• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2002.11a
• /
• pp.202-205
• /
• 2002

The photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of the silicon-oxygen(Si-O) superlattice formed by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) were studied. To confirm the presence of the nanocrystalline Si structure, Raman scattering measurement was performed. The blue shift was observed in the PL peak of the oxygen-annealed sample, compared to the hydrogen-annealed sample, which is due to a contribution of smaller crystallites. Our results determine the right direction for the fabrication of silicon-based optoelectronic and quantum devices as well as for the replacement of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) in high-speed and low-power silicon MOSFET devices in the future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2008.06a
• /
• pp.37-37
• /
• 2008

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si:H) thin films were prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The films were deposited with a radio frequency power of 100 W, while substrates were exposed to direct current (DC) biases in the range from 0 to -400 V. The effects of the DC bias on the formation of nanoscale Si crystallites in the films and on their optical characteristics were investigated. The size of the Si crystallites in the films ranges from ~ 1.9 to ~ 4.1 nm. The relative fraction of the crystallites in the films reached up ~ 56.5 % when the DC bias of -400 V was applied. Based on the variation in the structural, chemical, and optical features of the films with DC bias voltages, a model for the formation of nanostructures of the nc-Si:H films prepared by PECVD was suggested. This model can be utilized to understand the evolution in the size and relative fraction of the nanocrystallites as well as the amorphous matrix in the nc-Si:H films.

• Journal of Magnetics
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.300-303
• /
• 2011

The effect of the hot-compaction temperature on the microstructure and magnetic properties of anisotropic nanocrystalline magnets was investigated. The hot-compaction temperature was found to impact both the magnetic properties and the microstructure of die-upset magnets. The remanence of the isotropic precursor increases slightly with the improved hot-compaction temperature, and the grains start to grow on the flake boundary at higher hot-compaction temperatures. After hot deformation, it was found that the change in the magnetic properties was the inverse of that observed with the hot-compaction temperature. Microstructural investigation showed that die-upset magnets inherit the microstructural characteristics of their precursor. For the die-upset magnets, hot pressed at low temperature, scarcely any abnormal grain growth on the flake boundary can be seen. For those hot pressed at higher temperatures, however, layers with large equiaxed grains could be observed, which accounted for the poor alignment during the hot deformation, and thus the poor magnetic properties.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.123-126
• /
• 2011

Titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) thin films were deposited by the sol-gel method with a surfactant-assisted mechanism. Its application for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was investigated. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to characterize the surface characteristics of thin films. Photovoltaic-current density measurements were performed to determine the photoelectrochemical properties of the thin films and the performance of DSSCs. Energy conversion efficiency of about 6.1% was achieved for cells with conductive glass under illumination with AM 1.5 (100 $mWcm^{-2}$) simulated sunlight. Investigation showed higher photo-energy conversion efficiency for mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanocrystalline films used in DSSCs relative to commercially available Degussa P25 films.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.10 no.5
• /
• pp.383-388
• /
• 2001

In describing the plastic deformation behaviour of ultrafine-grained materials, a phase mixture model in which a polycrystalline material is regarded as a mixture of a crystalline phase and a grain boundary phase has been successful. The deformation mechanism for the grain boundary phase, which is necessary for applying the phase mixture model to polycrystalline materials, is modelled as a diffusional flow of matter along the grain boundary. A constitutive equation for the boundary diffusion creep of the boundary phase was proposed, in which the strain rate is proportional to (stress/grain siz $e^{2}$). The upper limit of the stress of the boundary phase was set to equal to the strength to the amorphous phase. The proposed model can explain the strain rate and grain size dependence of the strength of the grain boundary phase. Successful applications of the model compared with published experimental data are described.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.168-173
• /
• 2001

