• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.341-346
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• 2011

In this study, we inserted a Zn buffer layer into a AZO/p-type a-si:H layer interface in order to lower the contact resistance of the interface. For the Zn layer, the deposition was conducted at 5 nm, 7 nm and 10 nm using the rf-magnetron sputtering method. The results were compared to that of the AZO film to discuss the possibility of the Zn layer being used as a transparent conductive oxide thin film for application in the silicon heterojunction solar cell. We used the rf-magnetron sputtering method to fabricate Al 2 wt.% of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) film as a transparent conductive oxide (TCO). We analyzed the electro-optical properties of the ZnO as well as the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer. After inserting a buffer layer into the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layers to enhance the interface properties, we measured the contact resistance of the layers using a CTLM (circular transmission line model) pattern, the depth profile of the layers using AES (auger electron spectroscopy), and the changes in the properties of the AZO thin film through heat treatment. We investigated the effects of the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer on the characteristics of silicon heterojunction solar cells and the way to improve the interface properties. When depositing AZO thin film on a-Si layer, oxygen atoms are diffused from the AZO thin film towards the a-Si layer. Thus, the characteristics of the solar cells deteriorate due to the created oxide film. While a diffusion of Zn occurs toward the a-Si in the case of AZO used as TCO, the diffusion of In occurs toward a-Si in the case of ITO used as TCO.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.271-274
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• 2003

[ $Sr_xBa_{1-x}Nb_2O_6$ ] (SBN, $0.25{\leq}x{\leq}0.75$) ceramic is a ferroelectric material with tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) type structure, which has a high pyroelectric coefficient and a nonlinear electro-optic coefficient value. In spite of its advantages, SBN has not been investigated well compared to other ferroelectric materials with perovskite structure. In this study, SBN thin film was manufactured by ion beam sputtering technique using the prepared SBN target in $Ar/O_2$ atmosphere. SBN30 thin films of different thickness were pre-deposited as a seed layer on $Pt(100)/TiO_2/SiO_2/Si$ substrate followed by SBN60 deposition up to $4500\;{\AA}$ in thickness. As-deposited SBN60/SBN30 layer was heat-treated at different temperatures of 650, 700, 750, and $800\;^{\circ}C$ in air, respectively, The crystallinity and orientation behavior as well as electric properties of SBN60/SBN30 multi-layer were examined. The deposited layer was uniform and the orientation was shown primarily along (001) plane from XRD pattern. There was difference in the crystal structure with heat-treatment temperature, and the electric properties depended on the heating temperature and the seed-layer thickness. In electric properties of Pt/SBN60/SBN30/Pt thin film capacitor prepared, the remnant polarization (2Pr) value was $15\;{\mu}C/cm^2$, the coercive field (Ec) 65 kV/cm, and the dielectric constant 1492, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.745-750
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• 2017

Tension tests for copper thin films with thickness of $12{\mu}m$ were performed by using a digital image correlation method based on consecutive digital images. When calculating deformation using digital image correlation, a large deformation causes errors in the calculated result. In this study, the calculation procedure was improved to reduce the error, so that the full field deformation and the strain of the specimen could be accurately and directly measured on its surface. From the calculated result, it can be seen that the strain distribution is not uniform and its variation is severe, unlike the distribution in a common bulk specimen. This might result from the surface roughness introduced in the films during the fabrication process by electro-deposition.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.191-196
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• 2018

The self-annealing which leads evolution of microstructure in copper electroplating layers at room temperature occurs after forming deposition layer. During the process, crystal orientation, size and sheet resistance of plating layer change. Lastly, it causes the change of physical and mechanical characteristics such as a tensile strength of plating layer. In this study, the variation of incorporated impurities, microstructure and sheet resistance of copper plating layer formed by electroplating are measured with and without inorganic additives during the self-annealing. In case of absence of inorganic additives, the copper layer presents strong total intensity of incorporated impurities. During the self-annealing, such width of reduction was significant. Moreover, microstructure and crystal size are increased while the tensile strength is decreased noticeably. On the other hand, in the presence of inorganic additives, there is no observable distinction in the copper plating layer. According to the observation on movements of the incorporated impurities in electrodeposition copper layer, within 12 hours the impurities are continuously shifted from inside of the plating layer to its surface after as-deposited electroplating. Within 24 hours, except for the small portion of surface layer, it is considered that most of the microstructure is transformed.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.198-204
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• 2019

In this study, we propose a wearable force sensor using 3D printed mold and liquid metal. Liquid metal, such as Galinstan, is one of the promising functional materials in stretchable electronics known for its intrinsic mechanical and electronic properties. The proposed soft force sensor measures the external force by the resistance change caused by the cross-sectional area change. Fused deposition modeling-based 3D printing is a simple and cost-effective fabrication of resilient elastomers using liquid metal. Using a 3D printed microchannel mold, 3D multichannel Galinstan microchannels were fabricated with a serpentine structure for signal stability because it is important to maintain the sensitivity of the sensor even in various mechanical deformations. We performed various electro-mechanical tests for performance characterization and verified the signal stability while stretching and bending. The proposed sensor exhibited good signal stability under 100% longitudinal strain, and the resistance change ranged within 5% of the initial value. We attached the proposed sensor on the finger joint and evaluated the signal change during various finger movements and the application of external forces.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.411-418
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• 2011

