• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.12-15
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• 2013

In this study, we carried out an investigation of the etching characteristics (etch rate, and selectivity to $SiO_2$) of $ZrO_2$ thin films in a $CF_4$/Ar inductively coupled plasma (ICP) system. The maximum etch rate of 60.8 nm/min for $ZrO_2$ thin films was obtained at a 20 % $CF_4/(CF_4+Ar)$ gas mixing ratio. At the same time, the etch rate was measured as a function of the etching parameter, namely ICP chamber pressure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed efficient destruction of the oxide bonds by the ion bombardment, as well as an accumulation of low volatile reaction products on the etched surface. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch characteristics for the $CF_4$-containing plasmas.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1406-1418
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• 2002

The direct simulation Monte Carlo(DSMC) method is employed to calculate the etch rate on Al wafer. The etchant is assumed to be Cl$_2$. The etching process of an Al wafer in a helicon plasma etcher is examined by simulating molecular collisions of reactant and product. The flow field inside a plasma etch reactor is also simulated by the DSMC method fur a chlorine feed gas flow. The surface reaction on the Al wafer is simply modelled by one-step reaction: 3C1$_2$+2Allongrightarrow1 2AIC1$_3$. The gas flow inside the reactor is compared for six different nozzle locations. It is found that the flow field inside the reactor is affected by the nozzle locations. The Cl$_2$ number density on the wafer decreases as the nozzle location moves toward the side of the reactor. Also, the present numerical results show that the nozzle location 1, which is at the top of the reactor chamber, produces a higher etch rate.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.58-62
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• 2003

Silicon carbide (SiC) was etched in a $NF_3/CH_4$ inductively coupled plasma. The etch process was modeled by using a neural network called generalized regression neural network (GRNN). For modeling, the process was characterized by a $2^4$ full factorial experiment with one center point. To test model appropriateness, additional test data of 16 experiments were conducted. Particularly, the GRNN predictive capability was drastically improved by a genetic algorithm (GA). This was demonstrated by an improvement of more than 80% compared to a conventionally obtained model. Predicted model behaviors were highly consistent with actual measurements. From the optimized model, several plots were generated to examine etch rate variation under various plasma conditions. Unlike the typical behavior, the etch rate variation was quite different depending on the bias power Under lower bias powers, the source power effect was strongly dependent on induced dc bias. The etch rate was strongly correated to the do bias induced by the gas ratio. Particularly, the etch rate variation with the bias power at different gas ratio seemed to be limited by the etchant supply.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.408-408
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• 2012

It is well known that magnetic random access memory (MRAM) is nonvolatile memory devices using ferromagnetic materials. MRAM has the merits such as fast access time, unlimited read/write endurance and nonvolatility. Although DRAM has many advantages containing high storage density, fast access time and low power consumption, it becomes volatile when the power is turned off. Owing to the attractive advantages of MRAM, MRAM is being spotlighted as an alternative device in the future. MRAM consists of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) stack and complementary metal- oxide semiconductor (CMOS). MTJ stacks are composed of various magnetic materials. FePt thin films are used as a pinned layer of MTJ stack. Up to date, an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICPRIE) method of MTJ stacks showed better results in terms of etch rate and etch profile than any other methods such as ion milling, chemical assisted ion etching (CAIE), reactive ion etching (RIE). In order to improve etch profiles without redepositon, a better etching process of MTJ stack needs to be developed by using different etch gases and etch parameters. In this research, influences of $O_2$ gas on the etching characteristics of FePt thin films were investigated. FePt thin films were etched using ICPRIE in $CH_4/O_2/Ar$ gas mix. The etch rate and the etch selectivity were investigated in various $O_2$ concentrations. The etch profiles were studied in varying etch parameters such as coil rf power, dc-bias voltage, and gas pressure. TiN was employed as a hard mask. For observation etch profiles, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.327-330
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• 2006

We investigated the usefulness of $NbO_{x}$ nanopillars as an etching mask of dry etching for the formation of Si nanodot arrays. The $NbO_{x}$ nanopillar arrays were prepared by the anodic aluminum oxidation process of Al and Nb thin films. The etch rate and etch profile of $NbO_{x}$ nanopillar arrays were examined by varying the experimental conditions such as the concentration of etch gas, coil rf power, and dc bias voltage in the reactive ion etch system using the inductively coupled plasma. As the concentration of $Cl_{2}$ gas increased, the etch rate of $NbO_{x}$nanopillars decreased. With increasing coil rf power and dc bias voltage, the etch rates were found to increase. The etch characteristics and etch mechanism of $NbO_{x}$ nanopillars were investigated by varying the etch time under the selected etch conditions.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.230-234
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• 2001

