• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.7-10
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• 2001

A new possibility of our atmospheric cold plasma torch has been examined on the surface treatment of an air-exposed vulcanized rubber compound. The plasma treatment effect was evaluated by the bondability with another rubber compound using a polyurethane adhesive. The adhesion property was improved by the treatment with plasma containing oxygen radicals. The oxygen radical generation from the plasma was verified and its efficiency was found to be dependent on the cathode material.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2006

In this paper, we investigated the effects of short-term oxygen plasma treatment of semiconducting silicone layer to improve interfacial performances in joints prepared with a insulating silicone materials. Surface characterizations were assessed using contact angle measurement and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and then adhesion level and electrical performance were evaluated through T-peel tests and electrical breakdown voltage tests of treated semi-conductive and insulating joints. Plasma exposure mainly increased the polar component of surface energy from $0.21\;dyne/cm^2$ to $47\;dyne/cm^2$ with increasing plasma treatment time and then leveled off. Based on XPS analysis, the surface modification can be mainly ascribed to the creation of chemically active functional groups such as C-O, C=O and COH on semi-conductive silicone surface. This oxidized rubber layer is inorganic silica-like structure of Si bound with three to four oxygen atoms ($SiO_x,\;x=3{\sim}4$). The oxygen plasma treatment produces an increase in joint strength that is maximum for 10 min treatment. However, due to brittle property of this oxidized layer, the highly oxidized layer from too much extended treatment could be act as a weak point, decreasing the adhesion strength. In addition, electrical breakdown level of joints with adequate plasma treatment was increased by about $10\;\%$ with model samples of joints prepared with a semi-conducting/ insulating silicone polymer after applied to interface.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.113-117
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• 2016

Temperature dependent reverse-bias current-voltage (I-V) characteristics in Cu Schottky contacts to oxygen plasma treated n-InP were investigated. For untreated sample, current transport mechanisms at low and high temperatures were explained by thermionic emission (TE) and TE combined with barrier lowering, respectively. For plasma treated sample, experimental I-V data were explained by TE or TE combined with barrier lowering models at low and high temperatures. However, the current transport was explained by a thermionic field emission (TFE) model at intermediate temperatures. From X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) measurements, phosphorus vacancies (VP) were suggested to be generated after oxygen plasma treatment. V_P possibly involves defects contributing to the current transport at intermediate temperatures. Therefore, minimizing the generation of these defects after oxygen plasma treatment is required to reduce the reverse-bias leakage current.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.251.1-251.1
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• 2013

Combination of oxidative vacuum annealing and oxygen plasma treatment can serve as a simple and efficient method of line-width modification of imprinted nanopatterns. Since the vacuum annealing and oxygen plasma could lead mass loss of polymeric materials, either one of the process can yield a narrowed patterns. However, the vacuum annealing process usually demands quite high temperatures (${\geq}300^{\circ}C$) and extended annealing time to get appreciable line-width reduction. Although the plasma treatment may be considered as an effective low temperature rapid process for the line-width reduction, it is also suffering for the lowered controllability on application to very fine patterns. We have found that the vacuum annealing temperature can be lowered by introducing the oxygen in the vacuum process and that the combination of oxygen plasma treatment with the vacuum annealing could yield the best result in the line-with reduction of the imprinted polymeric nanopatterns. Well-defined line width reduction by more than 50% was successfully demonstrated at relatively low temperatures. Furthermore, it was verified that this process was applicable to the nanopatterns of different shapes and materials.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.608-614
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• 2004

Isotactic polypropylene (PP) surfaces were modified with argon and oxygen plasmas using a radio­frequency (RF) glow discharge at 240 mTorr and 40 W. The changes in topography and surface structure were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in conjunction with specular reflectance of infrared (IR) microspectroscopy. Under our operating conditions, the AFM image analysis revealed that longer plasma treatment resulted in significant ablation on the PP surface, regardless of the kind of plasma employed, but the topography was dependent on the nature of the gases. Specular reflectance IR spectroscopic analysis indicated that the constant removal of surface material was an important ablative aspect when using either plasma, but the nature of the ablative behavior and the resultant aging effects were clearly dependent on the choice of plasma. The use of argon plasma resulted in a negligible aging effect; in contrast, the use of oxygen plasma caused a noticeable aging effect, which was due to reactions of trapped or isolated radicals with oxygen in air, and was partly responsible for the increased surface area caused by ablation. The use of oxygen plasma is believed to be an advantageous approach to modifying polymeric materials with functionalized surfaces, e.g., for surface grafting of unsaturated monomers and incorporating oxygen-containing groups onto PP.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.412-417
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• 2019

