• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.235-240
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• 2022

Atomically-thin 2D nanomaterials can be easily deformed and have surface corrugations which can influence the frictional characteristics of the 2D nanomaterials. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene can be grown in a wafer scale, which is suitable as a large-area surface coating film. The CVD growth involves cooling process to room temperature, and the thermal expansion coefficients mismatch between graphene and the metallic substrate induces a compressive strain in graphene, resulting in the surface corrugations such as wrinkles and atomic ripples. Such corrugations can induce the friction anisotropy of graphene, and therefore, accurate imaging of the surface corrugation is significant for better understanding about the friction anisotropy of CVD graphene. In this work, the combinatorial analysis using friction force microscopy (FFM) and transverse shear microscopy (TSM) was implemented to unveil the friction anisotropy of CVD bi-layer graphene. The periodic friction anisotropy of the wrinkles was measured following a sinusoidal curve depending on the angles between the wrinkles and the scanning tip, and the two domains were observed to have the different friction signals due to the different directions of the atomic ripples, which was confirmed by the high-resolution FFM and TSM imaging. In addition, we revealed that the atomic ripples can be easily suppressed by ironing the surface during AFM scans with an appropriate normal force. This work demonstrates that the friction anisotropy of CVD bilayer graphene is well-correlated with the corrugated structures and the local friction anisotropy induced by the atomic ripples can be controllably removed by simple AFM scans.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.265-265
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• 2013

We have investigated the influences of dangling bonds generated by alpha particle irradiation on friction and adhesion properties of graphene. Single layer of graphene grown with chemical vapor deposition on copper foil was irradiated by the alpha beam with the average energy of 3.04 MeV and the irradiation dosing between $1{\times}10^{14}$ and $1{\times}10^{15}$/$cm^3$. Raman spectroscopic showed that the ${\pi}$ electron states below Fermi level arises and the $I_D$/$I_G$ increases as increasing the dosing of alpha particle irradiation. The core level X-ray photoelectron (XPS) revealed that these defects represent the creation of various carbon-related defects and dangling bond. The nanoscale tribological properties were investigated with atomic force microscopy in ultrahigh vacuum. The friction appeared to increase remarkably as increasing the amount of dosing, indicating that the dangling bonds on graphene layers enhances the energy dissipations in friction. This trend can be explained by the additional channel of energy dissipation by dangling bond or O- and H- terminated clusters created by alpha particle irradiation.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.226-233
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• 2008

The nucleation and evolution process of Ge nano-islands on Si(001) surfaces grown by chemical vapor deposition have been explored using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The Ge nano-islands are grown by exposing the substrates to a mixture of gasses GeH4 and H2 at pressure of 0.1-0.5Torr and temperatures of $600-650^{\circ}C$. The effect of growth conditions such as temperature, Ge thickness, annealing time on the shape, size, number density, and surface distribution was investigated. For Ge deposition greater than ${\sim}5$ monolayer (ML) with a growth rate of ${\sim}0.1ML/sec$ at $600^{\circ}C$, we observed island nucleation on the surface indicating the transition from strained layer to island structure. Further deposition of Ge led to shape transition from initial pyramid and hut to dome and superdome structure. The lateral average size of the islands increased from ${\sim}20nm$ to ${\sim}310nm$ while the number density decreased from $4{\times}10^{18}$ to $5{\times}10^8cm^{-2}$ during the shape transition process. In contrast, for the samples grown at a relatively higher temperature of $650^{\circ}C$ the morphology of the islands showed that the dome shape is dominant over the pyramid shape. The further deposition of Ge led to transition from the dome to the superdome shape. The evolution of shape, size, and surface distribution is related to energy minimization of the islands and surface diffusion of Ge adatoms. In particular, we found that the initially nucleated islands did not grow through long-range interaction between whole islands on the surface but via local interaction between the neighbor islands by investigation of the inter-islands distance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.211-212
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• 2010

