• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.23 no.1 s.178
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• pp.89-96
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• 2006

In this study, fabrication of the large area silicon mirror is accomplished by anisotropic wet etching using micromachining technology for implementation of integrated slim optical pickup and the process condition is also established for improving the mirror surface roughness. Until now, few results have been reported about the production of highly stepped $9.74^{\circ}$ off-axis-cut silicon wafers using wet etching. In addition rough surface of the mirror is achieved in case of tong etching time. Hence a novel method called magnetorheolocal finishing is applied to enhance the surface quality of the mirror plane. Finally, areal peak to valley surface roughness of mirror plane is reduced about 100nm in large area of $mm^2$ and it is applicable to optical pickup using infrared wavelength.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.191-195
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• 2011

Wet chemical etching methods were utilized to conduct Si surface texturing, which could enhance photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation rate. Two different etching methods tested, which were anisotropic metal-catalyzed electroless etching and isotropic etching. The Si nano-texture that was fabricated by the anisotropic etching showed ~25% increase in photocurrent for H2 generation. The photocurrent enhancement was attributed to the reduced reflection loss at the nano-textured Si surface, which provided a layer of intermediate density between water and the Si substrate.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.316-321
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• 2013

The electrical properties and surface morphology changes of a silicon wafer as a function of the HF concentration as the wafer is etched were studied. The HF concentrations were 28, 30, 32, 34, and 36 wt%. The surface morphology changes of the silicon wafer were measured by an SEM ($80^{\circ}$ tilted at ${\times}200$) and the resistivity was measured by assessing the surface resistance using a four-point probe method. The etching rate increased as the HF concentration increased. The maximum etching rate 27.31 ${\mu}m/min$ was achieved at an HF concentration of 36 wt%. A concave wave formed on the wafer after the wet etching process. The size of the wave was largest and the resistivity reached 7.54 $ohm{\cdot}cm$ at an 30 wt% of HF concentration. At an HF concentration of 30 wt%, therefore, a silicon wafer should have good joining strength with a metal backing as well as good electrical properties.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.395-400
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• 2005

Nano-scale fabrication of silicon substrate based on the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) was demonstrated. A specially designed cantilever with diamond tip, allowing the formation of damaged layer on silicon substrate by a simple scratching process, has been applied instead of conventional silicon cantilever for scanning. A thin damaged layer forms in the substrate at the diamond tip-sample junction along scanning path of the tip. The damaged layer withstands against wet chemical etching in aqueous KOH solution. Diamond tip acts as a patterning tool like mask film for lithography process. Hence these sequential processes, called tribo-nanolithography, TNL, can fabricate 2D or 3D micro structures in nanometer range. This study demonstrates the novel fabrication processes of the micro cantilever and diamond tip as a tool for TNL using micro-patterning, wet chemical etching and CVD. The developed TNL tools show outstanding machinability against single crystal silicon wafer. Hence, they are expected to have a possibility for industrial applications as a micro-to-nano machining tool.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.23 no.8 s.185
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• pp.39-46
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• 2006

Nano-scale fabrication of silicon substrate based on the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) was demonstrated. A specially designed cantilever with diamond tip, allowing the formation of damaged layer on silicon substrate by a simple scratching process, has been applied instead of conventional silicon cantilever for scanning. A thin mask layer forms in the substrate at the diamond tip-sample junction along scanning path of the tip. The mask layer withstands against wet chemical etching in aqueous KOH solution. Diamond tip acts as a patterning tool like mask film for lithography process. Hence these sequential processes, called tribo-nanolithography, TNL, can fabricate 2D or 3D micro structures in nanometer range. This study demonstrates the novel fabrication processes of the micro cantilever and diamond tip as a tool for TNL using micro-patterning, wet chemical etching and CVD. The developed TNL tools show outstanding machinability against single crystal silicon wafer. Hence, they are expected to have a possibility for industrial applications as a micro-to-nano machining tool.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.156-161
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• 2011

The present study introduces a novel wet etching technique for nanostructure fabrications which usually requires low surface roughness. Using the current method, acquired profiles were smooth even in the nanoscale, which cannot be easily achieved with conventional wet or dry etching methods. As one of the most popular single crystal silicon etchant, potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution was used as a base solvent and two additives, antimony trioxide (Sb2O3) and ethyl alcohol were employed in. Four experimental parameters, concentrations of KOH, Sb2O3, and ethyl alcohol and temperature were optimized at 60 wt.%, 0.003 wt.%, 10 v/v%, and $23^{\circ}C$, respectively. Effects of additives in KOH solution were investigated on the profiles in both (110) and (111) planes of single crystal silicon wafer. The preliminary results show that additives play a critical role to decrease etch rate significantly down to ~2 nm/min resulting in smooth side wall profiles on (111) plane and enhanced surface roughness.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.7-11
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• 2015

