• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.19.2-19.2
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• 2010

Printed electronics using printing process has broadened in all respects such as electrics (lighting, batteries, solar cells etc) as well as electronics (OLED, LCD, E-paper, transistor etc). Copper is considered to be a promising alternative to silver for printed electronics, due to very high conductivity at a low price. However, Copper is easily oxidized, and its oxide is non-conductive. This is the highest hurdle for making copper inks, since the heat and humidity that occurs during ink making and printing simply accelerates the oxidation process. A variety of chemical treatments including organic capping agents and metallic coating have been used to slow this oxidation. We have established synthetic conditions of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) which are resistant to oxidation and average diameter of 20 to 50nm. Specific resistivity should be less than $4\;{\mu}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ when sintered at lower temperature than $250^{\circ}C$ to be able to apply to conductive patterns of FPCBs using ink-jet printing. Through this study, the parameters to control average diameter of CuNPs were found to be the introduction of additive agent, the feeding rate of reducing agent, and reaction temperature. The CuNPs with various average diameters (58, 40, 26, 20nm) could be synthesized by controlling these parameters. The dispersed solution of CuNPs with an average size of 20 nm was made with nonpolar solvent containing 3 wt% of binder, and then coated onto glass substrate. After sintering the coated substrates at $250^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes in nitrogen atmosphere, metallic copper film resulted in a specific resistivity of $4.2\;{\mu}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers A
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.507-512
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• 2004

HTS (High Temperature Superconducting) Transformer has the several useful characteristics in the viewpoints of technical and economical. Especially, an HTS transformer replaces the copper wire coils in a conventional transformer with lower loss HTS wire. In addition, inexpensive, environmentally benign liquid nitrogen replaces the conventional oil as the electrical insulation (dielectric) and provides the necessary cooling for the HTS transformer Therefore, the Life-cycle cost of an HTS transformer is much more attractive than conventional because it is more energy efficient, lighter in weight, smaller in size, and environmentally compliant. HTS transformer can be the best way to replace with conventional transformer in the future. In these days, companies world-wide have conducted researches on HTS transformer. A development project for a 154kV HTS transformer is proceeding at a research center and university in Korea. In this paper, we investigate the expected price of HTS transformer to have a merit in viewpoint of economic aspect. First, life-cycle cost of conventional transformer is calculated and based on this, the expected price of HTS transformer is evaluated. which HTS transformer is competitive against conventional transformer.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.98.2-98.2
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• 2012

Thin film solar cells are growing up in the market due to their high efficiency and low cost. Especially CdTe and $CuInGaSe_2$ based solar cells are leading the other cells, but due to the limited percentage of the elements present in our earth's crust like Tellurium, Indium and Gallium, the price of the solar cells will increase rapidly. Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide (CZTS) and Copper Zinc Tin Selenide (CZTSe) semiconductor (having a kesterite crystal structure) are getting attention for its solar cell application as the absorber layer. CZTS and CZTSe have almost the same crystal structure with more environmentally friendly elements. Various authors have reported growth and characterization of CZTSe films and solar cells with efficiencies about 3.2% to 8.9%. In this study, a novel method to prepare CZTSe has been proposed based on selenization of stacked Copper Selenide ($Cu_2Se$), Tin Selenide ($SnSe_2$) and Zinc Selenide (Zinc Selenide) in six possible stacking combinations. Depositions were carried out through RF magnetron sputtering. Selenization of all the samples was performed in Close Space Sublimation (CSS) in vacuum at different temperatures for three minutes. Characterization of each sample has been performed in Field Emission SEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, EDS and Auger. In this study, the properties and results of $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ thin films grown by selenization will be presented.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.217-221
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• 2015

Developing a metallization that has low cost and high efficiency is essential in solar-cell industries, to replace expensive silver-based metallization. Ni/Cu two-step metallization is one way to reduce the cost of solar cells, because the price of copper is about 100 times less than that of silver. Alkaline electroless plating was used for depositing nickel seed layers on the front electrode area. Prior to the nickel deposition process, 2% HF solution was used to remove native oxide, which disturbs uniform nickel plating. In the subsequent step, a nickel sintering process was carried out in $N_2$ gas atmosphere; however, copper was plated by light-induced plating (LIP). Plated nickel has different properties under different bath conditions because nickel electroless plating is a completely chemical process. In this paper, plating bath conditions such as pH and temperature were varied, and the metal layer's structure was analyzed to investigate the adhesion of Ni/Cu metallization. Average adhesion values in the range of 0.2-0.49 N/mm were achieved for samples with no nickel sintering process.

