• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.569-574
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• 2014

Inverted bulk hetero-junction polymer solar cells (iPSC) composed of P3HT/PC61BM blends on the ZnO modified with benzoic acid derivatives-based self-assembled monolayers (SAM) are fabricated. Compared with the device using the pristine ZnO, the devices with ZnO surface modified SAMs derived from benzoic acid such as 4-(diphenylamino)benzoic acid (DPA-BA) and 4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)benzoic acid (Cz-BA) as an electron transporting layer show improved the performances. It is mainly attributed to the favorable interface dipole at the interface between ZnO and the active layer, the eective passivation of the ZnO surface traps, decrease of the work function and facilitating transport of electron from PCBM to ITO electrode. The power conversion eciency (PCE) of iPSCs based on DPA-BA and Cz-BA treated ZnO reaches 2.78 and 2.88%, respectively, while the PCE of the device based on untreated ZnO is 2.49%. The open circuit voltage values ($V_{oc}$) of the devices with bare ZnO and SAM treated ZnO are not much different. Whereas, higher the fill factor (FF) and lower the series resistance ($R_s$) are obtained in the devices with SAMs modification.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.319-323
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• 2008

The polarization resistance of mild steel in 0.5M hydrochloric acid has been evaluated by using impedance (Z) and linear polarization (LPR) techniques and compared to the noise resistance obtained from electrochemical noise data. The degree of localization of this general corrosion has also been discussed by evaluating localization index and power spectral density. Polarization resistance obtained by LPR technique ($28\Omega$) was higher than that obtained by impedance technique ($15\Omega$). Noise resistance ($11\Omega$) was much lower than polarization resistance measured by both of above techniques. Higher polarization resistance obtained by LPR technique is generally caused by passivation effect in the presence of scales or deposits which can introduce an increased resistance as can low conductivity electrolytes. The reason why noise resistance is lower than polarization resistance is the effect of background noise detected by using three platinum electrodes cell in 0.5M hydrochloric acid. Slope($-\beta$) of power spectral density (PSD) obtained from analysis of noise data ($-\beta$ = 3.3) was much higher than 2 which indicates mild steel corroded uniformly. Localization index (LI) calculated from statistical analysis (LI=0.08) is much lower than 1 which indicates that mild steel did not corroded locally. However, LI value is still higher than $1x10^{-3}$ and this indicates that mild steel corroded locally in microscopic point of view.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2024

Austenitic stainless steel 316L has been used a lot of applications because of its high corrosion resistance and formability. In addition, copper brazing is employed to create complex shape of 316L stainless steel for various engineering parts. In such system, copper-based filler metals make galvanic cell at metal/filler metal interface, and it accelerates corrosion of stainless steel. Furthermore, Cu-rich region formed by diffused copper in austenitic stainless steel can promote a pitting corrosion. In this study, we used an ammonia (NH₃) gas to nitride the 316L stainless steel for improving the corrosion resistance. The thickness of the nitride (nitrogen high) layer increased with the treatment temperature, and the surface hardness also increased. The potentiodynamic polarization test showed the improvement of corrosion resistance of 316L stainless steel by enhancing the passivation on nitride layer. However, in case of high temperature nitriding, a chromium nitride was formed and its fraction increased, so that the corrosion resistance was decreased compared to the intact 316L stainless steel.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.183-187
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• 2006

The choice of solvents for electrolytes solutions is very important to improve the characteristics of charge/discharge in the Li-ion battery system. Such solvent systems have been widely investigated as electrolytes for Li-ion batteries. In this paper, the electrochemical properties of the solid electrolyte interphase film formed on carbon anode surface and the solvent decomposition voltage in 1 M LiPF6/EC:MA(x:y) electrolyte solutions prepared from the various mixing volume ratios are investigated by chronopotentiometry, cyclic voltammetry, and impedance spectroscopy. As a result, the solvent decomposition voltages are varied with the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte. Electrochemical properties of the passivation film were different, which are dependent on the mixture ratio of the solvents. Therefore, the most appropriate mixing ratio of EC and MA as a solvent in 1 M $LiPF_6/(EC+MA)$ system for Li-ion battery is approximately 1:3 (EC:MA, volume ratio).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2013

