• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.500-510
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• 2008

Statement of problem: Recently researches about WC/C (Tungsten Carbide/Carbon) or TiN (Titanium Nitride) coating on abutment screws are going on. It decreases friction coefficient, resistance against corrosion and withdrawal of physical fragility when the coating is applied to the metal surfaces. It is reported that coated abutment screws improved abrasion, adaptability and detorque force. Purpose: This study is about the effects of coated abutment screws on loosening of screw and for the purpose of solving the loosening phenomenon of abutment screws which is clinical problem. Material and methods: Detorque force and surface changes are compared when 10 times of repeated closing and opening are applied to both uncoated titanium abutment screws (Group A) and coated abutment screws with WC/C (Group B) and TiN (Group C). Each group was made up of 10 abutment screws. Results: 1. Before repeated closing and opening, Somewhat rough surface with regular direction was observed in Group A. Coated granules were observed in group B and group C and overall coated layer appeared in regular and smooth form. 2. Before repeated closing and opening, The coated surface showed bigger and thicker size of coated granules in Group C than Group B. 3. After repeated closing and opening, abrasion and deformation of abutment screw surface was observed in Group A and Group B. Exfoliation phenomenon was observed in Group B. 4. Group A showed biggest range of decrease when the weight changes of abutment screws were measured before and after repeated closing and opening. Group C showed less weight changes than Group B but there was no statistical difference between two groups. 5. Group B and Group C showed higher average detorque force than Group A and there was statistical difference. 6. Group A showed more prominent decrease tendency of average detorque force than Group B and Group C. Conclusion: Coated abutment screws with WC/C or TiN did not show prominent surface changes than uncoated titanium abutment screws even though they were repeatedly used. And they showed excellent resistance against friction and high detorque force. Thus it is considered that adaptation of WC/C or TiN coating on abutment screws will improve the screw loosening problem.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.157-163
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• 2004

Nitrogen ion implantation and ion plating techniques were applied for improvement of the wear resistance of metallic implant materials. In this work, the wear dissolution behaviour of a nitrogen ion implanted super stainless steel (S.S.S, 22Cr-20Ni-6Mo-0.25N) was compared with those of S.S.S, 316L SS and TiN coated 316L SS. The amounts of Cr and Ni ions worn-out from the specimens were Investigated using an electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Furthermore, the Ti(Grade 2) disks were coated with TiN, ZrN and TiCN by use of low temperature arc vapor deposition and the wear resistance of the coating layers was compared with that of titanium. The chemical compositions of the nitrogen ion implanted and nitride coated layers were examined with a scanting auger electron spectroscopy. It wat observed that the metal ions released from the nitrogen ion implanted S.S.S surface were significantly reduced. From the results obtained, it was shown that the nitrogen ion implanted zone obtained with 100 KeV ion energy was easily removed within 200,000 revolutions from a wear dissolution testing under a similar load condition when applied to artificial hip joint. The remarkable improvement in wear resistance weir confirmed by the nitrides coated Ti materials and the wear properties differ greatly according to the chemical composition of the coating layers. for specimens with the same coating thickness of about 3$\mu\textrm{m}$, TiCN coated Ti showed the highest wear resistance. However, after removing the coating layers, the wear rates of all nitrides coated Ti reverted to their normal rates of below 10,000 revolutions from Ti-disk-on-disk wear testing under the same load condition. From the results obtained, it is suggested that the insufficient depth of the 100 Kel N$\^$＋/ ion implanted zone and of the nitrides coated layers of 3$\mu\textrm{m}$ are subject to restriction when used as frictional parts of load bearing implants.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.57-58
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• 2011

