• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2012

We fabricated the textured silicon (Si) surface on Si substrates by the electrochemical etching using gold (Au) nanoparticle catalysts. The antireflective property of the fabricated Si nanostructures was improved. The Au nanoparticles of ~20-150 nm were formed by the rapid thermal annealing using thermally evaporated Au films on Si. In the chemical etching, the aqueous solution containing $H_2O_2$ and HF was used. In order to investigate the effect of electrochemical etching on the etching depth and reflectance characteristics, the sample was immersed in the aqueous etching solution for 1 min with and without applied cathodic voltages of -1 V and -2 V. As a result, the solar weighted reflectance, i.e., the averaged reflectance with considering solar spectrum (air mass 1.5), could be efficiently reduced for the electrochemically etched Si by applying the cathodic voltage of -2 V, which is expected to be useful for Si solar cell applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.70-71
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• 2007

Multicrystalline silicon(mc-Si) solar cells are steadily increasing their share of the PV market due to the lower material costs. However, commercial mc-Si solar cells have lower efficiency than singlecrystalline silicon solar cells. To improve efficiency of mc-Si solar cells, it is important to reduce optical losses from front surface reflection. Isotropic etching with acid solution based on hydrofluoric acid(HF) and nitric acid$(HNO_3)$ is one of the promising methods that can reduce surface reflectance for mc-Si solar cells. Anisotropic etching is not suitable for mc-Si because of its various grain orientations. In this paper, we isotropically etched mc-Si using acid solution. After that, etched surface was observed by Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM) and surface reflectance was measured. We obtained 29.29% surface reflectance by isotropic etching with acid solution in wavelength from 400nm to 1000nm for fabrication of mc-Si solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.299.2-299.2
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• 2013

We investigated the potassium remaining on a crystalline silicon solar cell after potassium hydroxide (KOH) etching and its effect on the lifetime of the solar cell. KOH etching is generally used to remove the saw damage caused by cutting a Si ingot; it can also be used to etch the rear side of a textured crystalline silicon solar cell before atomic layer-deposited Al2O3 growth. However, the potassium remaining after KOH etching is known to be detrimental to the efficiency of Si solar cells. In this study, we etched a crystalline silicon solar cell in three ways in order to determine the effect of the potassium remnant on the efficiency of Si solar cells. After KOH etching, KOH and tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) were used to etch the rear side of a crystalline silicon solar cell. To passivate the rear side, an Al2O3 layer was deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD). After ALD Al2O3 growth on the KOH-etched Si surface, we measured the lifetime of the solar cell by quasi steady-state photoconductance (QSSPC, Sinton WCT-120) to analyze how effectively the Al2O3 layer passivated the interface of the Al2O3 layer and the Si surface. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) was also used to measure how much potassium remained on the surface of the Si wafer and at the interface of the Al2O3 layer and the Si surface after KOH etching and wet cleaning.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.709-713
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• 2018

To improve the etch rate of $Si_3N_4$ thin film, $H_2SiF_6$ is added to increase etching rate by more than two times. $SiO_3H_2$ is gradually added to obtain a selectivity of 170: 1 at 600 ppm. Moreover, when $SiO_3H_2$ is added, the etching rate of the $SiO_2$ thin film increases in proportion to the radius of the wafer. In $Si_3N_4$ thin film, there is no difference in the etching rate according to the position. However, in the $SiO_2$ thin film, the etching rate increases in proportion to the radius. At the center of the wafer, the re-growth phenomenon is confirmed at a specific concentration or above. The difference in etch rates of $SiO_2$ thin films and the reason for regrowth at these positions are interpreted as the result of the flow rate of the chemical solution replaced with fresh solution.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.5 no.2 s.15
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• pp.41-46
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• 2006

Wet etching process in recent semiconductor manufacturing is devided into batch and single wafer type. Batch type wet etching process provides more throughput with poor etching uniformity compared to single wafer type process. Single wafer process achieves better etching uniformity by boom-swing injected chemical on rotating wafer. In this study, etching characteristics of $SiO_2$ layer at room and elevated temperature is evaluated and compared. The difference in etching rate and uniformity of each condition is identified, and the temperature profile of injected chemical is theoretically calculated and compared to that of experimental result. Better etching uniformity is observed with single wafer tool with boom-swing injection compared to single wafer process without boom-swing or batch type tool.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1996.07c
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• pp.1550-1552
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• 1996

Poly-Si films were deposited by Laser CVD using 193nm ArF Excimer Laser from disilane($Si_{2}H_{6}$) and then the films were etched by Laser Etching using the same Laser with SF6 etching gas. Dependence on various film deposition conditions and etching conditions was investigated respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.180-181
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• 2015

본 논문에서는 ICP Poly Etcher를 이용한 Dry Etch에서 몇가지 공정조건의 변화에 따른 Etching 특성 변화를 연구하였다. 주요 가스유량들이 증가 할 때, Poly-Si 의 Etch rate는 증가 하였으며 Uniformity는 나빠진 것을 확인 할 수 있었고 다른 특성들은 특별한 변화를 보이지 않았다. 주요 Gas인 HBr의 증가는 PR(Photo Resist)와 Uniformity에 영향을 주었다. 이 논문을 통해 HBr의 유량이 Poly-Si Etching에 영향을 주는 결과를 알아 볼 수 있었고 HBr 가스의 유량 증가가 Polymer의 생성에 영향을 줘 Selectivity와 Uniformity를 증가 시킨다는 것도 확인 해 볼 수 있었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.320-320
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• 2013

Film thickness monitoring with plasma impedance monitoring (PIM) is demonstrated for small area $SiO_2$ RF plasma etching processes in this work. The chamber conditions were monitored by the impedance signal variation from the I-V monitoring system. Moreover, modified principal component analysis (mPCA) was applied to estimate the $SiO_2$ film thickness. For verification, the PIM was compared with optical emission spectroscopy (OES) signals which are widely used in the semiconductor industry. The results indicated that film thickness can be estimated by 1st principal component (PC) and 2nd PC. Film thickness monitoring of small area $SiO_2$ etching was successfully demonstrated with RF plasma harmonic impedance monitoring and mPCA. We believe that this technique can be potentially applied to plasma etching processes as a sensitive process monitoring tool.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.779-783
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• 2011

The morphology of etch pits in commercial 4H-SiC epi-wafer were investigated by molten-KOH etching. The etching process was optimized in $525{\sim}570^{\circ}C$ at 2~10 min and the novel type of etch pits was revealed. This type of etch pits have been considered as TED (threading edge dislocation) II, its origin and nature, however, are not reported yet. In this work, the morphology and evolution of etch pits during epitaxial growth were analyzed and the different behavior between TED and TEDII was discussed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1990

We present a theoretical investigation on the etching of an Al solid by $SiCl_4$ molecules at a collision energy of 600 eV. The classical trajectory method is employed to calculate Al etching yields, degree of anisotropy, kinetic energy distribution and angular distribution. The calculated results are compared with the reaction of a Cu solid by $SiCl_4$. The major products of the reaction are aluminum monomers and dimers together with considerable quantities of multimers. The Al solid shows better etching yield and better anisotropy than the Cu solid. This is consistent with the problem in the CMOS micro-fabrication of the CuAl and CuAlSi alloys. The relevance of these calculations for the dry etching of CuAl alloy is discussed.