• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.202-206
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• 2011

We have investigated the structural and electrical properties of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films deposited by an RF magnetron sputtering at various RF powers from 50 to 90W. All the GZO thin films are grown as a hexagonal wurtzite phase with highly c-axis preferred parameters. The structural and electrical properties are strongly related to the RF power. The grain size increases as the RF power increases since the columnar growth of GZO thin film is enhanced at an elevated RF power. This result means that the crystallinity of GZO is improved as the RF power increases. The resistivity of GZO rapidly decreases as the RF power increases up to 70 W and saturates to 90W. In contrast, the electron concentration of GZO increases as the RF power increases up to 70 W and saturates to 90W. GZO thin film shows the lowest resistivity of $2.2{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}cm$ and the highest electron concentration of $1.7{\times}10^{21}cm^{-3}$ at 90W. The mobility of GZO increases as the RF power increases since the grain boundary scattering decreases due to the reduced density of the grain boundary at a high RF power. The transmittance of GZO thin films in the visible range is above 90%. GZO is a feasible transparent electrode for application as a transparent electrode for thin film solar cells.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.1038-1041
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• 2003

In the paper, we investigated silicon surface microstructures formed by reactive ion etching in hollow cathode system. Wet anisotropic chemical etching technique use to form random pyramidal structure on <100> silicon wafers usually is not effective in texturing of low-cost multicrystalline silicon wafers because of random orientation nature, but High density hollow cathode plasma system illustrates high deposition rate, better film crystal structure, improved etching characteristics. The etched silicon surface is covered by columnar microstructures with diameters form 50 to 100nm and depth of about 500nm. We used $SF_{6}$ and $O_{2}$ gases in HCP dry etch process. This paper demonstrates very high plasma density of $2{\times}10^{12}$ $cm^{-3}$ at a discharge current of 20 mA. Silicon etch rate of 1.3 ${\mu}s/min$. was achieved with $SF_{6}/O_{2}$ plasma conditions of total gas pressure=50 mTorr, gas flow rate=40 sccm, and rf power=200 W. Our experimental results can be used in various display systems such as thin film growth and etching for TFT-LCDs, emitter tip formations for FEDs, and bright plasma discharge for PDP applications. In this paper we directed our study to the silicon etching properties such as high etching rate, large area uniformity, low power with the high density plasma.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.82-89
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• 1995

High resolution transmission electron microscopic observations on quaternary $Zn_{1-x}Mg_{x}S_y$ $S_{1-y}$(x=0.13, y=0.16) on (001) GaAs substrate grown up to $1.2{\mu}m$ with 20nm ZnSe buffer layer at $300^{\circ}C$ by RIBER MBE system which has a single growth chamber were investigated by HRTEM working at 300kV with point resolution of 0.18nm. The ZnSe buffer layer maintains the coherency with the GaAs substrate. The stacking faults had begun at ZnSe buffer/$Zn_{1-x}Mg_{x}S_{y}S_{1-y}$ interface, whose length and spacing became larger than 60nm and wider than 40nm, respectively. The inverse triangular stacking fault was bounded by stacking faults which were formed on {111} planes with different variants. There exists rare stacking faults inside the triangular defect. The epilayer surrounded by the straight stacking faults, which had formed in the same direction, became the columnar structure.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.304-308
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• 2013

The effect of a sputter deposition sequence of Cu, Zn, and Sn metal layers on the properties of $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ (CZTS) was systematically studied for solar cell applications. The set of Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu multi metal films was deposited on a Mo/$SiO_2$/Si wafer using dc sputtering. CZTS films were prepared through a sulfurization process of the Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu metal layers at $500^{\circ}C$ in a $H_2S$ gas environment. $H_2S$ (0.1%) gas of 200 standard cubic centimeters per minute was supplied in the cold-wall sulfurization reactor. The metal film prepared by one-cycle deposition of Cu(360 nm)/Sn(400 nm)/Zn(400 nm)/Cu(440 nm) had a relatively rough surface due to a well-developed columnar structure growth. A dense and smooth metal surface was achieved for two- or three-cycle deposition of Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu, in which each metal layer thickness was decreased to 200 nm. Moreover, the three-cycle deposition sample showed the best CZTS kesterite structures after 5 hr sulfurization treatment. The two- and three-cycle Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu samples showed high-efficient photoluminescence (PL) spectra after a 3 hr sulfurization treatment, wheres the one-cycle sample yielded poor PL efficiency. The PL spectra of the three-cycle sample showed a broad peak in the range of 700-1000 nm, peaked at 870 nm (1.425 eV). This result is in good agreement with the reported bandgap energy of CZTS.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2003

