• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.471-478
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• 2010

Thin films play an important role in many technological applications including microelectronic devices, magnetic storage media, MEMS and surface coatings. It is well known that a thin film's material properties can be very different from the corresponding bulk properties and thus there has been a strong need for the development of a reliable test method to measure the mechanical properties of a thin film. We have developed an alternative and convenient test method to overcome the limitations of previous membrane deflection experiment and uniaxial tensile test by adopting a white light interferometer having sub-nanometer out-of-plane displacement resolution. The freestanding aluminium specimens are tested to verity the effectiveness of the test method developed and get the tensile properties. The specimens are 0.5 rum wide, $1{\mu}m$ thick and fabricated through MEMS processes including sputtering. 1 to 5 specimens are fabricated on Si dies. The membrane deflection experiments are carried out by using a homemade tester consisted of a motor-driven loading tip, a load cell, and 6 DOF alignment stages. The test system is compact enough to set it up beneath a commercial white light interferometric microscope. The white light fringes are utilized to align a specimen with the tester. The Young's modulus and yield point stress of the aluminium film are 62 GPa and 247 MPa, respectively.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

In the past decade, we have observed rapid advances in the development of biochips in many fields including medical and environmental monitoring. Biochip experiments involve immobilizing a ligand on a solid substrate surface, and monitoring its interaction with an analyte in a sample solution. Metal nanoparticles can display extinction bands on their surfaces. These charge density oscillations are simply known as the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). The high sensitivity of LSPR has been utilized to design biochips for the label-free detection of biomolecular interactions with various ligands. LSPR-based optical biochips and biosensors are easy to fabricate, and the apparatus cost for the evaluation of optical characteristics is lower than that for the conventional surface plasmon resonance apparatus. Furthermore, the operation procedure has become more convenient as it does not require labeling procedure. In this paper, we review the recent advances in LSPR research and also describe the LSPR-based optical biosensor constructed with a core-shell dielectric nanoparticle biochip for its application to label-free biomolecular detections such as antigen-antibody interaction.

• Clean Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.53-61
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• 2006

A PGSS (Particles from Gas Saturated Solutions) process designed to generate nano-particles using supercritical fluids has been conducted for the fabrication of Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microparticles that encapsulate a protein drug. It is demonstrated that the polymer and the dry powder of a protein can be mixed under supercritical carbon dioxide conditions and that the protein component retains its biological activity. In this experiment, the mixture of polymer which is plasticized and dry powder protein was sprayed to form solid polymer that encapsulate the protein. It is found that supercritical fluid process give fine tuning of particle size and particle size distribution by simple manipulations of the process parameters. Porous particles were formed with irregular shape. Protein encapsulated in the polymer was found to have enzymatic activity without significant loss of its initial value.

• Clean Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.14-18
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• 2019

In general after the etching process, waste etching solution contains metals. (ex. Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), Zinc (Zn), etc.) In this work, we proposed a recycling process for waste etching solution and refining from waste liquid contained nickel to make nickel metal nano powder. At first, the neutralization agent was experimentally selected through the hydrolysis of impurities such as iron by adjusting the pH. We selected sodium hydroxide solution as a neutralizing agent, and removed impurities such as iron by pH = 4. And then, metal ions (ex. Manganese (Mn) and Zinc (Zn), etc.) remain as impurities were refined by D2EHPA (Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid). The nickel powders were synthesized by liquid phase reduction method with hydrazine ($N_2H_4$) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The resulting nickel chloride solution and nickel metal powder has high purity ( > 99%). The purity of nickel chloride solution and nickel nano powders were measured by EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic) titration method with ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer). FE-SEM (field emission scanning electron microscopy) was used to investigate the morphology, particle size and crystal structure of the nickel metal nano powder. The structural properties of the nickel nano powder were characterized by XRD (X-ray diffraction) and TEM (transmission electron microscopy).

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.75-81
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• 2018

The effect of $Ar-N_2$ plasma treatment on Cu surface as one of solutions to realize reliable Cu-Cu wafer bonding was investigated. Structural characteristic of $Ar-N_2$ plasma treated Cu surface were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscope. Ar gas was used for a plasma ignition and to activate Cu surface by ion bombardment, and $N_2$ gas was used to protect the Cu surface from contamination such as -O or -OH by forming a passivation layer. The Cu specimen under high Ar partial pressure plasma treatment showed more copper oxide due to the activation on Cu surface, while Cu surface after high $N_2$ gas partial pressure plasma treatment showed less copper oxide due to the formation of Cu-N or Cu-O-N passivation layer. It was confirmed that nitrogen plasma can prohibit Cu-O formation on Cu surface, but nitrogen partial pressure in the $Ar-N_2$ plasma should be optimized for the formation of nitrogen passivation layer on the entire surface of Cu wafer.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.409-415
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• 2014

