• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.19-25
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• 2006

Since the enzymatic degradation of microbial poly(hydroxylalkanoate)s (PHAs), such as poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] and poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate] initially occurs by a surface erosion process, their degradation behaviors can be controlled by the change of surface property. In order to control the rate of enzymatic degradation, plasma modification technique was applied to change the surface property of microbial PHAs. The surface hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties of PHA films were introduced by $CF_3H$ and $O_2$ plasma exposures, respectively. The enzymatic degradation was carried out at $37^{\circ}C$ in 0.1 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) in the presence of an extracellular PHB depolymerase purified from Alcaligenes facalis T1. The results showed that the significant retardation of initial enzymatic erosion of $CF_3H$ plasma-treated PHAs was observed due to the hydrophobicity and the enzyme inactivity of the fluorinated surface layers while the erosion rate of $O_2$ plasma-treated PHAs was not accelerated.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1401-1411
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• 2019

Mycobacterial cell walls comprise thick and diverse lipids and glycolipids that act as a permeability barrier to antibiotics or other chemical agents. The use of OH radicals from a non-thermal plasma jet (NTPJ) for the inactivation of mycobacteria in aqueous solution was adopted as a novel approach. Addition of water vapor in a nitrogen plasma jet generated OH radicals, which converted to hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) that inactivated non-pathogenic Mycobacterium smegmatis and pathogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. A stable plasma plume was obtained from a nitrogen plasma jet with 1.91 W of power, killing Escherichia coli and mycobacteria effectively, whereas addition of catalase decreased the effects of the former. Mycobacteria were more resistant than E. coli to NTPJ treatment. Plasma treatment enhanced intracellular ROS production and upregulation of genes related to ROS stress responses (thiolrelated oxidoreductases, such as SseA and DoxX, and ferric uptake regulator furA). Morphological changes of M. smegmatis and M. tuberculosis H37Rv were observed after 5 min treatment with $N_2+H_2O$ plasma, but not of pre-incubated sample with catalase. This finding indicates that the bactericidal efficacy of NTPJ is related to the toxicity of OH and $H_2O_2$ radicals in cells. Therefore, our study suggests that NTPJ treatment may effectively control pulmonary infections caused by M. tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) such as M. avium or M. abscessus in water.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.75-83
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• 2020

This study investigated the degradation characteristics and biodegradability of phenol, refractory organic matters, by injecting MgO and CaO-known to be catalyst materials for the ozonation process-into a Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma. MgO and CaO were injected at 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2 g/L, and the pH was not adjusted separately to examine the optimal injection amounts of MgO and CaO. When MgO and CaO were injected, the phenol decomposition rate was increased, and the reaction time was found to decrease by 2.1 to 2.6 times. In addition, during CaO injection, intermediate products combined with Ca²⁺ to cause precipitation, which increased the COD (chemical oxygen demand) removal rate by approximately 2.4 times. The biodegradability of plasma treated water increased with increase in the phenol decomposition rate and increased as the amount of the generated intermediate products increased. The biodegradability was the highest in the plasma reaction with MgO injection as compared to when the DBD plasma pH was adjusted. Thus, it was found that a DBD plasma can degrade non-biodegradable phenols and increase biodegradability.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.806-809
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• 2003

Ion-induced secondary electron emission coefficient $({\gamma})$. of the patterned MgO thin film with geometrical structures has been measured by ${\gamma}$ - FIB(focused ion beam) system. The patterned MgO thin film with geometrical structures has been formed by the mask (mesh of ${\sim}$ $10{\mu}m^{2})$ under electron beam evaporation method. It is found that the higher ${\gamma}$. has been achieved by the patterned MgO thin film than the normal ones without patterning.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.231-237
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• 2001

Etch rates up to 120 nm/min for $Ta_{2}O_{5}$ were achieved in both $SF_{6}/Ar$ and $Cl_{2}/Ar$ discharges. The effect of ultraviolet (UV) light illumination during ICP etching on $Ta_{2}O_{5}$ etch rate in those plasma chemistries was examined and UV illumination was found to produce significant enhancements in $Ta_{2}O_{5}$ etch rates most likely due to photoassisted desorption of the etch products. The effects of ion flux, ion energy, and plasma composition on (Ba, Sr)$TiO_3$ etch rate were examined and maximum etch rate ~90 nm/min was achieved in $Cl_{2}/Ar$ ICP discharges while $CH_{4}/H_{2}/Ar$ chemistry produced extremely low etch rates (${\leq}10\;nm/min$) under all conditions.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 1998