Crystalline silicon solar cells with $SiN_x/SiN_x$ and $SiN_x/SiO_x$ double layer anti-reflection coatings(ARC) were studied in this paper. Optimizing passivation effect and optical properties of $SiN_x$ and $SiO_x$ layer deposited by PECVD was performed prior to double layer application. When the refractive index (n) of silicon nitride was varied in range of 1.9~2.3, silicon wafer deposited with silicon nitride layer of 80 nm thickness and n= 2.2 showed the effective lifetime of $1,370{\mu}m$. Silicon nitride with n= 1.9 had the smallest extinction coefficient among these conditions. Silicon oxide layer with 110 nm thickness and n= 1.46 showed the extinction coefficient spectrum near to zero in the 300~1,100 nm region, similar to silicon nitride with n= 1.9. Thus silicon nitride with n= 1.9 and silicon oxide with n= 1.46 would be proper as the upper ARC layer with low extinction coefficient, and silicon nitride with n=2.2 as the lower layer with good passivation effect. As a result, the double layer AR coated silicon wafer showed lower surface reflection and so more light absorption, compared with $SiN_x$ single layer. With the completed solar cell with $SiN_x/SiN_x$ of n= 2.2/1.9 and $SiN_x/SiO_x$ of n= 2.2/1.46, the electrical characteristics was improved as ${\Delta}V_{oc}$= 3.7 mV, ${\Delta}_{sc}=0.11mA/cm^2$ and ${\Delta}V_{oc}$=5.2 mV, ${\Delta}J_{sc}=0.23mA/cm^2$, respectively. It led to the efficiency improvement as 0.1% and 0.23%.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.447-454
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• 2014

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have intensively studied in recent years due to their advantages such as cost effectiveness and possibility of applications in flexible devices. In spite of the high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10 %, the OSCs still have a draw back of their low environmental stability due to the oxidization of aluminum cathode and etching of transparent conducting oxide as electrode. To solve these problems, the inverted structured OSCs (I-OSCs) having greatest potential for achieving an improvement of device performances are suggested. Therefore, there are a lot of studies to develope of interface layer based on organic/inorganic materials for the electron transport layer (ETL) and passivation layer, significant advancements in I-OSCs have driven the development of interface functional materials including electron transport layer. Recent efforts to employing 2D/3D zinc oxide (ZnO) based ETL into I-OSCs have produced OSCs with a power conversion efficiency level that matches the efficiency of ~9 %. In this review, the technical issues and recent progress of ZnO based ETL in I-OSCs to enhancement of device efficiency and stability in terms of materials, process and characterization have summarized.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.454-454
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• 2014

Silicon microwire array is one of the promising platforms as a means for developing highly efficient solar cells thanks to the enhanced light trapping efficiency. Among the various fabrication methods of microstructures, deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process has been extensively used in fabrication of high aspect ratio microwire arrays. In this presentation, we show precisely controlled Si microwire arrays by tuning the DRIE process conditions. A periodic microdisk arrays were patterned on 4-inch Si wafer (p-type, $1{\sim}10{\Omega}cm$) using photolithography. After developing the pattern, 150-nm-thick Al was deposited and lifted-off to leave Al microdisk arrays on the starting Si wafer. Periodic Al microdisk arrays (diameter of $2{\mu}m$ and periodic distance of $2{\mu}m$) were used as an etch mask. A DRIE process (Tegal 200) is used for anisotropic deep silicon etching at room temperature. During the process, $SF_6$ and $C_4F_8$ gases were used for the etching and surface passivation, respectively. The length and shape of microwire arrays were controlled by etching time and $SF_6/C_4F_8$ ratio. By adjusting $SF_6/C_4F_8$ gas ratio, the shape of Si microwire can be controlled, resulting in the formation of tapered or vertical microwires. After DRIE process, the residual polymer and etching damage on the surface of the microwires were removed using piranha solution ($H_2SO_4:H_2O_2=4:1$) followed by thermal oxidation ($900^{\circ}C$, 40 min). The oxide layer formed through the thermal oxidation was etched by diluted hydrofluoric acid (1 wt% HF). The surface morphology of a Si microwire arrays was characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM, Hitachi S-4800). Optical reflection measurements were performed over 300~1100 nm wavelengths using a UV-Vis/NIR spectrophotometer (Cary 5000, Agilent) in which a 60 mm integrating sphere (Labsphere) is equipped to account for total light (diffuse and specular) reflected from the samples. The total reflection by the microwire arrays sample was reduced from 20 % to 10 % of the incident light over the visible region when the length of the microwire was increased from $10{\mu}m$ to $30{\mu}m$.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.451-457
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• 2006

