• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.78-78
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• 2013

Recently, many platinoid metals like platinum and ruthenium have been used as an electrode of microelectronic devices because of their low resistivity and high work-function. However the material cost of Ru is very expensive and it usually takes long initial nucleation time on SiO2 during chemical deposition. Therefore many researchers have focused on how to enhance the initial growth rate on SiO2 surface. There are two methods to deposit Ru film with atomic layer deposition (ALD); the one is thermal ALD using dilute oxygen gas as a reactant, and the other is plasma enhanced ALD (PEALD) using NH3 plasma as a reactant. Generally, the film roughness of Ru film deposited by PEALD is smoother than that deposited by thermal ALD. However, the plasma is not favorable in the application of high aspect ratio structure. In this study, we used a bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)ruthenium [Ru(EtCp)2] as a metal organic precursor for both thermal and plasma enhanced ALDs. In order to reduce initial nucleation time, we use several methods such as Ar plasma pre-treatment for PEALD and usage of sacrificial RuO2 under layer for thermal ALD. In case of PEALD, some of surface hydroxyls were removed from SiO2 substrate during the Ar plasma treatment. And relatively high surface nitrogen concentration after first NH3 plasma exposure step in ALD process was observed with in-situ Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). This means that surface amine filled the hydroxyl removed sites by the NH3 plasma. Surface amine played a role as a reduction site but not a nucleation site. Therefore, the precursor reduction was enhanced but the adhesion property was degraded. In case of thermal ALD, a Ru film was deposited from Ru precursors on the surface of RuO2 and the RuO2 film was reduced from RuO2/SiO2 interface to Ru during the deposition. The reduction process was controlled by oxygen partial pressure in ambient. Under high oxygen partial pressure, RuO2 was deposited on RuO2/SiO2, and under medium oxygen partial pressure, RuO2 was partially reduced and oxygen concentration in RuO2 film was decreased. Under low oxygen partial pressure, finally RuO2 was disappeared and about 3% of oxygen was remained. Usually rough surface was observed with longer initial nucleation time. However, the Ru deposited with reduction of RuO2 exhibits smooth surface and was deposited quickly because the sacrificial RuO2 has no initial nucleation time on SiO2 and played a role as a buffer layer between Ru and SiO2.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.587-593
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• 1995

Abnomal grain growth behavior of BaTiO3 ceramics was investigated with addition of seed grains. It was foudn that the nucleation rate of abnormal grain was constant and growth of abnormal grain was linearly increased with sitnering time, regardless of amount of seed grains. These facts were also confirmed by fitting of the volume fraction of abnormal grain vs. sintering time using Avrami type equation (n=4). It was suggested that seed grains did not change the nucleation rate or growth mechanism of abnormal grain but increase the number of abnormal grains at initial stage of sintering and then it led to fine microstructure of BaTiO3 ceramics.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.82-86
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• 2006

Diamond films were deposited on 10.0$\times$10.0$mm^2$ pretreated (100) Si substrate using $CH_4$, $H_2$ and $O_2$ source gases in a horizontal-type microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. We introduced a cyclic on/off modulation of $CH_4$ and/or $O_2$ flows is a function of the reaction time during the initial deposition stage. Surface morphology and diamond quality of the films were investigated as a function of the different cyclic modulation process of the source gases flows: For the enhancement of the nucleation density, there is an optimal process for the incorporation of oxygen. Diamond qualities of the films were improved by introducing oxygen gas during the initial deposition stage.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.431-439
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• 2012

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) was carried out to study the nucleation and crystal growth process of $CeO_2$ nanoparticles in different alcohol aqueous solutions. The results showed that the nucleation and crystal growth process of $CeO_2$ can be classified into three stages: nuclei growth, crystal stabilization and crystal aggregation except the initial induction stage, which could be reproduced by collecting simulation results after different simulation time. Properly selecting the sizes of $CeO_2$ and water bead was crucial in the simulation system. The influence of alcohol type and content in solutions, and precipitation temperature on the particle dimension were investigated in detail and compared with the experimental results. The consistency between simulation results and experimental data verify that the simulation can reproduce the macroscopic particle aggregation process. The effect of solvent on the nucleation and crystal growth of $CeO_2$ nanoparticles are different at three stages and can not be simply described by Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory or nucleation thermodynamics theory. Our work demonstrated that DPD methods can be applied to study nanoparticle forming process.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.531-538
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• 2015

This study examined the size and shape of the nano-silver particle through the analysis of electrical resistance when synthesizing nano-sized silver by using the chemical liquid reduction. Changes in particle behaviors formed according to the changes in electronic characteristics by electric resistance in each time period in the beginning of reduction reaction in a course of synthesizing the nano-silver particle formation were studied. In addition, analysis was conducted on particle behaviors according to the changes in concentration of $AgNO_3$ and in temperature at the time of reduction and nucleation and growth course when synthesizing the particles based on the particle behaviors were also examined. As the concentration of $AgNO_3$ increased, the same amount of resistance of approximately $5{\Omega}$ was increased in terms of initial electronic resistance. Furthermore, according to the result of formation of nuclear growth graph and estimation of slope based on estimated resistance, slops of $6.25{\times}10^{-3}$, $2.89{\times}10^{-3}$, and $1.85{\times}10^{-3}$ were derived from the concentrations of 0.01 M, 0.05 M, and 0.1 M, respectively. As the concentration of $AgNO_3$ increased, the more it was dominantly influenced by the nuclear growth areas in the initial phase of reduction leading to increase the size and cohesion of particles. At the time of reduction of nano-silver particle, the increases of initial resistance were $4{\Omega}$, $4.2{\Omega}$, $5{\Omega}$, and $5.3{\Omega}$, respectively as the temperature increased. As the temperature was increased into $23^{\circ}C$, $40^{\circ}C$, $60^{\circ}C$, and $80^{\circ}C$, slopes were formed as $4.54{\times}10^{-3}$, $4.65{\times}10^{-3}$, $5.13{\times}10^{-3}$, and $5.42{\times}10^{-3}$ respectively. As the temperature increased, the particles became minute due to the increase of nuclear growth area in the particle in initial period of reduction.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2006

