-865
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• 2006

In this paper, a novel tunable inter-digital capacitor using dielectric tunable $Bi_2O_3-ZnO-Nb_2O_5(BZN)$ pyrochlore thin films is proposed. In order to improve the tunability and reduce DC bias voltage using the fringing electric field, the electrodes of the inter-digital capacitor are embedded in the thin film. Designed results using a 2.5 D simulator show that the tunability of the proposed inter-digital capacitor improves by 10 %, compared to the conventional inter-digital capacitor. The proposed IDC, which is based on the simulation results, was fabricated, using the BZN thin film deposited by a reactive RF magnetron sputtering on the on the silicon substrate. The fabricated inter-digital capacitor shows the maximum tunability of 50 % at 5.8 GHz and 18 V DC applied.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.251-252
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• 2012

Recently, the growing interest in organic microelectronic devices including OLEDs has led to an increasing amount of research into their many potential applications in the area of flexible electronic devices based on plastic substrates. However, these organic devices require a gas barrier coating to prevent the permeation of water and oxygen because organic materials are highly susceptible to water and oxygen. In particular, high efficiency OLEDs require an extremely low Water Vapor Transition Rate (WVTR) of $1{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2$/day. The Key factor in high quality inorganic gas barrier formation for achieving the very low WVTR required ($1{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2$/day) is the suppression of defect sites and gas diffusion pathways between grain boundaries. In this study, we developed an $Al_2O_3$ nano-crystal structure single gas barrier layer using a Neutral Beam Assisted Sputtering (NBAS) process. The NBAS system is based on the conventional RF magnetron sputtering and neutral beam source. The neutral beam source consists of an electron cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma source and metal reflector. The Ar+ ions in the ECR plasma are accelerated in the plasma sheath between the plasma and reflector, which are then neutralized by Auger neutralization. The neutral beam energies were possible to estimate indirectly through previous experiments and binary collision model. The accelerating potential is the sum of the plasma potential and reflector bias. In previous experiments, while adjusting the reflector bias, changes in the plasma density and the plasma potential were not observed. The neutral beam energy is controlled by the metal reflector bias. The NBAS process can continuously change crystalline structures from an amorphous phase to nano-crystal phase of various grain sizes within a single inorganic thin film. These NBAS process effects can lead to the formation of a nano-crystal structure barrier layer which effectively limits gas diffusion through the pathways between grain boundaries. Our results verify the nano-crystal structure of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ single gas barrier layer through dielectric constant measurement, break down field measurement, and TEM analysis. Finally, the WVTR of $Al_2O_3$ nano-crystal structure single gas barrier layer was measured to be under $5{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2$/day therefore we can confirm that NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ nano-crystal structure single gas barrier layer is suitable for OLED application.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.318-321
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• 2009

We have studied transparent top gate Al-Zn-Sn-O (AZTO) TFTs with an $Al_2O_3$ protective layer (PL) on an active layer. We also fabricated a transparent 2.5 inch QCIF+AMOLED display panel using the AZTO TFT back-plane. The AZTO active layers were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature and the PL was deposited by ALD with two different processes. The mobility and subthreshold slope were superior in the cases of the vacuum annealing and the oxygen plasma PL compared to the $O_2$ annealing and the water vapor PL, however, the bias stability was excellent for the TFTs of the $O_2$ annealing and the water vapor PL.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.84-87
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• 2003

Carbon nitride ($CN_x$) films were prepared by reactive RF magnetron sputtering system with DC bias at various deposition conditions and the electrical properties were investigated. The films were characterized by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) capacitor which has $Al/CN_x/Si$ structure was designed and fabricated to investigate the capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. Dielectric constant of carbon nitride films is very small.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.3.1-3.1
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• 2010

