• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.263-271
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• 2014

Objectives: Along with the several cases of pulmonary disorders caused by exposure to indium that have been reported in Japan, China, and the United States, cases of Korean workers involved in processes that require handling of indium compounds with potential risk of exposure to indium compounds have also been reported. We performed biological monitoring for workers in various target manufacturing processes of indium, indium oxide, and indium tin oxide(ITO)/indium zinc oxide(IZO) in domestic factories. Materials: As biological exposure indices, we measured serum concentrations of indium using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and Krebs von den Lungen 6(KL-6) and surfactant protein D(SP-D) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. We classified the ITO/IZO target manufacturing process into powdering, mixing, molding, sintering, polishing, bonding, and finishing. Results: The powdering process workers showed the highest serum indium level. The mixing and polishing process workers also showed high serum indium levels. In the powdering process, the mean indium serum concentration in the workers exceeded $3{\mu}g/L$, the reference value in Japan. Of the powdering, mixing, and polishing process workers, 83.3%, 50.0%, and 24.5%, respectively, had values exceeding the reference value in Japan. We suppose that the reason of the higher prevalence of high indium concentrations in powder processing workers was that most of the particles in the powdering process were respirable dust smaller than $10{\mu}m$. The mean KL-6 and SP-D concentrations were high in the powdering, mixing, and polishing process workers. Therefore, the workers in these processes who were at greater risk of exposure to indium powder were those who had higher serum levels of indium, as well as KL-6 and SP-D. We observed significant differences in serum indium, KL-6, and SP-D levels between the process groups. Conclusions: Five among the seven reported cases of "indium lung" in Japan involved polishing process workers. Polishing process workers in Korea also had high serum levels of indium, KL-6, and SP-D. The outcomes of this study can be used as essential bases for establishing biological monitoring measures for workers handling indium compounds, and for developing health-care guidelines and special medical surveillance in Korea.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.248-256
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• 2023

Indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent electrode film has been widely adopted for the various applications such as display and electric vehicle. In this paper, we studied how to enhance the thermoforming stability of ITO film by applying the highly conductive Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) thin layer. Based on the change of sheet resistance value, the influence of the additional solvent with different boiling point was investigated for the PEDOT:PSS coating solution. In addition, by analyzing optical transmittance and Raman spectrum, we confirmed the key mechanism which determine the final electrical conductivity of the PEDOT:PSS on ITO film using an ethylene glycol solvent. The final ITO transparent electrode coated with PEDOT:PSS performed the outstanding endurance of electrical conduction even in 126% stretching condition.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1992.07b
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• pp.897-899
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• 1992

This paper deals with the characteristics of Indium Tin Oxide(ITO) sputtered by the reactive magnetron sputtering process. ITO films have been grown at various substrate temperatures(R.T, 100$^{\circ}C$, 200$^{\circ}C$, 240$^{\circ}C$) and we used the target material of alloy of Indium and Tin. The electrical and optical properties of the ITO film have been investigated and the effect of magnetic field to the properties of ITO was studied. We have studied how much the improvement of transmission rate and sheet resistivity by heat treatment was. The sample with good electrical and optical properties can be obtained for the low substrate temperature of 200$^{\circ}C$-250$^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.84-89
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• 2021

Indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent electrodes, which are used to manufacture organic light-emitting diodes, are used in light-emitting surface electrodes of display EL panels such as cell phones and TVs, liquid crystal panels, transparent switches, and plane heating elements. ITO is a major component that consists of indium and tin and is advantageous in terms of obtaining sheet resistance and light transmittance in a thin film. However, the optical performance of devices decreases with an increase in its thickness. A digital holography system was constructed and measured for the step measurement of the ITO thin film, and the reliability of the technique was verified by comparing the FE-SEM measurement results. The error rate of the step difference measurement was within ±5%. This result demonstrated that this technique is useful for applications in advanced MEMS and NEMS industrial fields.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.976-985
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• 2002

The purpose of this paper is that the roughness(Rrms = 31$\AA$, Rp-v = 270$\AA$) of ITO thin film deposited by sputtering method for OELD is improved to Rrms $\leq$ 10$\AA$, Rp-v $\leq$ 80$\AA$ by chemical mechanical polishing(CMP). First, ITO thin films are polished with a variety of consumables (Pads, Slurries) to choose proper some for the roughness improvement and the CMP mechanism of ITO thin films is demonstrated on the ground of the experiment results. Henceforth, the CMP characteristics (Removal rate, Non-uniformity) of chosen consumables are evaluated according to processing conditions (Polishing pressures, Table velocities) and suitable conditions for ITO film CMP are selected. Finally, the electrical and optical properties (Sheet resistance, Transmittance) of ITO thin films are investigated to verify whether or not ITO thin film are still suitable for OELD after polished.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.214-214
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• 2010

