• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.32-36
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• 2014

In this study, the etching characteristics of titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) thin films were investigated with the addition of $N_2$ to CF4/Ar plasma. The crystal structure of the $TiO_2$ was amorphous. A maximum etch rate of 111.7 nm/min and selectivity of 0.37 were obtained in an $N_2/CF_4/Ar$ (= 6:16:4 sccm) gas mixture. The RF power was maintained at 700 W, the DC-bias voltage was - 150 V, and the process pressure was 2 Pa. In addition, the etch rate was measured as functions of the etching parameters, such as the gas mixture, RF power, DC-bias voltage, and process pressure. We used X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the chemical state on the surface of the etched $TiO_2$ thin films. To determine the re-deposition and reorganization of residues on the surface, atomic force microscopy was used to examine the surface morphology and roughness of $TiO_2$ thin films.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.45-48
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• 2000

High dielectric (Ba,Sr)TiO$_3$ thin films were etched in an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) as a function of C1$_2$/Ar gas mixing ratio. Under Cl$_2$(20)/Ar(80), the maximum etch rate of the BST films was 400$\AA$/min and selectivities of BST to Pt and PR were obtained 0.4 and 0.2, respectively. We investigated the etched surface of BST by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). From the result of XPS analysis, we found that residues of Ba-Cl and Ti-Cl bonds remained on the surface of the etched BST for high boiling point. The surface roughness decreased as Cl$_2$ increases in Cl$_2$/Ar plasma because of non-volatile etching products. This changed the nature of the crystallinity of BST. From the result of XRD analysis, the crystalliility of etched BST film maintained as similar to as-deposited BST under Ar only and Cl$_2$(20)/Ar(80). However, (100) orientation intensity of etched BST film abruptly decreased at Cl$_2$ only plasma. It was caused that Cl compounds were redeposited on the etched BST surface and damaged to crystallinity of BST film during the etch process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.363-366
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• 2000

In this study, SrBi$_2$Ta$_2$$O_{9}$ (SBT) thin films were etched at different Cl$_2$gas mixing ratio in Cl$_2$/Ar. The maximum etch rate of SBT was 883 $\AA$/min in Cl$_2$(20%)/Ar(80%). The result indicates that physical sputtering of charged particles is dominant to chemical reaction in etching SBT thin films. To evaluate the changes of morphology and crystallinity on the near surface of etched SBT, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) were used. The rms values of etched samples in Ar only or Cl$_2$ only plasma were higher than that of as-deposited, Cl$_2$/Ar Plasma. The SBT (105) crystalinity of the etched samples decreased in Af only or Cla only plasma, but maintain constant in ClyAr plasma. This can be illustrated by a decrease of Bi content or nonvolatile etching products (Sr-Cl and Ta-Cl), resulting in the changes of stoichiometry on the etched surface of the SBT thin films. The decrease of Bi content and nonvolatile etch products were revealed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).).

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.28-28
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• 2007

Ferroelectric $(Ba_{0.5}Sr_{0.5})TiO_3$ (BST) thin films of thickness 500nm were deposited on $LaAlO_3$, (LAO) substrates by at $800^{\circ}C$. BST films were characterized for structure using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface morphology and thickness of BST the films were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). We measured the dielectric properties at microwave frequencies (1~3 GHz) using a symmetrical stripline resonator with shorted ends and terahertz frequencies (0.2~2.5 THz) using a time-domain terahertz spectroscopy. The real and imaginary parts of the complex dielectric constant of the BST thin films on LAO substrates were in agreement with those previously reported.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.194-197
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• 2013

We investigated the effect of etching time on the surface roughness, and electrical and optical properties of ZnO and 2 wt% Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films. The ZnO and AZO films were deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technique. The etching experiment was carried out using a solution of 5% HCl at room temperature. The surface roughness was characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy. The electrical property was measured by Hall measurement system and 4-point probe. The optical property was characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy. After the wet chemical etching, the surface textures were obtained on the surface of the ZnO and AZO films. With the increase of etching time, the surface roughness (RMS) of the films increased and the transmittance of the films was observed to decrease. For the AZO film, a low resistivity of $1.0{\times}10^{-3}\;{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ was achieved even after the etching.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2007.07a
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• pp.1347-1348
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• 2007