In order to protect the patterned mask from contamination during lithography process, pellicle has become a critical component for Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. According to EUV pellicle requirements, the pellicle should have high EUV transmittance and robust mechanical property. In this study, silicon nitride, which is well-known for its remarkable mechanical property, was used as a pellicle membrane material to achieve high EUV transmittance. Since long silicon wet etching process time aggravates notching effect causing stress concentration on the edge or corner of etched structure, the remaining membrane is prone to fracture at the end of etch process. To overcome this notching effect and attain high transmittance, we began preparing a rather thick (200 nm) $SiN_x$ membrane which can be stably manufactured and was thinned into 43 nm thickness with HF wet etching process. The measured EUV transmittance shows similar values to the simulated result. Therefore, the result shows possibilities of HF thinning processes for $SiN_x$ EUV pellicle fabrication.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.37-40
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• 2003

We have studied micro-machining technologies to fabricate parts and sensors used in the semiconductor equipment. The studies were based on the silicon integrated circuit processes, and composed of the anisotropic etching of single crystal silicon to fabricate a membrane structure for hot and cold junctions in the infrared absorber. KOH and TMAH were used as etching solutions for the anisotropic wet etching for membrane structure formation. The etching characteristic was observed for the each solution, and etching rate was measured depending upon the temperature and concentration of the etching solution. The different characteristics were observed according to pattern directions and etchant concentration. The pattern was made to incline $45^{\circ}$ on the primary flat, and optimum etching property was obtained in the case of 30 wt% and $90^{\circ}C$ of KOH etching solution for the formation of the membrane structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.592-592
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• 2012

태양전지에서 고효율 달성을 위해 태양광을 더 많이 활용하기 위해서는 태양전지 표면에서의 광 반사를 줄여야 하는데 가장 효과적인 방법은 실리콘 기판의 wet etching 공정을 통한 텍스쳐링이다. 태양전지에서 가장 많이 사용되는 파장대역은 가시광선 영역인데 555 nm 파장에서 실리콘 표면의 total reflectance는 30.1%로 매우 높고 diffuse reflectance는 0.1%로서 무시할만큼 적다. 하지만 wet etching을 한 후 total reflectance는 18%까지 감소하였고, diffuse reflectance는 16%까지 증가하였다. 결정면에 따른 식각선택성을 이용하는 이방성 etching으로 V groove 모양의 표면형상을 얻을 수 있었고, 후속 등방성 etching을 하여 U groove 표면형상을 얻을 수 있었다. 또한 wet etching의 문제점중의 하나는 반응중에 생성되는 수소기체가 실리콘 표면에 부착되어 etching이 불균일하게 진행되는 것인데 초음파를 사용하여 이 문제를 해결하였다. 그리고 Etchant의 성분용액중 하나인 IPA의 농도조절을 통해 표면에 형성되는 피라미드의 크기를 조절할 수 있었다. 본 연구에서는 실리콘 표면형상의 각각 서로 다른 크기와 모양에 따라 태양전지를 만들었을 때 빛의 활용 측면에서 어떤 변화가 있고 얼마만큼의 효율변화가 있는지에 대해서도 알아보았다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.351-354
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• 2004

This work presents a simple and cost-effective approach for maskless fabrication of positive-tone silicon master for the replica molding of hyperfine elastomeric channel. Positive-tone silicon masters were fabricated by a maskless fabrication technique using the combination of nanoscratch by Nanoindenter ⓡ XP and XOH wet etching. Grooves were machined on a silicon surface coated with native oxide by ductile-regime nanoscratch, and they were etched in a 20 wt％ KOH solution. After the KOH etching process, positive-tone structures resulted because of the etch-mask effect of the amorphous oxide layer generated by nanoscratch. The size and shape of the positive-tone structures were controlled by varying the etching time (5, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30 min) and the normal loads (1, 5 mN) during nanoscratch. Moreover, the effects of the Berkovich tip alignment (0, 45$^{\circ}$) on the deformation behavior and etching characteristic of silicon material were investigated.