• Applied Microscopy
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.447-456
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• 1996

Fracture surfaces of materials contain useful information ranging from crack path to the mechanism of fracture. Since limitation of electron transparency requires a sample in the form of thin foil for TEM observations, it is impossible to extract such information directly from the fracture surfaces. In this study, the method of surface replication from the ceramic fracture surface is employed to characterize the process of crack propagation in ceramic matrix composites using TEM analysis. The surface replica from the fracture surface in ceramic materials provides detailed surface morphology and more importantly, loosened particles on the fracture surface are collected. Electron diffraction and chemical composition analyses of these particles reveal crack path in the specimen. Furthermore, one can determine the mode of fracture by observing the fracture surface morphology from the image of replica. Two examples are given to illustrate the potential of the surface replication technique. In the first example, apparent toughness increase in $B_{4}C-Al$ composites at high strain rate is investigated by surface replication to elucidate the mechanism of fracture at different strain rates. The polytypes of SiC formed during the sintering of SiC-AlN composite and their effect on the fracture behavior of SiC-AlN composite are analyzed in the second example.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.733-740
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• 2016

$Al_2O_3$ nanosol dispersed under ethanol or N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone(NMP) was studied and optimized with various dispersion factors and by utilizing the silane modification method. The two kinds of $Al_2O_3$ powders used were prepared by thermal decomposition method from aluminum ammonium sulfate$(AlNH_4(SO_4)_2)$ while controlling the calcination temperature. $Al_2O_3$ sol was prepared under ethanol solvent by using a batch-type bead mill. The dispersion properties of the $Al_2O_3$ sol have a close relationship to the dispersion factors such as the pH, the amount of acid additive(nitric acid, acetic acid), the milling time, and the size and combination of zirconia beads. Especially, $Al_2O_3$ sol added 4 wt% acetic acid was found to maintain the dispersion stability while its solid concentration increased to 15 wt%, this stability maintenance was the result of the electrostatic and steric repulsion of acetic acid molecules adsorbed on the surface of the $Al_2O_3$ particles. In order to observe the dispersion property of $Al_2O_3$ sol under NMP solvent, $Al_2O_3$ sol dispersed under ethanol solvent was modified and solvent-exchanged with N-Phenyl-(3-aminopropyl)trimethoxy silane(APTMS) through a binary solvent system. Characterization of the $Al_2O_3$ powder and the nanosol was observed by XRD, SEM, ICP, FT-IR, TGA, Particles size analysis, etc.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.502-508
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• 2021

SiAlON-based ceramics are a type of oxynitride ceramics, which can be used as cutting tools for heat-resistant super alloys (HRSAs). These ceramics are derived from Si3N4 ceramics. SiAlON can be densified using gas-pressure reactive sintering from mixtures of oxides and nitrides. In this study, we prepare an α-/β-SiAlON ceramic composite with a composition of Yb_0.03Y_0.10Si_10.6Al_1.4O_1.0N_15.0. The structure and mechanical/thermal properties of the densified SiAlON specimen are characterized and compared with those of a commercial SiAlON cutting tool. By observing the crystallographic structures and microstructures, the constituent phases of each SiAlON ceramic, such as α-SiAlON, β-SiAlON, and intergranular phases, are identified. By evaluating the mechanical and thermal properties, the contribution of the constituent phases to these properties is discussed as well.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.263-264
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• 2007

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.893-901
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• 1994

In this study, AlN powder of fine particle size and of high purity was synthesized by the carbothermal reduction-nitridation of monodisperse, spherical Al(OH)3 which had been prepared by sol-gel method using Al(O-sec-C4H9)3 as the starting material. Depending on the mixing order and kinds of reducing agents, the optimum condition for the preparation of AlN was determined as follows. AlN single-phase was produced by the carbothermal reduction-nitridation of (1) Benzene-washed Al(OH)3 and the reducing agent, carbon, which was mixed in a ball mill: for 5 hours at 140$0^{\circ}C$ under NH3 atmosphere; (2) The mixture prepared by hydrolysis of alkoxide solution into which carbon had been dispersed beforehand: for 5 hours at 135$0^{\circ}C$ ; (3) Al(OH)3 Poly(furfuryl alcohol) composite powder: for 2.5 hours at 135$0^{\circ}C$; (4) The mixture of Al(OH)3 and polyacrylonitrile: for 5 hours at 140$0^{\circ}C$. Addition of CaF2 increased the nitridation rate when carbon or polyacrylonitrile was used as the reducing agent; but it had no effect on the nitridation rate when furfuryl alcohol was used as the reducing agent.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.179-182
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• 2001

