• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.53-58
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• 2010

In this study, we have investigated the effect of the ambient gases on the characteristics of IZO thin films for the OLED (organic light emitting diodes) devices. For this purpose, IZO thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering under various ambient gases (Ar, $Ar+O_2$ and $Ar+H_2$) at $150^{\circ}C$. In order to investigate the influences of the oxygen and hydrogen, the flow rate of oxygen and hydrogen in argon mixing gas has been changed from 0.1sccm to 0.5sccm, respectively. All the samples show amorphous structure regardless of ambient gases. The electrical resistivity of IZO film increased with increasing flow rate of $O_2$ under $Ar+O_2$ while under $Ar+H_2$ atmosphere the electrical resistivity showed minimum value near 0.5sccm of $H_2$. All the films showed the average transmittance over 85% in the visible range. The OLED device was fabricated with different IZO substrates made by configuration of IZO/${\alpha}$-NPD/DPVB/$Alq_3$/LiF/Al to elucidate the performance of IZO substrate. OLED devices with the amorphous-IZO (a-IZO) anode film show better current densityvoltage-luminance characteristics than that of OLED devices with the commercial crystalline-ITO (c-ITO) anode film. It can be explained that very flat surface roughness and high work function of a-IZO anode film lead to more efficient hole injection by reduction of interface barrier height between anode and organic layers. This suggests that a-IZO film is a promising anode materials substituting conventional c-ITO anode in OLED devices.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.445-460
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• 2018

Exposure to indoor air pollution is an emerging world-wide problem, with growing evidence that it is a major cause of morbidity worldwide. Whilst most indoor air pollutants are of outdoor origin, these combine with a range of indoor sourced pollutants that may lead to high pollutant levels indoors. The pollutants of greatest concern are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM), both of which are associated with a range of serious health problems. Whilst current buildings usually use ventilation with outdoor air to remove these pollutants, botanical systems are gaining recognition as an effective alternative. Whilst many years research has shown that traditional potted plants and their substrates are capable of removing VOCs effectively, they are inefficient at removing PM, and are limited in their pollutant removal rates by the need for pollutants to diffuse to the active pollutant removal components of these systems. Active botanical biofiltration, using green wall systems combined with mechanical fans to increase pollutant exposure to the plants and substrate, show greatly increased rates of pollutant removal for both VOCs, PM and also carbon dioxide ($CO_2$). A developing body of research indicates that these systems can outperform existing technologies for indoor air pollutant removal, although further research is required before their use will become widespread. Whilst it is known that plant species selection and substrate characteristics can affect the performance of active botanical systems, optimal characteristics are yet to be identified. Once this research has been completed, it is proposed that active botanical biofiltration will provide a cheap and low energy use alternative to mechanical ventilations systems for the maintenance of indoor environmental quality.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.10
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• pp.811-817
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• 2011

In this study, we have investigated the role of a metal oxide hole injection layer (HIL) between an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) electrode and an organic hole transporting layer (HTL) in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Nickel Oxide films were deposited at different deposition times of 0 to 60 seconds, thus leading to a thickness from 0 to 15 nm on ITO/glass substrates. To study the influence of NiO film thickness on the properties of OLEDs, the relationships between NiO/ITO morphology and surface properties have been studied by UV-visible spectroscopy measurements and AFM microscopy. The dependences of the I-V-L properties on the thickness of the NiO layers were examined. Comparing these with devices without an NiO buffer layer, turn-on voltage and luminance have been obviously improved by using the NiO buffer layer with a thickness smaller than 10 nm in OLEDs. Moreover, the efficiency of the device ITO/NiO (< 5 nm)/NPB/$Alq_3$/ LiF/Al has increased two times at the same operation voltage (8V). Insertion of a thin NiO layer between the ITO and HTL enhances the hole injection, which can increase the device efficiency and decrease the turn-on voltage, while also decreasing the interface roughness.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.87-103
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• 2021

Anaerobic digestion (AD) refers to the biological process which can convert organic substrates to biogas in the absence of oxygen. The aim of this study was to determine the capability of feedstock to produce biogas and to quantify the biogas yield from different feedstocks. A co-digestion approach was carried out in a continuous stirred tank reactor operated under mesophilic conditions and at a constant organic loading rate of 0.0756 g COD/ L.day, with a hydraulic retention time of 25 days. For comparison, mono-digestion was also included in the experimental work. 2 L working volumes were used throughout the experimental work. The seed culture was obtained from composting as substrate digestion. When the feedstock was added to seeding, the biogas started to emit after three days of retention time. The highest volume of biogas was observed when the seeding volume used for 1000mL. However, the lowest volume of biogas yield was obtained from both co-digestion reactors, with a value of 340 mL. For methane yield, the highest methane production rate was 0.16 L CH4/mg. The COD with yield was at 8.6% and the lowest was at 0.5%. The highest quantity of methane was obtained from a reactor of Euphorbiaceae peel with added seeding, while the lowest methane yield came from a reactor of Euphorbiaceae stems with added seeding. In this study, sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) was used as a buffering solution to correct the pH in the reactor if the reactor condition was found to be in a souring or acidic condition.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.13 no.spc2
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• pp.260-264
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• 2012

