• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.180-182
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• 2009

Two different wet etching solutions, NaOH 40% and Acid, were used for etching in tri-crystalline Silicon(Tri-Si) solar cell fabrication. The wafers etched in NaOH40% solution showed higher reflectance compared to the wafers etched in Acid solution after $SiN_x$ deposition. In light current-voltage results, the cells etched in Acid solution exhibited higher short circuit current and open circuit voltage than those of the cells etched in NaOH 40% solution. We have obtained 16.70% conversion efficiency in large area($156cm^2$) Tri-Si solar cells etched in Acid solution.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.319.1-319.1
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• 2016

Recently, the Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) films are intensively used in thin film a-Si solar cell applications due to their high transmittance and good conductivity. The textured ZnO:Al films are used to enhance the light trapping in thin film solar cells. The wet etch process is used to texture ZnO:Al films by dipping in diluted acidic solutions like HCl or HF. During that process the glass substrate could be damaged by the acidic solution and it may be difficult to apply it for the inline mass production process since it has to be done outside the chamber. In this paper we report a new technique to control the surface morphology of RF-sputtered ZnO:Al films. The ZnO:Al films are textured with vaporized HF formed by the mixture of HF and H2SiO3 solution. Even though the surface of textured ZnO:Al films by vapor etching process showed smaller and sharper surface structures compared to that of the films textured by wet etching, the haze value was dramatically improved. We achieved the high haze value of 78% at the wavelength of 540 nm by increasing etching time and HF concentration. The haze value of about 58% was achieved at the wavelength of 800 nm when vapor texturing was used. The ZnO:Al film texture by HCl had haze ratio of about 9.5 % at 800 nm and less than 40 % at 540 nm. In addition to low haze ratio, the texturing by HCl was very difficult to control etching and to keep reproducibility due to its very fast etching speed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.155-159
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• 2019

Surface plasmon resonance is the resonant oscillation of conduction electrons at the interface between negative and positive permittivity material stimulated by incident light. In particular, when light transmits through the metallic microhole structures, it shows an increased intensity of light. Thus, it is used to increase the efficiency of devices such as LEDs, solar cells, and sensors. There are various methods to make micro-hole structures. In this experiment, micro holes are formed using a wet chemical etching method, which is inexpensive and can be mass processed. The shape of the holes depends on crystal facets, temperature, the concentration of the etchant solution, and etching time. We select a GaAs(100) single crystal wafer in this experiment and satisfactory results are obtained under the ratio of etchant solution with $H_2SO_4:H_2O_2:H_2O=1:5:5$. The morphology of micro holes according to the temperature and time is observed using field emission - scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The etching mechanism at the corners and sidewalls is explained through the configuration of atoms.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 1998.05a
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• pp.135-135
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• 1998

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.249-254
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• 1998

The etching experiments for n-GaN were done using the wet chemical, photo-enhanced-chemical and electro-chemical etching methods. The experimental results show that n-GaN is etched is diluted NaOH solution at room temperature and the removed thickness of n-GaN is linearly increased with etching times. The etching rate of the photo-enhanced-chemical and electro-chemical etching methods are several times higher than that of the wet chemical method. The maximum etching rate of n-GaN with $n{\fallingdotseq}1{\times}10^{19}cm^{-3}$ was 164 $\AA$/min under the experimental condition of the Photo-enhanced-chemical etching. The etching rates of n-GaN are very much dependant on the electron concentrations of the samples. The pattern is $100{\mu}m{\times}100{\mu}m$ rectangulars covered with $SiO_2$film. It is shown that the etched side-wall charactistics of the pattern is vertical without dependance of the n-GaN orientations, and the smoothness of etched n-GaN surface is fairly flat.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.317-323
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• 2009

In this study the nanofiltration (NF) membrane treatment of a nitric acid waste solutions containing $Pb^{+2}$ heavy metal ion discharging from the etching processes of an electronics and semiconductors industry has been studied for the purpose of recycling of nitric acid etching solutions. Three kinds of NF membranes (General Electric Co. Duraslick NF-4040 membrane, Dow Co. Filmtec LP-4040 membrane and Koch Co. SelRO MPS-34 4040 membrane) were tested for their separation efficiency (total rejection) of $Pb^{+2}$ ion and membrane stability in nitric acid solution. NF experiments were carried out with a dead-end membrane filtration laboratory system. The membrane permeate flux was increased with the increasing storage time in nitric acid solution and lowering pH of acid solution because of the enhancing of NF membrane damage by nitric acid. The membrane stability in nitric acid solution was more superior in the order of Filmtec LP-4040 < Duraslick NF-4040 < SelRO MPS-34 4040 membrane. The total rejection of Pb+2 ion was decreased with the increasing storage time in nitric acid solution and lowering the pH of acid solution. The total rejection of $Pb^{+2}$ ion after 4 months NF treatment was decreased from 95% initial value to 20% in the case of Duraslick NF-4040 membrane, from 85% initial value to 65% in the case of SelRO MPS-34 4040 membrane and from 90% initial value to 10% in the case of Filmtec LP-4040 membrane. These results showed that SelRO MPS-34 4040 NF membrane was more suitable for the treatment of an acidic etching waste solutions containing heavy metal ions.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.18-24
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• 2017

