Currently, semiconductor manufacturing industry heavily relies on a wide range of high global warming potential (GWP) gases, particularly during etching and cleaning processes, and their use and relevant carbon emissions are subject to global rules and regulations for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. To replace high GWP gases in near future, dry etching using alternative low GWP gases is thus being under intense investigations. In this review, we report a current status and recent progress of the relevant research activities on dry etching processes using a low GWP gas. First, we review the concept of GWP itself and then introduce the difference between high and low GWP gases. Although most of the studies have concentrated on potentially replaceable additive gases such as C₄F₈, an ultimate solution with a lower GWP for main etching gases including CF₄ should be developed; therefore, we provide our own perspective in this regard. Finally, we summarize the advanced dry etch process research with low GWP gases and list up several issues to be considered in future research.

For decades, sputtering as a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method has been a widely used technique for film coating processes. The sputtering enables oxides, metals, alloys, nitrides, etc to be deposited on a wide variety of substrates from silicon wafers to polymer substrates. Meanwhile, transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) have played important roles as electrodes in electrical applications such as displays, sensors, solar cells, and thin-film transistors. TCO films fabricated through a sputtering process have a higher quality leading to an improved device performance than other films prepared with other methods. In this review, we discuss the mechanism of sputtering deposition and detail the TCO materials. Related technologies (processing conditions, materials, and applications) are introduced for electrical applications.

Recently, as the process of the MOS device becomes more detailed, and the degree of integration thereof increases, many problems such as leakage current due to an increase in electron tunneling due to the thickness of SiO₂ used as a gate oxide have occurred. In order to overcome the limitation of SiO₂, many studies have been conducted on HfO₂ that has a thermodynamic stability with silicon during processing, has a higher dielectric constant than SiO₂, and has an appropriate band gap. In this study, HfO₂, which is attracting attention in various fields, was doped with Al and the change in properties according to its concentration was studied. Al-doped HfO₂ thin film was deposited using Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD), and the structural and electrical characteristics of the fabricated MIM device were evaluated. The results of this study are expected to make an essential cornerstone in the future field of next-generation semiconductor device materials.

An analytical threshold voltage model is presented to observe the change in threshold voltage shift ΔV_th of a junctionless double gate MOSFET using ferroelectric-metal-SiO₂ as a gate oxide film. The negative capacitance transistors using ferroelectric have the characteristics of increasing on-current and lowering off-current. The change in the threshold voltage of the transistor affects the power dissipation. Therefore, the change in the threshold voltage as a function of theferroelectric thickness is analyzed. The presented threshold voltage model is in a good agreement with the results of TCAD. As a results of our analysis using this analytical threshold voltage model, the change in the threshold voltage with respect to the change in the ferroelectric thickness showed that the threshold voltage increased with the increase of the absolute value of charges in the employed ferroelectric. This suggests that it is possible to obtain an optimum ferroelectric thickness at which the threshold voltage shift becomes 0 V by the voltage across the ferroelectric even when the channel length is reduced. It was also found that the ferroelectric thickness increased as the silicon thickness increased when the channel length was less than 30 nm, but the ferroelectric thickness decreased as the silicon thickness increased when the channel length was 30 nm or more in order to satisfy ΔV_th=0.

In the past, the efficiency of solar cells had been increased in order to increase the efficiency of solar modules. However, in recent years, in order to increase output in the solar industry and market, the competitiveness of solar cells based on large-area solar cells and multi-bus bar has been increasing. Multi-busbar solar module is a technology to reduce power loss by increasing the number and width of the front busbar of the solar cell and reducing the current value delivered by the busbar by half through half-cutting. In the case of the existing M2 (156.75×156.75 ㎟) solar cell, even with a half-cut, power loss could be sufficiently reduced, but as the area of the solar cell is enlarged to more than M6 (166×166 ㎟), the need for more divisions emerged. This affected not only solar cells but also inverters required for module array configuration. Therefore, in this study, the electrical characteristics of a large-area solar cell and after division were extracted using Griddler simulation. The output characteristics of the module were predicted by applying the solar cell parameters after division to PSPice, and a guideline for the large-area solar module design was presented according to the number of divisions of the large-area solar cell.