Thin transparent Cu films in the thickness range of 10 ~ 40 nm are deposited by rf-magnetron sputtering on porous silicon (PS) anodized on p-type silicon in dark. Microstructural features of the Cu films are investigated using SEM, AFM and XRD techniques. The RMS roughness of the Cu films is found to be around 1.47 nm and the grain growth is columnar with a (111) preferred orientation and follows the Volmer-Weber mode. The photoluminescence studies showed that a broad luminiscence peak of PS near the blue-green region gets blue shifted (~0.05 eV) with a small reduction in intensity and therefore, Cu-related PL quenching is absent. The FTIR absorption spectra on the PS/Cu structure revealed no major change of the native PS peaks but only a reduction in the relative intensity. The I-V characteristic curves further establish the Schottky nature of the diode with an ideality factor of 2.77 and a barrier height of 0.678 eV. An electroluminiscence (EL) signal of small intensity could be detected for the above diode.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.407-412
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• 2014

Currently, diopside ($MgCaSi_2O_6$) crystal glaze is used frequently for pottery works or in earthen wares, though the process is not straightforward. However, to create and control the positions and sizes of the crystals in desired amounts when making pottery is difficult. To solve this problem, a diopside crystal seed was created at a temperature of $1450^{\circ}C$. After planting this seed in the glaze, a glaze combination and firing process which allows a user to create crystals with the desired position and at the desired size were established. In addition, in order to investigate the creation process of the crystals, the growth patterns of the crystals were observed and examined using Raman spectrography and XRD and SEM analyses. As a result, the optimum synthesis condition of the diopside seed was created by mixing 1 mole of $CaCo_3$, 0.2 mole of $(MgCo_3)_4(MgCoH)_2{\cdot}5H_2O$ and 2 moles of $SiO_2$ and then applying a firing process to the mixture at $1,450^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes. The optimum glaze content of the seed was 70 % feldspar, 20 % limestone and 10 % $MgCo_3$. For the firing process, it was confirmed that the size of crystal is larger with a longer firing time at $1100^{\circ}C$ by completing a two-hour process at $1280^{\circ}C$. In addition, the diopside crystal has columnar structure and is less than $1{\mu}m$ in size.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2016.11a
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• pp.105-105
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• 2016

Recently, high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) has attracted considerable attentions due to its high potential for industrial applications. By pulsing the sputtering target with high power density and short duration pulses, a high plasma density and high ionization of the sputtered species can be obtained. HIPIMS has exhibited several merits such as increased coating density, good adhesion, microparticle-free and smooth surface, which make the HIPIMS technique desirable for synthesizing hard coatings. However, hard coatings present intrinsic defects (columnar structures, pinholes, pores, discontinuities) which can affect the corrosion behavior, especially when substrates are active alloys like steel or in a wear-corrosion process. Atomic layer deposition (ALD), a CVD derived method with a broad spectrum of applications, has shown great potential for corrosion protection of high-precision metallic parts or systems. In ALD deposition, the growth proceeds through cyclic repetition of self-limiting surface reactions, which leads to the thin films possess high quality, low defect density, uniformity, low-temperature processing and exquisite thickness control. These merits make ALD an ideal candidate for the fabrication of excellent oxide barrier layer which can block the pinhole and other defects left in the coating structure to improve the corrosion protection of hard coatings. In this work, CrN/Al2O3/CrN multilayered coatings were synthesized by a hybrid process of HIPIMS and ALD techniques, aiming to improve the CrN hard coating properties. The influence of the Al2O3 interlayer addition, the thickness and intercalation position of the Al2O3 layer in the coatings on the microstructure, surface roughness, mechanical properties and corrosion behaviors were investigated. The results indicated that the dense Al2O3 interlayer addition by ALD lead to a significant decrease of the average grain size and surface roughness and greatly improved the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the CrN coatings. The thickness increase of the Al2O3 layer and intercalation position change to near the coating surface resulted in improved mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. The mechanism can be explained by that the dense Al2O3 interlayer acted as an excellent barrier for dislocation motion and diffusion of the corrosive substance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.67-67
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• 2001

