• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.38-45
• /
• 2004

As optical communication is being substituted for telecommunication, the demand of a large variety of fiber optic components is increasing. V-groove substrates, one of the module components, are used to connect optical fibers to optical planar circuits and to arrange fibers. Their applications are multi-channel optical connectors and optical waveguide fiber coupling, etc. Because these substrates are a critical part of the splitter in a multiplexer and a multi fiber connector, precise and reliable fabrication process is required. For precisely aligning core pitch between fibers, machined core pitch tolerance should be within sub-microns. Therefore, these are generally produced by state-of-the-art micro-fabrication like MEMS. However, most of the process equipment is very expensive. It is also difficult to change the process line for custom designs to meet specific requirements using various materials. For various design specifications such as different values of the V angle and low-priced process, the fabrication method should be flexible and low cost. To achieve this goal, we have suggested a miniaturized machine tool with high accuracy positioning system. Through this study, it is shown that this cutting process can be applied to produce V-groove subtracts. We also show the possibility of using a miniaturized machining system for producing small parts.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.301-307
• /
• 2015

The diameter of a proton beam emanating from the MC-50 cyclotron is about 2-3 mm with Gaussian distribution. This widely irradiated proton beam is not suitable for semiconductor etching, precise positioning, and micromachining, which require a small spot. In this study, a beam cutting method using a microhole is proposed as an economical alternative. We produced a microhole with aspect ratio, average diameter, and thickness of 428, $21{\mu}m$, and 9 mm, respectively, for cutting the proton beam. By using this high-aspect-ratio microhole, we conducted machinability tests on microstructures with sizes of tens of ${\mu}m$. Additionally, the results of simulation using GEANT4 and those of the actual experiment were compared and analyzed. The outcome confirmed the possibility of implementing a micro process technology for the fabrication of three-dimensional microstructures of 20 micron units using the MC-50 cyclotron with the microhole.

• Design & Manufacturing
• /
• v.2 no.5
• /
• pp.1-4
• /
• 2008

LCD-BLU (Liquid Crystal Display - Back Light Unit) is one of kernel parts of LCD unit and it consists of several optical sheets(such as prism, diffuser and protector sheets), LCP (Light Guide Plate), light source (CCFL or LED) and mold frame. The LGP of LCD-BLU is usually manufactured by forming numerous dots with $50-200{\mu}m$ in diameter on it by erosion method. But the surface of the erosion dots of LGP is very rough due to the characteristics of the erosion process during the mold fabrication, so that its light loss is high along with the dispersion of light into the surface. Accordingly, there is a limit in raising the luminance of LCD-BLU. Especially, the negative and positive micro-lens pattern fabricated by modified LiGA with thermal reflow process was applied to the optical design of LGP.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2005.06a
• /
• pp.1507-1510
• /
• 2005

This study was carried out as a part of the research on the development of a maskless and electroless process for fabricating metal micro/nanostructures by using a nanoindenter and an electroless deposition technique. $2-\mu{m}-deep$ indentation tests on Ni and Cu samples were performed. The elastic recovery of the Ni and Cu was 9.30% and 9.53% of the maximum penetration depth, respectively. The hardness and the elastic modulus were 1.56 GPa and 120 GPa for Ni and 1.49 GPa and 100 GPa for Cu. The effect of single-point diamond machining conditions such as the Berkovich tip orientation (0, 45, and $90^{\circ}$) and the normal load (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 3, and 5 mN), on both the deformation behavior and the morphology of cutting traces (such as width and depth) was investigated by constant-load scratch tests. The tip orientation had a significant influence on the coefficient of friction, which varied from 0.52-0.66 for Ni and from 0.46-0.61 for Cu. The crisscross-pattern sample showed that the tip orientation strongly affects the surface quality of the machined area during scratching. A selective deposition of Cu at the pit-like defect on a p-type Si(111) surface was also investigated. Preferential deposition of the Cu occurred at the surface defect sites of silicon wafers, indicating that those defect sites act as active sites for the deposition reaction. The shape of the Cu-deposited area was almost the same as that of the residual stress field.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.8 s.185
• /
• pp.171-177
• /
• 2006