This study is aimed to separate propylene and propane using membrane process instead of NCC(Naphtha Cracking Center) $C_3$ splitter. Membrane process is a low energy consumption and eco-friendly process while $C_3$ splitter requires high energy consumption in petrochemical processes. In this study, high performance facilitated transport membrane (FTM) is used for propylene/propane separation. FTM module was prepared on top of porous polyetherimide hollow fiber using PVP/$AgBF_4$/TCNQ. We developed simulation program predicting the membrane separation properties under operation conditions. Separation properties of FTM module for propylene and propane were obtained from the simulation program based on the pure gas permeation data. Based on these results, it is predicted that an one-stage membrane process provides 99.5% of propylene at permeate side from a binary gas mixture of 95/5 vol% $C_3H_6$ / vol% $C_3H_8$ supplied as a feed gas.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.33-38
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• 2021

Recently, rollable and foldable displays are attracting great attention in the flexible display market due to their excellent form factor. To predict and prevent the mechanical failure of the display panels, it is essential to accurately understand the mechanical properties of brittle SiN_x thin films, which have been used as an insulating film in flexible displays. In this study, tensile properties of the ~130 nm- and ~320 nm-thick SiN_x thin films were successfully measured by coating a ~190 nm-thick organic nano-support-layer (PMMA, PS, P3HT) on the fragile SiN_x thin films and stretching the films as a bilayer state. Young's modulus values of the ~130 nm and ~320 nm SiN_x thin films fabricated through the controlled chamber pressure and deposition power (A: 1250 mTorr, 450 W/B: 1000 mTorr, 600 W/C: 750 mTorr, 700 W) were calculated as A: 76.6±3.5, B: 85.8±4.6, C: 117.4±6.5 GPa and A: 100.1±12.9, B: 117.9±9.7, C: 159.6 GPa, respectively. As a result, Young's modulus of ~320 nm SiN_x thin films fabricated through the same deposition condition increased compared to the ~130 nm SiN_x thin films. The tensile testing method using the organic nano-support-layer was effective in the precise measurement of the mechanical properties of the brittle thin films. The method developed in this study can contribute to the robust design of the rollable and foldable displays by enabling quantitative measurement of mechanical properties of fragile thin films for flexible displays.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2019

In this study, a magnetic adsorbent was synthesized by growing ferrite nanoparticles substituted with metals (Me = Co, Mn, Ni) on zeolite 4A for the efficient separation of waste adsorbents present in the solution after the adsorption of Cu(II). The metal ferrite grown on the surface of zeolite was prepared by solvothermal synthesis. Characteristics of the magnetic adsorbent were analyzed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and physical property measurement system (PPMS). The saturation magnetization of the A type zeolite coated with Co-ferrite (CFZC) was the highest at 5 emu/g and the Cu(II) adsorption performance was also excellent. The adsorption results of Cu(II) on CFZC were well fitted by the Langmuir model at 298 K. Also, the adsorption of Cu(II) on CFZC follows a pseudo-second order kinetic. The Gibbs free energy values (${\Delta}G^0$) ranging from -4.63 to -5.21 kJ/mol indicates that the Cu(II) adsorption is spontaneous in the temeprature range between 298 and 313 K.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.201-208
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• 2008

Ceria ($CeO_2$) becomes one of important functional nanomaterials and a key abrasive material for chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) of advanced integrated circuits in silicon semi-conductor technology. Two synthetic crystalline ceria (RT735, RT835) are studied by the Rietveld structural refinement to determine crystallite size and microstrain. Rietveld indices of RT735 and RT835 indicate good fitting with $R_p(%)=8.50$, 8.34; $R_{wp}(%)=13.4$, 13.5; $R_{exp}(%)=11.3$, 11.5; $R_B(%)=2.21$, 2.36; S(GofF: Goodness of fit)=1.2, 1.2, respectively. $CeO_2$ with space group Fm3m show a=5.41074(2), 5.41130(6) ${\AA}$, V=158.406(1), 158.455(3)${\AA}^3$ in dimension. Detailed Rietveld refinement reveals that crystallite size and microstrain are 37.42(1) nm, 0.0026 (RT735) and 72.80(2) nm, 0.0013 (RT835), respectively. It also shows that crystallite size and microstrain of ceria are inversely proportional to each other.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.19-25
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• 2022

In this study, tungsten carbide (WC) powder was prepared using a novel recycling process for hard metal sludge that does not use ammonium paratungstate. Instead of ammonia, acid was used to remove the sodium and crystallized tungstate, resulting in the formation of tungstic acid (H₂WO₄). The WC powder was successfully synthesized by the carbothermal reduction of tungstic acid through H₂O decomposition, reduction of WO₃ to W, and formation of WC. The carbon content and holding time at the carbothermal reduction temperature were optimized to remove free carbon from the WC powder. As a result, most of the free carbon in the WC powder prepared from sludge was removed, and the content of free carbon in the synthesized WC powder was lower than that in commercial WC powder. Moreover, the crystallite size of WC prepared from H₂WO₄ was much smaller than that of commercial micron-sized WC powder produced from APT. The small crystallite size of WC induces grain growth during the sintering of the WC-Co composite; thus, a WC-Co composite with large WC grains was fabricated using the WC powder prepared from H₂WO₄. The large WC grains affected the mechanical properties of the WC-Co composite. Further, due to the large grain size, the WC-Co composite fabricated from H₂WO₄ exhibited a higher toughness than that of the WC-Co composite prepared from commercial WC powder.