• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.589-596
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• 2019

Pigments with minute particle sizes, such as carbon black (CB) and pigment red 48:2 (P.R.48:2), are the most important types of pigment and have been widely used in many industrial applications. However, minute particles have large surface areas, high oil absorption and low surface energy. They therefore tend to be repellent to the vehicle and lose stability, resulting in significant increases in viscosity or reaggregation in the vehicle. Therefore, finding the best way to improve the dispersion properties of minute particle size pigments presents a major technical challenge. In this study, minute particle types of CB and P.R.48:2 were treated with nitrogen gas plasma generated via radio frequency-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) to increase the dispersion properties of minute particles in deionized (DI) water. The morphologies and particle sizes of untreated and plasma treated particles were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The average distributions of particle size were measured using a laser particle sizer. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was carried out on the samples to identify changes in molecular interactions during plasma processing. The results of our analysis indicate that N2 plasma treatment is an effective method for improving the dispersibility of minute particles of pigment in DI water.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.90-94
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• 2009

The development of low-k materials is essential for modern semiconductor processes to reduce the cross-talk, signal delay and capacitance between multiple layers. The effect of the $CH_4$ concentration on the formation of SiOC(-H) films and their dielectric characteristics were investigated. SiOC(-H) thin films were deposited on Si(100)/$SiO_2$/Ti/Pt substrates by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with $SiH_4$, $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ gas mixtures. After the deposition, the SiOC(-H) thin films were annealed in an Ar atmosphere using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) for 30min. The electrical properties of the SiOC(-H) films were then measured using an impedance analyzer. The dielectric constant decreased as the $CH_4$ concentration of low-k SiOC(-H) thin film increased. The decrease in the dielectric constant was explained in terms of the decrease of the ionic polarization due to the increase of the relative carbon content. The spectrum via Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy showed a variety of bonding configurations, including Si-O-Si, H-Si-O, Si-$(CH_3)_2$, Si-$CH_3$ and $CH_x$ in the absorbance mode over the range from 650 to $4000\;cm^{-1}$. The results showed that dielectric properties with different $CH_4$ concentrations are closely related to the (Si-$CH_3$)/[(Si-$CH_3$)+(Si-O)] ratio.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.816-820
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• 2013

We investigated the characteristics of the silicon oxy-nitride and nitride films grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at the low temperature with a varying $NH_3/N_2O$ mixing ratio and a fixed $SiH_4$ flow rate. The deposition temperature was held at $150^{\circ}C$ which was the temperature compatible with the plastic substrate. The composition and bonding structure of the nitride films were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Nitrogen richness was confirmed with increasing optical band gap and increasing dielectric constant with the higher $NH_3$ fraction. The leakage current density of the nitride films with a high NH3 fraction decreased from $8{\times}10^{-9}$ to $9{\times}10^{-11}(A/cm^2$ at 1.5 MV/cm). This results showed that the films had improved electrical properties and could be acceptable as a gate insulator for thin film transistors by deposited with variable $NH_3/N_2O$ mixing ratio.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.49.1-49.1
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• 2009