In this paper, the time evolution of undoped GaN epilayers on a low-temperature GaN buffer layer grown on c-plane sapphire at a low pressure of 300 Torr was studied via a two-step growth condition in a horizontal MOCVD reactor. As a function of the growth time at a high-temperature, the surface morphology, structural quality, and optical and electrical properties were investigated using atomic force microscopy, high-resolution x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and Hall effect measurement, respectively. The root-mean-square roughness showed a drastic decrease after a certain period of surface roughening probably due to the initial island growth. The surface morphology also showed the island coalescence and the subsequent suppression of three-dimensional island nucleation. The structural quality of the GaN epilayer was improved with increasing growth time considering the symmetrical (002) and asymmetrical (102) rocking curves. The variations of room-temperature photoluminescence, background carrier concentration, and Hall mobility were measured and discussed.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.1663-1670
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• 2006

Single crystal Fe thin films were grown directly onto n-Si(111) substrates by pulsed electrodeposition. Cyclic Voltammogram(CV) indicated that the $Fe^{2+}/n-Si(111)$ interface shows a good diode behavior by forming a Schottky barrier. From Mott-Schottky (MS) relation, it is found that the flat-band potential of n-Si(111) substrate and equilibrium redox potential of $Fet^{2+}$ ions are -0.526V and -0.316V, respectively. The nucleation and growth kinetics at the initial reaction stages of Fe/n-Si(111) substraste was studied by current transients. Current transients measurements have indicated that the deposition process starts via instantaneous nucleation and 3D diffusion limited growth. After the more deposition, the deposition flux of Fe ions was saturated with increase of deposition time. from the as-deposited sample obtained using the potential pulse of 1.4V and 300Hz, it is found that Fe nuclei grows to three dimensional(3D) islands with the average size of about 100nm in early deposition stages. As the deposition time increases, the sizes of Fe nuclei increases progressively and by a coalescence of the nuclei, a continuous Fe films grow on the Si surface. In this case, the Fe films show a highly oriented columnar structure and x-ray diffraction patterns reveal that the phase ${\alpha}-Fe$ grows on the n-Si(111) substrates.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.74-77
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• 2000

Ta-doped PZT thin films prepared by reactive co-sputtering method could be transformed into single grained perovskite structure utilizing physical etching of Pt bottom electrode. It is found that PZT perovskite phase on damaged (111) Pt electrode by IMD was more easily crystallized than random oriented Pt electrode and less crystallized than (111) Pt electrode. This shows that amorphized Pt electrode surface by IMD process has an effect on crystallization of PZT perovskite phase. 40$\mu\textrm{m}\times40\mu\textrm{m}$ square shape single grain PZT array could be obtained utilizing the difference of incubation time for nucleation of rosettes between ion damaged Pt and (111) oriented Pt electrode. Single grained PZT thin films show low leakage current density of $1\times10^{-7}$ A/$\textrm{cm}^2$ and high break down field of 440kV/cm. The loss of remanent polarization after $10^{11}$ cycles was less than 15% of initial value.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.397-397
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• 2010

Bone is considered as hierarchically organized biocomposites of organic (collagen) and inorganic (hydroxyapatite) materials. The precise structural dependence between hydroxyapatite (HAp, $Ca_{10}(PO_4)_6(OH)_2)$ crystals and collagen fibril is critical to unique characteristics of bone. To meet those conditions and obtain optimal properties, it is essential to understand and control the initial growth mechanisms of hydroxyapatite at the molecular level, such as other nano-structured materials. In this study, collagen fibrils were prepared by adsorbing native type I collagen molecules onto hydrophobic surface. Hydrophobicity was introduced on the Si wafer surface by using PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) method and cyclohexane as a precursor. Biomimetic nucleation and growth of HAp on the self-assembled collagen nanofibrils were occurred through incubation of the sample in SBF (simulated body fluid). Chemical and morphological evolution of HAp nanocrystals was investigated by surface-sensitive analytical techniques such as ToF-SIMS (Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) in the early growth stages (< 24 hrs). The very initial stages (< 12 hrs) of mineralization could be clearly demonstrated by ToF-SIMS chemical mapping of surface. In addition to ToF-SIMS and AFM measurement, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis were conducted to characterize the HAp layer in the late stages. This study is of great importance in the growth of real bone-like materials with a structure analogous to that of natural bones and the development of biomimetic nanomaterials.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.411-420
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• 2018

This study presents a revised crackling core model for the description of $UO_2$ sphere oxidation in air atmosphere. For close reproduction of the sigmoid behavior exhibited in $UO_2$ to $U_3O_8$ conversion, the fragmentation effect contributing to the increased reactive surface area and the concept of variable grain conversion time were considered in the model development. Under the assumptions of two-step successive reaction of $UO_2{\rightarrow}U_3O_7{\rightarrow}U_3O_8$ and final grain conversion time equivalent to ten times the initial grain conversion time, the revised model showed good agreement with the experimental data measured at 599 - 674 K and a lowest deviation when compared with Nucleation and Growth model and AutoCatalytic Reaction model. The evaluated activation energy at 100% conversion to $U_3O_8$, $57.6kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$, was found to be closer to the experimentally extrapolated value than to the value determined in AutoCatalytic Reaction model, $48.6kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$.