Underwater wireless communication is a challenging issue for realizing the smart aqua-farm and various marine activities for exploring the ocean and environmental monitoring. In comparison to acoustic and radio frequency technologies, the visible light communication is the most promising method to transmit data with a higher speed in complex underwater environments. To send data at a speedier rate, high-performance photodetectors are essentially required to receive blue and/or cyan-blue light that are transmitted from the light sources in a light-fidelity (Li-Fi) system. Here, we fabricated high-performance organic phototransistors (OPTs) based on P-type donor polymer (PTO2) and N-type acceptor small molecule (IT-4F) blend semiconductors. Bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) PTO2:IT-4F photo-active layer has a broad absorption spectrum in the range of 450~550 nm wavelength. Solution-processed OPTs showed a high photo-responsivity >1,000 mA/W, a large photo-sensitivity >10³, a fast response time, and reproducible light-On/Off switching characteristics even under a weak incident light. BHJ organic semiconductors absorbed photons and generated excitons, and efficiently dissociated to electron and hole carriers at the donor-acceptor interface. Printed and flexible OPTs can be widely used as Li-Fi receivers and image sensors for underwater communication and underwater internet of things (UIoTs).

Integrating dielectric materials into LTCC is a convenient method to increase the integration density in electronic circuits. To enable co-firing of the high-k and low-k dielectric LTCC materials in a multi-material hetero-laminate, the shrinkage characteristics of both materials should be similar. Moreover, thermal expansion mismatch between materials during co-firing should be minimized. The alternating stacking of an LTCC with silica filler and that with calcium-zirconate filler was observed to examine the use of the same glass in different LTCCs to minimize the difference in shrinkage and thermal expansion coefficient. For the LTCC of silica filler with a low dielectric constant and that of calcium zirconate filler with a high dielectric constant, the amount of shrinkage was examined through a thermomechanical analysis, and the predicted appropriate fraction of each filler was applied to green sheets by tape casting. The green sheets of different fillers were alternatingly laminated to the thickness of 500 ㎛. As a result of examining the junction, it was observed through SEM that a complete bonding was achieved by constrained sintering in the structure of ‘calcium zirconate 50 vol%-silica 30 vol%-calcium zirconate 50 vol%’.

Recently, the global demands for high voltage power semiconductors are increasing across various industrial fields. The use of electric cars with high safety and convenience is becoming practical, and IGBT modules of 3.3 kV and 1.2 kA or higher are used for electric locomotives. Delicate design and advanced process technology are required, and research on the optimization of high-voltage IGBT parts is urgently needed in the industry. In this study, we attempted to design a simulation process through TCAD (technology computer-aid design) software to optimize the process conditions of the fielding process among the core unit processes for an especial high yield voltage. As well, the prior circuit technology design and a ring pattern with a large number of ring formation structures outside the wafer similar to the chip structure of other companies were constructed for 3.3 kV NPT-IGBT through a unit process demonstration experiment. The ring pattern was designed with 21 rings and the width of the ring was 6.6 μm. By changing the spacing between patterns from 17.4 μm to 35.4 μm, it was possible to optimize the spacing from 19.2 μm to 18.4 μm.

Nano Pt particles were dispersed on carbon-based supports by a polyol process for a catalyst application in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell. We tried to optimize the effect of pH on the electrostatic forces between the support and the Pt colloids. We investigated the relationship among the surface charges on the carbon support, the solution pH, and the concentration of a glycolate, and the Pt particle size. The produced catalyst with nano Pt particles on the support was evaluated by the long-term cyclic voltammetry (CV) performance test and compared with the results from a commercial catalyst. Our experimental results reveal that the pH-control can modify the particle size distribution and the dispersion of the nano Pt particles. This resulted in a cost-effective method for the synthesis of highly Pt loaded Pt/C catalysts for fuel cells better than a commercial catalyst system.

