• Journal of Korean Vacuum Science & Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.79-83
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• 2002

As Ag does not form my silicide on Si surfaces, Ag wire is a candidate for self-assembled nanowire on the reconstructed and single-domain Si(5 5 12)-2 $\times$ 1. In the present study, various Ag coverages and post-annealing temperatures had been tested to fabricate a Ag nanowire with high aspect ratio. When Ag coverage was less than 0.03 ML and the post-annealing temperature was 500(C, Ag atoms preferentially adsorbed on the tetramer sites resulting in Ag wires with an inter-row spacing of ~5 nm. However, its aspect ratio is relatively small and its height is also not even. On the other hand, the Ag-posited surface completely loses its reconstruction even with the same annealing at 500 $\^{C}$ if the initial coverage exceeds 0.05 ML. But the additional subsequent annealing at 700$\^{C}$ and slow-cooling process recovers the well-ordered Ag chain with relatively high aspect ratio on the same tetramer sites. It can be understood that, in the double step annealing process, the lower temperature annealing is required for cohesion of adsorbed Ag atoms and the higher temperature annealing is for providing Ag atoms to the tetramer sites.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.193-202
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• 2013

In this article, we present the effects of Ag doping and after-growth thermal annealing on the photoluminescence (PL) and thermoluminescence (TL) behaviors of $SnO_2$ nanoparticles. $SnO_2$ nanoparticles of 4-7 nm size range containing different Ag contents were synthesized by hydrothermal process. It has been observed that the after-growth thermal annealing process enhances the crystallite size and stabilizes the TL emissions of $SnO_2$ nanostructures. Incorporated Ag probably occupies the interstitial sites of the $SnO_2$ lattice, affecting drastically their emission behaviors on thermal annealing. Both the TL response and dose-linearity of the $SnO_2$ nanoparticles improve on 1.0% Ag doping, and subsequent thermal annealing. However, a higher Ag content causes the formation of Ag clusters, reducing both the TL and PL responses of the nanoparticles.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2022

In this study, the photo-deposition method was used to introduce Ag onto the surface of TiO₂ to synthesize an Ag-TiO₂ composite. The effects of the varying amounts of AgNO₃ precursor and annealing time periods on the Ag content in the composites, as well as their antibacterial characteristics under visible light conditions were studied. SEM analysis revealed the spherical morphology of the Ag-TiO₂ composite. Compared with TiO₂, the Ag particles were too small to be observed. An XPS analysis of the Ag-TiO₂ surface confirmed the Ag content and showed the peak intensities for elements such as Ag, Ti, O, C, and Si. The highest Ag content was observed when 33.3 wt.% of AgNO₃ and an annealing time of 6 h were employed; this was the optimum annealing time for Ti-Ag-O bonding, in that the lowest number of O bonds and the highest number of Ag bonds were confirmed by XPS analysis. Superior antibacterial properties against Bacillus and Escherichia coli, in addition to the widest inhibition zones were exhibited by the Ag-TiO₂ composite with an increased Ag content in a disk diffusion test, the bacterial reduction rate against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli being 99.9%.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.36.2-36.2
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• 2009

In this work, the high power CW Nd:YAG laser has been used for thermal treatment of inkjet printed Ag films-involving eliminating organic additives (dispersant, binder, and organic solvent) of Ag ink and annealing Ag nanoparticles. By optimizing laser parameters, such as laser power and defocusing value, the laser energy can totally be converted to heat energy, which is used to thermal treatment of inkjet printed Ag films. This results in controlling the microstructures and the resistivity of films. We investigated the thermal diffusion mechanisms during laser annealing and the resulting microstructures. The impact of high power laser annealing on microstructures and electrical characteristic of inkjet printed Ag films is compared to those of the films annealed by a conventional furnace annealing. Focused ion beam (FIB) channeling image shows that the laser annealed Ag films have large columnar grains and dense structure (void free), while furnace annealed films have tiny grains and exhibit void formation. Due to these microstructural characteristics of laser annealed films, it has better electrical property (low resistivity) compared to furnace annealed samples.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.500-506
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• 2024

The transparent electrode characteristics of the SnO₂/AgNi/SnO₂ (OMO) multilayer structures prepared by sputtering were investigated according to the annealing temperature. Ni-doped Ag of various compositions was selected as the metal layer and heat treatment was performed at 100~300℃ to evaluate the thermal stability of the metals. The manufactured OMO multilayer structures were heat treated for 6 hours at 400~600℃ in an N₂ atmosphere. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the OMO structures before and after annealing were evaluated and analyzed using a UV-VIS spectrophotometer, 4-point probe, XPS, FE-SEM, etc. OMO with Ni-doped Ag shows improved performance due to the reduction of structural defects of Ag during annealing, but OMO structure with pure Ag shows degradation characteristics due to Ag diffusion into the oxide layer during high-temperature annealing. The figure of merit (FOM) of SnO₂/Ag/SnO₂ was highest at room temperature and gradually decreased as the heat treatment temperature increased. On the other hand, the FOM value of SnO₂/AgNi/SnO₂ mostly showed its maximum value at high temperature(~550℃). In particular, the FOM value of SnO₂/Ag-Ni (3.2 at%)/SnO₂ was estimated to be approximately 2.38×10^-2 Ω^-1. Compared to transparent electrodes made of other similar materials, the FOM value of the SnO₂/Ag-Ni (3.2 at%)/SnO₂ multilayer structure is competitive and is expected to be used as an alternative transparent conductive electrode in various devices.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.19-24
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• 2019

