• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.100-101
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• 2012

The plasma damage free and room temperature processedthin film deposition technology is essential for realization of various next generation organic microelectronic devices such as flexible AMOLED display, flexible OLED lighting, and organic photovoltaic cells because characteristics of fragile organic materials in the plasma process and low glass transition temperatures (Tg) of polymer substrate. In case of directly deposition of metal oxide thin films (including transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS)) on the organic layers, plasma damages against to the organic materials is fatal. This damage is believed to be originated mainly from high energy energetic particles during the sputtering process such as negative oxygen ions, reflected neutrals by reflection of plasma background gas at the target surface, sputtered atoms, bulk plasma ions, and secondary electrons. To solve this problem, we developed the NBAS (Neutral Beam Assisted Sputtering) process as a plasma damage free and room temperature processed sputtering technology. As a result, electro-optical properties of NBAS processed ITO thin film showed resistivity of $4.0{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}m$ and high transmittance (>90% at 550 nm) with nano- crystalline structure at room temperature process. Furthermore, in the experiment result of directly deposition of TCO top anode on the inverted structure OLED cell, it is verified that NBAS TCO deposition process does not damages to the underlying organic layers. In case of deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin film on the plastic polymer substrate, the room temperature processed sputtering coating of high quality TCO thin film is required. During the sputtering process with higher density plasma, the energetic particles contribute self supplying of activation & crystallization energy without any additional heating and post-annealing and forminga high quality TCO thin film. However, negative oxygen ions which generated from sputteringtarget surface by electron attachment are accelerated to high energy by induced cathode self-bias. Thus the high energy negative oxygen ions can lead to critical physical bombardment damages to forming oxide thin film and this effect does not recover in room temperature process without post thermal annealing. To salve the inherent limitation of plasma sputtering, we have been developed the Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process as the high quality oxide thin film deposition process at room temperature. The MFSS process is effectively eliminate or suppress the negative oxygen ions bombardment damage by the plasma limiter which composed permanent magnet array. As a result, electro-optical properties of MFSS processed ITO thin film (resistivity $3.9{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, transmittance 95% at 550 nm) have approachedthose of a high temperature DC magnetron sputtering (DMS) ITO thin film were. Also, AOS (a-IGZO) TFTs fabricated by MFSS process without higher temperature post annealing showed very comparable electrical performance with those by DMS process with $400^{\circ}C$ post annealing. They are important to note that the bombardment of a negative oxygen ion which is accelerated by dc self-bias during rf sputtering could degrade the electrical performance of ITO electrodes and a-IGZO TFTs. Finally, we found that reduction of damage from the high energy negative oxygen ions bombardment drives improvement of crystalline structure in the ITO thin film and suppression of the sub-gab states in a-IGZO semiconductor thin film. For realization of organic flexible electronic devices based on plastic substrates, gas barrier coatings are required to prevent the permeation of water and oxygen because organic materials are highly susceptible to water and oxygen. In particular, high efficiency flexible AMOLEDs needs an extremely low water vapor transition rate (WVTR) of $1{\times}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$. The key factor in high quality inorganic gas barrier formation for achieving the very low WVTR required (under ${\sim}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$) is the suppression of nano-sized defect sites and gas diffusion pathways among the grain boundaries. For formation of high quality single inorganic gas barrier layer, we developed high density nano-structured Al2O3 single gas barrier layer usinga NBAS process. The NBAS process can continuously change crystalline structures from an amorphous phase to a nano- crystalline phase with various grain sizes in a single inorganic thin film. As a result, the water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film have improved order of magnitude compared with that of conventional $Al_2O_3$ layers made by the RF magnetron sputteringprocess under the same sputtering conditions; the WVTR of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film was about $5{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2/day$ by just single layer.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.420-425
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• 2006