산업화 이후, 석탄 석유를 중심으로 한 화석연료가 이산화탄소를대량으로 배출하며 지구 온난화를 야기함에 따라, 석유를 대체할 새로운 에너지원에 대한 관심이 높아지고 있다. 많은 대체에너지 가운데, 청정하고 무한 재생 가능한대체에너지를 이야기할 때, 가장 큰 기대를 받고 있는 것은 태양에너지이며, 이에 보조를 맞춰 태양광 발전에 대한 연구개발이 국내외적으로 활발히 진행되고 있는 실정이다. 태양 전지는 빛 에너지를 직접 전기 에너지로 바꿔주는 소자로, 셀의효율을 높이기 위해서는 최대한 많은 빛을 흡수시킬 수 있는 것이 중요하다. 빛의 반사를 줄이는 방법에는 Texturing 과 Antireflecting coating 이있다. Antireflecting coating은 반도체와 공기의 중간 굴절율을 갖는 박막을 증착하여 측면 반사를 감소시킴으로서 빛의 손실을 감소시키는 역활을 한다. 반사 방지막으로 쓰이는 SiNx는 SiOx의 대체 물질로 굴절률이 약 1.5로서 Si에 쉽게 형성시킬 수 있고, texturing된 Si 표면에 적합하며 반사율을 10 %에서 2 %로 줄일 수 있다. 나아가 고성능의 반사방지막은 박막의 균일도확보 및 passivation 공정이 필수적이라 판단된다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 PECVD 방법으로 SiH4와 NH3 gas 의 비율을 변화시켜 증착한 SiNx 박막의 결정학적 특성을 X-ray Diffraction 분석과 TEM (TransmissionElectron Microsopy) 을 통해 관찰하였으며, XPS (X-rayphotoelectron spectroscopy) 를 통해 화학적결합을 확인하였고, 이를 FT-IR (Fourier Transform-Infrared spectroscopy)를 통해 관찰한 결과와 연관시켜분석하였다. 굴절율의 경우 Ellipsometry를 이용하여측정하였으며 위의 측정을 통하여 SiNx박막의 반사 방지막으로써의 가능성을 확인하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.470.2-470.2
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• 2014

RF-PECVD 장치에 의해 증착된 실리콘 질화막(SiNx)은 결정질 실리콘 태양전지에서 반사 방지막 효과 및 우수한 표면 패시베이션 특성을 제공하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 본 논문에서는 실리콘 질화막의 패시베이션 특성을 향상시키기 위해서 공정온도를 $400^{\circ}C$로 고정하고 공정압력, 가스비, RF (radio frequency) power를 가변하였다. 이 때의 실리콘 질화막의 굴절률 및 두께는 각각 2.0, 80 nm로 증착하여 그에 따른 특성에 대해 분석하였다. 공정 압력이 감소할수록 실리콘 질화막이 증착된 결정질 실리콘 태양전지의 유효 반송자 수명이 증가함을 보였고, 반면에 증착속도는 감소하였다. 또한 RF-power 500 W에서 실리콘 질화막이 증착된 결정질 실리콘 태양전지의 유효 반송자 수명이 상대적으로 높았으며 출력이 올라갈수록 증착속도가 증가하였다. 결과적으로 결정질 실리콘 태양전지에 증착한 실리콘 질화막은 0.8torr 공정 압력과 RF-power 500 W에서 $38.8{\mu}s$로 가장 좋은 유효 반송자 수명을 확인하였다. 위의 결과를 바탕으로 결정질 실리콘 태양전지를 제작하였고 향상된 패시베이션 특성을 갖는 실리콘 질화막의 조건을 찾기 위해서 개방전압(open circuit voltage)을 비교하였다. 공정압력 0.8 torr, RF-power 500 W에서 가장 높은 결과를 보였으며 이는 유효 반송자 수명과 유사한 결과를 나타냈다. 하지만 낮은 FF (fill factor)로 인해 변환 효율이 낮은 결과를 보였다. 태양전지 제작시 낮은 fill factor를 보인 이유와 위의 단점을 보완하기 위해 추가 실험을 수행하였으며, 개선된 fill factor를 통해 18.3% 효율의 태양전지를 제작하였다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2016

Silicon nitride ($SiN_x:H$) films made by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) are generally used as antireflection layers and passivation layers on solar cells. In this study, we investigated the properties of silicon nitride ($SiN_x:H$) films made by PECVD. The passivation properties of $SiN_x:H$ are focused on by making the antireflection properties identical. To make equivalent optical properties of silicon nitride films, the refractive index and thickness of the films are fixed at 2.0 and 90 nm, respectively. This limit makes it easier to evaluate silicon nitride film as a passivation layer in realistic application situations. Next, the effects of the mixture ratio of the process gases with silane ($SiH_4$) and ammonia ($NH_3$) on the passivation qualities of silicon nitride film are evaluated. The absorption coefficient of each film was evaluated by spectrometric ellipsometry, the minority carrier lifetimes were evaluated by quasi-steady-state photo-conductance (QSSPC) measurement. The optical properties were obtained using a UV-visible spectrophotometer. The interface properties were determined by capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurement and the film components were identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy detection (RBS) - elastic recoil detection (ERD). In hydrogen passivation, gas ratios of 1:1 and 1:3 show the best surface passivation property among the samples.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.825-830
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• 1999