In this study, the Ag nano-dots structure was applied to the textured wafer surface to improve the light trapping effect of crystalline silicon solar cell. The Ag nano-dots structure was formed by the annealing of Ag thin film. Ag thin film deposition was performed using a thermal evaporator. The effect of light trapping was compared and analyzed through light reflectance measurements. The optimization process of the Ag nano-dots structure was made by varying the thickness of Ag thin film, the annealing temperature and time. The thickness of Ag thin films was in the range of 5 ~ 20 nm. The annealing temperature was in the range of 450~650℃ and the annealing time was in the range of 30 ~ 60 minutes. As a result, the light reflectance of 10 nm Ag thin film annealed at 650℃ for 30 minutes showed the lowest value of about 9.67%. This is a value that is about 3.37% lower than the light reflectance of the sample that has undergone only the texturing process. Finally, the change of the light reflectance by the HF treatment of the sample on which the Ag nano-dots structure was formed was investigated. The HF treatment time was in the range of 0 ~ 120 seconds. As a result, the light reflectance decreased by about 0.41% due to the HF treatment for 75 seconds.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.135-142
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• 2019

We report the precipitation of ZnO nanocrystals, Ag-clusters, and Ag nanoparticles in Ag/Er/Yb doped borate glasses by furnace annealing and $CO_2$ laser annealing. The XRD analysis revealed the precipitation of ZnO and Ag phases. The absorption spectra, the TEM and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) revealed the incorporation of Er and Yb ions into ZnO nanocrystals formed by a laser technique and showed the surface plasmon band of Ag nanoparticles. The down-converted blue emission intensity of $Er^{3+}$ ions obtained under 365 nm excitation was enhanced by more than a hundred times in the glass treated by furnace annealing, mainly due to the energy transfer from Ag-clusters. Moreover, we discussed the contribution of Ag nanoparticles and defects to emission characteristics in the glasses treated by two annealing techniques. Up-conversion emissions of the $Er^{3+}$ ions under 980 nm excitation were enhanced due to the incorporation of $Er^{3+}$ and $Yb^{3+}$ ions into ZnO nanocrystals after thermal treatments.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.85-89
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• 2012

Transparent conductive ZnO/Ag/ZnO (ZAZ) multilayer films were deposited by Radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering and direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering. The effects of post deposition vacuum annealing temperature on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the ZAZ multilayer films were investigated. The thickness of ZAZ films is kept constant at ZnO 50 nm/Ag 5nm/ZnO 45 nm, while the vacuum annealing temperatures were varied from 200 and $400^{\circ}C$, respectively. As-deposited ZAZ films exhibit a sheet resistance of $6.1{\Omega}/{\Box}$ and optical transmittance of 72.7%. By increasing annealing temperature to $200^{\circ}C$, the resistivity decreased to as low as $5.3{\Omega}/{\Box}$ and optical transmittance also increased to as high as 82.1%. Post-deposition annealing of ZAZ multilayer films lead to considerably lower electrical resistivity and higher optical transparency, simultaneously by increased crystallization of the films.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1996.05a
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• pp.9-14
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• 1996

The dependence of microstructural and optical properties of Ag-In-Sb-Te thin films on annealing heat-treatments was studied. It was found from the present work that the increase of reflectance after annealing heat-treatment is related with phase change of Ag-In-Sb-Te thin film from amorphous state to crystalline phases which involve Sb crystalline phase and AgInTe$_2$ stoichiometric phase. On the other hand, the reflectance is decreased after high temperature annealing (above 450$^{\circ}C$), due to the morphology .mange of film surface. For the purpose of practical application(erasable optical disk), we fabricated quadrilayered Ag-In-Sb-Te alloy disk, and annealed it with continuous laser beam. As result of this laser\ulcorner annealing treatment, we found that the increment of reflectance is 9.3% at 780nm wavelength. It might be considered that Ag-In-Sb-Te alloy optical disk is the big promising candidate for the erasable optical memory medium.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.257-263
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• 2006

We have investigated the effect of silver added to Cu films on the microstructure evolution, resistivity, surface morphology, stress relaxation temperature, and adhesion properties of Cu(Ag) alloy thin films deposited on Mo glue layer upon annealing. In addition, pure Cu films deposited on Mo has been annealed and compared. The results show that the silver in Cu(Ag) thin films control the grain growth through the coarsening of its precipitates upon annealing at $300^{\circ}C{\sim}600^{\circ}C$ and the grain growth of Cu reveals the activation energy of 0.22 eV, approximately one third of activation energy for diffusion of Ag dopant along the grain boundaries in Cu matrix (0.75 eV). This indicates that the grain growth can be controlled by Ag diffusion along the grain boundaries. In addition, the grain growth can be a major contributor to the decreased resistivity of Cu(Ag) alloy thin films at the temperature of $300^{\circ}C{\sim}500^{\circ}C$, and decreases the resistivity of Cu(Ag) thin films to $1.96{\mu}{\Omega}-cm$ after annealing at $600^{\circ}C$. Furthermore, the addition of Ag increases the stress relaxation temperature of Cu(Ag) thin films, and thus leading to the enhanced resistance to the void formation, which starts at $300^{\circ}C$ in the pure Cu thin films. Moreover, Cu(Ag) thin films shows the increased adhesion properties, possibly resulting from the Ag segregating to the interface. Consequently, the Cu(Ag) thin films can be used as a metallization of advanced TFT-LCDs.