• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.453-457
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• 2007

Interest in use of ink-jet printing for pattern-on-demand fabrication of metal interconnects without complicated and wasteful etching process has been on rapid increase. However, ink-jet printing is a wet process and needs an additional thermal treatment such as an annealing process. Since a metal ink is a suspension containing metal nanoparticles and organic capping molecules to prevent aggregation of them, the microstructure of an ink-jet printed metal interconnect 'as dried' can be characterized as a stack of loosely packed nanoparticles. Therefore, during being treated thermally, an inkjet-printed interconnect is likely to evolve a characteristic microstructure, different from that of the conventionally vacuum-deposited metal films. Microstructure characteristics can significantly affect the corresponding electrical and mechanical properties. The characteristics of change in microstructure and electrical resistivity of inkjet-printed silver (Ag) films when annealed isothermally at a temperature between 170 and $240^{\circ}C$ were analyzed. The change in electrical resistivity was described using the first-order exponential decay kinetics. The corresponding activation energy of 0.44 eV was explained in terms of a thermally-activated mechanism, i.e., migration of point defects such as vacancy-oxygen pairs, rather than microstructure evolution such as grain growth or change in porosity.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.205-210
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• 2015

NbN coatings were prepared by ICP (inductively coupled plasma) assisted magnetron sputtering from a Nb metal target in $Ar+N_2$ atmosphere at various ICP powers. Effect of ICP on the microstructure, crystalline structure and mechanical properties of NbN coatings was investigated by field emission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation measurements. The results show that ICP power has a significant influence on coating microstructure, structure and mechanical properties of NbN coatings. With the increasing of ICP power, coating microstructure evolves from the columnar structure of DC process to a highly dense one. Crystalline structure of NbN coatings were changed from cubic ${\delta}$-NbN to hexagonal ${\beta}-Nb_2N$ with increase of ICP power. The maximum nano hardness of 25.4 GPa with Ra roughness of 0.5 nm was obtained from the NbN coating sputtered at ICP power of 200 W.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.460-464
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• 2017

As increasing thermal efficiency of the gas turbine, the performance improvement of thermal barrier coatings is also becoming important. Ytrria stabilized zirconia(YSZ) is the most popular materials for ceramic top coating because of its low thermal conductivity. In order to enhance the performance of thermal barrier coatings for hot sections in the gas turbine, suspension plasma spraying was developed in order to feed nano-sized powders. YSZ coatings formed by suspension plasma spraying showed better performance than YSZ coatings due to its exclusive microstructure. In this research, two YSZ coatings were deposited by suspension vacuum plasma spraying at 400 mbar and 250 mbar. Microstructures of YSZ coatings were analyzed by scanning electron image(SEM) on each spraying conditions, respectively. Crystalline structure transformation was not detected by X-ray diffraction. Thermal conductivity of suspension vacuum plasma sprayed YSZ coatings were measured by laser flash analysis. Thermal conductivity of suspension vacuum plasma sprayed YSZ coatings containing horizontally oriented nano-sized pores and vertical cracks showed $0.6-1.0W/m{\cdot}K$, similar to thermal conductivity of YSZ coatings formed by atmospheric plasma spraying.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.207-214
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• 2007

We fabricated thermally-evaporated 10 -Ni/(poly)Si and 10 -Ni/1 -Ir/(poly)Si structures to investigate the microstructure of nickel monosilicide at the elevated temperatures required for annealing. Silicides underwent rapid at the temperatures of 300-1200 for 40 seconds. Silicides suitable for the salicide process formed on top of both the single crystal silicon actives and the polycrystalline silicon gates. A four-point tester was used to investigate the sheet resistances. A transmission electron microscope(TEM) and an Auger depth profile scope were employed for the determination of vertical section structure and thickness. Nickel silicides with iridium on single crystal silicon actives and polycrystalline silicon gates shoed low resistance up to 1000 and 800, respectively, while the conventional nickle monosilicide showed low resistance below 700. Through TEM analysis, we confirmed that a uniform, 20 -thick silicide layer formed on the single-crystal silicon substrate for the Ir-inserted case while a non-uniform, agglomerated layer was observed for the conventional nickel silicide. On the polycrystalline silicon substrate, we confirmed that the conventional nickel silicide showed a unique silicon-silicide mixing at the high silicidation temperature of 1000. Auger depth profile analysis also supports the presence of thismixed microstructure. Our result implies that our newly proposed iridium-added NiSi process may widen the thermal process window for the salicide process and be suitable for nano-thick silicides.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.190-193
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• 2013