III-V족 화합물 반도체의 일종인 InSb는 77 K에서 0.23 eV의 작은 밴드 갭을 가지며 높은 전하 이동도를 가지고 있기 때문에 대기권에서 전자파 흡수가 일어나지 않는 3~5 ${\mu}m$범위의 장파장 적외선 감지가 가능하여 중적외선 감지 소자로 이용되고 있다. 하지만 InSb는 밴드 갭이 매우 작기 때문에, 소자 제작시 누설전류에 의한 소자 특성의 저하가 문제시 되고 있다. 또한 다른 화합물 반도체에 비해 녹는점이 낮고, 휘발성이 강한 5족 원소인 Sb의 승화로 기판의 화학양론적 조성비(stoichiometry)가 변하기 쉬워, 계면특성 저하의 원인이 된다. 따라서 우수한 특성을 가지는 적외선 소자의 구현을 위해서, 저온에서 계면 특성이 우수한 고품질의 절연막 증착 연구가 필수적이다. 본 연구에서는 InSb 기판 위에 $SiO_2$, $Si_3N_4$의 절연막 형성시 증착온도의 변화에 따른 계면 트랩 밀도를 분석하였다. $SiO_2$, $Si_3N_4$ 절연막은 플라즈마 화학 기상 증착법(PECVD)을 이용하여 n형 InSb 기판 위에 증착하였으며, 증착온도를 $120^{\circ}C$부터 $240^{\circ}C$까지 변화시켰다. Metal oxide semiconductor(MOS) 구조 제작을 통하여, 커패시턴스-전압(C-V)분석을 진행하였으며, 절연막과 InSb 사이의 계면 트랩 밀도를 Terman method를 이용하여 계산하였다[1]. 또한, $SiO_2$와 $Si_3N_4$의 XPS 분석과 TOF-SIMS 분석을 통하여 계면 트랩 밀도의 원인을 밝혀 보았다. $120{\sim}240^{\circ}C$ 온도 범위에서 계면 트랩 밀도는 $Si_3N_4$의 경우 $2.4{\sim}4.9{\times}10^{12}cm^{-2}eV^{-1}$, $SiO_2$의 경우 $7.1{\sim}7.3{\times}10^{11}cm^{-2}eV^{-1}$ 값을 나타냈고, 두 절연막 모두 증착 온도가 증가할수록 계면 트랩 밀도가 증가하는 경향을 보였다. 그러나 모든 샘플에서 $Si_3N_4$의 경우, flat band voltage가 음의 전압으로 이동한 반면, $SiO_2$의 경우, 양의 전압으로 이동하는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 계면 트랩 밀도 증가의 원인을 확인하기 위해서, oxide를 $120^{\circ}C$, $240^{\circ}C$에서 증착시킨 샘플을 XPS 분석을 통하여 깊이에 따른 성분분석을 하였고, 그 결과, $240^{\circ}C$에서 증착된 샘플에서 계면에서 $In_2O_3$와 $Sb_2O_3$ 피크의 증가를 확인하였다. 이는 계면에서 oxide양이 증가함을 의미하며, 이렇게 생성된 oxide는 계면 트랩으로 작용하므로, 계면 특성을 저하시키는 원인으로 작용함을 알 수 있었다. Nitride 절연막을 증착시킨 샘플은 TOF-SIMS 분석을 통해, 계면에서의 성분 분석을 하였고, 그 결과, $240^{\circ}C$에서 증착된 샘플에서 In-N, Sb-N, Si-N 결합의 감소를 확인하였다. 이렇게 분해된 결합들의 dangling 결합이 늘어 계면 트랩으로 작용하므로, 계면 특성을 저하시키는 원인으로 작용함을 알 수 있었다. 최종적으로, 소자특성을 확인 하기 위하여 계면 트랩 밀도가 가장 낮게 측정된 $200^{\circ}C$ 조건에서 $SiO_2$ 절연막을 증착하여 InSb 적외선 소자를 제작하였다. 전류-전압(I-V) 분석 결과 -0.1 V에서 16 nA의 누설 전류 값을 보였으며, $2.6{\times}10^3{\Omega}cm^2$의 RoA(zero bias resistance area)를 얻을 수 있었다. 절연막 증착조건의 최적화를 통하여, InSb 적외선 소자의 특성이 개선됨을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.239-240
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• 2008

As semiconductor devices are scaled down for better performance and more functionality, the Cu-based interconnects suffer from the increase of the resistivity of the Cu wires. The resistivity increase, which is attributed to the electron scattering from grain boundaries and interfaces, needs to be addressed in order to further scale down semiconductor devices [1]. The increase in the resistivity of the interconnect can be alleviated by increasing the grain size of electroplating (EP)-Cu or by modifying the Cu surface [1]. Another possible solution is to maximize the portion of the EP-Cu volume in the vias or damascene structures with the conformal diffusion barrier and seed layer by optimizing their deposition processes during Cu interconnect fabrication, which are currently ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD)-based Ta/TaN bilayer and IPVD-Cu, respectively. The use of in-situ etching, during IPVD of the barrier or the seed layer, has been effective in enlarging the trench volume where the Cu is filled, resulting in improved reliability and performance of the Cu-based interconnect. However, the application of IPVD technology is expected to be limited eventually because of poor sidewall step coverage and the narrow top part of the damascene structures. Recently, Ru has been suggested as a diffusion barrier that is compatible with the direct plating of Cu [2-3]. A single-layer diffusion barrier for the direct plating of Cu is desirable to optimize the resistance of the Cu interconnects because it eliminates the Cu-seed layer. However, previous studies have shown that the Ru by itself is not a suitable diffusion barrier for Cu metallization [4-6]. Thus, the diffusion barrier performance of the Ru film should be improved in order for it to be successfully incorporated as a seed layer/barrier layer for the direct plating of Cu. The improvement of its barrier performance, by modifying the Ru microstructure from columnar to amorphous (by incorporating the N into Ru during PVD), has been previously reported [7]. Another approach for improving the barrier performance of the Ru film is to use Ru as a just seed layer and combine it with superior materials to function as a diffusion barrier against the Cu. A RulTaN bilayer prepared by PVD has recently been suggested as a seed layer/diffusion barrier for Cu. This bilayer was stable between the Cu and Si after annealing at $700^{\circ}C$ for I min [8]. Although these reports dealt with the possible applications of Ru for Cu metallization, cases where the Ru film was prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have not been identified. These are important because of ALD's excellent conformality. In this study, a bilayer diffusion barrier of Ru/TaCN prepared by ALD was investigated. As the addition of the third element into the transition metal nitride disrupts the crystal lattice and leads to the formation of a stable ternary amorphous material, as indicated by Nicolet [9], ALD-TaCN is expected to improve the diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-Ru against Cu. Ru was deposited by a sequential supply of bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)ruthenium [Ru$(EtCp)_2$] and $NH_3$plasma and TaCN by a sequential supply of $(NEt_2)_3Ta=Nbu^t$ (tert-butylimido-trisdiethylamido-tantalum, TBTDET) and $H_2$ plasma. Sheet resistance measurements, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis showed that the bilayer diffusion barriers of ALD-Ru (12 nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) and ALD-Ru (4nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) prevented the Cu diffusion up to annealing temperatures of 600 and $550^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, respectively. This is found to be due to the excellent diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-TaCN film against the Cu, due to it having an amorphous structure. A 5-nm-thick ALD-TaCN film was even stable up to annealing at $650^{\circ}C$ between Cu and Si. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis revealed that the ALD-Ru/ALD-TaCN diffusion barrier failed by the Cu diffusion through the bilayer into the Si substrate. This is due to the ALD-TaCN interlayer preventing the interfacial reaction between the Ru and Si.