Nano sized mixed metal hexagonal ferrite powders with improved magnetic properties have been prepared by sol-gel method using propylene oxide as a gelation agent. To obtain the desired ferrite, two different metal ions were used. One of the ions has only +2 formal charge. The key step in the processes is that hydrated $Ba^{2+}$ or $Sr^{2+}$ ions are hydrolyzed and condensed at the surface of the previously formed $Fe_{2}O_{3}$ gel. In this processes, all the reaction can be finished within a few minutes. The magnetic properties of the produced powder were improved by heat treatment. The highest values of the magnetic properties were achieved at temperature $150^{\circ}C$ lower than those of the previously published values. The highest observed values of coercivity and the saturation magnetization of Sr-ferrite and Ba-ferrite powder were 6198 Oe, 5155 Oe and 74.4 emu/g, 68.1 emu/g, respectively. The ferrite powder annealed at $700^{\circ}C$ showed spherical particle shapes. The resulting spheres which were formed by the aggregation of nanoparticles with size 3~5 nm have diameter around 50 nm. The powder treated at $800^{\circ}C$ showed hexagonal-shaped grains with crystallite size above 500 nm.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.202-207
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• 2009

Nanocomposite formation of metal-metal oxide systems by mechanical alloying (MA) has been investigated at room temperature. The systems we chose are the $Fe_3O_4$-M (M = AI, Ti), where pure metals are used as reducing agent. It is found that $Fe/Al_2O_3$ and $Fe/TiO_2$ nanocomposite powders in which $Al_2O_3$ and $TiO_2$ are dispersed in ${\alpha}$-Fe matrix with nano-sized grains are obtained by MA of $Fe_3O_4$ with Al and Ti for 25 and 75 hours, respectively. It is suggested that the shorter MA time for the nanocomposite formation in $Fe/Al_2O_3$ is due to a large negative heat associated with the chemical reduction of magnetite by aluminum. X-ray diffraction results show that the average grain size of ${\alpha}$-Fe in $Fe/TiO_2$ nanocomposite powders is in the range of 30 nm. The change in magnetic properties also reflects the details of the solid-state reduction of magnetite by pure metals during MA.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.24.2-24.2
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• 2009

Nanostuctures such as nanodot and nanowire have been extensively studied as building blocks for nanoscale devices. However, the direct growth of the nanostuctures at the desired position is one of the most important requirements for realization of the practical devices with high integrity. Self-assembled nanotemplate is one of viable methods to produce highly-ordered nanostructures because it exhibits the highly ordered nanometer-sized pattern without resorting to lithography techniques. And selective epitaxial growth (SEG) can be a proper method for nanostructure fabrication because selective growth on the patterned openings obtained from nanotemplate can be a proper direction to achieve high level of control and reproducibility of nanostructucture fabrication. Especially, SiGe has led to the development of semiconductor devices in which the band structure is varied by the composition and strain distribution, and nanostructures of SiGe has represented new class of devices such nanowire metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and photovoltaics. So, in this study, various shaped SiGe nanostructures were selectively grown on Si substrate through ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHV-CVD) of SiGe on the hexagonally arranged Si openings obtained using nanotemplates. We adopted two types of nanotemplates in this study; anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) and diblock copolymer of PS-b-PMMA. Well ordered and various shaped nanostructure of SiGe, nanodots and nanowire, were fabricated on Si openings by combining SEG of SiGe to self-assembled nanotemplates. Nanostructure fabrication method adopted in this study will open up the easy way to produce the integrated nanoelectronic device arrays using the well ordered nano-building blocks obtained from the combination of SEG and self-assembled nanotemplates.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.80-86
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• 2016