Spatial distributions of alloying elements of an Fe-based amorphous ribbon with a nominal composition of $Fe_{75}C_{11}Si_2B_8Cr_4$ were analyzed through the atom probe tomography method. The amorphous ribbon was prepared through the melt spinning method. The macroscopic amorphous natures were confirmed using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Atom Probe (Cameca LEAP 3000X HR) analyses were carried out in pulsed voltage mode at a specimen base temperature of about 60 K, a pulse to base voltage ratio of 15 %, and a pulse frequency of 200 kHz. The target detection rate was set to 5 ions per 1000 pulses. Based on a statistical analyses of the data obtained from the volume of $59{\times}59{\times}33nm^3$, homogeneous distributions of alloying elements in nano-scales were concluded. Even with high carbon and strong carbide forming element contents, nano-scale segregation zones of alloying elements were not detected within the Fe-based amorphous ribbon. However, the existence of small sub-nanometer scale clusters due to short range ordering cannot be completely excluded.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2003

Al-l4wt.%Ni-l4wt.% Mm(Mm=misch metal) alloy powders rapidly solidified by the gas atomization method were subjected to mechanical milling(MM). The morphology, microstructure and hardness of the powders were investigated as a function of milling time using scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and Vickers microhardness tester. Microstructural evolution in gas-atomized Al-l4wt.%Ni-l4wt.% Mm(Mm=misch metal) alloy powders was studied during mechanical milling. It was noted that the as-solidified particle size of $200\mutextrm{m}$ decreases during the first 48 hours and then increases up to 72 hours of milling due to cold bonding and subsequently there was continuous refinement to $20\mutextrm{m}$ on milling to 200 hours. Two microstructurally different zones, Zone A, which is fine microstructure area and Zone B, which has the structure of the as-solidified powder, were observed. The average thickness of the Zone A layer increased from about 10 to $15\mutextrm{m}$ in the powder milled for 24 hours. Increasing the milling time to 72 hours resulted in the formation of a thicker and more uniform Zone A layer, whose thickness increased to about $30~50\mutextrm{m}$. The TEM micrograph of ball milled powder for 200 hours shows formation of nano-particles, less than 20 nm in size, embedded in an Al matrix.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.159-168
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• 2008

Thermally-evaporated 10 nm-Ni/1 nm-Ru/(30 nm or 70 nm-poly)Si structures were fabricated in order to investigate the thermal stability of Ru-inserted nickel monosilicide. The silicide samples underwent rapid thermal anne aling at $300{\sim}1,100^{\circ}C$ for 40 seconds. Silicides suitable for the salicide process were formed on the top of the single crystal and polycrystalline silicon substrates mimicking actives and gates. The sheet resistance was measured using a four-point probe. High resolution X-ray diffraction and Auger depth profiling were used for phase and chemical composition analysis, respectively. Transmission electron microscope and scanning probe microscope(SPM) were used to determine the cross-sectional structure and surface roughness. The silicide, which formed on single crystal silicon and 30 nm polysilicon substrate, could defer the transformation of $Ni_2Si $i and $NiSi_2 $, and was stable at temperatures up to $1,100^{\circ}C$ and $1,100^{\circ}C$, respectively. Regarding microstructure, the nano-size NiSi preferred phase was observed on single crystalline Si substrate, and agglomerate phase was shown on 30 nm-thick polycrystalline Si substrate, respectively. The silicide, formed on 70 nm polysilicon substrate, showed high resistance at temperatures >$700^{\circ}C$ caused by mixed microstructure. Through SPM analysis, we confirmed that the surface roughness increased abruptly on single crystal Si substrate while not changed on polycrystalline substrate. The Ru-inserted nickel monosilicide could maintain a low resistance in wide temperature range and is considered suitable for the nano-thick silicide process.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.155-162
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• 2010