Water splitting reaction using photocatalysts is of great interest in the utilization of solar energy [1]. In the present work, visible light-responsive $TiO_2$ thin films (Vis-$TiO_2$) were prepared by a radio frequency magnetron sputtering (RF-MS) deposition method and applied for the separate evolution of $H_2$ and $O_2$ from water as well as the photofuel cell. Special attentions will be focused on the effect of HF treatment of Vis-$TiO_2$ thin films on their photocatalytic activities. Vis-$TiO_2$ thin films were prepared by an RF-MS method using a calcined $TiO_2$ plate and Ar as the sputtering gas. The Vis-$TiO_2$ thin films were then deposited on the Ti foil substrate with the substrate temperature at 873 K (Vis-$TiO_2$/Ti). Vis-$TiO_2$/Ti thin films were immersed in a 0.045 vol% HF solution at room temperature. The effect of HF treatments on the activity of Vis-$TiO_2$/Ti thin films for the photocatalytic water splitting reaction have been investigated. Vis-$TiO_2$/Ti thin films treated with HF solution (HF-Vis-$TiO_2$/Ti) exhibited remarkable enhancement in the photocatalytic activity for $H_2$ evolution from a methanol aqueous solution as well as in the photoelectrochemical performance under visible light irradiation as compared with the untreated Vis-$TiO_2$/Ti thin films. Moreover, Pt-loaded HF-Vis-$TiO_2$/Ti thin films act as efficient and stable photocatalysts for the separate evolution of $H_2$ and $O_2$ from water under visible light irradiation in the presence of chemical bias. Thus, HF treatment was found to be an effective way to improve the photocatalytic activity of Vis-$TiO_2$/Ti thin films. Furthermore, unique separate type photofuel cell was fabricated using a Vis-$TiO_2$ thin film as an electrode, which can generate electrical power under solar light irradiation by using various kinds of biomass derivatives as fuel. It was found that the introduction of an iodine ($I^-/{I_3}^-$) redox solution at the cathode side enables the development of a highly efficient photofuel cell which can utilize a cost-efficient carbon electrode as an alternative to the Pt cathode.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.181-185
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• 2007

For more than two decades Nb trilayer ($Nb/Al_2O_3/Nb$) process has been serving as the most stable fabrication process of the Josephson junction integrated circuits. Fast development of semiconductor fabrication technology has been possible with the recent advancement of the fabrication equipments. In this work, we took an advantage of advanced fabrication equipments in developing a superconducting Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) by using Nb trilayers. The ALU is a core element of a computer processor that performs arithmetic and logic operations on the operands in computer instruction words. We used DC magnetron sputtering technique for metal depositions and RF sputtering technique for $SiO_2$ depositions. Various dry etching techniques were used to define the Josephson junction areas and film pattering processes. Our Nb films were stress free and showed the $T{_c}'s$ of about 9 K. To enhance the step coverage of Nb films we used reverse bias powered DC magnetron sputtering technique. The fabricated 1-bit, 2-bit, and 4-bit ALU circuits were tested at a few kilo-hertz clock frequency as well as a few tens giga-hertz clock frequency, respectively. Our 1-bit ALU operated correctly at up to 40 GHz clock frequency, and the 4-bit ALU operated at up to 5 GHz clock frequency.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.410-415
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• 1999

$Ba_{1-x}Sr_xTiO_3$ thin films with various ratio of Sr (X = 0.4, 0.5, 0.6) were grown $Pt/TiN/SiO_2/Si$ subastrate by RF magnetron sputtering deposition. As, Ag, and Cu films were deposited on $Ba_{1-x}Sr_xTiO_3$ thin films as top electrodes by using a thermal evaporator. The electrical properties of $Ba_{1-x}Sr_xTiO_3$ thin films for various compositions were characterized and the physical properties at interface between $Ba_{1-x}Sr_xTiO_3$ thin films and top electrodes were evaluated in terms of the work function difference. At x =0.5, the degradation of capacitance is lower to the other compositions. As negative biasapplied, the specimen with Cu top electrode has board saturation region and low leakage current since work function of Cu is bigger than other electrodes.$ Ba_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}TiO_3$ thin films with Cu top electrode, the dielectric constant was measured to the value of 354 at 1 kHz and the leakage current was obtained to the value of $5.26\times10^{-6}A/cm2$ at the forward bias of 2 V.