We have investigated the effect of ambient gases on the structural, electrical, and optical characteristics of IZO thin films intended for use as anode contacts in the organic light emitting diodes (OLED) devices. These IZO thin films were deposited on the PES film by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering under different ambient gases (Ar, Ar + O2, and Ar + H2) at room temperature. In order to investigate the influences of the ambient gases, the flow rate of oxygen and hydrogen in argon has been changed from 0.1 sccm to 0.5 sccm, respectively. All the IZO thin film has an (222) preferential orientation regardless of ambient gases. The electrical resistivity of the IZO film increased with increasing O2 flow rate, whereas the electrical resistivity decreased sharply under an Ar + H2 atmosphere and was nearly similar regardless of the H2 flow rate. The change of electrical resistivity with changes in the ambient gas composition was mainly interpreted in terms of the charge carrier concentration rather than the charge carrier mobility. All the films showed the average transmittance over 85% in the visible range. The OLED device was fabricated with different IZO substrates made with the configuration of IZO/α-NPD/DPVB/Alq3/LiF/Al in order to elucidate the performance of the IZO substrate. The current density and the luminance of OLED devices with IZO thin films deposited in 0.5 sccm H2 ambient gas are the highest amongst all other films.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.13-20
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• 2023

The process of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) fabrication involves surface treatment to impart functionality to the device. Such surface treatment method is the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) technique, which modifies and functionalizes the surface of MEMS components with organic molecule monolayer, possessing a precisely controllable strength that depends on immersion time and solution concentration. These monolayers spontaneously adsorb on polymeric substrates or metal/ceramic components offering high precision at the nanoscale and modifying surface properties. SAM technology has been utilized in various fields, such as tribological property control, mass-production lithography, and ultrasensitive organic/biomolecular sensor applications. This paper provides an overview of the development and application of SAM technology in various fields.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.86-94
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• 2023

To fabricate all-solution-processed flexible Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs), we demonstrated a bonding technology using a polyethyleneimine (PEI) as an adhesion layer between the two substrates. As the adhesion layer requires not only a high adhesion strength, but also a high current density, we have tried to find out the optimum condition which meets the two requirements at the same time by changing experimental factors such as PEI concentration, thickness of the layer and by mixing some additives into the PEI. The adhesion strength and the electrical current density were investigated by tensile tests and electron only device (EOD) experiments, respectively. The results showed that at higher PEI concentration the adhesion strength showed higher value, but the electrical current through the PEI layer decreased rapidly due to the increased PEI layer thickness. We added Sorbitol and PolyEthyleneGlycohol (PEG) into the 0.1 wt% PEI solution to enhance the adhesion and electrical properties. With the addition of the 0.5 wt% PEG into the 0.1 wt% PEI solution, the device showed an electrical current density of 900 mA/cm² and a good adhesion characteristic also. These data demonstrated the possibility of fabricating all-solution-processed OLEDs using two-substrate bonding technology with the PEI layer as an adhesion layer.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.858-863
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• 2010

The blueberry farming requires the soil condition of well-drainage, pH of 4.5 to 5.2, and high in organic matters for stable growth and development. Most of soil type of cultivated land in Korea, however, belongs to alkaline soils with low organic matter content and poor drainage. Therefore, the blueberry farmers use peat moss heavily to improve the soil condition, but the guideline on the effective and economic ratio of peat moss is not established yet. This study was performed to determine the cost effective peat moss ratio for amending soils, and to investigate the feasibility of using sawdust and coco peat as soil amendments. Peat moss, coco peat and sawdust are mixed with soil at the ratio of 0, 12.5, 50 and 100% (v/v). Among 3 organic materials with various mixture ratios, the pH of soil was the lowest in 100% peat moss and sawdust mixtures (pH 3.67 and pH 3.73, respectively), followed by pH 5.30 at 50% peat moss. The soil organic matter content are directly proportional to the mixture ratios in all three organic materials and the same trend was observed in the variation of content of exchangeable potassium in the coco peat treatments. On the contrary, the content of available phosphate, exchangeable calcium and magnesium decreased with increasing the ratio of organic materials. The nitrogen content in the leaves decreased as increasing the ratio of peat moss and coco peat in soil, but not of sawdust. The content of phosphate decreased but potassium increased as the ratio of sawdust and coco peat increased. There was no clear difference in the contents of magnesium and calcium among 3 organic materials. The plant height, stem diameter and dry weight of blueberry plants were the highest in 50 % peat moss, followed by 12.5% peat moss and 12.5% coco peat. The plants in 100% peat moss showed very poor growth. It can be concluded that peatmoss, when applied and managed appropriately, will be a good material for improving soil condition as well as securing desirable growth for blueberry. Upon coupling economic aspect, the optimum mixing ratio of peatmoss for blueberry farming is approximately 25-50%.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.400-409
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• 2015

This study examined the plant growth and development characteristics of leafy vegetables on the hydroponic substrates of waste wood chips, radiate pine chips, and mat type of waste wood chips. The bulk density of waste wood chips and radiata pine chips were $0.2g/cm^3$ and $0.16g/cm^3$, respectively. The moisture retention properties of both the radiata pine chips and waste wood chips were found to be similar but not better than those of the control rock wool and coco peat hydroponic substrates. The moisture retention property of the mat type was found to be the lowest. The chemical analysis of waste wood hydroponic substrates (w/v) was as follows.; The pH was 6.59, electric conductivity was 6.76 dS/m, total nitrogen content was 0.5%, C/N ratio was 113%, phosphorus was 10.1 ppm, potassium was 77 ppm, calcium was 531 ppm, magnesium was 49 ppm, and sodium was 96 ppm. The results from the radiata pine chemical analysis showed that it had a pH of 5.29, electric conductivity of 4.49 dS/m, total nitrogen content of 0.32%, C/N ratio of 180%, phosphorus of 6.4 ppm, potassium of 83 ppm, calcium of 97 ppm, magnesium of 29 ppm, and sodium of 59 ppm. Except for the plants grown in mat type, the developmental characteristics of the plants grown in rock wool and coco peat hydroponic substrates were similar. Based on the results of the experiment, waste wood resources may possibly be used as an organic solid medium in place of the existing rock wool and coco peat medium.