• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.167-177
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• 2014

New technologies for water purification are continuously emerging to address global water quality problems, and one such technology involves advanced hermetic water purification facilities made by concrete that utilize ozone treatment processes. Better knowledge about surface deterioration of epoxy coating exposed to ozone treatment is needed as a foundation for development of improved methods and materials in the future. This study utilized atomic force microscopy (AFM), nanoindentation methods, and existing indirect methods such as visual observation, changes in mass, surface observation and chrominance analysis, to evaluate epoxy water-resistance and anti-corrosiveness. This study considered six different epoxy formulations to assess typical degradation characteristics of epoxy surfaces with regard to water-resistance/anti-corrosiveness. AFM and nanoindentation techniques emerged as promising direct methods with potential to provide quantitative measures of surface quality that are improvements upon existing indirect methods. The experiments also confirmed that some of the epoxy-coatings were severely iMPacted by ozone exposure, and thus the results demonstrate that concern about such deterioration is justified.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.34-36
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• 2015

Amorphous SiZnSnO(SZTO) thin film transistors(TFTs) have been fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering process, and they were annealed in air and in wet ambient. The electrical performance and the structure were analyzed by I-V measurement, XPS, AFM, and XRD. The results showed improvement in device performance by wet annealing process compared to air annealing treatment, because free electron was shown to be increased due to reaction of oxygen and hydrogen generating oxygen vacancy. This is understood by the generation of free electrons. We expect the wet annealing process to be a promising candidate to contributing to high electrical performance of oxide thin film transistors for backplane device applications.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.10 no.12
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• pp.2251-2257
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• 2006

We fabricated ZnO thin film successfully by using RF magnetron sputtering and investigated its potential for being utilized as the key material of piezoelectric device with the characterization of ZnO thin film such as such as crystallinity, surface morphology, c-axis orientation, film density. In thin study, $Ar/O_2$ gas ratio is fixed 70/30, RF power 125W, working pressure 8mTorr, distance between substrate and target 70mm, but the substrate temperature is varied from room temperature to $400^{\circ}C$. The relative intensity ($I_{(002)}/I_{(100)}$) or (002) peak in ZnO thin film deposited at $300^{\circ}$ was exhibited as 94%, then its FWHM was $0.571^{\circ}C$. Also, from the surface morphology evaluated by SEM and AFM, the film deposited at $300^{\circ}C$ showed uniform particle shape and excellent surface roughness of 4.08 m. The tendency of ZnO thin film density was exhibited to be denser with increasing substrate temperature but slightly decreased at near $400^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.597-600
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• 1999

By periodically varying the current density and etching time during anodic oxidation of crustalline silicon wafers in 15% HF-ethanol solution, we obtained porous silicon multilayers which have periodically varying refractive index. We fabricated the porous silicon microcavity (PSM) which consist of porous silicon multilayers (I), active layer of porous silicon, and porous silicon multilayers (II) and investigated its physical properties. The AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) measurement from the cross section of multilayers (I and II) shows uniformity of high refractive index and low index layers as well as the active layer. We observed the characteristics of Bragg reflector when the thickness of layers was 1/4 and the thickness of active layer was twice of the effective wavelength, which can be used as a filter for specific wavelength. We found the emission characteristic from the PSM, which FWHM (full width half maximum) was considerably decreased and emission intensity was increased.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.434-435
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• 2005

In this work, the ITO thin films were prepared by FTS (Facing Targets Sputtering) system under different sputtering conditions which were varying $O_2$ gas flow, input current and working gas pressure. As a function of sputtering conditions, electrical and optical properties of prepared ITO thin films were measured. The electrical characteristics, surface roughness and transmittance of the ITO thin films were evaluated by Hall Effect Measurement, AFM, and UV-VIS spectrometer respectively. In addition, I-V properties of OLED cells were measured by 4156A(HP).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.397-397
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• 2010

Bone is considered as hierarchically organized biocomposites of organic (collagen) and inorganic (hydroxyapatite) materials. The precise structural dependence between hydroxyapatite (HAp, $Ca_{10}(PO_4)_6(OH)_2)$ crystals and collagen fibril is critical to unique characteristics of bone. To meet those conditions and obtain optimal properties, it is essential to understand and control the initial growth mechanisms of hydroxyapatite at the molecular level, such as other nano-structured materials. In this study, collagen fibrils were prepared by adsorbing native type I collagen molecules onto hydrophobic surface. Hydrophobicity was introduced on the Si wafer surface by using PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) method and cyclohexane as a precursor. Biomimetic nucleation and growth of HAp on the self-assembled collagen nanofibrils were occurred through incubation of the sample in SBF (simulated body fluid). Chemical and morphological evolution of HAp nanocrystals was investigated by surface-sensitive analytical techniques such as ToF-SIMS (Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) in the early growth stages (< 24 hrs). The very initial stages (< 12 hrs) of mineralization could be clearly demonstrated by ToF-SIMS chemical mapping of surface. In addition to ToF-SIMS and AFM measurement, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis were conducted to characterize the HAp layer in the late stages. This study is of great importance in the growth of real bone-like materials with a structure analogous to that of natural bones and the development of biomimetic nanomaterials.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics D
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• v.35D no.8
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• pp.15-23
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• 1998

