• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.4178-4184
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• 2013

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is an emerging technology enabling cost-effective and high-throughput nanofabrication. Recently, the major trends of NIL are high throughput and large area patterning. UV curable type NIL (UV NIL) can be performed at room temperature and low pressure. And one advantage of UV NIL is that it does not need vacuum, which greatly simplifies tool construction, so that vacuum oprated high-precision stages and a large vacuum chamber are no longer needed. However, one key issue in non-vacuum environment is air bubble formation problem. Namely, can the air bubbles be completely removed from the resist. In this paper, the air bubbles formation by the method of droplet application in UV NIL with non-vacuum environment are experimentally studied. The effects of the volume of droplet and the number of dispensing points on air bubble formation are investigated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.242-242
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• 2006

Increasingly complex tasks are performed by computers or cellular phone, requiring more and more memory capacity as well as faster and faster processing speeds. This leads to a constant need to develop more highly integrated circuit systems. Therefore, there have been numerous studies by many engineers investigating circuit patterning. In particular, PCB including module/package substrates such as FCB (Flip Chip Board) has been developed toward being low profile, low power and multi-functionalized due to the demands on miniaturization, increasing functional density of the boards and higher performances of the electric devices. Imprint lithography have received significant attention due to an alternative technology for photolithography on such devices. The imprint technique. is one of promising candidates, especially due to the fact that the expected resolution limits are far beyond the requirements of the PCB industry in the near future. For applying imprint lithography to FCB, it is very important to control thermal properties and mechanical properties of dielectric materials. These properties are very dependent on epoxy resin, curing agent, accelerator, filler and curing degree(%) of dielectric materials. In this work, the epoxy composites filled with silica fillers and cured with various accelerators having various curing degree(%) were prepared. The characterization of the thermal and mechanical properties wasperformed by thermal mechanical analysis (TMA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), rheometer, an universal test machine (UTM).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.252.2-252.2
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• 2013

ZnO nanostructures have a lot of interest for decades due to its varied applications such as light-emitting devices, power generators, solar cells, and sensing devices etc. To get the high performance of these devices, the factors of nanostructure geometry, spacing, and alignment are important. So, Patterning of vertically- aligned ZnO nanowires are currently attractive. However, many of ZnO nanowire or nanorod fabrication methods are needs high temperature, such vapor phase transport process, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy, thermal evaporation, pulse laser deposition and thermal chemical vapor deposition. While hydrothermal process has great advantages-low temperature (less than $100^{\circ}C$), simple steps, short time consuming, without catalyst, and relatively ease to control than as mentioned various methods. In this work, we investigate the dependence of ZnO nanowire alignment and morphology on si substrate using of nanosphere template with various precursor concentration and components via hydrothermal process. The brief experimental scheme is as follow. First synthesized ZnO seed solution was spun coated on to cleaned Si substrate, and then annealed $350^{\circ}C$ for 1h in the furnace. Second, 200nm sized close-packed nanospheres were formed on the seed layer-coated substrate by using of gas-liquid-solid interfacial self-assembly method and drying in vaccum desicator for about a day to enhance the adhesion between seed layer and nanospheres. After that, zinc oxide nanowires were synthesized using a low temperature hydrothermal method based on alkali solution. The specimens were immersed upside down in the autoclave bath to prevent some precipitates which formed and covered on the surface. The hydrothermal conditions such as growth temperature, growth time, solution concentration, and additives are variously performed to optimize the morphologies of nanowire. To characterize the crystal structure of seed layer and nanowires, morphology, and optical properties, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) studies were investigated.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.161-169
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• 2021

As clean water continues to be a demand in this global water crisis, development of separation membrane technology for water purification becomes a necessity. The effectiveness of separation membranes is hindered in the water crisis due to fouling of membranes. To address this problem, the application of patterns on flat membranes via various methods have been recently studied and experimented. Patterned membranes have shown to not only reduce the fouling effects of membranes, but also increase the fluxes depending on the method and materials used. Each application has shown benefits that include, but not limited to, enhanced surface area, higher pure-water permeability, and increased number of filtration cycles. In this review, the effects of patterned membranes against antifouling is summarized and discussed.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.91-96
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• 2024

Recently, extensive studies have been carried out to enhance various performance aspects such as the durability, lifespan, and hardness by combining diverse materials or developing novel materials. The utilization of superhydrophobic surfaces, particularly in the automotive, textile, and medical device industries, has gained momentum to achieve improved performance and efficiency. Superhydrophobicity refers to a surface state where the contact angle when water droplets fall is above 150°, while the contact angle during sliding motion is smaller than 10°. Superhydrophobic surfaces offer the advantage of water droplets not easily sliding off, maintaining a cleaner state as the droplets leave the surface. Surface modification involves two fundamental steps to achieve superhydrophobicity: surface roughness increase and surface energy reduction. However, existing methods, such as time-consuming processes and toxic organic precursors, still face challenges. In this study, we propose a method for superhydrophobic surface modification using lasers, aiming to create roughness in micro/nanostructures, ensuring durability while improving the production time and ease of fabrication. The mechanical durability of superhydrophobic samples treated with lasers is comparatively evaluated against chemical etching samples. The experimental results demonstrate superior mechanical durability through the laser treatment. Therefore, this research provides an effective and practical approach to superhydrophobic surface modification, highlighting the utility of laser treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.382-393
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• 2024

The Microplotter system with a fluid dispensing method, sprays fluid based on ultrasonic pumping through piezoelectric devices. This technique can possible for various materials with a wide range of viscosities to be printed in microscale. In this paper, we introduces dispenser printing technology as well as aim to understand and apply various processes using the equipment. In addition, we will explain how to optimize the equipment by adjusting parameters such as spray intensity, tip height during printing, and patterning speed. By utilizing Microplotter's advantage of being compatible with a wide range of fluids, including metal nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, DNA, and proteins, it is expected to be used in various fields such as printed electronics, biotechnology, and chemical engineering.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.418-418
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• 2008