This study was performed as a part of the research on the development of a maskless and electroless process for fabricating metal micro/nanostructures by using a nanoindenter and an electroless deposition technique. $2-{\mu}m$-deep indentation tests on Ni and Cu samples were performed. The elastic recovery of the Ni and Cu was 9.30% and 9.53% of the maximum penetration depth, respectively. The hardness and the elastic modulus were 1.56 GPa and 120 GPa for Ni and 1.51 GPa and 104 GPa for Cu. The effect of single-point diamond machining conditions such as the Berkovich tip orientation (0, 45, and $90^{\circ}$ ) and the normal load (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1, 3, and 5 mN), on both the deformation behavior and the morphology of cutting traces (such as width and depth) was investigated by constant-load scratch tests. The tip orientation had a significant influence on the coefficient of friction, which varied from 0.52-0.66 for Ni and from 0.46- 0.61 for Cu. The crisscross-pattern sample showed that the tip orientation strongly affects the surface quality of the machined are a during scratching. A selective deposition of Cu at the pit-like defect on a p-type Si(111) surface was also investigated. Preferential deposition of the Cu occurred at the surface defect sites of silicon wafers, indicating that those defect sites act as active sites for the deposition reaction. The shape of the Cu-deposited area was almost the same as that of the residual stress field.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.96-101
• /
• 2024

Background: Silicosis among workers who fabricate engineered stone products in micro or small-sized enterprises (MSEs) was reported from several countries. Workplace exposure data of these workers at high risk of exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust are limited. Methods: We surveyed workers performing cutting, shaping and polishing tasks at 6 engineered stone fabricating MSEs in Sydney, Australia prior to regulatory intervention. Personal exposure to airborne RCS dust in 34 workers was measured, work practices were observed using a checklist and worker demography recorded. Results: Personal respirable dust measurements showed exposures above the Australian workplace exposure standard (WES) of 0.1 mg/m³ TWA-8 hours for RCS in 85% of workers who performed dry tasks and amongst 71% using water-fed tools. Dust exposure controls were inadequate with ineffective ventilation and inappropriate respiratory protection. All 34 workers sampled were identified as overseas-born migrants, mostly from three linguistic groups. Conclusions: Workplace exposure data from this survey showed that workers in engineered stone fabricating MSEs were exposed to RCS dust levels which may be associated with a high risk of developing silicosis. The survey findings were useful to inform a comprehensive regulatory intervention program involving diverse hazard communication tools and enforcing improved exposure controls. We conclude that modest occupational hygiene surveys in MSEs, with attention to workers' demographic factors can influence the effectiveness of intervention programs. Occupational health practitioners should address these potential determinants of hazardous exposures in their workplace surveys to prevent illness such as silicosis in vulnerable workers.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.29 no.10
• /
• pp.665-670
• /
• 2016

Prevailing dissemination of machine tools and cutting technology have caused drastic developments of high speed dry machining with work materials of high hardness, and demands on the high-hardness-materials with high efficiency have become increasingly important in terms of productivity, cost reduction, as well as environment-friendly issue. Addition of Si to TiAlN has been known to form nano-composite coating with higher hardness of over 30 GPa and oxidation temperature over $1,000^{\circ}C$. However, it is not easy to add Si to TiAlN by using conventional PVD technologies. Therefore, Ti-Al-Si-N have been prepared by hybrid process of PVD with multiple target sources or PVD combined with PECVD of Si source gas. In this study, a single composite target of Ti-Al-Si was prepared by powder metallurgy of MA (mechanical alloying) and SPS (spark plasma sintering). Properties of he resulting alloying targets were examined. They revealed a microstructure with micro-sized grain of about $1{\sim}5{\mu}m$, and all the elements were distributed homogeneously in the alloying target. Hardness of the Ti-Al-Si-N target was about 1,127 Hv. Thin films of Ti-Al-Si-N were prepared by unbalanced magnetron sputtering method by using the home-made Ti-Al-Si alloying target. Composition of the resulting thin film of Ti-Al-Si-N was almost the same with that of the target. The thin film of Ti-Al-Si-N showed a hardness of 35 GPa and friction coefficient of 0.66.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.44 no.5
• /
• pp.513-519
• /
• 2006

We developed two kinds of the microchip for application to electrophoresis based on both glass and quartz employing the MEMS fabrications. The poly-Si layer deposited onto the bonding interface apart from channel regions can play a role as the optical slit cutting off the stray light in order to concentrate the UV ray, from which it is possible to improve the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of the detection on a chip. In the glass chip, the deposited poly-Si layer had an important function of the etch mask and provided the bonding surface properly enabling the anodic bonding. The glass wafer including more impurities than quartz one results in the higher surface roughness of the channel wall, which affects subsequently on the microflow behavior of the sample solutions. In order to solve this problem, we prepared here the mixed etchant consisting HF and $NH_4F$ solutions, by which the surface roughness was reduced. Both the shape and the dimension of each channel were observed, and the electroosmotic flow velocities were measured as 0.5 mm/s for quartz and 0.36 mm/s for glass channel by implementing the microchip electrophoresis. Applying the optical slit with poly-Si layer provides that the S/N ratio of the peak is increased as ca. 2 times for quartz chip and ca. 3 times for glass chip. The maximum UV absorbance is also enhanced with ca. 1.6 and 1.7 times, respectively.