• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.701-705
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• 2007

The incorporation of N in a-C film is able to improve the friction coefficient and the adhesion to various substrates. In this study, a-C:N films were deposited on Si and steel substrates by closed-field unbalanced magnetron (CFUBM) sputtering system in $Ar/N_2$ plasma. The lubricant characteristics was investigated for a-C:N deposited with total working pressure from 4 to 7 mTorr. We obtained high hardness up to 24GPa, friction coefficient lower than 0.1 and the smooth surface of having the extremely low roughness (0.16 nm). The physcial properties of a-C:N thin film are related to the increase of cross-linked $sp^2$ bonding clusters in the film. However, the decrease of hardness, elastic modulus and the increase of surface roughness, friction coefficient with the increase of $N_2$ partial pressrue might be due to the effect of energetic ions as a result of the increase of ion bombardment with the increase of ion density in the plasma.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.379-383
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• 2004

Poly(ethylene glycol)s (PEGs) are unique in their material properties, such as biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and water-solublizing ability, which are extremely useful for a variety of biomedical applications. In addition, a variety of functional PEGs with specific functionality at one or both chain ends have been synthesized for many specialized applications. Surface modifications using PEG have been demonstrated to decrease protein adsorption and platelet or cell adhesion on biomaterials. Furthermore, PEGs having anionic sulfonate terminal units have been proven to enhance the blood compatibility of materials, which has been demonstrated by the negative cilia concept. The preparation of telechelic PEGs having a sulfonic acid group at one end and a polymerizable methacryloyl group at the other is an interesting undertaking for providing macromers that can be used in various vinyl copolymerization and gel systems. In this paper, preliminary results on the synthesis and polymerization behavior of a novel PEG macromer is described with the aim of identifying a biocompatible material for applications in various blood-contacting devices.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.802-809
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• 2001

Electroplating is an attractive alternative deposition method for copper with the need for a conformal and conductive seed layer In addition, the Cu seed layer should be highly pure so as not to compromise the effective resistivity of the filled copper interconnect structure. This seed layer requires low electrical resistivity, low levels of impurities, smooth interface, good adhesion to the barrier metal and low thickness concurrent with coherence for ensuring void-free fill. The electrical conductivity of the surface plays an important role in formation of initial Cu nuclei, Cu nucleation is much easier on the substrate with higher electrical conductivities. It is also known that the nucleation processes of Cu are very sensitive to surface condition. In this study, copper seed layers deposited by magnetron sputtering onto a tantalum nitride barrier layer were used for electroplating copper in the forward pulsed mode. Prior to electroplating a copper film, the Cu seed layer was cleaned by plasma H$_2$ and $N_2$. In the plasma treatment exposure tome was varied from 1 to 20 min and plasma power from 20 to 140W. Effects of plasma pretreatment to Cu seed/Tantalum nitride (TaN)/borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) samples on electroplating of copper (Cu) films were investigated.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.3-14
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• 1996

High temperature anneal of W-rich silicides, inferior to adherence compared with Si-rich silicides, resulted in the film peeling off from the Si-substrate when WSix thickness reached more than critical thickness. Investigation of the W-rich silicide films peeling off from the substrate revealed that the voids underneath the $WSi_2$ produced through silicide reaction were responsible for the poor adherence of W-rich silicide. In addition, internal stress in the film increased as the silicide thickness increased. In order to promote the adhesion of WSix to Si-substrate, thin Ti-layer was formed between WSi and Si-substrate(WSix/Ti/Si). No voids were observed in $WSi_2$/Ti/Si $N_2$-annealed at $1000^{\circ}C$, thereby leading to an increase of the critical thickness from ～1700$\AA$ to more than 2500$\AA$. However, higher resisiti-vity was obtained in WSix/Ti/Si than in WSix/Si. Finally, different silicide reaction mechanism for the structures(WSix/Si, WSix/Ti/Si) was proposed to explain the formation of voids as well as the role of thin Ti-layer.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.148-154
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• 2003

Short ($\tau$=40 $mutextrm{s}$) and high-voltage ($U_{sub}$=2~8 kV) negative substrate bias pulses were used to assist pulsed magnetron sputtering DLC films deposition. Space- and time-resolved probe measurements of the plasma characteristics have been performed. It was shown that in case of high-voltage substrate bias spatial non-uniformity of the magnetron discharge plasma density greatly affected DLC deposition process. By Raman spectroscopy it was found that maximum percentage of s $p^3$-bonded carbon atoms (40 ~ 50%) in the coating was attained at energy $E_{c}$ ~700 eV per deposited carbon atom. Despite rather low diamond-like phase content these coatings are characterized by good adhesion due to ion mixing promoted by high acceleration voltage. Short duration of the bias pulses is also important to prevent electric breakdowns of insulating DLC film during its growth.wth.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.119-124
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• 1991

