• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.217-217
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• 2012

Solution-processed tungsten oxide thin film with thickness of about 30 nm is prepared from ammonium tungstate. This layer is introduced into the interface between the poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) layer and the ITO electrode to be used as an electron blocking layer. The annealed tungsten oxide thin films at $150^{\circ}C$ and $300^{\circ}C$ show amorphous phase, while the $400^{\circ}C$ -annealed tungsten oxide film shows crystalline phase. At $150^{\circ}C$ annealing temperature, the conversion efficiency is significantly improved from 0.71% to 1.42% as the condition is changed from vacuum to air atmosphere, which is related to oxidation state of tungsten in amorphous phase. For the air annealing condition, the conversion efficiency is further increased from 1.42% to 2.01% as the temperature is increased from $150^{\circ}C$ to $300^{\circ}C$, which is mainly due to the removal of the chemisorbed water. However, a slight deterioration in photovoltaic performance is observed when the temperature is increased to $400^{\circ}C$, which is ascribed to poor electron blocking ability due to the formation of crystalline phase. It is concluded that $W^{6+}$ oxidation state and amorphous nature in tungsten oxide interlayer is essential for blocking electron effectively from the active layer to the ITO electrode.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.315-324
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• 2001

Mechanochemical effects that occurred in the fine grinding process of quartz particles using planetary ball mill was investigated. Quartz particles have been frequently utilized for optical materials, semiconductor molding materials. We determined that grinding for a long time can be create amorphous structures from the crystalline quartz by Mechanochemical effects. But, to be produced nano-composite particles that the critical grinding time reached for composite materials in a short time. Henceforth, a qualitative estimation must be conducted on the filler for EMC(Epoxy molding compound) materials. It can be produced mechanochemically treated composite materials and also an integrated grinding efficiency considering of the nano-composite amorphous structured particles. The mechanochemical characteristics were evaluated based on particle morphology, size distribution, specific surface area, density and the amount of amorphous phase materials into the particle surface. The grinding operation in the planetary ball mill can be classified into three stages. During the first stage, initial particle size was reduced for the increase of specific surface area. In the second stage, the specific surface areas increased in spite of the increase in particle size. The final stage as a critical grinding stage, the ground quartz was considered mechanochemically treated particles as a nano- composite amorphous structured particles. The development of amorphous phase on the particle surface was evaluated by X-ray diffractometry, thermal gravity analysis and IR spectrometer. The amount of amorphous phase of particles ground for 2048 minutes was 85.3% and 88.2% by X-ray analysis and thermal gravity analysis, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.241.1-241.1
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• 2011

Numerous possible applications for $ZrO_2$ nanotubes exist such as for catalyst support structures, for sensing or for applications as a solid state electrolyte. Especially, because of a large specific surface area, high efficiency for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) application at low temperature can be expected for nanotublar structures in even small size. A zirconium precursor, Tetrakis (ethylmethylamino) zirconium, TEMAZr and $H_2O$ oxidant were used to deposit$ZrO_2$ thin films on an anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates having sub-100nm cylindrical pores by atomic layer deposition (ALD) in the temperature range of 150~250$^{\circ}C$. The crystalline structures of as-prepared and post-annealed $ZrO_2$ nanotubes were characterized by x-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The as-prepared samples at $150^{\circ}C$ and $200^{\circ}C$ were showed amorphous, whereas a mixed phase of tetragonal, monoclinic and amorphous polymorph was observed at $250^{\circ}C$. In the bulk, zirconia remains monoclinic phase up to $1,175^{\circ}C$, however, $ZrO_2$ nanotubes were showed tetragonal phase upon post thermal treatments merely at $400^{\circ}C$. This trend may be indicative of high-curvature surfaces of nanotubes and thereby the presence of intrinsic compressive strain. The amount of amorphous structures in the mixed phase as well as as-grown $ZrO_2$ nanotubes were also gradually decreased by subsequent heat treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.65-72
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• 2012

Aluminum induced crystallization of amorphous silicon was attempted by the aluminum substrate. To avoid the layer exchange between silicon and aluminum layer, Ni layer was deposited between these two layers by sputtering. To obtain the bigger grain of the crystalline silicon, wet blasted silica layer was employed as windows between the nickel and a-Si layer. Ni obtained after the annealing treatment at $520^{\circ}C$ was found to be a promising material for the diffusion barrier between silicon and aluminum. One way to obtain bigger grain of crystalline silicon layer applicable to solar cell of higher performance was envisioned in this investigation.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.9-15
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• 2020