High Ni content layered oxide materials for the positive electrode in lithium-ion batteries have high specific capacity. However, their poor electrochemical and thermal stability at elevated temperature restrict the practical use. A small amount of $Al_2O_3$ was added to the mixture of transition metal hydroxide and lithium hydroxide. The $LiNi_{0.6}Co_{0.2}Mn_{0.2}O_2$ was simultaneously doped and coated with $Al_2O_3$ during heat-treatment. Electrochemical characteristics of modified $LiNi_{0.6}Co_{0.2}Mn_{0.2}O_2$ were evaluated by the galvanostatic cycling and the LSTA(linear sweep thermmametry) at the constant voltage conditions. The nano-sized $Al_2O_3$ added materials show better cycle performance at elevated temperature than that of micro-sized $Al_2O_3$. As the added amount of nano-$Al_2O_3$ increased, the thermal stability of electrode also enhanced, but the use of 2.5 mol% Al showed the best high temperature performance.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.04a
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• pp.3-3
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• 2018

For centuries, Panax ginseng Meyer (Korean ginseng) has been widely used as a medicinal herb in Korea, China, and Japan. Ginsenosides are a class of triterpene saponins and recognized as the bioactive components in Korean ginseng. Ginsenosides, which can be classified broadly as protopanaxadiols (PPD), protopanaxatriols (PPT), and oleanolic acids, have been shown to flaunt a vast array of pharmacological activities such as immune-modulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-diabetic, and antioxidant effects. In recent years, a number of ginseng and ginsenoside researches have increasingly gained wide attention owing to its unique pharmacological properties. Although good efficacies of ginsenosides have been reported, lack of target specific delivery into tumor sites, low solubility, and low bioavailability due to modifications in gastro-intestinal environments limit their biomedical application in clinical trials. As a result to this major challenge, nanotechnology and drug delivery techniques play a significant role to solve this problematic issue. Thus, we reported the preparation of poly-ethylene glycol (PEG) and glycol chitosan (GC) functionalized to ginsenoside (Compound K and PPD) conjugates via hydrolysable ester bonds with improved aqueous solubility and pH-dependent drug release. In vitro cytotoxicity assays revealed that PEG-CK, and PPD-CK conjugates exhibited lower cytotoxicity compared to bare CK and PPD in HT29 cells. However, GC-CK conjugates exhibited higher and similar cytotoxicity in HT29 and HepG2 cells. Furthermore, GC-CK-treated RAW264.7 cells did not exhibit significant cell death at higher concentration of treatment which supports the biocompatibility of the polymer conjugates. They also inhibited nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW64.7 cells. In addition to polymer-ginsenoside conjugates, silver (AgNps) and gold nanoparticles (AuNps) have been successfully synthesized by green chemistry using different m. The biosynthesized nanoparticles demonstrated antimicrobial efficacy, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant activity, biofilm inhibition, and anticoagulant effect. Special interest on the effective delivery methods of ginsenoside to treatment sites is the focus of metal nanoparticle research.In short, nano-sizing of ginsenoside results in an increased water solubility and bioavailability. The use of nano-sized ginsenoside and P. ginseng mediated metallic nanoparticles is expected to be effective on medical platform against various diseases in the future.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.201-212
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• 2011

Nanotechnology is the applied science which develops new materials and systems sized within 1 to 100 nanometer, and improves their physical, chemical, and biological characteristics by manipulating on an atomic and molecular scale. This nanotechnology has been applied to wide spectrum of industries resulting in production of various nanoparticles. It is expected that more nanoparticles will be generated and enter to natural water bodies, imposing great threat to potable water resources. However their toxicity and treatment options have not been throughly investigated, despite the significant growth of nanotechnology-based industries. The objective of this study is to provide fundamental information for the management of nanoparticles in water supply systems through extensive literature survey. More specifically, two types of nanoparticles are selected to be a potential problem for drinking water treatment. They are carbon nanoparticles such as carbon nanotube and fullerene, and metal nanoparticles including silver, gold, silica and titanium oxide. In this study, basic characteristics and toxicity of these nanoparticles were first investigated systematically. Their monitoring techniques and treatment efficiencies in conventional water treatment plants were also studied to examine our capability to mitigate the risk associated with nanoparticles. This study suggests that the technologies monitoring nanopartilces need to be greatly improved in water supply systems, and more advanced water treatment processes should be adopted for better control of these nanoparticles.