• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.367-374
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• 2000

This paper presents a method to fabricate freestanding structures by (100) silicon anisotropic etching and nickel electroless plating. The electroless plating process is simpler than the electroplating, and provides good coating uniformity and improved mechanical properties. Furthermore, the (100) silicon anisotropic etching in KOH solution with being aligned to <100> direction provides vertical (100) sidewalls on etched (100) surface. In this paper, the effects of the nickel electroless plating condition on the properties of electroless plated metal structures are investigated to apply fabrication of micro structures and then various micro structures are fabricated by nickel electroless plating. And then, the structures are released by silicon anisotropic etching in KOH solution with a large gap between the structure and the substrate. The fabricated cantilever structures are $210\mum$. wide, $5\mum$. thick and $15\mum$. over the silicon substrate, and the comb structure has the comb electrodes which are $4\mum$. wide and $4.3\mum$. thick separated by$1\mum$. It is released by silicon anisotropic etching in KOH solution. The gap between the structure and the substrate is $2.5\mum$.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.191-195
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• 2011

Wet chemical etching methods were utilized to conduct Si surface texturing, which could enhance photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation rate. Two different etching methods tested, which were anisotropic metal-catalyzed electroless etching and isotropic etching. The Si nano-texture that was fabricated by the anisotropic etching showed ~25% increase in photocurrent for H2 generation. The photocurrent enhancement was attributed to the reduced reflection loss at the nano-textured Si surface, which provided a layer of intermediate density between water and the Si substrate.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.174-177
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• 2010

We have developed an environment-friendly etching process, an alternative to the dichromic acid etching process, as a pretreatment of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plastic for electroless plating. In order to plate ABS plastic in an electroless way, there should be fine holes on the surface of the ABS plastic to enhance mechanically the adhesion strength between the plastic surface and the plate. To make these holes, the surface was coated uniformly with dispersed chemical foaming agents in a mixture of environmentally friendly dispersant and solvent by the methods of dipping or direct application. The solvent seeps into just below the surface and distributes the chemical foaming agents uniformly beneath the surface. After drying off the surface, the surface was heated at a temperature well below the glass transition temperature of ABS plastic. By pyrolysis, the chemical foaming agents made fine holes on the surface. In order to discover optimum conditions for the formation of fine holes, the mixing ratio of the solvent, the dispersant and the chemical foaming agent were controlled. After the etching process, the surface was plated with nickel. We tested the adhesion strength between the ABS plastic and nickel plate by the cross-cutting method. The surface morphologies of the ABS plastic before and after the etching process were observed by means of a scanning electron microscope.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.843-850
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• 2003

Cu/PET film composites were prepared by electroless copper plating method. In order to improve adhesion between electroless plated Cu layer and polyester (PET) film, the effect of pretreatment conditions such as etching method, mixed catalyst composition were investigated. Chemical etching and plasma treatment increased surface roughness in decreasing order of Ar＞HCl＞O$_2$＞NH$_3$. However, adhesion of Cu layer on PET film increased in the following order: $O_2$＜Ar＜HCl＜NH$_3$. It indicated that appropriate surface roughness and introduction of affinitive functional group with Pd were key factors of improving adhesion of Cu layer. PET film was more finely etched by HCI tolution, resulting in an improvement in adhesion between Cu layer and PET film. Plasma treatment with NH$_3$produced nitrogen atoms on PET film, which enhances chemisorption of Pd$^{2+}$ on PET film, resulting in improved adhesion and shielding effectiveness of Cu layer deposited on the Pd catalyzed surface. Surface morphology of Cu plated PET film revealed that Pd/Sn colloidal particles became more evenly distributed in the smaller size by increasing the molar ratio of PdCl$_2$; SnCl$_2$from 1 : 4 to 1 : 16. With increasing the molar ratio of mixed catalyst, adhesion and shielding effectiveness of Cu plated PET film were increased.d.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.397-402
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• 2017

We used an etching process to control the line-width of screen printed Ag paste patterns. Ag paste was printed on anodized Al substrate to produce a high power LED. In general, Ag paste spreads or diffuses on anodized Al substrate in the process of screen printing; therefore, the line-width of the printed Ag paste pattern increases in contrast with the ideal line-width of the pattern. Smudges of Ag paste on anodized Al substrate were removed by neutral etching process without surface damage of the anodized Al substrate. Accordingly, the line-width of the printed Ag paste pattern was controlled as close as possible to the ideal line-width. When the etched Ag paste pattern was used as a seed layer for electroless Ni plating, the line width of the plated Ni film was similar to the line-width of the etched Ag paste pattern. Finally, in pattern formation by Ag paste screen printing, we found that the accuracy of the line-width of the pattern can be effectively improved by using an etching process before electroless Ni plating.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.170-175
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• 2013