This study was conducted to investigate the in situ formation of amorphous Fe oxides as a stabilization technology in As-contaminated soil. After addition of ferric nitrate and the neutralizing agent, most of extractable fractions of As in soil (i.e., SO₄^2- and PO₄^3--extractable As) was converted into As bound to amorphous Fe oxides. In addition, results of solubility bioavailability research consortium (SBRC) test indicated that a significant amount of As in untreated soil changed to a non-bioaccessible form after stabilization. The reason was attributed to the newly formed amorphous Fe oxides in the stabilized soil, which was confirmed by linear combination of fitting (LCF) using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) analysis. Interestingly, after five months of aging of the stabilized soil, ferrihydrite and schwertmannite newly formed in the soil were transformed to crystalline Fe oxides such as goethite, and further decrease in SBRC extractable fraction of As was observed. The results suggest that co-precipitated As with amorphous Fe oxides can be further immobilized with time, due to the crystallization of amorphous Fe oxides.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.160-168
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• 2023

Recently, investigation on metallization is a key for a stretchable display. Amorphous metal such as Ni and Zr based amorphous metal compounds are introduced for a suitable material with superelastic property under certain stress condition. However, Ni and Zr based amorphous metals have too high resistivity for a display device's interconnectors. In addition, these metals are not suitable for display process chemicals. Therefore, we choose an aluminum based amprhous metal Al-Mo as a interconnector of stretchable display. In this paper, Amorphous Forming Composition Range (AFCR) for Al-Mo alloys are calculated by Midema's model, which is between 0.1 and 0.25 molybdenum, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The elongation tests revealed that amorphous Al-20Mo alloy thin films exhibit superior stretchability compared to pure Al thin films, with significantly less increase in resistivity at a 10% strain. This excellent resistance to hillock formation in the Al20Mo alloy is attributed to the recessed diffusion of aluminum atoms in the amorphous phase, rather than in the crystalline phase, as well as stress distribution and relaxation in the aluminum alloy. Furthermore, according to the AES depth profile analysis, the amorphous Al-Mo alloys are completely compatible with existing etching processes. The alloys exhibit fast etch rates, with a reasonable oxide layer thickness of 10 nm, and there is no diffusion of oxides in the matrix. This compatibility with existing etching processes is an important advantage for the industrial production of stretchable displays.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.153-153
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• 2011

유리나 폴리머를 기판으로 하는 TFT(Thin film transistor), solar cell에서는 낮은 공정 온도에서($200{\sim}500^{\circ}C$) amorphous semiconductor thin film을 poly-crystal semiconductor thin film으로 결정화 시키는 기술이 매우 중요하게 대두 되고 있다. Ge은 Si에 비해 높은 carrier mobility와 낮은 녹는점을 가지므로, 비 저항이 낮을 뿐만 아니라 더 낮은 온도에서 결정화 할 수 있다. 하지만 일반적으로 쓰이는 Ge의 결정화 방법은 비교적 높은 열처리 온도를 필요로 하거나, 결정화된 원소에 남아있는 metal이 불순물 역할을 한다는 문제점, 그리고 불균일한 결정크기를 만든다는 단점이 있었다. 그 중에서도 현재 가장 많이 쓰이고 있는 MIC, MILC는 metal과 a-Ge이 접촉되는 interface나, grain boundary diffusion에 의해 핵 생성이 일어나고, 결정이 성장하는 메커니즘을 가지고 있으므로 단순 증착과 열처리 만으로는 앞서 말한 단점을 극복하는데 한계를 가지고 있다. 이에 PIII&D 장비를 이용하면, 이온 주입된 원소들이 모재와 반응 할 수 있는 표면적이 커짐으로 핵 생성을 조절 할 수 있을 뿐만 아니라, 이온 주입 시 발생하는 self annealing effect로 결정 크기까지도 조절할 수 있다. 또한 이러한 모든 process가 한 진공 장비 내에서 이루어지므로 장비의 단순화와, 공정간 단계별로 발생하는 불순물과 표면산화를 막을 수 있으므로 절연체 위에 저항이 낮고, hall mobility가 높은 poly-crystalline Ge thin film을 만들 수 있다. 본 연구에서는, 주로 핵 생성과정에서 seed를 만드는 이온주입 조건과, 결정 성장이 일어나는 증착 조건에 따라서 Ge의 결정방향과 크기가 많은 차이를 보이는데, 이는 HR-XRD(High resolution X-ray Diffractometer)와 Raman spectroscopy를 이용하여 측정 하였으며, SEM과 AFM으로 결정의 크기와 표면 거칠기를 측정하였다. 또한 Hall effect measurement를 통해 poly-crystalline thin film 의 저항과 hall mobility를 측정하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.52-52
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• 2018