The electrochemical etching of silicon in HF-based solutions is known to form various types of porous structures. Porous structures are generally classified into three categories according to pore sizes: micropore (below 2 nm in size), mesopore (2 ~ 50 nm), and macropore (above 50 nm). Recently, the formation of macropores has attracted increasing interest because of their promising characteristics for an wide scope of applications such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), chemical sensors, biotechnology, photonic crystals, and photovoltaic application. One of the promising applications of macropores is in the field of MEMS. Anisotropic etching is essential step for fabrication of MEMS. Conventional wet etching has advantages such as low processing cost and high throughput, but it is unsuitable to fabricate high-aspect-ratio structures with vertical sidewalls due to its inherent etching characteristics along certain crystal orientations. Reactive ion dry etching is another technique of anisotropic etching. This has excellent ability to fabricate high-aspect-ratio structures with vertical sidewalls and high accuracy. However, its high processing cost is one of the bottlenecks for widely successful commercialization of MEMS. In contrast, by using electrochemical etching method together with pre-patterning by lithographic step, regular macropore arrays with very high-aspect-ratio up to 250 can be obtained. The formed macropores have very smooth surface and side, unlike deep reactive ion etching where surfaces are damaged and wavy. Especially, to make vertical microwire or nanowire arrays (aspect ratio = over 1:100) on silicon wafer with top-down photolithography, it is very difficult to fabricate them with conventional dry etching. The electrochemical etching is the most proper candidate to do it. The pillar structures are demonstrated for n-type silicon and the formation mechanism is well explained, while such a experimental results are few for p-type silicon. In this report, In order to understand the roles played by the kinds of etching solution and mask patterns in the formation of microwire arrays, we have undertaken a systematic study of the solvent effects in mixtures of HF, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), iso-propanol, and mixtures of HF with water on the structure formation on monocrystalline p-type silicon with a resistivity with 10 ~ 20 $\Omega{\cdot}cm$. The different morphological results are presented according to mask patterns and etching solutions.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.49-53
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• 2018

Since various methods to form well-aligned nano-/micro- patterns are underlying technologies to fabricate next generation wearable electronic devices, many efforts have been made to realize finer patterns in recent years. Among lots of patterning methods, the present invention includes a nano-transfer printing (n-TP) process which is advantageous in that a processing cost is low and high-resolution patterns can be formed within a short processing time. We successfully achieved pattern formation of highly ordered Pt lines with line-width of 250 nm, 500 nm, and $1{\mu}m$ on transparent and flexible substrates. In addition, we analyzed the durability of the patterns, showing excellent stability of line-shape even after a physical and repeated bending test of 500 times using a bending machine. As a result, it is expected that a n-TP process is very useful for forming various metal patterns, and it is also expected to be applied to wiring and interconnection technology of next generation flexible electronic devices.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.276-280
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• 2010

Copper(Cu) as an interconnecting metal layer can replace aluminum (Al) in IC fabrication since Cu has low electrical resistivity, showing high immunity to electromigration compared to Al. However, it is very difficult for copper to be patterned by the dry etching processes. The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process has been introduced and widely used as the mainstream patterning technique for Cu in the fabrication of deep submicron integrated circuits in light of its capability to reduce surface roughness. But this process leaves a large amount of residues on the wafer surface, which must be removed by the post-CMP cleaning processes. Copper corrosion is one of the critical issues for the copper metallization process. Thus, in order to understand the copper corrosion problems in post-CMP cleaning solutions and study the effects of DC biases and post-CMP cleaning solution concentrations on the Cu film, a constant voltage was supplied at various concentrations, and then the output currents were measured and recorded with time. Most of the cases, the current was steadily decreased (i.e. resistance was increased by the oxidation). In the lowest concentration case only, the current was steadily increased with the scarce fluctuations. The higher the constant supplied DC voltage values, the higher the initial output current and the saturated current values. However the time to be taken for it to be saturated was almost the same for all the DC supplied voltage values. It was indicated that the oxide formation was not dependent on the supplied voltage values and 1 V was more than enough to form the oxide. With applied voltages lower than 3 V combined with any concentration, the perforation through the oxide film rarely took place due to the insufficient driving force (voltage) and the copper oxidation ceased. However, with the voltage higher than 3 V, the copper ions were started to diffuse out through the oxide film and thus made pores to be formed on the oxide surface, causing the current to increase and a part of the exposed copper film inside the pores gets back to be oxidized and the rest of it was remained without any further oxidation, causing the current back to decrease a little bit. With increasing the applied DC bias value, the shorter time to be taken for copper ions to be diffused out through the copper oxide film. From the discussions above, it could be concluded that the oxide film was formed and grown by the copper ion diffusion first and then the reaction with any oxidant in the post-CMP cleaning solution.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.674-680
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• 2017

Touch Screen Panel (TSP) is a widely used personal handheld device and as a large display apparatus. This study examines micro bump fabrication technology for TSP test process. In the testing process, as TSP is changed, should make a new micro bump for probing and modify the testing program. In this paper we use a maskless lithography system to confirm the potential to fabricatemicro bump to reducecost and manufacturing time. The requiredmaskless lithography system does not use a mask so it can reduce the cost of fabrication and it flexible to cope with changes of micro bump probing. We conducted electro field simulation by pitches of micro bump and designed the lithography pattern image for the maskless lithography process. Then we conducted Photo Resist (PR) patterning process and electro-plating process that are involved in MEMS technology to fabricate micro bump.