BP thinning was carried out using a monoenergetic Ar+ ion beam and the BP could be thinned without damaging the surface.

Across the most industry, the demand for nanoparticles is increasing. Therefore, many studies have been carried out to synthesize nanoparticles using various methods. The aim of this paper is to introduce an industryapplicable as well as financially and environmentally effective solution plasma process. The solution plasma process involves fewer chemicals than the traditional kit, and can be used to replace many of the chemical agents employed in previous synthesis of nanoparticles into plasma. In this study, this process is compared to the wet-reaction process that has thus far been widely used in the most industry. Furthermore, the solution plasma process has been classified into four different types (in-solution, out of solution, direct type, and remote type), according to its plasma occurrence position and plasma types. Thus, the source of radicals, nanoparticle synthesis, and modification methods are explained for each design. Lastly, unlike nanoparticles with hydrophilic functional groups that are made inside the solution, a nanoparticle synthesis and modification method to create a hydrophobic functional group is also proposed.

Atomic layer etching (ALE) has advantages such as precise thickness control, high etch selectivity, and no‐increase in surface roughness which can be applied to sub 10 nm semiconductor device fabrication. In this study, anisotropic ALE of tungsten (W), which is used as an interconnect layer and gate material of semiconductor devices, was investigated by sequentially exposing to F radicals by NF3 plasma to form a WFy layer and following exposure to an oxygen ion beam to remove the WFy layer by forming volatile WOxFy at room temperature. A wide ALE window of F radical adsorption time of ( ≥ 10 s/cycle) and Ox+ ion desorption time of (10 ≤ t ≤ 50 s/cycle at + 44–51 eV of Ox+ ion energy) could be identified, and at the ALE conditions, a precise etch rate of ~2.6 Å/cycle was obtained while increasing the W etch depth linearly with increasing the number of etch cycles. At the optimized W ALE conditions, the W surface roughness after the W ALE was similar to the as‐received W and the etch selectivity over SiO2 was close to infinite. However, after the W ALE, ~ 10% F diffused into W was observed on the etched W surface, and which could be removed by a following process.