GaN 기반의 상부발광형 LED는 동작되는 동안 생기는 전기적 단락, 그리고 칩 위의 p-형 전극과 n-형 전극 사이에 생기는 누설전류 및 신뢰성 확보를 위하여 칩 표면에 passivation 층을 형성하게 된다. SiO2, Si3N4와 같은 passivation layers는 일반적으로 PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition)공정을 이용한다, 하지만 이는 공정 특성상 plasma로 인한 damage가 유발되기 때문에 표면 누설 전류가 증가 한다. 이로 인해 forward voltage와 reverse leakage current의 특성이 저하된다. 본 실험에서는 원자층 단위의 박막 증착으로 인해 PECVD보다 단차 피복성이 매우 우수한 PEALD(Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition)공정을 이용하여 Al2O3 passivation layer를 증착한 후, 표면 누설전류와 빛의 출력 특성에 대해서 조사해 보았다. PSS (patterned sapphire substrate) 위에 성장된 LED 에피구조를 사용하였고, TCP(Trancformer Copled Plasma)장비를 사용하여 에칭 공정을 진행하였다. 이때 투명전극을 증착하기 위해 e-beam evaporator를 사용하여 Ni/Au를 각각 $50\;{\AA}$씩 증착한 후 오믹 특성을 향상시키기 위하여 $500^{\circ}C$에서 열처리를 해주었다. 그리고 Ti/Au($300/4000{\AA}$) 메탈을 사용하여 p-전극과 n-전극을 형성하였다. Passivation을 하지 않은 경우에는 reverse leakage current가 -5V 에서 $-1.9{\times}10-8$ A 로 측정되었고, SiO2와 Si3N4을 passivation으로 이용한 경우에는 각각 $8.7{\times}10-9$과 $-2.2{\times}10-9$로 측정되었다. Fig. 1 에서 보면 알 수 있듯이 5 nm의 Al2O3 film을 passivation layer로 이용할 경우 passivation을 하지 않은 경우를 제외한 다른 passivation 경우보다 reverse leakage current가 약 2 order ($-3.46{\times}10-11$ A) 정도 낮게 측정되었다. 그 이유는 CVD 공정보다 짧은 ALD의 공정시간과 더 낮은 RF Power로 인해 plasma damage를 덜 입게 되어 나타난 것으로 생각된다. Fig. 2 에서는 Al2O3로 passivation을 한 소자의 forward voltage가 SiO2와 Si3N4로 passivation을 한 소자보다 각각 0.07 V와 0.25 V씩 낮아지는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한 Fig. 3 에서는 Al2O3로 passivation을 한 소자의 output power가 SiO2와 Si3N4로 passivation을 한 소자보다 각각 2.7%와 24.6%씩 증가한 것을 볼 수 있다. Output power가 증가된 원인으로는 향상된 forward voltage 및 reverse에서의 leakage 특성과 공기보다 높은 Al2O3의 굴절률이 광출력 효율을 증가시켰기 때문인 것으로 판단된다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.134-135
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• 2008

Ultra-thin $SiO_2/ZrO_2$ dielectrics were deposited by atomic layer chemical vapor deposition (ALCVD) method for non-volatile memory application. Metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors were fabricated by stacking ultra-thin $SiO_2$ and $ZrO_2$ dielectrics. It is found that the tunneling current through the stacked dielectric at the high voltage is lager than that through the conventional silicon oxide barrier. On the other hand, the tunneling leakage current at low voltages is suppressed. Therefore, the use of ultra-thin $SiO_2/ZrO_2$ dielectrics as a tunneling barrier is promising for the future high integrated non-volatile memory.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.79-84
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• 2021

Graphene has been received a lot of attention as essential parts of future electronic and energy devices. Because of its extraordinary properties contributed from the atomic layer, the interface and surface engineering of graphene are promising approaches for realizing 2D materials-based high-performance devices. Herein, we summarize and introduce recent research trends of the synthesis of graphene through interface engineering for high-performance electronic and energy device applications, and then discuss the challenges and opportunities for achieving high-performance devices in next-generation electronics.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.490-490
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• 2011

Graphene, hexagonal network of carbon atoms forming a one-atom thick planar sheet, has been emerged as a fascinating material for future nanoelectronics. Huge attention has been captured by its extraordinary electronic properties, such as bipolar conductance, half integer quantum Hall effect at room temperature, ballistic transport over ${\sim}0.4{\mu}m$ length and extremely high carrier mobility at room temperature. Several approaches have been developed to produce graphene, such as micromechanical cleavage of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite using adhesive tape, chemical reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide, epitaxial growth of graphene on SiC and single crystalline metal substrate, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis. In particular, direct synthesis of graphene using metal catalytic substrate in CVD process provides a new way to large-scale production of graphene film for realization of graphene-based electronics. In this method, metal catalytic substrates including Ni and Cu have been used for CVD synthesis of graphene. There are two proposed mechanism of graphene synthesis: carbon diffusion and precipitation for graphene synthesized on Ni, and surface adsorption for graphene synthesized on Cu, namely, self-limiting growth mechanism, which can be divided by difference of carbon solubility of the metals. Here we present that large area, uniform, and layer controllable graphene synthesized on Cu catalytic substrate is achieved by acetylene-assisted CVD. The number of graphene layer can be simply controlled by adjusting acetylene injection time, verified by Raman spectroscopy. Structural features and full details of mechanism for the growth of layer controllable graphene on Cu were systematically explored by transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.636-636
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• 2013