Nickel oxide is a nonstoichiometric transparent conductive oxide with p-type conductivity, a wide-band energy gap of 3.4~4.0 eV, and excellent chemical stability, making it a very important candidate as a material for bipolar devices.P-type conductivity in Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCO) is controlled by the oxygen vacancy concentration. During the TCO film deposition process, additional oxygen diffusing into the NiO structure causes the formation of Ni 3p ions and Ni vacancies. This eventually affects the hole concentration of the p-type oxide thin film. In this work, the surface morphology and the electrical characteristics were confirmed in accordance with the annealing atmosphere of the nickel oxide thin film.

A hybrid supercapacitor is a promising energy storage device in view of its excellent capacitive performance. Commercial three-dimensional foam nickel (Ni) can be used as an ideal framework due to an interconnected network structure. However, its application as an electrode material for supercapacitors is limited due to its low specific capacity. Herein, we report a successful growth of MnO₂ on the surface of graphene by a one-step hydrothermal method; thus, forming a three-dimensional MnO₂-graphene-Ni hybrid foam. Our results show that the mixed structure of MnO₂ with nanoflowers and nanorods grown on the graphene/Ni foam as a hybrid electrode delivers the maximum specific capacitance of 193 F·g^-1 at a current density 0.1 A·g^-1. More importantly, the hybrid electrode retains 104% of its initial capacitance after 1,000 charge-discharge cycles at 1 A·g^-1; thus, showing the potential application as a stable supercapacitor electrode.

We studied the various characteristics of Sn-In (wt%) Pb-free solders for photovoltaic ribbon application. The solders near the eutectic composition of Sn₄₈In₅₂ (wt%) existed in InSn₄ and In₃Sn alloy phases, and in In crystal phase, but not in Sn crystal phase. In addition, the InSn4 phase (γ-alloy) existed separately from the In₃Sn (β-alloy) and the In phase confirmed by an SEM-EDS-mapping. The melting temperature of the eutectic solder of Sn₄₈In₅₂ (wt%) was 119.2℃, and when the Sn content decreased in reference to the eutectic composition, it slightly increased to 121.4℃, but when the Sn content increased, it remained almost constant at 119.1℃. The peel strength of the ribbon plated with the Sn₄₂In₅₈ (wt%) solder was 38.7 N/㎟, and it tended to increase when the Sn content increased. The peel strength of the eutectic Sn₄₈In₅₂ (wt%) solder was 53.6 N/㎟, and that of the Sn₅₁In₄₉ (wt%) solder was 61.6 N/㎟ that was the highest.

In this paper, for the application of ultrasonic cleaners for cleaning dentures and transparent braces, Pb(Mn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-Pb(Ni_1/3 Nb_2/3)O₃-Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ [PMN-PNN-PZT] system ceramics were manufactured and their dielectric and piezoelectric properties were investigated. Overall the best properties suitable for the device applications such as ultrasonic cleaner were obtained from the ceramics sintered at 920℃: bulk density of 7.8 g/㎤, the dielectric constant (ε_r) of 1,689, piezoelectric charge constant (d₃₃) of 433 pC/N, planar electromechanical coupling factor (k_p) of 0.64, mechanical quality factor (Qm) of 835, S₁₁^E of 13.37 (10^-12 N/㎡), and Curie temperature of 315℃ By using the physical properties of this composition, the ultrasonic cleaner was designed and simulated using the commercial ATILA software. For the three-layered ceramics with the dimension of 25 mm × 25 mm × 2.5mm, an excellent displacement of 8.998 ×10^-3 m) and the sound pressure of 147.68 dB were recorded.

Calcium fluoride (CaF₂) single crystal is applied to numerous industrial applications, especially for optical uses. To have excellent optical transmission properties, however, CaF₂ crystals should be carefully fabricated through liquid-phase crystal growth techniques. In this study, as one of the early stage research activities to grow CaF₂ crystals with a good transmittance at the ultraviolet wavelength range, computational thermodynamic models were provided to deepen the understanding of the crystal growing processes of CaF₂ under various conditions. To remove point defects and oxygen impurities in the grown CaF₂ crystals, the system was thermodynamically evaluated to get optimal process conditions. From the reviews of previous experimental studies, computational thermodynamic approaches were found to be an effective and powerful tool to understand the meaning of the crystal growth processes and to obtain optimal process conditions.