This paper presents the results of using cold plasma to treat surface water for domestic use purpose. Experimental results showed that cold plasma was an effective method for destroying bacteria in water. After treatment with cold plasma, concentration of coliform and Escherichia coli dramatically reduced. Besides, cold plasma significantly removed water odor, increased dissolved oxygen and decreased the concentration of chemical oxygen demand. However, cold plasma significantly raised the concentration of nitrite and nitrate. Other disadvantages of treating with cold plasma were conductivity increase and pH reduction. Pretreatment steps of coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and sand filtration followed by disinfection with cold plasma exhibited a high efficiency in surface water treatment. All parameters of surface water after treatment by using the prototype satisfied with the allowance standard of domestic water quality.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.343-347
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• 2012

In this study, an oxygen plasma treatment was used as a low temperature debinding method to form a conductive copper feature on a flexible substrate using a direct printing process. To demonstrate this concept, conductive copper patterns were formed on polyimide films using a copper nanoparticle-based paste with polymeric binders and dispersing agents and a screen printing method. Thermal and oxygen plasma treatments were utilized to remove the polymeric vehicle before a sintering of copper nanoparticles. The effect of the debinding methods on the phase, microstructure and electrical conductivity of the screen-printed patterns was systematically investigated by FE-SEM, TGA, XRD and four-point probe analysis. The patterns formed using oxygen plasma debinding showed the well-developed microstructure and the superior electrical conductivity compared with those of using thermal debinding.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.13 no.spc2
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• pp.193-197
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• 2012

Oxygen plasma has been treated on the surface of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) to improve the efficiency of the organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) device. The plasma treatment was expected to inject the holes effectively due to the control of an ITO work-function and the reduction of surface roughness. To optimize the treatment condition, a surface resistance and morphology of the ITO surface were investigated. The effect on the electrical properties of the OLEDs was evaluated as a function of oxygen plasma powers (0, 200, 250, 300, and 450 W). The electrical properties of the devices were measured in a device structure of ITO/TPD/Alq3/BCP/LiF/Al. It was found the plasma treatment of the ITO surface affects on the efficiency of the device. The efficiency of the device was optimized at the plasma power of 250 W and decreased at higher power than 250 W. The maximum values of luminance, luminous power efficiency, and external quantum efficiency of the plasma treated devices increase by 1.4 times, 1.4 times, and 1.2 times, respectively, compared to those of the non-treated ones.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.118-120
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• 2009

We reported that the evidence of oxygen doping to copper-phthalocyanine (CuPc) by $O_2$-plasma treatment to Au electrode of inverted top emitting organic light emitting diodes (ITOLEDs). The operation voltage of OLEDs at 150 mA/$cm^2$ decreased from 16.1 to 10.3 V as oxygen atoms indiffued to CuPc layer using $O_2$-plasma. Synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy results showed that a new bond of Cu-O appeared and the energy difference between the highest occupied molecular orbital and $E_F$ is lowered by 0.20 eV after plasma treatment. Thus the hole injection barrier was lowered, reducing the turn-on voltage and increasing the quantum efficiency of OLEDs.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.299-306
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• 2014

The possibility of a low-temperature argon plasma treatment as a mean of restoration technology for contaminated invaluable archive materials and artefacts, and evidencing documents was investigated along with an oxygen plasma treatment for comparison. For this purpose, the degree of color changes, ${\Delta}E^*ab$, and surface morphological changes due to plasma treatments as an evaluation of removal performance of artificial contaminants such as brilliant green dye and carbon deposit on cellulose acetate and plain paper as matrices, respectively, were measured and analyzed using a spectrophotometer and a field emission scanning electron microscope. Compared to the argon plasma treatment with sputtering characteristic, that of the oxygen plasma with characteristic of an oxidation reaction has shown superior results in removing the contaminants; the oxygen plasma has proven to damage the matrices significantly due to its oxidative characteristic, and post-plasma reactions has anticipated to be also detrimental to the surfaces, whereas, the problems caused by the counterpart has resulted in being negligible and rather has thought to be an appropriate mean for delicate restoration and/or removal operations of contaminants.