• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.484-489
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• 2019

VO2 is an attractive candidate as a transition metal oxide switching material as a selection device for reduction of sneak-path current. We demonstrate deposition of nanoscale VO2 thin films via thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) with H2O reactant. Using this method, we demonstrate VO2 thin films with high-quality characteristics, including crystallinity, reproducibility using X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement. We also present a method that can increase uniformity and thin film quality by splitting the pulse cycle into two using scanning electron microscope measurement. We demonstrate an ON / OFF ratio of about 40, which is caused by metal insulator transition (MIT) of VO2 thin film. ALD-deposited VO2 films with high film uniformity can be applied to next-generation nonvolatile memory devices with high density due to their metal-insulator transition characteristic with high current density, fast switching speed, and high ON / OFF ratio.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.275-281
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• 2017

In this work, we have fabricated anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) with ordered nanoscale porosity through an anodization process. We deposited gold and nano-organic thin films on the porous AAO surface to protect its structure and reduce friction. We investigated the tribological characteristics of the porous AAO with respect to the protective surface coatings using tribometers. While investigating the frictional characteristics of the samples by applying normal forces of the order of micro-Newton, we observed that AAO without a protective coating exhibits the highest friction coefficient. In the presence of protective surface coatings, the friction coefficient decreases significantly. We applied normal forces of the order of milli-Newton during the tribotests to investigate the wear characteristics of AAO, and observed that AAO without protective surface coatings experiences severe damage due to the brittle nature of the oxide layer. We observed the presence of several pieces of fractured particles in the wear track; these fractured particles lead to an increase in the friction. However, by using surface coatings such as gold thin films and nano-organic thin films, we confirmed that the thin films with nanoscale thickness protect the AAO surface without exhibiting significant wear tracks and maintain a stable friction coefficient for the duration of the tribotests.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 2012

Exploration in microelectromechanical systems(MEMS) and nanotechnology requires evaluation techniques suitable for sub-micron length scale so that thermal and mechanical properties of novel materials can be investigated for optimal design of miro/nanostructures. The ultrafast optical pump-probe technique provides a contact-free and non-destructive way to characterize nanoscale thin-films, and its ultrahigh temporal resolution enables the study of heat-transport phenomena down to a sub-picosecond regime. This paper reviews the principle of optical pump-probe technique and introduces its application to the area of micro/nano-NDE.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2008.08a
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• pp.337-337
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• 2008

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.289-289
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• 2011

The conducting polymer thin films were deposited using the gas phase method which known as molecular layer deposition (MLD). Terephthalaldehyde (TPA) and p-phenylenediamine (PD) were used as monomers to deposit conducting polymer. Self-terminating nature of TPA and PD reaction were demonstrated by growth rate saturation versus precursors dosing time. Infrared spectroscopic and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to determine the chemical composition and state of conducting polymer thin films. Layer by layer growth and polymerization of thin films can be showed by shifting of absorption edge using UV-VIS spectroscopy. This conducting polymer fabricated by using MLD method gives the opportunity to develop new hybrid materials by combining inorganic materials in nanoscale.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.577-582
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• 2013

AZO (aluminum-doped zinc oxide) is one of the best candidate materials to replace ITO (indium tin oxide) for TCOs (transparent conductive oxides) used in flat panel displays, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and organic solar cells (OSCs). In the present study, to apply an AZO thin film to the transparent electrode of an organic solar cell, a low-temperature selective atomic layer deposition (ALD) process was adopted to deposit an AZO thin film on a flexible poly-ethylene-naphthalate (PEN) substrate. The reactive gases for the ALD process were di-ethyl-zinc (DEZ) and tri-methyl-aluminum (TMA) as precursors and H2O as an oxidant. The structural, electrical, and optical characteristics of the AZO thin film were evaluated. From the measured results of the electrical and optical characteristics of the AZO thin films deposited on the PEN substrates by ALD, it was shown that the AZO thin film appeared to be comparable to a commercially used ITO thin film, which confirmed the feasibility of AZO as a TCO for flexible organic solar cells in the near future.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2006

Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCYD) techniques have been applied to fabricate semiconducting ZnO thin films and nanostructures, which are promising for novel optoelectronic device applications using their unique multifunctional properties. The growth and characterization of ZnO thin films on Si and $SiO_2$ substrates by MOCYD as fundamental study to realize ZnO nanostructures was carried out. The precise control of initial nucleation processes was found to be a key issue for realizing high quality epitaxial layers on the substrates. In addition, fabrication and characterization of ZnO nanodots with low-dimensional characteristics have been investigated to establish nanostructure blocks for ZnO-based nanoscale device application. Systematic realization of self- and artificially-controlled ZnO nanodots on $SiO_2/Si$ substrates was proposed and successfully demonstrated utilizing MOCYD in addition with a focused ion beam technique.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.22.2-22.2
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• 2009

Currently, metal silicides become increasingly more essential part as a contact material in complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS). Among various silicides, NiSi has several advantages such as low resistivity against narrow line width and low Si consumption. Generally, metal silicides are formed through physical vapor deposition (PVD) of metal film, followed by annealing. Nanoscale devices require formation of contact in the inside of deep contact holes, especially for memory device. However, PVD may suffer from poor conformality in deep contact holes. Therefore, Atomic layer deposition (ALD) can be a promising method since it can produce thin films with excellent conformality and atomic scale thickness controllability through the self-saturated surface reaction. In this study, Ni thin films were deposited by thermal ALD using bis(dimethylamino-2-methyl-2-butoxo)nickel [Ni(dmamb)2] as a precursor and NH3 gas as a reactant. The Ni ALD produced pure metallic Ni films with low resistivity of 25 $\mu{\Omega}cm$. In addition, it showed the excellent conformality in nanoscale contact holes as well as on Si nanowires. Meanwhile, the Ni ALD was applied to area-selective ALD using octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) self-assembled monolayer as a blocking layer. Due to the differences of the nucleation on OTS modified surfaces toward ALD reaction, ALD Ni films were selectively deposited on un-coated OTS region, producing 3 ${\mu}m$-width Ni line patterns without expensive patterning process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.143.2-143.2
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• 2013

Nanomechanical and electrical properties of vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films across thermal-driven phase transition are investigated with ultra-high vacuum atomic force microscopy. VO2 thin films have been deposited on the n-type heavily doped silicon wafer by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction reveals that it is textured polycrystalline with preferential orientation of (100) and (120) planes in monoclinic phase. As the temperature increases, the friction decreased at the temperature below the transition temperature, and then the friction increased as increasing temperature above the transition temperature. We attribute this observation to the combined effect of the thermal lubricity and electronic contribution in friction. Furthermore, the dependence of nanoscale conductance on the local pressure was indicated at the various temperatures, and the result was discussed in the view of pressure-induced metal-insulator transition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.342-342
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• 2012

Resistance-change Random Access Memory (ReRAM), which utilizes electrochemical control of nanoscale quantities of metal in thin films of solid electrolyte, shows great promise as a future solid state memory. The technology utilizes the electrochemical formation and removal of metallic pathways in thin films of solid electrolyte. Key attributes are low voltage and current operation, excellent scalability, and a simple fabrication sequence. In this study, we investigated the nature of thin films formed by photo doping of Ag+ ions into chalcogenide materials for use in solid electrolyte of programmable metallization cell devices. We measured the I-V characteristics by field-effect of the device. The results imply that a Ag-rich phase separates owing to the reaction of Ag with free atoms from chalcogenide materials.