Recently, the trend of research in hard coating is concentrate on developing the process of ionization rate under low operating pressure, to get the thin film with high adhesion and dense microstructures. In this study ionization rate enhancement type PVD process using permanent magnet is developed, which enhances the ionization rate by confining the plasma suppressing the wall loss of electron. By the result to investigate the characteristic of glow discharge, the ionization rate of this process is enhanced about twice as high as that of triod BARE process (about 26%), and more dense TiN microstructures are obtained in this process. Cylindrical ion energy analyzer is made and attached in front of a quadrupole mass filter for the analysis of the energy distribution of reactive gas and activated gas ions from the plasma zone. To analyze the operation mechanism of ion energy analyzer, computer simulation is performed by calculation the electric field environment using finite element method. By these analyses of ion energy distribution of outcoming ions from the plasma zone, it is found that magnetic field enhances ion kinetic energy as well as ionization rate. The other results of this study is that the foundation of feed-back system is constructed, which automatically control the partial pressure of reactive gas. In can be possible by recording the data of mass spectrum and ion energy analysis using A-D converter.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.98-104
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• 2006

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films were deposited on the plastic substrate by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) assisted DC magnetron sputtering. The AZO films were produced by sputtering a metallic target (Zn/Al) in a mixture of argon and oxygen gases. AZO films with an electrical resistivity of ${\sim}10^3\;{\Omega}cm$ and an optical transmittance of 80% were obtained even at a low deposition temperature. In-situ process control methods were used to obtain stable deposition conditions in the transition region without any hysteresis effect. The target voltage was controlled either at a constant DC power. It was found that the ratio of the zinc to oxygen emission intensity, I (O 777)/I (Zn 481) decreased with increasing the target voltage in the transition region. The $Ar/O_2$ plasma treatment improve the adhesion strength between the polycarbonate substrate and AZO films.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.567-574
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• 2016

We have analyzed chemical properties of polysiloxane and polysilazane films, respectively, as sealing materials for electrostatic chuck (ESC) and have investigated the possibility of polysilazane as an alternative sealant to polysiloxane. It has been revealed that Si-O with organic bonding ($Si-CH_3$) existed in polysiloxane films compared to only pure Si-O bonding in polysilazane films. The sealing property of polysilazane has been found outstanding even in a short time of application. In the polysiloxane films containing $H_2O$, pin holes have been found possibly due to $CO_2$ gas evolution, and low adhesion with Si substrate has been observed after heat stress test in connection with the existence of organic bonding. After acid resistance test in 0.5 vol.% HF, 68 wt.% $HNO_3$, and 37 wt.% HCl solution, polyilazane films have shown a longer survival times. Compared to the conventional polysiloxane sealant, polysilazane is expected as a new sealing material because of good thermal and chemical stability.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.221-232
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• 2009

The allylamine plasma treatment is used to modify the surface properties of vapor grown carbon fibers (VGCF). It is to improve the interfacial bonding between the VGCF and epoxy matrix. The allylamine plasma process was performed by batch process in a vacuum chamber, using gas injection followed by plasma discharge for the durations of 20, 40 and 60 min. The interdependence of mechanical properties on the VGCF contents, treatment time and interfacial bonding between VGCF/ep was investigated. The interfacial bonding between VGCF and epoxy matrix was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs of nanocomposites fracture surfaces. The changes in the mechanical properties of VGCF/ep, such as the tensile modulus and strength were discussed. The mechanical properties of allylamine plasma treated (AAPT) VGCF/ep were compared with those of raw VGCF/ep. The tensile strength and modulus of allyamine plasma treated VGCF40 (40 min treatment)/ep demonstrated a higher value than those of other samples. The mechanical properties were increased with the allyamine plasma treatment due to the improved adhesion at VGCF/ep interface. The modification of the carbon nanofibers surface was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). SEM micrographs showed an excellent dispersion of VGCF in epoxy matrix by ultrasonic method.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.475-480
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• 2018

We investigated the tribological properties of amorphous carbon (a-C) films deposited with CrC interlayers of various thicknesses as the adhesive layer. A-C and CrC thin films were deposited using the unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputtering method with graphite and chromium as the targets. CrC films as the interlayer were fabricated under a-C films, and various structural, surface, and tribological properties of a-C films deposited with various CrC interlayer thicknesses were investigated. With various CrC interlayer thicknesses under a-C films, the tribological properties of CrC/a-C films were improved; the increased film thickness exhibited a maximum high hardness of over 27.5 GPa, high elastic modulus of over 242 GPa, critical load of 31 N, residual stress of 1.85 GPa, and a smooth surface below 0.09 nm at the condition of 30-nm CrC thickness.