Al$_2$O$_3$-5 vol% SiC 나노복합재료의 sinter plus HIP에 의한 치밀화시 일어나는 기공의 변화에 초점을 두어 치밀화 거동을 관찰하였다. $Al_2$O$_3$-SiC 시편은 질소분위기 중의 상압소결과 이후의 열간정수압소결(HIP)에 의해 완전치밀화가 이루어졌다. 155$0^{\circ}C$의 상압소결에 의해서는 90%의 비교적 낮은 상대밀도가 얻어졌으나, 기공의 폐기공화로 이후의 열간정수압소결(HIP)에 의해 99.6%의 완전치밀화가 가능하였다. 상압소결한 시편을 X-선 회절기와 주사전자현미경(SEM)으로 관찰한 결과, 선택적으로 시편 표면부에서만 SiAl$_{6}$O$_2$N$_{6}$과 AlN 등으로 이루어진 치밀화된 반응층을 확인할 수 있었으며, 이러한 표면 반응층이 비교적 낮은 상대밀도의 시편내의 모든 기공을 폐기공화하는 효과를 주는 것을 알 수 있었다.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.382-387
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• 2013

PURPOSE. Although several surface treatments have been recently investigated both under in vitro and in vivo conditions, controversy still exists regarding the selection of the most appropriate zirconia surface pre-treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of alumina (Al) and aluminium nitride (AlN) coating on the shear bond strength of adhesive resin cement to zirconia core. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Fifty zirconia core discs were divided into 5 groups; air particle abrasion with 50 ${\mu}m$ aluminum oxide particles ($Al_2O_3$), polishing + Al coating, polishing + AlN coating, air particle abrasion with 50 ${\mu}m$ $Al_2O_3$ + Al coating and air particle abrasion with 50 ${\mu}m$ $Al_2O_3$ + AlN coating. Composite resin discs were cemented to each of specimens. Shear bond strength (MPa) was measured using a universal testing machine. The effects of the surface preparations on each specimen were examined with scanning electron microscope (SEM). Data were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA (${\alpha}$=.05). RESULTS. The highest bond strengths were obtained by air abrasion with 50 ${\mu}m$ $Al_2O_3$, the lowest bond strengths were obtained in polishing + Al coating group (P<.05). CONCLUSION. Al and AlN coatings using the reactive magnetron sputtering technique were found to be ineffective to increase the bond strength of adhesive resin cement to zirconia core.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.8 s.279
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• pp.582-587
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• 2005

AlN-BN ceramic composites were fabricated and their mechanical properties were investigated. The relative density of hot-pressed composites decreased with increasing BN content, but over $99\%$ could be obtained with 30 $vol\%$ BN in AlN. YAG was formed in the composites and monolithic AlN as a second phase by the reaction between $Y_2O_3$, added as sintering aid, and $Al_2O_3$. As expected, Vickers hardness and Young's modulus decreased with increasing BN content. The three-point flexural strength also showed similar behavior decreasing from 500 MPa of monolith down to 250 MPa by the addition 30 $vol\%$ BN. However, interestingly, the standard deviation of the strength values decreased significantly as BN was added to AlN. As a result, the Weibull modulus of the AlN-30 $vol\% BN composite was 21.3, which was extremely high. Fractography and crack path studies revealed that BN platelets induced grain pull-out and crack bridging in a bigger scale during crack propagation. Consequently, fracture toughness increased as more BN was added, reaching 4.5 $MPa\sqrt{m}$ at 40 $vol\%$ BN.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.292-292
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• 2014

Wide band gap semiconductors, such as III-nitrides (GaN, AlN, InN, and their alloys), SiC, and diamond are expected to play an important role in the next-generation electronic devices. Specifically, GaN-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have been targeted for high power, high frequency, and high temperature operation electronic devices for mobile communication systems, radars, and power electronics because of their high critical breakdown fields, high saturation velocities, and high thermal conductivities. For the stable operation, high power, high frequency and high breakdown voltage and high current density, the fabrication methods have to be optimized with considerable attention. In this study, low ohmic contact resistance and smooth surface morphology to AlGaN/GaN on 2 inch c-plane sapphire substrate has been obtained with stepwise annealing at three different temperatures. The metallization was performed under deposition of a composite metal layer of Ti/Al/Ni/Au with thickness. After multi-layer metal stacking, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process was applied with stepwise annealing temperature program profile. As results, we obtained a minimum specific contact resistance of $1.6{\times}10^{-7}{\Omega}cm2$.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.193-202
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• 1999

Al powder, AlN powder, SiC whisker and sintering aids were wet-mixed, and then the specimens prepared with mixed powder were reacted by nitridation at 600∼1400$^{\circ}C$ for 5 hrs. It was cleat that the higher nitridation and the more SiC whisker content were, the better bending strength was. The specimen of Al50/AlN50 reacted at 1400$^{\circ}C$ for 5hrs had the nitridation percent of 97%, the shrinkage under 2%, and the relative density of 78%. And the maximum bending strength of reaction-bonded specimen was 250 MPa. The specimens completely nitrided were post-sintered at 1700, 1800 and 1900$^{\circ}C$ for 2hrs. The post-sintered body had the shrinkage under 6% and the relative density of 86%. Because of the formation of solid solution between AlN and SiC whisker over 1800$^{\circ}C$, the promotion of mechanical properties according to SiC whisker addition was not observed. The post-sintered body had the maximum bending strength of 195 MPa.