Indium-tin-oxide(ITO)는 평판디스플레이 산업이 성장함에 따라 그 수요는 계속 늘고 있지만 세계적으로 In의 매장량의 한계로 그 단가가 매우 높다. 또한 ITO는 플렉시블 디스플레이에 적용함에 있어서 고온 공정으로 인해 많은 단점을 보이고 있어 이를 대체할 새로운 투명전극의 개발이 활발히 진행되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 IZTO($In_2O_3$:ZnO:$SnO_2$=80:10:10 wt.%)의 In 량을 절감한 조성의 타겟을 제조하였다. 그리고 유리기판 위에 IZTO 박막을 펄스 DC 마그네트론 스퍼터링을 이용하여 증착압력과 활성 산소의 분압을 변화시키며 증착하였다. 증착압력의 변화는 3mTorr~8mTorr 범위에서 제어하였고 활성 산소의 분압은 0%~3% 범위에서 제어하였으며 기판의 온도의 제어 없이 상온에서 증착하였다. 증착한 박막은 전기적, 광학적 및 구조적 특성 등을 조사하였다. 증착압력 6mTorr와 산소분압 2%의 조건에서 비저항은 $5.07{\times}10^{-4}\;({\Omega}{\cdot}cm)$, 캐리어 농도는 $2.96{\times}10^{20}(cm^{-3})$, 이동도는 $41.6(cm^{-2}/Vs)$로 가장 좋은 전기적 특성을 보였다. 박막의 투과율을 측정한 결과 평균 85% (400nm~800nm)이상의 우수한 광학적 특성을 보였다. 또한 이 IZTO 박막을 이용하여 OLED 소자를 제작하여 그 특성을 조사하였다. 조사 결과 플렉시블 디스플레이 분야에서 IZTO 박막은 In 절감효과와 상온 공정에서 우수한 투명전극 특성을 보여 ITO를 대체할 물질로 가능성을 보여주었다.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 2013

For the biocompatibility test of implantable devices or for the sensitivity evaluation of biomedical sensors, it is required to understand the mechanism of the protein adsorption and the interaction between the adsorbed proteins and cells. In this study, the adsorption of proteins in a cell culture medium with fetal bovine serum onto an indium tin-oxide electrode was characterized by using linear sweep voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy. We immersed the fabricated ITO electrodes in the culture medium for 30, 60, or 90 min, and then measured the electrochemical properties of electrodes with 10 mM $Fe(CN){_6}^{3-/4-}$ and 0.1 M KCl electrolyte. With an increase of contacting time, the anodic peak current was decreased and the charge transfer resistance was increased. However, both parameters were recovered to the values before contact with the medium after the treatment of Trypsin/Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid hydrolyzing proteins.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2003.07c
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• pp.1553-1555
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• 2003

Coatings on glass with highly transparent conducting oxide films(TCOs) are performed mostly by using indium tin oxide(ITO). This Oxide material is very common for applications where both high electrical conductivity. Photovoltaic cells, transparent electrical heater, selective optical filter, and a optical transmittance are essential. In this study, ITO thin films were deposited on $SiO_2$/soda-line glass plates by a dc magnetron sputtering technique. The crystallinity and electrical properties of the films were investigated by X-ray diffraction(XRD), atomic force microscopy(AFM) scanning and 4-point probe. The optical transmittance of ITO films in the range of 300-800nm were measured with a spectrophotometer. As a result, we obtained polycrystalline structured ITO films with (222), (400), and (440) peak. Transmittance of all the films were higher than 90% in the visible range.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 1998

Organic thin film EL devices using PPV(poly (p-phenylenevinylene)) as emitter were fabricated on various conditions and structures, their electro-optical properties were estimated. Fabricated EL devices had structures of single layer(ITO(indium tin oxide)/PPV/Mg), double layer(ITO/PVK(poly(N-vinylcarbazole))/PPV/Mg and ITO/PPV/Polymer matrix + PBD/Mg) and three layer (ITO/PVK/PPV/PS(polystyrene)+PBD(butyl-2-(4-bipheny])-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole))/Mg), their electro-optical characteristics were compared with each other. In structure of double layer (ITO/PPV /Polymer matrix + PBD/Mg), the used polymer-matrices were PMMA(poly(methyl methacrylate), PC(polycarbonate), PS and MCH(side chain liquid crystalline homopolymer). When PS as a hole transport layer was used, the luminance characteristics on concentration of PBD was obtained. In results, current-voltage-luminance curves of fabricated devices had characteristics of tunneling effect and the device showed a stable light emitting.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.376-381
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• 2009

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) thin films on Polyethylene Terephtalate (PET) substrate were prepared by Roll-to-Roll sputter system with targets of 5 wt% and 10 wt% $SnO_2$ at room temperature. The influence of the chromaticity (b*) and transmittance properties of the ITO Films were investigated. The ITO thin films were deposited as a function of the DC power, rolling speed, and Ar/$O_2$ gas flow ratio, and then characterized by spectrophotometer. Their crystallinity and surface resistance were also analyzed by X-ray diffractometer and 4-point probe. As a result, the chromaticity (b*) and transmittance of the ITO films were broadly dependent on the thickness, which was controlled by the rolling speed. When the ITO films were prepared with the DC power of 300 W and the Ar/$O_2$ gas flow ratio of 30/1 sccm using 10 wt% $SnO_2$ target as a function of the rolling speeds 0.01 through 0.10 m/min, its chromaticity (b*) and transmittance were about -4.01 to 11.28 and 75.76 to 86.60%, respectively. In addition, when the ITO films were deposited with the DC power of 400W and the Ar/$O_2$ gas flow ratio of 30/2 sccm used in 5 wt% $SnO_2$ target, its chromaticity (b*) and transmittance were about -2.98 to 14.22 and 74.29 to 88.52%, respectively.