Since first discovery of strong Raman spectrum of molecules adsorbed on rough noble metal, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been widely used for detection of molecules with low concentration. Surface plasmons at noble metal can enhance Raman spectrum and using Au nanostructures as substrates of SERS has advantages due to it has chemical stability and biocompatibility. However, the photoluminescence (PL) background from Au remains a problem because of obtaining molecular vibration information. Recently, graphene, two-dimensional atomic layer of carbon atoms, is also well known as PL quenchers for electronic and vibrational excitation. In this study, we observed SERS of single layer graphene on or under monolayer of Au nanoparticles (NPs). Single layer graphene is grown by chemical vapor deposition and transferred onto or under the monolayer of Au NPs by using PMMA transfer method. Monolayer of Au NPs prepared using Langmuir-Blodgett method on or under graphene surface provides closed and well-packed monolayer of Au NPs. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy (WItec, 532 nm) were performed in order to confirm effects of Au NPs on enhanced Raman spectrum. Highly enhanced Raman signal of graphene by Au NPs were observed due to many hot-spots at gap of closed well-packed Au NPs. The results showed that single layer graphene provides larger SERS effects compared to multilayer graphene and the enhancement of the G band was larger than that of 2D band. Moreover, we confirm the appearance of D band in this study that is not clear in normal Raman spectrum. In our study, D band appearance is ascribed to the SERS effect resulted from defects induced graphene on Au NPs. Monolayer film of Au NPs under the graphene provided more highly enhanced graphene Raman signal compared to that on the graphene. The Au NPs-graphene SERS substrate can be possibly applied to biochemical sensing applications requiring highly sensitive and selective assays.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.276-279
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• 2004

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of silicon nitride (SiN) is a proven technique for obtaining layers that meet the needs of surface passivation and anti-reflection coating. In addition, the deposition process appears to provoke bulk passivation as well due to diffusion of atomic hydrogen. This bulk passivation is an important advantage of PECVD deposition when compared to the conventional CVD techniques. A further advantage of PECVD is that the process takes place at a relatively low temperature of 300t, keeping the total thermal budget of the cell processing to a minimum. In this work SiN deposition was performed using a horizontal PECVD reactor system consisting of a long horizontal quartz tube that was radiantly heated. Special and long rectangular graphite plates served as both the electrodes to establish the plasma and holders of the wafers. The electrode configuration was designed to provide a uniform plasma environment for each wafer and to ensure the film uniformity. These horizontally oriented graphite electrodes were stacked parallel to one another, side by side, with alternating plates serving as power and ground electrodes for the RF power supply. The plasma was formed in the space between each pair of plates. Also this paper deals with the fabrication of multicrystalline silicon solar cells with PECVD SiN layers combined with high-throughput screen printing and RTP firing. Using this sequence we were able to obtain solar cells with an efficiency of 14% for polished multi crystalline Si wafers of size 125 m square.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.538-539
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• 2013

여러 장점으로 인해 OLED는 디스플레이 및 조명 등 적용분야가 넓어지고 있지만, 수분 및 산소에 취약하여 그 수명이 제한되는 단점이 있다. 이를 해결하고자 현재까지는 glass cap을 이용한 encapsulation 기술이 적용되고 있지만, flexible 기판에 적용하지 못하는 문제가 있다. 이러한 문제를 해결하고자 여러 가지 thin film encapsulation 기술이 적용되고 있으나 보다 신뢰성이 높은 기술의 개발이 절실한 때이다. Encapsulation 무기 박막 물질로서 $Si_3N_4$ 박막은 PE-CVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) 등의 박막 증착법을 사용한 많은 연구가 진행되어, 저온에서의 좋은 품질의 박막 증착이 가능하지만, 100도 이하의 thermal budget을 갖는 OLED Encapsulation에 사용하기에는 충분하지 않았다. CVD 박막의 특성을 더욱 개선하기 위해 최근 ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) 방법을 통한 $Al_2O_3$ film 증착 방법이 연구되고 있지만, 낮은 증착 속도로 인해 양산에 걸림돌이 되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 또 다른 해결책으로서 Digital CVD 방법을 이용한 양질의 $Si_3N_4$ 박막의 증착을 연구하였다. 이것은 ALD 증착법과 유사하며, 1st step에서 PECVD 방법으로 4~5 ${\AA}$의 얇은 silicon 박막을 증착하고, 2nd step에서 nitrogen plasma를 이용하여 질화 반응을 진행하고, 이러한 cycle을 원하는 두께가 될 때까지 반복적으로 진행된다. 이 때 1 cycle 당 증착속도는 7 ${\AA}$/cycle 정도였다. 최적의 증착 방법과 조건으로 기존의 CVD $Si_3N_4$ 박막 대비 1/5 이하로 pinhole을 최소화 할 수는 있지만 완벽하게 제거하기는 힘든 문제가 있고, 이를 해결하기 위한 개선을 위한 접근 방법이 필요하다고 판단하였다. 본 연구에서는 무기물 박막인 carbon nitride를 이용한 SiN/C:N multilayer 증착 연구를 진행하였다. Fig. 1은 CVD 조건으로 증착된 두께 750 nm SiN film에서 여러 층의 C:N film layer를 삽입했을 때, 38 시간의 85%/$85^{\circ}C$ 가속실험에 따라 OLED의 발광 사진이다. 그림에서 볼 수 있듯이 C:N 층을 삽입하고 또한 그 박막의 수가 증가함에 따라서 OLED에 대한 encapsulation 특성이 크게 개선됨을 확인할 수 있다.