The effect of grain refinement of the strength and ductility of metallic materials is investigated. A model in which a single phase material is considered as an effectively two-phase one is discussed. A distinctive feature of the model is that grain boundaries are treated as a separate phase deforming by a diffusion mechanism. Deformation of the grain interior phase is assumed to be carried by two concurrent mechanism. Deformation of the grain interior phase is assumed to be carried by two concurrent mechanisms: dislocation glide and mass transfer by diffusion. The model was exemplified by simulating uniaxial tensile deformation of Cu down to the nanometer grain size. The results confirm the observed strain hardening behaviour and a trend for reduction of ductility with decreasing grain size at room temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
• /
• 2001.10a
• /
• pp.251-254
• /
• 2001

In this paper, the effect of grain refinement on room temperature ductility of copper was addressed. Recent experimental results have shown that this material, as well as a number of other single-phase metals that are ductile when coarse-grained, loose their ductility with decreasing grain size in the sub micrometer range. A recently developed model in which such materials are considered as effectively two-phase ones (with the grain boundaries treated as a linearly viscous second phase) was applied to analyze stability of Cu against ductile necking. As a basis, Hart's stability analysis that accounts for strain rate sensitivity effects was used. The results confirm the observed trend for reduction of ductility with decreasing grain size. The model can be applied to predicting the grain size dependence of ductility of other metallic materials as well.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.22-26
• /
• 2003

This short communication reports on the experiment which demonstrates that superhard nanostructured films with hardness of about 40 GPa and greater can be composed not only of two or more nanocrystalline and/or amorphous phases of different materials, as it is in the case of nanocomposite coatings, but also that can be formed by a mixture of small (<10 nm) nanocrystalline grains of the same material with different crystallographic orientation and/or lattice structures. This finding opens new possibilities to develop advanced nanostructured materials with enhanced physical and functional properties.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.196-201
• /
• 2014

In this study, nanocrystalline Cu-Ni bulk materials with various compositions were cold compacted by a shock compaction method using a single-stage gas gun system. Since the oxide layers on powder surface disturbs bonding between powder particles during the shock compaction process, each nanopowder was hydrogen-reduced to remove the oxide layers. X-ray peak analysis shows that hydrogen reduction successfully removed the oxide layers from the nano powders. For the shock compaction process, mixed powder samples with various compositions were prepared using a roller mixer. After the shock compaction process, the density of specimens increased up to 95% of the relative density. Longitudinal cross-sections of the shock compacted specimen demonstrates that a boundary between two powders are clearly distinguished and agglomerated powder particles remained in the compacted bulk. Internal crack tended to decrease with an increase in volumetric ratio of nano Cu powders in compacted bulk, showing that nano Cu powders has a higher coherency than nano Ni powders. On the other hand, hardness results are dominated by volume fraction of the nano Ni powder. The crystalline size of the shock compacted bulk materials was greatly reduced from the initial powder crystalline size since the shock wave severely deformed the powders.

• Journal of Magnetics
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.211-215
• /
• 2011

The dynamic magnetostriction characteristics of an Fe-based nanocrystalline FeCuNbSiB alloy are investigated as a function of the dc bias magnetic field. The experimental results show that the piezomagnetic coefficient of FeCuNbSiB is about 2.1 times higher than that of Terfenol-D at the low dc magnetic bias $H_{dc}$ = 46 Oe. Moreover, FeCuNbSiB has a large resonant dynamic strain coefficient at quite low Hdc due to a high mechanical quality factor, which is 3-5 times greater than that of Terfenol-D at the same low $H_{dc}$. Based on such magnetostriction characteristics, we fabricate a new type of transducer with FeCuNbSiB/PZT-8/FeCuNbSiB. Its maximum resonant magnetoelectric voltage coefficient achieves ~10 V/Oe. The ME output power reaches 331.8 ${\mu}W$ at an optimum load resistance of 7 $k{\Omega}$ under 0.4 Oe ac magnetic field, which is 50 times higher than that of the previous ultrasonic-horn-substrate composite transducer and it decreases the size by nearly 86%. The performance indicate that the FeCuNbSiB/PZT-8/FeCuNbSiB transducer is promising for application in highly efficient magnetoelectric energy conversion.