Only approximately 30% of fossil fuel energy is used; therefore, it is desirable to utilize the huge amounts of waste energy. Thermoelectric (TE) materials that convert heat into electrical power are a promising energy technology. The TE materials can be formed either as thin films or as bulk semiconductors. Generally, thin-film TE materials have low energy conversion rates due to their thinness compared to that in bulk. However, an advantage of a thin-film TE material is that the efficiency can be smartly engineered by controlling the nanostructure and composition. Especially nanostructured TE thin films are useful for mitigating heating problems in highly integrated microelectronic devices by accurately controlling the temperature. Hence, there is a rising interest in thin-film TE devices. These devices have been extensively investigated. It is demonstrated that transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors (TAOS) can be excellent thermoelectric (TE) materials, since their thermal conductivity (${\kappa}$) through a randomly disordered structure is quite low, while their electrical conductivity and carrier mobility (${\mu}$) are high, compared to crystalline semiconductors through the first-principles calculations and the various measurements for the amorphous In-Zn-O (a-IZO) thin film. The calculated phonon dispersion in a-IZO shows non-linear phonon instability, which can prevent the transport of phonon. The a-IZO was measured to have poor ${\kappa}$ and high electrical conductivity compared to crystalline $In_2O_3:Sn$ (c-ITO). These properties show that the TAOS can be an excellent thin-film transparent TE material. It is suggested that the TAOS can be employed to mitigate the heating problem in the transparent display devices.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2016

$Cr_{100-x}Ti_x$ amorphous texture-inducing layers (TIL) were investigated to realize highly (002) oriented $L1_0$ FePt-C granular films through hetero-epitaxial growth on the (002) textured bcc-$Cr_{80}Mn_{20}$ seed layer (bcc-SL). As-deposited TILs showed the amorphous phase in Ti content of $30{\leq}x(at%){\leq}75$. Particularly, films with $40{\leq}x{\leq}60$ kept the amorphous phase against the heat treatment over $600^{\circ}C$. It was found that preference of the crystallographic texture for bcc-SLs is directly affected by the structural phase of TILs. (002) crystallographic texture was realized in bcc-SLs deposited on the amorphous TILs ($40{\leq}x{\leq}70$), whereas (110) texture was formed in bcc-SLs overlying on crystalline TILs (x < 30 and x > 70). Correlation between the angular distribution of (002) crystal orientation of bcc-SL evaluated by full width at half maximum of (002) diffraction (FWHM) and a grain diameter of bcc-SL indicated that while the development of the lateral growth for bcc-SL grain reduces FWHM, crystallization of amorphous TILs hinders FWHM. $L1_0$ FePt-C granular films were fabricated under the substrate heating process over $600^{\circ}C$ with having different FWHM of bcc-SL. Hysteresis loops showed that squareness ($M_r/M_s$) of the films increased from 0.87 to 0.95 when FWHM of bcc-SL decreased from $13.7^{\circ}$ to $3.8^{\circ}$. It is suggested that the reduction of (002) FWHM affects to the overlying MgO film as well as FePt-C granular film by means of the hetero-epitaxial growth.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.9
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• pp.542-549
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• 2009

Zr-based amorphous alloy matrix composites reinforced with tantalum continuous fibers were fabricated by the liquid pressing process, and their anisotropic mechanical properties were investigated by tensile and compressive tests of $0^{\circ}$(longitudinal)-, $45^{\circ}$-, and $90^{\circ}$(transverse)-orientation specimens. About 60 vol.% of tantalum fibers were homogeneously distributed inside the amorphous matrix, which contained a small amount of polygonal crystalline particles. The ductility of the tantalum-continuous-fiber-reinforced composite under tensile or compressive loading was dramatically improved over that of the monolithic amorphous alloy, while maintaining high strength. When the fiber direction was not matched with the loading direction, the reduction of the strength and ductility was not serious because of excellent fiber/matrix interfacial strength. Observation of the anisotropic deformation and fracture behavior showed the formation of multiple shear bands, the obstruction of crack propagation by fibers, and the deformation of fibers themselves, thereby resulting in tensile elongation of 3%~4% and compressive elongation of 15%~30%. These results suggest that the liquid pressing process was useful for the development of amorphous matrix composites with excellent ductility and anisotropic mechanical properties.