Bone is a hierarchically structured composite material which has been well studied by the materials engineering community because of its unique structure and mechanical properties. Bone is a laminated organic-inorganic composite composed of primarily hydroxyapatite, collagen and water. The main mineral that gives bone's hardness is calcium phosphate, which is also known as hydroxyapatite. Light microscopy (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the structure of femurs from chicken and rabbit. The elemental analysis was used to search variation in the distribution of calcium, potassium and oxygen in the femur. Current investigation focused on two structural scales: micro scale (arrangement of compact bone) and nano scale (collagen fibril and apatite crystals). At micro scale, distinct difference was found in microstructures of chicken femur and rabbit femur. At nano scale, we analyzed the shape and size of apatite crystals and the arrangement of collagen fibril. Consequently, femurs of chicken and rabbit had very similar chemical property and structures at nano scale despite of their different species.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.67-71
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• 2013

Porous $Al_2O_3$ dispersed with nano-sized Cu was fabricated by freeze-drying process and solution chemistry method using Cu-nitrate. To prepare porous $Al_2O_3$, camphene was used as the sublimable vehicle. Camphene slurries with $Al_2O_3$ content of 10 vol% were prepared by milling at $50^{\circ}C$ with a small amount of oligomeric polyester dispersant. Freezing of the slurry was done in a Teflon cylinder attached to a copper bottom plate cooled to $-25^{\circ}C$ while unidirectionally controlling the growth direction of the camphene. Pores were subsequently generated by sublimation of the camphene during drying in air for 48 h. The green body was sintered in a furnace at $1400^{\circ}C$ for 1 h. Cu particles were dispersed in porous $Al_2O_3$ by calcination and hydrogen reduction of Cu-nitrate. The sintered samples showed large pores with sizes of about $150{\mu}m$; these pores were aligned parallel to the camphene growth direction. Also, the internal walls of the large pores had relatively small pores due to the traces of camphene left between the concentrated $Al_2O_3$ particles on the internal wall. EDS analysis revealed that the Cu particles were mainly dispersed on the surfaces of the large pores. These results strongly suggest that porous $Al_2O_3$ with Cu dispersion can be successfully fabricated by freeze-drying and solution chemistry routes.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.294-298
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• 2015

Blocking layers with nano carbon blacks (NCBs) were prepared by adding 0.0 ~ 0.5 wt% NCBs to the $TiO_2$ blocking layer. Then, dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated with a $0.45cm^2$ active area. TEM and micro-Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the microstructure and phases of the NCBs, respectively. Optical microscopy and AFM were used to analyze the microstructure of the $TiO_2$ blocking layer with NCBs. UV-VIS-NIS spectroscopy was used to determine the band gap of the $TiO_2$ blocking layer with NCBs. A solar simulator and potentiostat were used to determine the photovoltaic properties and impedance of DSSCs with NCBs. The energy conversion efficiency (ECE) increased from 3.53 to 6.20 % when the NCB content increased from 0.0 to 0.3 wt%. This indicates that the effective surface area and electron mobility increased in the $TiO_2$ blocking layer with NCBs. However, the ECE decreased when the NCB content was increased to over 0.4 wt%. This change occurred because the effective electron transport area decreased with the addition of excessive NCBs to the $TiO_2$ blocking layer. The results of this study suggest that the ECE of DSSCs can be enhanced by adding the appropriate amount of NCBs to the $TiO_2$ blocking layer.