Characteristics of SiOF films deposited by a FTES/$O_2$-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method have been investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectro spectroscopy, and ellipsometry. Electrical properties such as dielectric constant, dielectric breakdown and leakage current density are investigated using C-V and I-V measurements with MIS(Au/SiOF/p-Si) capacitor structure. Stepcoverage of the films have been also characterized using scanning electron microscopy and ellipsometry. A high quality SiOF film was formed on that the flow rates of FTES and $O_2$were 300sccm, respectively. The dielectric constant of the deposited SiOF film was about 3.1. This value is lower than that of the oxide films obtained using other method. The dielectric breakdown field and leakage current are more than 10MV/cm and about $8[\times}10^{9}A/\textrm{cm}^2$, respectively. The deposited SiOF film with thickness as $2500{\AA}$ on the $0.3{\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ metal pattern shows a high step-coverage without a void.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.19-23
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• 2009

We have studied dielectric characteristics of low-k interlayer dielectric materials was fabricated by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). BTMSM precursor was introduced with the flow rates from 24 sccm to 32 sccm by 2 sccm step in the constant flow rate of 60 sccm $O_2$. Then, SiOCH thin film deposited at room temperature was annealed at temperature of $400^{\circ}C$ and $500^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes in vacuum. The vibrational groups of SiOCH thin films were analyzed by FT/IR absorption lines, and the dielectric constant of the low-k SiOCH thin films were obtained by measuring C-V characteristic curves. With the result that FTIR analysis, as BTMSM flow rate increase, relative carbon content of SiOCH thin film increased from 29.5% to 32.2%, and increased by 32.8% in 26 sccm specimen after $500^{\circ}C$ annealing. Dielectric constant was lowest by 2.32 in 26 sccm specimen, and decreased more by 2.05 after $500^{\circ}C$ annealing. Also, leakage current is lowest by $8.7{\times}10^{-9}A/cm^2$ in this specimen. In the result, shift phenomenon of chemical bond appeared in SiOCH thin film that BTMSM flow rate is deposited by 26 sccms, and relative carbon content was highest in this specimen and dielectric constant also was lowest value

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2004.07c
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• pp.1737-1739
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• 2004

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were prepared with RF-PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) method on coming glass and silicon substrates using methane ($CH_4$) and hydrogen ($H_2$) gases. We examined the effects of $CH_4$ to $H_2$ ratios on tribological and optical properties of the DLC films. The structure and surface morphology of the films were examined using Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The hardness of the DLC film was measured with nano-indentor. The optical properties of DLC thin film were investigated by UV/VIS spectrometer and ellipsometry. And also, solar cells were fabricated using DLC as antireflection coating before and after coating DLC on silicon substrate and compared the efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1009-1014
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• 2012

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (${\alpha}$-Si:H) layers deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) are investigated for use in silicon hetero-junction solar cells employing n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrates. The optical and structural properties of silicon hetero-junction devices have been characterized using spectroscopy ellipsometry and high resolution cross-sectional transmission electron micrograph (HRTEM). In addition, the effective carrier lifetime is measured by the quasi-steady-state photocoductance (QSSPC) method. We have studied on the correlation between the order of ${\alpha}$-Si:H and the passivation quality at the interface of ${\alpha}$-Si:H/c-Si. Base on the result, we have fabricated a silicon hetero-junction solar cell incorporating the ${\alpha}$-Si:H passivation layer with on open circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$) of 637 mV.