In this study, we prepared non-porous plasma membrane for having high permeability and selectivity and this membrane was deposited on the $Al_{2}O_{3}$ membrane by using $CHF_{3}$ & $SiH_{4}$ monomer. Also, we investigated for the permeation characteristics of the plasma polymer membrane by Ar plasma treatment. When the position of substrate was near cathode, the selectivity was increased with Ar plasma treatment time and rf-power. The pore size of $Al_{2}O_{3}$ membrane had an effect on the permeability and the position of substrate affected selectivity.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.699-706
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• 2018

The permeation properties of plasma polymer membranes were studied for permanent gases such as He, $H_2$, $O_2$, $N_2$, $CH_4$ and condensable vapors such as $CO_2$, $C_2H_4$, $C_3H_8$. The plasma polymers were prepared by the discharge of microwave or radiofrequency(RF) wave. Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS) vapor was used as a monomer for plasma polymerization. In HMDS plasma-polymerized membranes prepared under microwave discharge, the permeability coefficient was dependent of the kinetic molecular diameter of the permeate gases. Additionally the membranes showed higher $O_2/N_2$ permselectivity compared to the plasma polymers from radiofrequency discharge. On the contrary, in the HMDS plasma-polymerized membranes prepared under radiofrequency discharge, the permeability coefficient was dependent of the critical temperature of the permeant gases. The membranes showed high selectivities of $C_2H_4$ and $C_3H_8$ over $N_2$. The permeability coefficient of plasma polymerized membranes prepared under microwave discharge was dependent of the molecular diameter of permeant gases because of high crosslinking density of the membrane. However, the crosslinking density of the plasma polymerized membranes prepared under RF discharge was lower because the energy density of RF wave is weaker than that of microwave. Hence, the permeability of RF plasma polymerized membranes became dependent of the critical temperature rather than molecular diameter of the gases.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.26-31
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• 2023

We investigated the impact of NF₃ / H₂O remote plasma dry cleaning conditions on the SiO₂ etching rate at different preparation states during the fabrication of ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI) devices. This included consideration of factors like Si crystal orientation prior to oxidation and three-dimensional structures. The dry cleaning process were carried out varying the parameters of pressure, NF₃ flow rate, and H₂O flow rate. We found that the pressure had an effective role in controlling anisotropic etching when a thin SiO₂ layer was situated between Si₃N₄ and Si layers in a multilayer trench structure. Based on these observations, we would like to provide further guidelines for implementing the dry cleaning process in the fabrication of semiconductor devices having 3D structures.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.43-47
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• 2008

Cubic boron nitride(c-BN) films were deposited on tungsten carbide insert tool by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(MPECVD) from a gas mixture of triethyl borate$(B(C_2H_5O)_3)$, ammonia $(NH_3)$, hydrogen$(H_2)$ and argon(Ar). The qualities of deposited thin film were investigated by x-ray diffrac-tion(XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM) and micro Raman spectroscope. The surface morphologies of the synthesised BN as well as crystallinity appear to be highly dependent on the flow rate of $B(C_2H_5O)_3$ and $(NH_3)$ gases. The deposited film had more crystallized phases with 5 scem of $B(C_2H_5O)_3$ and $(NH_3)$ gases than with 2 sccm, and the phase was identified as c-BN by micro Raman spectroscope and XRD. The adhesion strength were also increased with increasing flow rates of $B(C_2H_5O)_3$ and $(NH_3)$ gases.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 2010

The influence of $O_2$-plasma treatment on $H_2$ post-treated BZO (ZnO:B) thin film using MOCVD (Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) are investigated. An $O_2$-plasma treatment of the $H_2$ post-treated BZO thin films resulted in XRD peak of (100), (101) and (110). Also, electrical properties resulted in an increase in sheet resistance and work function. The weighted optical transmittance and haze at 300~1,100 nm of BZO thin films with $O_2$-plasma treatment on the $H_2$ post-treatment show approximately 86% and 15%, respectively.