• Solar Energy
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.73-76
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• 1988

Thick films based on the mature crystalline silicon technology are expected to exhibit eversmaller cost reduction. The thin-film-based technology is, however, expected to exhibit a much sharper drop in cost as it develops. In this report, technology and recent R & D of thin film solar cell, such as amorphous silicon, cadnium telluride, copper indium diselenide and gallium arsenide, are described. Perspectives of world photovoltaic market and solar cell price are also described.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.11
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• pp.383-391
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• 2017

This study examines the relationship between sentiment of speculators and price movements in the futures markets of WTI crude oil, copper, and wheat during the period 2003~2014 using Granger causality tests. The results indicate that speculative positions overall has no predictive power for returns in each futures market. Rather, returns seem to have effects on speculators' sentiment especially during periods of both economic expansion and recovery. During a recession, meanwhile, changes of speculators' sentiment index in the WTI crude oil and copper markets provide predictive power for returns in a positive direction, suggesting that speculators' pessimistic sentiment aggravates declines in commodity prices. Since the effects of speculative positions on market prices are ambiguous, tight regulations on speculative trading are not advisable. In a bearish market, however, regulatory bodies should consider raising speculative position limits because large speculative short positions and (or) liquidation of index traders' long positions may lead steep price declines.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6015-6022
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• 2013

It has been known that there are large amount of nitric acid and valuable metals, copper in the plating waste solution of automobile wheel. As nitric acid and valuable metals are high price and toxic, they should be recovered for economics and environment. Plating waste was extracted with TBP diluted with kerosene. The concentration of nitric acid in aqueous phase was analyzed by titration method by NaOH solution (0.1~1.0N) and the amount of metals by ICP-MS and ICP-AES. The concentration of copper in plating waste were 76,850 mg/L. The concentration of nitric acid in plating waste was 1.02 M. After three step extraction was performed with 50% TBP, each organic phase was stripped three times with distilled water to obtain 48.1% of nitric acid. Purity of final nitric acid was over 99.9% by ICP analysis. After recovery of nitric acid, copper was extracted with various solvent extractors like PC 88A, D2EPHA, LIX 84 and ISE 106. Among these extractors, 92% of copper was recovered by ISE 106 after 1st extraction and 30% $H_2SO_4$ stripping. Copper ion was reduced with $N_2H_4$ to make metal powders, respectively.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.47-52
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• 2013

Gold wire has long been used as a proven method of connecting a silicon die to a substrate in wide variety of package types, delivering high yield and productivity. However, with the high price of gold, the semiconductor packaging industry has been implementing an alternate wire material. These materials may include silver (Ag) or copper (Cu) alloys as an alternative to save material cost and maintain electrical performance. This paper will analyze and compare the electrical characteristics of several wire types. For the study, typical 0.6 mil, 0.8 mil and 1.0 mil diameter wires were selected from various alloy types (2N gold, Palladium (Pd) coated/doped copper, 88% and 96% silver) as well as respective pure metallic wires for comparison. Each wire model was validated by comparing it to electromagnetic simulation results and measurement data. Measurements from the implemented test boards were done using a vector network analyzer (VNA) and probe station setup. The test board layout consisted of three parts: 1. Analysis of the diameter, length and material characteristic of each wire; 2. Comparison between a microstrip line and the wire to microstrip line transition; and 3. Analysis of the wire's cross-talk. These areas will be discussed in detail along with all the extracted results from each type the wire.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.167-198
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• 2023

Purpose - This paper aims to compare and analyze the co-movements and information spillover effects between the international commodity futures markets and the South Korean stock markets during the COVID-19 and the 2008 financial crises. Design/methodology - The DCC-GARCH model is used in the co-movements analysis. In contrast, the BEKK-GARCH model is used to evaluate information spillover effects. The statistical data used is from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2022. It comprises the Korea Composite Stock Price Index data and daily international commodity futures prices of natural gas, West Texas Intermediate crude oil, gold, silver, copper, nickel, soybean, and wheat. Findings - The results of the co-movement analysis were as follows: First, it was shown that the co-movements between the international commodity futures markets and the South Korean stock markets were temporarily strengthened when the COVID-19 and 2008 financial crises occurred. Second, the South Korean stock markets were shown to have high correlations with the copper, nickel, and crude oil futures markets. The results of the information spillover effects analysis are as follows: First, before the 2008 financial crisis, four commodity futures markets (natural gas, gold, copper, and wheat) were shown to be in two-way leading relationships with the South Korean stock markets. In contrast, seven commodity futures markets, except for the natural gas futures market, were shown to be in two-way leading relationships with the South Korean stock markets after the financial crisis. Second, before the COVID-19 crisis, most international commodity futures markets, excluding natural gas and crude oil future markets, were shown to have led the South Korean stock markets in one direction. Third, it was revealed that after the COVID-19 crisis, the connections between the South Korean stock markets and the international commodity futures markets, except for natural gas, crude oil, and gold, were completely severed. Originality/value - Useful information for portfolio strategy establishment can be provided to investors through the results of this study. In addition, it is judged that financial policy authorities can utilize the results as data for efficient regulation of the financial market and policy establishment.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.445-451
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• 2016

General fuse elements of solution for fast acting operation characteristics made using silver or silver alloy, those are not able to dominate cost competition to the advanced global leaders that have not only high technology but competitive price. In this study, the method that compose the fuse elements manufactured solution of fast acting operation characteristics by using precision multi-layer thin film plating and helical cutting process from low-priced copper metal. Furthermore, in order to move rated current line of fuse due to the heat loses, the manufacture construction method of fixed resistor is introduced, and then Ni-P plating layer and Sn plating layer are introduced multiply for controling fine opening time characteristics. So this study can establish the high productive and low-priced production method.