The current study investigates the electroplating characteristics of Sn-Cu eutectic micro-bumps electroplated on a Si chip for flip chip application. Under bump metallization (UBM) layers consisting of Cr, Cu, Ni and Au sequentially from bottom to top with the aim of achieving Sn-Cu bumps $10\times10\times6$ ${\mu}m$ in size, with 20${\mu}m$ pitch. In order to determine optimal plating parameters, the polarization curve, current density and plating time were analyzed. Experimental results showed the equilibrium potential from the Sn-Cu polarization curve is -0.465 V, which is attained when Sn-Cu electro-deposition occurred. The thickness of the electroplated bumps increased with rising current density and plating time up to 20 mA/$cm^2$ and 30 min respectively. The near eutectic composition of the Sn-0.72wt%Cu bump was obtained by plating at 10 mA/$cm^2$ for 20 min, and the bump size at these conditions was $10\times10\times6$ ${\mu}m$. The shear strength of the eutectic Sn-Cu bump was 9.0 gf when the shearing tip height was 50% of the bump height.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.67-72
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• 2008

We have studied the effect of heat treatment of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) as a counter electrode on the electro-chemical properties of dye-snsitized solar cells. MWNTs on the p-type Si substrate were synthesized by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using Fe catalysts. We prepared the two types of MWNTs samples with the different diameters. The rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment for the MWNTs was carried out at the growth temperature ($900^{\circ}C$) for 1 minute with $N_2$ gas atmosphere. The structural, electrical and electrochemical properties of MWNTs were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Raman spectroscopy, 2-point probe station and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The I(D)/I(G) ratio of heat-treated MWNTs in Raman spectra was considerably decreased. It was also found that the heat-treated MWNTs showed better redox reaction of iodide at the interface between MWNTs surface and electrolyte than that of as-grown MWNTs. The redox resistance value of heat-treated electrodes was measured to be much lower than that of as-grown electrode at the interface. As a result, the counter electrode using the heat-treated MWNTs showed better electrochemical properties.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2014

The peculiar feature of cathodic protection in seawater has the capability to form mineral calcareous deposits such as magnesium and calcium on metal surfaces. It is assumed that $OH^-$ ions are generated close to the metal surface as a result of cathodic protection and generated $OH^-$ ions increases the pH of the metal/seawater interface outlined as the following formulae. (1) $O_2+2H_2O+4e{\rightarrow}4OH^-$, or (2) $2H_2O+2e{\rightarrow}H_2+2OH^-$. And high pH causes precipitation of $Mg(OH)_2$ and $CaCO_3$ in accordance with the following formulae. (1) $Mg^{2+}+2OH^-{\rightarrow}Mg(OH)_2$, (2) $Ca^{2+}+CO{_3}^{2-}{\rightarrow}CaCO_3$. The focus of this study was to increase the amount of $CO{_3}^{2-}$ with the injection of $CO_2$ gas to the solution for accelerating process of the following formulae. (1) $H_2O+CO_2{\rightarrow}H_2CO_3$, (2) $HCO^{3-}{\rightarrow}{H^+}+CO{_3}^{2-}$. Electrodeposit films were formed by an electro-deposition technique on steel substrates in solutions of both natural seawater and natural seawater dissolved $CO_2$ gas with different current densities, over different time periods. The contents of films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and X-ray diffraction(XRD). The adhesion and corrosion resistance of the coating films were evaluated by anodic polarization. From an experimental result, only $CaCO_3$ were found in solution where injected $CO_2$ gas regardless of current density. In case of injecting the $CO_2$ gas, weight gain of electrodeposits films hugely increased and it had appropriate physical properties.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.228-235
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• 2008

Nickel plating thickness increased with the electric current density, and the augmentation was more thick in $6{\sim}10A/dm^2$ than low current. Hull-cell analysis was tested to evaluate the current density. Optimum thickness was obtained at a temperature of $60^{\circ}C$, and the pH fluctuation of 3.5~4.0. Over the Nickel ion concentration of 300 g/L, plating thickness increased with the current density. The rate of decrease in nickel ion concentration was increased with the current density. The quantity of plating electro-deposition was increased at the anode surface, which was correlated with the increase of plating thickness. The plating thickness was increased because of the quick plating speed. However, the condition of the plating surface becomes irregular and the minuteness of nickel plating layer was reduced with the plating rate. After the corrosion test of 25 h, it was resulted in that maintaining low electric current density is desirable for the excellent corrosion resistance in lustered nickel plating. According to the program simulation, the thickness of diffusion layer was increased and the concentration of anode surface was lowered for the higher current densities. The concentration profile showed the regular distribution at low electric current density. The field plating process was controlled by the electric current density and the plating thickness instead of plating time for the productivity. The surface physical property of plating structure or corrosion resistance was excellent in the case of low electric current density.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.155-161
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• 2009

The most upcoming technical issue of automotive coating is the compact coating process. Pre-primed coating is the outstanding technology eliminating electro-deposition and primer coating process. The main properties of pre-primed coating for automotive are flexibility, corrosion resistance, and weldability. Therefore, we synthesized the conventional polyester, elastomeric polyester and polyvinylidene fluoride resins and evaluated their properties to use as weldable pre-primed automotive coatings. As the results of flexibility and curing behavior, the elastomeric polyester coating was most appropriate to use for the pre-primed automotive coatings.