Single crystalline I $n_{x}$G $a_{1-x}$ N thin film was grwon by MOCVD on (001) sapphire substrate for the blue light emitting devices. A good quality of I $n_{0.13}$G $a_{0.87}$N/GaN heterostructure grwon above 700.deg. C was confiremed by various characterization techniques of AFM, RHEED and DC-XRD. Through PL measurement at room temperautre for the Si-Zn co-doped I $n_{x}$G $a_{a-x}$N/GaN structure grwon at 800.deg. C to obtain blue wavelength emission, 460-470 nm and 425 nm emission peak were observed, which are believed to be from donor-to-acceptor pair transition and band edge emission of In/x/G $a_{1-x}$ N, respectively. The result of PL measurement of the undoped MQW I $n_{x}$G $a_{1-x}$ N layer at low temperature confirmed that the strong MQW peak was resulted by exciton from the GAN barrier and carrier of DA pair confined into the well layer.ll layer.yer.r.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.316-326
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• 2016

Development and discovery of efficient, cost-effective, and robust electrocatalysts are imperative for practical and widespread implementation of water electrolysis and fuel cell techniques in the anticipated hydrogen economy. The electrochemical reactions involved in water electrolysis, i.e., hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, are complex inner-sphere reactions with slow multi-electron transfer kinetics. To develop active electrocatalysts for water electrolysis, the physicochemical properties of the electrode surfaces in electrolyte solutions should be investigated and understood in detail. When electrocatalysis is conducted using nanoparticles with large surface areas and active surface states, analytical techniques with sub-nanometer resolution are required, along with material development. Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is an electrochemical technique for studying the surface reactions and properties of various types of electrodes using a very small tip electrode. Recently, the morphological and chemical characteristics of single nanoparticles and bio-enzymes for catalytic reactions were studied with nanometer resolution by combining SECM with atomic force microscopy (AFM). Herein, SECM techniques are briefly reviewed, including the AFM-SECM technique, to facilitate further development and discovery of highly active, cost-effective, and robust electrode materials for efficient electrolysis and photolysis.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.118-122
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• 2009

Organic thin film transistors with a pentacene active layer and various polymer gate insulators were fabricated and their performances were investigated. Characteristics of pentacene thin film transistors on different polymer substrates were investigated using an atomic force microscope (AFM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The pentacene thin films were deposited by thermal evaporation on the gate insulators of various polymers. Hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), polyvinyl acetate (PVA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) were fabricated as the gate insulator where a pentacene layer was deposited at 40, 55, 70, 85, 100 oC. Pentacene thin films on PMMA showed the largest grain size and least trap concentration. In addition, pentacene TFTs of top-contact geometry are compared with PMMA and $SiO_2$ as gate insulators, respectively. We also fabricated pentacene TFT with Poly (3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-Polysturene Sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) electrode by inkjet printing method. The physical and electrical characteristics of each gate insulator were tested and analyzed by AFM and I-V measurement. It was found that the performance of TFT was mainly determined by morphology of pentacene rather than the physical or chemical structure of the polymer gate insulator

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.05c
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• pp.120-123
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• 2003

To investigate the characteristics of the single dendrimer molecule, we attempt to measure morphology and electrical properties of the self-assembled dendrimer on Au (111)substrate with SPM(scanning probe microscopy). The same self-assembly procedure was used for two different concentrations, $10{\mu}mol/ml$ and $100{\mu}mol/ml$. The case of lower concentration, we can measure the diameter and the height of the single molecule with the tapping mode AFM image. The imaged single molecules were dome shaped and the average diameter and height were 15.6 nm, 1.2 nm respectively. From these sizes, we can calculate the volume of the single molecule. The volume of the single molecule was estimated about $116nm^3$. However, that of higher concentration, it is difficult to obtain obvious image of the single molecule. To add to, I-V characteristics were investigated using STM, on which the phenomenon of negative differential resistance (NDR)was observed between 0.14 V and 0.24 V reproductively.