본 연구에서는 Alumina(A1$_2$O$_3$) based Slurry를 이용하여 CU CMP를 할 때 첨가제의 영향을 Removal rate와 Etch rate 측면에서 조사하였다. 각각의 첨가제의 종류와 조성의 변화에 따라 Polishing에 미치는 영향을 연구하였다. Cu의 Removal rate는 Etch rate와 달리 Organic acid의 종류에 직접적으로 영향을 받는다. Citric acid는 높은 Removal rate와 슬러리 내에서 안정성이 가장 좋은 결과를 보이고 있다. Citric acid의 농도가 증가하면 증가할수록 Removal rate는 증가하였다. BTA의 농도에 따라서 Cu의 Removal rate와 Etch rate의 감소를 확인할 수 있다. EDTA의 농도에 따라서는 증가함을 볼 수 있다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.176-181
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• 2012

Due to the high etch rate and low fabrication cost, the wet etching of silicon using KOH etchant is widely used in MEMS fabrication area. However, anisotropic etch characteristic obstruct intuitional mask design and compensation structures are required for mask design level. Therefore, the accurate modeling for various types of silicon surface is essential for fabrication of three-dimensional MEMS structure. In this paper, we modeled KOH etch profile for MEMS based energy harvester using fuzzy logic. Modeling results are compared with experimental results and it is applied to design of compensation structure for MEMS based energy harvester. Through Fuzzy inference approaches, developed model showed good agreement with the experimental results with limited etch rate information.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.90-94
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• 1995

Reactive Ion Etching(RIE) of Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ in a CF$_{4}$/O$_{2}$ gas plasma exhibits such good anisotropic etching properties that it is widely employed in current VLSI technology. However, the RIE process can cause serious damage to the silicon surface under the Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ layer. When an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposited(APCVD) SiO$_{2}$ layer is used as a etch-stop material for Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$, it seems inevitable to get a good etch selectivity of Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ with respect to SiO$_{2}$. Therefore, we have undertaken thorough study of the dependence of the etch rate of Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ plasmas on $O_{2}$ dilution, RF power, and chamber pressure. The etch selectivity of Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ with respect to SiO$_{2}$ has been obtained its value of 2.13 at the RF power of 150 W and the pressure of 110 mTorr in CF$_{4}$ gas plasma diluted with 25% $O_{2}$ by flow rate.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1998.11c
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• pp.770-772
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• 1998

The highest etch rate of Pt film was obtained at 10% $Cl_2$/90% Ar gas mixing ratio in our previous investigation. However, the problems such as the etch residues(fence) remained on the pattern sidewall, low selectivity to oxide as mask and low etch slope were presented. In this paper, the etching by additive $O_2$ gas to 10% $Cl_2$/90% Ar gas base was examined. As a result, the fence-free pattern and high etch slope was observed and the selectivity to oxide increased without decreasing of the etch rate. And the reasons for this phenomenon was investigated by XPS(x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) surface analysis and plasma characteristic.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.383-393
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• 2008

The etching mechanism of $ZrO_2$ thin films and etch selectivity over some materials in both $BCl_3$/Ar and $BCl_3/CHF_3$/Ar plasmas are investigated using a combination of experimental and modeling methods. To obtain the data on plasma composition and fluxes of active species, global (0-dimensional) plasma models are developed with Langmuir probe diagnostics data. In $BCl_3$/Ar plasma, changes in gas mixing ratio result in non-linear changes of both densities and fluxes for Cl, $BCl_2$, and ${BCl_2}^+$. In this work, it is shown that the non-monotonic behavior of the $ZrO_2$ etch rate as a function of the $BCl_3$/Ar mixing ratio could be related to the ion-assisted etch mechanism and the ion-flux-limited etch regime. The addition of up to 33% $CHF_3$ to the $BCl_3$-rich $BCl_3$Ar plasma does not influence the $ZrO_2$ etch rate, but it non-monotonically changes the etch rates of both Si and $SiO_2$. The last effect can probably be associated with the corresponding behavior of the F atom density.