Silicon nanowires were detached and obtained from silicon nanowire arrays on silicon substrate using a ultrasono-method. Silicon nanowire arrays on silicon substrate were prepared with an electroless metal assisted etching of p-type silicon. The etching solution was an aqueous HF solution containing silver nitrate. SEM observation shows that well-aligned nanowire arrays perpendicular to the surface of the silicon substrate were produced. After sonication of silicon nanowire array, an individual silicon nanowire was confirmed by FESEM. Optical characteristics of SiNWs were measured by FT-IR spectroscopy. The surface of SiNWs are terminated with hydrogen.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2009

Surface of PEEK(poly-ether-ether-ketone) was modified by chemical etching, plasma treatment and mechanical grinding to improve the plating adhesion. The plating characteristics of these samples were studied by the contact angle, plating thickness, gloss and adhesion. Chemical etching and plasma treatment increased wettability, adhesion and gloss. The contact angle of as-received PEEK was $61^{\circ}$. The contact angles of chemical etched, plasma treated or both were improved to the range of $15{\sim}33^{\circ}$. In the case of electroless plating, the thickest layer without blister was $1.6{\mu}m$. The adhesion strengths by chemical etching, plasma treatment or both chemical etching and plasma treatment were $75kgf/cm^2$, $102kgf/cm^2$, $113kgf/cm^2$, respectively, comparing to the $24kgf/cm^2$ of as-received. In the case of mechanically ground PEEKs, the adhesion strengths were higher than those unground, with the sacrifice of surface gloss. The gloss of untreated PEEK were greater than mechanically ground PEEKs. Plating thickness increased linearly with the plating times.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.69-72
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• 2013

Combined nano- and micro-wires (CNMWs) Si arrays were prepared using PR patterning and silver-assisted electroless etching. A $POCl_3$ doping process was applied to the fabrication of CNMWs solar cells. KOH solution was used to remove bundles in CNMWs and the etching time was varied from 30 to 240 s. The lowest reflectance of 3.83% was obtained at KOH etching time of 30 s, but the highest carrier lifetime of $354{\mu}s$ was observed after the doping process at 60 s. At the same etching time, a $V_{oc}$ of 574 mV, $J_{sc}$ of $28.41mA/cm^2$, FF of 74.4%, and Eff. of 12.2% were achieved in the CNMWs solar cell. CNMWs solar cells have potential for higher efficiency by improving the post-process and surface-rear side structure.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.302-310
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• 2001

Cu/PET film composites were prepared by electroless copper plating method. In order to improve adhesion between electroless Cu plated layer and polyester (PET) film, the effect of pretreatment conditions such as etching method and mixed catalyst composition, and accelerator was investigated. Compared to NaOH etching medium, PET film was more finely etched by HCl solution, resulting in an improvement in adhesion between Cu layer and PET film. However, there were no significant differences in electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness as a function of etching medium. The surface morphology of Cu plated PET film revealed that Pd/Sn colloidal particles became more evenly distributed in the smaller size by increasing the molar ratio of PdCl$_2$ : SnCl$_2$ from 1 : 4 to 1 : 16. With increasing the molar ratio of mixed catalyst, the adhesion and the shielding effectiveness of Cu plated PET film were increased. Furthermore, HCl was turned out to be a better accelerator than NaOH in order to enhance the activity of the mixed PdCl$_2$/SnCl$_2$ catalyst, which facilitated the formation of more uniform copper deposit on the PET film.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.3451-3455
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• 2013

Single-crystalline silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were fabricated by using an electroless metal-assisted etching of bulk silicon wafers with silver nanoparticles obtained by wet electroless deposition. The etching of SiNWs is based on sequential treatment in aqueous solutions of silver nitrate followed by hydrofluoric acid and hydrogen peroxide. SEM observation shows that well-aligned nanowire arrays perpendicular to the surface of the Si substrate were produced. Free-standing SiNWs were then obtained using ultrasono-method in toluene. Alkyl-derivatized SiNWs were prepared to prevent the aggregation of SiNWs and obtained from the reaction of SiNWs and dodecene via hydrosilylation. Optical characterizations of SiNWs were achieved by FT-IR spectroscopy and indicated that the surface of SiNWs is terminated with hydrogen for fresh SiNWs and with dodecyl group for dodecyl-derivatized SiNWs, respectively. The main structures of dodecyl-derivatized SiNWs are wires and rods and their thicknesses of rods and wire are typically 150-250 and 10-20 nm, respectively. The morphology and chemical state of dodecyl-derivatized SiNWs are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.