Jaehak Lee

High-resolution soft x-ray spectroscopic study on amorphous gallium indium zinc oxide thin films

Amorphous gallium indium zinc oxide (a-GIZO) thin films of different compositions (Ga2O3:In2O3:ZnO=1:1:1,2:2:1,3:2:1,4:2:1) on Si substrates were investigated by high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) using synchrotron radiation. The O 1s, Ga 3d, In 4d, Zn 3d core, and shallow-core levels as well as the valence band maxima and O K-edge XAS were investigated. Each O 1s spectrum could be deconvoluted by a main component (O1 in the text) representing the Ga–In–Zn–O quaternary system along with two other higher-binding energy (BE) components (O2 and O3 in the text). The O2+O3 intensity increased as the Ga2O3 content increased. For the as-prepared samples, the spectral peak separations between the Ga 3d (∼20 eV) and Zn 3d (∼11 eV) orbitals and between the In 4d (∼18 eV) and Zn 3d orbitals became larger, respectively, as the Ga2O3 content increased. For the surface-cleaned samples, this trend was the same but with smaller increases in their separations. The sput...

Sputtering Effect on Amorphous Ga-In-Zn-O Thin-Film Surface: Occurrence of Subgap and Metallic States

The chemical states of Ne+-ion-sputtered amorphous Ga-In-Zn-O (a-GIZO) thin films were investigated by high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The sputtering reduced the Zn and In contents relative to that of Ga and generated a subgap state above the valence band maximum. Further sputtering resulted in metallic states at the In3d and In4d orbitals and at the Fermi energy edge, more so for the lower Zn- and In-content film. Locally generated metallic In is suggested to contribute to the metallic states.

Data consistency-driven scatter kernel optimization for x-ray cone-beam CT

Accurate and efficient scatter correction is essential for acquisition of high-quality x-ray cone-beam CT (CBCT) images for various applications. This study was conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of using the data consistency condition (DCC) as a criterion for scatter kernel optimization in scatter deconvolution methods in CBCT. As in CBCT, data consistency in the mid-plane is primarily challenged by scatter, we utilized data consistency to confirm the degree of scatter correction and to steer the update in iterative kernel optimization. By means of the parallel-beam DCC via fan-parallel rebinning, we iteratively optimized the scatter kernel parameters, using a particle swarm optimization algorithm for its computational efficiency and excellent convergence. The proposed method was validated by a simulation study using the XCAT numerical phantom and also by experimental studies using the ACS head phantom and the pelvic part of the Rando phantom. The results showed that the proposed method can effectively improve the accuracy of deconvolution-based scatter correction. Quantitative assessments of image quality parameters such as contrast and structure similarity (SSIM) revealed that the optimally selected scatter kernel improves the contrast of scatter-free images by up to 99.5%, 94.4%, and 84.4%, and of the SSIM in an XCAT study, an ACS head phantom study, and a pelvis phantom study by up to 96.7%, 90.5%, and 87.8%, respectively. The proposed method can achieve accurate and efficient scatter correction from a single cone-beam scan without need of any auxiliary hardware or additional experimentation.

Improvement of writing margin in MRAM with novel shape

We suggest a type of “goggle” cell shape and discuss its switching mechanism in comparison with conventional shapes such as rectangular and elliptical shapes. For the goggle shapes, the dependence of the switching characteristics on the saturation magnetization, the free layer thickness, and the aspect ratio was studied. We found that the “L”-like astroid curve with an enlarged writing margin could be obtained from a goggle shape, especially when the aspect ratio is smaller than 2. This seems to be closely related with the kink formation. We also found that the writing margin could be improved further as the saturation magnetization and thickness of the free layer was optimized.

Ne{sup +} ion sputtering effect on amorphous Ga-In-Zn-O thin-film surface investigated by high-resolution XPS

The effect of Ne{sup +} ion sputtering on amorphous Ga-In-Zn-O (a-GIZO) thin films was investigated by using surface-sensitive, synchrotron-radiation-based, high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). a-GIZO thin films having different compositions (Ga{sub 2}O{sub 3}:In{sub 2}O{sub 3}:ZnO = 1:1:1, 2:2:1, 3:2:1, 4:2:1) were investigated. It was found out that the amounts of the In and Zn contents relative to that of Ga decreased noticeably after sufficient sputtering, and that there occurred a subgap state above the valence band maximum and metallic states at the In 3d and 4d core levels as well as at the Fermi edge.