We synthesized phase pure CrN having surface areas up to $47m^2/g$ starting from $CrCl_{3}$ with $NH_{3}$. Thermal Gravimetric Analysis coupled with X-ray diffraction was carried out to identify solid state transition temperatures and the phase after each transition. In addition, the BET surface areas, pore size distributions, and crystalline diameters for the synthesized materials were analyzed. Space velocity influenced a little to the surface areas of the prepared materials, while heating rate did not. We believe it is due to the fast removal of reaction by-products from the system. Temperature programmed reduction results revealed that the CrN was hardly passivated by 1% $O_{2}$. Molecular nitrogen was detected from CrN at 700 and $950^{\circ}C$, which may be from lattice nitrogen. In temperature programmed oxidation with heating rate of 10 K/min in flowing air, oxidation started at or higher than $300^{\circ}C$ and resulting $Cr_{2}O_{3}$ phase was observed with XRD at around $800^{\circ}C$. However the oxidation was not completed even at $900^{\circ}C$. CrN catalysts were highly active for n-butane dehydrogenation reaction. Their activity is even higher than that of a commercial $Pt-Sn/Al_{2}O_{3}$ dehydrogenation catalyst in terms of volumetric reaction rate. However, CrN was not active in pyridine hydrodenitrogenation.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.9-15
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• 2021

Miniaturization of semiconductor devices has recently faced a physical limitation. To overcome this, 3D packaging in which semiconductor devices are vertically stacked has been actively developed. 3D packaging requires three unit processes of TSV, wafer grinding, and bonding, and among these, copper bonding is becoming very important for high performance and fine-pitch in 3D packaging. In this study, the effects of Ti nanolayer on the antioxidation of copper surface and low-temperature Cu bonding was investigated. The diffusion rate of Ti into Cu is faster than Cu into Ti in the temperature ranging from room temperature to 200℃, which shows that the titanium nanolayer can be effective for low-temperature copper bonding. The 12nm-thick titanium layer was uniformly deposited on the copper surface, and the surface roughness (R_q) was lowered from 4.1 nm to 3.2 nm. Cu bonding using Ti nanolayer was carried out at 200℃ for 1 hour, and then annealing at the same temperature and time. The average shear strength measured after bonding was 13.2 MPa.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.228.2-228.2
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• 2015

We have developed a TOF-MEIS system using 70~100 keV He+. A TOF-MEIS system was designed and constructed to minimize the ion beam damage effect by utilizing a pulsed ion beam with a pulse width < 1 ns and a TOF delay-line-detector with an 120 mm diameter and a time resolution of 180 ps. The TOF-MEIS is an useful tool for interfacial analysis of the composition and structure of nano and bio systems. Our recent applications are reported. We investigated the effect with Polyaspartic Acid (pAsp) and Osteocalcin on the initial bone growth of calcium hydroxyl appatite on a carboxyl terminated surface. When pAsp is not added to the self-assembled monolayers of Ca 2mM with Phosphate 1.2 mM, the growth procedure of calcium hydroxyl appatite cannot be monitored due to its rapid growth. When pAsp is added to the SAMs, the initial grow stage of the Ca-P can be monitored so that the chemical composition and their nucleus size can be analyzed. Firstly discovered the existence of 1-nm-sized abnormal calcium-rich clusters (Ca/P ~ 3) comprised of three calcium ions and one phosphate ion. First-principles studies demonstrated that the clusters can be stabilized through the passivation of the non-collagenous-protein mimicking carboxyl-ligands, and it progressively changes their compositional ratio toward that of a bulk phase (Ca/P~1.67) with a concurrent increase in their size to ~2 nm. Moreover, we found that the stoichiometry of the clusters and their growth behavior can be directed by the surrounding proteins, such as osteocalcin.