• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.382-388
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• 2019

Although nanobubbles attract significant attention, their characteristics and applications have not been thoroughly defined. There are diverse opinions about the definition of nanobubbles and controversy regarding methods that verify their characteristics. This study defines nanobubbles as having a size less than $1{\mu}m$. The generation of these sub-micron (nano) bubbles may be verified by induced coalescence or light scattering. The size of a sub-micron (nano) bubbles may be measured by optical, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Also, the size may be estimated by the relationship of bubble size with the dissolved oxygen concentration. However, further research is required to accurately define the average bubble size. The zeta potential of sub-micron (nano) bubbles decreases as pH increases, and this trend is consistent for micron bubbles. When the bubble size is reduced to about 700-900 nm, they become stationary in water and lose buoyancy. This characteristic means that measuring the concentration of sub-micron (nano) bubbles by volume may be possible by irradiating them with ultrasonic waves, causing them to merge into micron bubbles. As mass transfer is a function of surface area and rising velocity, this strongly indicates that the application of sub-micron (nano) bubbles may significantly increase mass transfer rates in advanced oxidation and aeration processes.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.66-71
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• 2023

This paper describes a hybrid cleaning method of silicon wafer combining nano-bubble and ultrasound to remove sub-micron particles and contaminants with minimal damage to the wafer surface. In the megasonic cleaning process of semiconductor manufacturing, the cavitation induced by ultrasound can oscillate and collapse violently often with re-entrant jet formation leading to surface damage. The smaller size of cavitation bubbles leads to more stable oscillations with more thermal and viscous damping, thus to less erosive surface cleaning. In this study, ultrasonic energy was applied to the wafer surface in the DI water to excite nano-bubbles at resonance to remove contaminant particles from the surface. A patented nano-bubble generator was developed for the generation of nano-bubbles with concentration of 1×10⁹ bubbles/ml and nominal nano-bubble diameter of 150 nm. Ultrasonic nano-bubble technology improved a contaminant removal efficiency more than 97% for artificial nano-sized particles of alumina and Latex with significant reduction in cleaning time without damage to the wafer surface.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.3.2-3.2
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• 2011

In recent years, inkjet printing technology has received significant attention as a micro/nanofabrication technique for flexible printing of electronic circuits and solar cells, as well for biomaterial patterning. It eliminates the need for physical masks, causes fewer environment problems, lowers fabrication costs, and offers good layer-to-layer registration. To fulfill the requirements for use in the above applications, however, the inkjet system must meet certain criteria such as high frequency jetting, uniform droplet size, high density nozzle array, etc. Existing inkjet devices are either based on thermal bubbles or piezoelectric pumping; they have several drawbacks for flexible printing. For instance, thermal bubble jetting has limitations in terms of size and density of the nozzle array as well as the ejection frequency. Piezoelectric based devices suffer from poor pumping energy in addition to inadequate ejection frequency. Recently, an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing technique has been suggested and proposed as an alternative to thermal bubble or piezoelectric devices. In EHD jetting, a liquid (ink) is pumped through a nozzle and a strong electric field is applied between the nozzle and an extractor plate, which induce charges at the surfaces of the liquid meniscus. This electric field creates an electric stress that stretches the meniscus in the direction of the electric field. Once the electric field force is larger than the surface tension force, a liquid droplet is formed. An EHD inkjet head can produce droplets smaller than the size of the nozzle that produce them. Furthermore, the EHD nano-inkjet can eject high viscosity liquid through the nozzle forming tiny structures. These unique features distinguish EHD printing from conventional methods for sub-micron resolution printing. In this presentation, I will introduce the recent research results regarding the EHD nano-inkjet and the printing system, which has been applied to solar cell or thin film transistor applications.