• Proceedings of the Korean Ceranic Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.1-112
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• 2005

This report is results of a research on recent R&D trends in electroceramics, mainly focusing on the papers submitted to the organizing committee of the International Conference on Electroceramics 2005 (ICE-2005) which was held at Seoul on 12-15 June 2005. About 380 electroceramics researchers attended at the ICE-2005 from 17 countries including Korea, presenting and discussing their recent results. Therefore, we can easily understand the recent research trends in the field of electroceramics by analyses of the subject and contents of the submitted papers. In addition to the analyses of the papers submitted to the ICE-2005, we also collected some informations about domestic and international research trends to help readers understand this report easily. We analysed the R&D trends on the basis of four main categories, that is, informatics electroceramics, energy and environment ceramics, processing and characterization of electroceramics, and emerging fields of electroceramics. Each main category has several sub-categories again. The informatics ceramics category includes integrated dielectrics and ferroelectrics, oxide and nitride semiconductors, photonic and optoelectronic devices, multilayer electronic ceramics and devices, microwave dielectrics and high frequency devices, and piezoelectric and MEMS applications. The energy and environment ceramics category has four sub-categories, that is, rechargable battery, hydrogen storage, fuel cells, and advanced energy conversion concepts. In the processing and characterization category, there exist domain, strain, and epitaxial dynamics and engineering sub-category, innovative processing and synthesis sub-category, nanostructured materials and nanotechnology sub- category, single crystal growth and characterization sub-category, theory and modeling sub-category. Nanocrystalline electroceramics, electroceramics for smart sensors, and bioceramics sub-categories are included to the emerging fields category. We hope that this report give an opportunity to understand the international research trend, not only to Korean ceramics researchers but also to science and technology policy researchers.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.33-38
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• 2021

Recently, rollable and foldable displays are attracting great attention in the flexible display market due to their excellent form factor. To predict and prevent the mechanical failure of the display panels, it is essential to accurately understand the mechanical properties of brittle SiN_x thin films, which have been used as an insulating film in flexible displays. In this study, tensile properties of the ~130 nm- and ~320 nm-thick SiN_x thin films were successfully measured by coating a ~190 nm-thick organic nano-support-layer (PMMA, PS, P3HT) on the fragile SiN_x thin films and stretching the films as a bilayer state. Young's modulus values of the ~130 nm and ~320 nm SiN_x thin films fabricated through the controlled chamber pressure and deposition power (A: 1250 mTorr, 450 W/B: 1000 mTorr, 600 W/C: 750 mTorr, 700 W) were calculated as A: 76.6±3.5, B: 85.8±4.6, C: 117.4±6.5 GPa and A: 100.1±12.9, B: 117.9±9.7, C: 159.6 GPa, respectively. As a result, Young's modulus of ~320 nm SiN_x thin films fabricated through the same deposition condition increased compared to the ~130 nm SiN_x thin films. The tensile testing method using the organic nano-support-layer was effective in the precise measurement of the mechanical properties of the brittle thin films. The method developed in this study can contribute to the robust design of the rollable and foldable displays by enabling quantitative measurement of mechanical properties of fragile thin films for flexible displays.