The structure zone model has been used to provide an overview of the relationship between the microstructure of the films deposited by PVD and the most prominent deposition condition.s. B.AMovchan and AV.Demchishin have proposed it firstls such model. They concluded that the general features of the resulting structures could be correlated into three zones depending on $T/T_m$. Here T m is the melting point of the coating material and T is the substrate temperature in kelvines. Zone 1 ($T/Tm_) is dominated by tapered macrograins with domed tops, zone 2 ($O.3) by columnar grains with denser boundaries and zone 3 ($T/T_m>O.5$) by equiaxed grains formed by recrystallization. J.AThomton has extended this model to include the effect of the sputtering gas pressure and found a fourth zone termed zone T(transition zone) consisting of a dense array of poorly defined fibrous grains. R.Messier found that the zone I-T boundary (fourth zone of Thorton) varies in a fashion similar to the film bias potential as a function of gas pressure. However, there has not nearly enough model for explaining the change in morphology with crystal orientation of the films. The structure zone model only provide an information about the morphology of the deposited film. In general, the nucleation and growth mechanism for granular and fine structure of the deposited films are very complex in an PVD technique because the morphology and orientation depend not only on the substrate temperature but also on the energy of deposition of the atoms or ions, the kinetic mechanism between metal atoms and argon or nitrogen gas, and even on the presence of impurities. In order to clarify these relationship, AI and Mg thin films were prepared on SPCC steel substrates by PVD techniques. The influence of gas pressures and bias voltages on their crystal orientation and morphology of the prepared films were investigated by SEM and XRD, respectively. And the effect of crystal orientation and morphology of the prepared films on corrosion resistance was estimated by measuring polarization curves in 3% NaCI solution.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.88-93
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• 2008

Ir-Re thin films with Ti interlayer were deposited onto the tungsten carbide substrate by ion beam assisted DC magnetron sputtering. The Ir-Re films were prepared with targets of having two atomic percent of 7:3 and 5:5. The microstructure and surface analysis of the specimen were conducted by using SEM, XRD and AFM. Mechanical properties such as hardness and adhesion strength of Ir-Re thin film also were examined. The interlayer of pure titanium was formed with 100 nm thickness. The film growth of Ir-30at.%Re was faster than that of Ir-50at.%Re in the same deposition conditions. Ir-Re thin films consisted of dense and columnar structure irrespective of the different target compositions. The values of hardness and adhesion strength of Ir-30at.%Re thin film coated on WC substrate were higher than those of Ir-50at.%Re thin film.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.07a
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• pp.531-534
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• 2004

초전도 coated conductor는 보호층/초전도층/완충층/금속기판의 구조를 가지며 완충층은 다층산화물 박막으로 이루어져 있다. 본 연구에서는 니켈 기판의 원자가 초전도층으로 확산 침투하는 것을 방지하는 YSZ(Yttria Stabilized Zirconia) 박막의 증착방법 및 최적조건에 대하여 소개하고자 한다. 금속타겟을 사용하며 산화반응가스로서 수증기를 사용하는 것을 특징으로 하는 DC reactive sputtering을 이용하여 YSZ를 증착하였으며 기판 온도는 $850^{\circ}C$ 이며 증착시 수증기 분압은 1mTorr이었다. YSZ의 최적두께를 알아보기 위하여 $CeO_2(12.2nm)/Ni$ 상부에 130nm, 260nm, 390nm, 650nm로 두께를 달리하여 YSZ층을 증착하고 SEM으로 박막 표면상태를 관찰한 결과 columnar grain growth를 하며 두께가 두꺼워 질수록 표면조도가 증가함을 알 수 있었다. 4개의 각 시료위에 thermal evaporation 증착법을 이용하여 $CeO_2$를 18.3nm의 두께로 증착한 후 PLD를 이용하여 YBCO 초전도 박막을 300nm 두께로 증착하였고 77K, 0T에서 임계전류가 각각 0, 6A, 7.5A, 5A로 측정되었다. 이는 YSZ층의 두께가 두꺼워질수록 기판 구성원자의 확산방지역할을 충실히 하는 반면에 표면조도는 증가함을 알 수 있었다.