In this paper, ITO gate electrode surface was modified using $O_2$ plasma and organic gate insulating layers were deposited on the ITO surface using plasma polymerization technique. In order to investigate the influence of the plasma coupling method and plasma conditions on the plasma polymerized methyl methacrylate (ppMMA) thin film properties, inductively coupled (ICP) and capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) were used to generate the plasma and the plasma parameters were varied. The ppMMAs were investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and a Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Dielectric constants of the ppMMA thin films were investigated using a impedance analyzer (HP4192A, LF Impedance Analyzer). Current-Voltage (I-V) characteristics of the organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) were investigated using a source measurement unit (SMU: Keithley 2612). Proposed method can be applied to dry-process to fabricate OTFTs during overall fabricating steps.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.318-324
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• 2007

We report on a strong violet luminescence emitted from the ZnO:Al films grown on glass substrate by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The growth of high-quality thin films and their optical properties are controlled by adjusting the mixture ratio of Ar and $O_2$, which is used as the sputtering gas. The crystallinity of the films is improved as the oxygen flow ratio is decreased, as evidenced in both x-ray diffractometer and atomic force microscope measurements. As for the violet luminescence measured by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, the peak energy and intensity of the PL signal are decreased with increasing the oxygen flow ratio. The peak energy of the violet PL spectrum for the thin film with an oxygen flow ratio of 50 % is almost constant, regardless of the increase of laser Power and temperature. These results indicate that the violet PL signal is probably due to defects related to interstitial Zn atoms.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.932-938
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• 2007

The structural, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO thin films grown on glass by radio-frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering were investigated. The mixture flow ratio of $O_2$ to Ar, which was operated with sputtering gas, was chosen as a parameter for growing high-qualify ZnO thin films. The structural properties and surface morphologies of the thin films were characterized by the X-ray diffraction and the atomic force microscope, respectively. As for the optical properties of the films, the optical absorbance was measured in the wavelength range of 300-1100 nm by using UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The optical transmittance, absorption coefficient, and optical bandgap energy of ZnO thin films were calculated from the measured data. The crystallinity of the films was improved and the bandgap energy was increased from 3.08 eV to 3.23 eV as the oxygen flow ratio was increased from 0 % to 50 %. Furthermore, The ultraviolet and violet luminescences were observed by using photoluminescence spectroscopy. The hall mobility was decreased with the increase of oxygen flow ratio.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.724-730
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• 2018

Chromium and chromium nitride were selected as potential barriers to prevent fuel-clad chemical interaction (FCCI) between the cladding and the fuel material. In this study, ferritic/martensitic HT-9 steel and misch metal were used to simulate the reaction between the cladding and fuel fission product, respectively. Radio frequency magnetron sputtering was used to deposit Cr and CrN films onto the cladding, and the gas flow rates of argon and nitrogen were fixed at certain values for each sample to control the deposition rate and the crystal structure of the films. The samples were heated for 24 h at 933 K through the diffusion couple test, and considerable amount of interdiffusion (max. thickness: $550{\mu}m$) occurred at the interface between HT-9 and misch metal when the argon and nitrogen were used individually. The elemental contents of misch metal were detected at the HT-9 through energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy due to the interdiffusion. However, the specimens that were sputtered by mixed gases (Ar and $N_2$) exhibited excellent resistance to FCCI. The thickness of these CrN films were only $4{\mu}m$, but these films effectively prevented the FCCI due to their high adhesion strength (frictional force ${\geq}1,200{\mu}m$) and dense columnar microstructures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.310-310
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• 2010

Electronic and photovoltaic characteristics of two sensitizers (TA-BTD-CA and TA-BTD-St-CA), composed of a different $\pi$-conjugation in the linker group, have been investigated by theoretical and experimental methods. The electronic structure, transition dipole moment and oscillator strengths of two sensitizers have been scrutinized by using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) method. The LUMO level and the oscillator strength of TA-BTD-St-CA was higher than that of TA-BTD-CA, which may facilitate the electron injection process as well as increase the absorption coefficient. The relative efficiencies of the electron injection from the excited sensitizer to nanocrystalline TiO2 and SnO2 films have also been investigated by nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. The relative electron injection efficiency of TA-BTD-St-CA exhibited similar injection efficiency for two different semiconductors. However, in the case of TA-BTD-CA sensitizer, electron injection into SnO2 was approximately three times larger than that into TiO2. This enhancement of electron injection of TA-BTD-CA for the SnO2 is due to the increment of the driving force caused by positive shift of conduction band of semiconductor, which was also confirmed from the investigation for the photovoltaic characteristics according to the electrolyte additive, such as LiI additive.