The $FeCl_3$ solution has been used as an etchant for etching of metal. It is necessary to reuse the etching solution because waste $FeCl_3$ etchant generated after use has provided environmental and economic problems. In this study, HCl was mixed with the $FeCl_2$ solution and then $H_2O_2$ was added into the mixed solution to oxidize the $Fe^{2+}$. During the oxidation process, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) was measured and the relationship between ORP and oxidation ratio was investigated. As a result, this study found that the ORP was increased with increasing the concentration of HCl and $H_2O_2$, while the ORP is decreased with oxidation progress. Such a behavior was in good agreement with Nernst's equation. Also, the oxidation efficiency reached about 99% when a sufficient amount of HCl and $H_2O_2$ were added.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.617-622
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• 2010

We have studied methods to save Si source during the fabrication process of crystalline Si solar cells. One way is to use a thin silicon wafer substrate. As the thickness of the wafers is reduced, mechanical fractures of the substrate increase with the mechanical handling of the thin wafers. It is expected that the mechanical fractures lead to a dropping of yield in the solar cell process. In this study, the mechanical properties of 220-micrometer-solar grade Cz p-type monocrystalline Si wafers were investigated by varying saw-damage etching conditions in order to improve the flexural strength of ultra-thin monocrystalline Si solar cells. Potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution and tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution were used as etching solutions. Etching processes were operated with a varying of the ratio of KOH and TMAH solutions in different temperature conditions. After saw-damage etching, wafers were cleaned with a modified RCA cleaning method for ten minutes. Each sample was divided into 42 pieces using an automatic dicing saw machine. The surface morphologies were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and 3D optical microscopy. The thickness distribution was measured by micrometer. The strength distribution was measured with a 4-point-bending tester. As a result, TMAH solution at $90^{\circ}C$ showed the best performance for flexural strength.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.6.1-6.8
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• 2020

Objectives: This study investigated the effects of a hydrofluoric acid (HA; solution of hydrogen fluoride [HF] in water)-based smart etching (SE) solution at an elevated temperature on yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) ceramics in terms of bond strength and morphological changes. Materials and Methods: Eighty sintered Y-TZP specimens were prepared for shear bond strength (SBS) testing. The bonding surface of the Y-TZP specimens was treated with 37% phosphoric acid etching at 20℃-25℃, 4% HA etching at 20℃-25℃, or HA-based SE at 70℃-80℃. In all groups, zirconia primers were applied to the bonding surface of Y-TZP. For each group, 2 types of resin cement (with or without methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate [MDP]) were used. SBS testing was performed. Topographic changes of the etched Y-TZP surface were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The results were analyzed and compared using 2-way analysis of variance. Results: Regardless of the type of resin cement, the highest bond strength was measured in the SE group, with significant differences compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). In all groups, MDP-containing resin cement yielded significantly higher bond strength values than MDP-free resin cement (p < 0.05). It was also shown that the Y-TZP surface was etched by the SE solution, causing a large change in the surface topography. Conclusions: Bond strength significantly improved when a heated HA-based SE solution was applied to the Y-TZP surface, and the etched Y-TZP surface was more irregular and had higher surface roughness.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.211-216
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• 2012

Wet chemical etching of stainless steel foil by aqueous ferric chloride solution was investigated in this study. Effects of various process parameters (e.g. etchant agitation rate, etchant temperature, $Fe^{3+}$ ion concentration, free HCl concentration, specific gravity, etc.) on the etch rate was first studied, and it was found that the etch rate of AK (aluminum-killed) steel, chromium metal and stainless steel (STS430J1L alloy) follows the pseudo-first order reaction equation. When the fatigue ratio of etchant was kept under 16%, sludge was not formed in the solution, and the etched surface showed smooth roughness. The etch rate decreases as Baume of etchant increases, but the effect of free HCl concentration on the etch rate turned out to be minimal. Experimental data were compared with the calculated results from modeled equation, showing very good agreement.