• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.245-249
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• 2006

In this study, ternary Ti-Mo-N and new quaternary Ti-Mo-Si-N coatings were synthesized on steel substrates(AISI D2) and Si wafers by a hybrid coating system of arc ion plating (AIP) using Ti target and d.c. magnetron sputtering technique using Mo and Si targets in $N_2/Ar$ gaseous mixture. Ternary Ti-Mo-N coatings were substitutional solid-solution of (Ti, Mo)N and showed maximum hardness of approximately 30 GPa at the Mo content of ${\sim}10$. %. The Ti-Mo-Si-N coating with the Si content of 8.8 at. % was a composite consisting of fine (Ti, Mo)N crystallites and amorphous $Si_3N_4$ phase. The hardness of the Ti-Mo-Si(8.8 at. %)-N coatings exhibited largely increased hardness value of ${\sim}48$ GPa due to the microstructural evolution to the fine composite microstructure and the refinement of (Ti, Mo)N crystallites. The average friction coefficient of the Ti-Mo-Si-N coatings largely decreased with increase of Si content. The microstructures of Ti-Mo-Si-N coatings were investigated with instrumental analyses of XRD, XPS, and HRTEM in this work.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.8
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• pp.549-556
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• 2012

The tribological behavior of CrMoN films with respect to surface chemistry was investigated by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). All of the films were prepared from a hybrid PVD system consisting of DC unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputtering and arc ion plating (AIP) sources. The tribological property of the films was evaluated by a friction coefficient using a Ball-on-disk type tribometer. The chemistry of wear track was analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and XPS. The friction coefficient was measured to be 0.4 for the CrMoN film, which is lower than that of a monolithic CrN film. EDS and XPS results imply the formation of an oxide layer on the coating surface, which was identified as molybdenum oxide phases, known to be a solid lubricant during the wear test.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.84-89
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• 2019

We fabricated durable anti-reflective(AR) layer with silica globular coating on polymer by two steps. Firstly, nano-protrusions of polymer were formed by plasma etching known as R.I.E(reactive ion etching) process. Secondly, silica globular coating was deposited on polymer nano-protrusions for mechanically protective and optically enhancing AR layers by RF magnetron sputter. And then durable antireflective polymers were synthesized adjusting plasma power and time, working pressures of RIE and RF sputtering processes. Consequently, we acquired the average transmission (94.10%) in the visible spectral range 400-800 nm and the durability of AR layer was verified to sustain its transmission until 5,000 numbers by rubber test at a load of 500 gf.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.100-101
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• 2012

The plasma damage free and room temperature processedthin film deposition technology is essential for realization of various next generation organic microelectronic devices such as flexible AMOLED display, flexible OLED lighting, and organic photovoltaic cells because characteristics of fragile organic materials in the plasma process and low glass transition temperatures (Tg) of polymer substrate. In case of directly deposition of metal oxide thin films (including transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS)) on the organic layers, plasma damages against to the organic materials is fatal. This damage is believed to be originated mainly from high energy energetic particles during the sputtering process such as negative oxygen ions, reflected neutrals by reflection of plasma background gas at the target surface, sputtered atoms, bulk plasma ions, and secondary electrons. To solve this problem, we developed the NBAS (Neutral Beam Assisted Sputtering) process as a plasma damage free and room temperature processed sputtering technology. As a result, electro-optical properties of NBAS processed ITO thin film showed resistivity of $4.0{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}m$ and high transmittance (>90% at 550 nm) with nano- crystalline structure at room temperature process. Furthermore, in the experiment result of directly deposition of TCO top anode on the inverted structure OLED cell, it is verified that NBAS TCO deposition process does not damages to the underlying organic layers. In case of deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin film on the plastic polymer substrate, the room temperature processed sputtering coating of high quality TCO thin film is required. During the sputtering process with higher density plasma, the energetic particles contribute self supplying of activation & crystallization energy without any additional heating and post-annealing and forminga high quality TCO thin film. However, negative oxygen ions which generated from sputteringtarget surface by electron attachment are accelerated to high energy by induced cathode self-bias. Thus the high energy negative oxygen ions can lead to critical physical bombardment damages to forming oxide thin film and this effect does not recover in room temperature process without post thermal annealing. To salve the inherent limitation of plasma sputtering, we have been developed the Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process as the high quality oxide thin film deposition process at room temperature. The MFSS process is effectively eliminate or suppress the negative oxygen ions bombardment damage by the plasma limiter which composed permanent magnet array. As a result, electro-optical properties of MFSS processed ITO thin film (resistivity $3.9{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, transmittance 95% at 550 nm) have approachedthose of a high temperature DC magnetron sputtering (DMS) ITO thin film were. Also, AOS (a-IGZO) TFTs fabricated by MFSS process without higher temperature post annealing showed very comparable electrical performance with those by DMS process with $400^{\circ}C$ post annealing. They are important to note that the bombardment of a negative oxygen ion which is accelerated by dc self-bias during rf sputtering could degrade the electrical performance of ITO electrodes and a-IGZO TFTs. Finally, we found that reduction of damage from the high energy negative oxygen ions bombardment drives improvement of crystalline structure in the ITO thin film and suppression of the sub-gab states in a-IGZO semiconductor thin film. For realization of organic flexible electronic devices based on plastic substrates, gas barrier coatings are required to prevent the permeation of water and oxygen because organic materials are highly susceptible to water and oxygen. In particular, high efficiency flexible AMOLEDs needs an extremely low water vapor transition rate (WVTR) of $1{\times}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$. The key factor in high quality inorganic gas barrier formation for achieving the very low WVTR required (under ${\sim}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$) is the suppression of nano-sized defect sites and gas diffusion pathways among the grain boundaries. For formation of high quality single inorganic gas barrier layer, we developed high density nano-structured Al2O3 single gas barrier layer usinga NBAS process. The NBAS process can continuously change crystalline structures from an amorphous phase to a nano- crystalline phase with various grain sizes in a single inorganic thin film. As a result, the water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film have improved order of magnitude compared with that of conventional $Al_2O_3$ layers made by the RF magnetron sputteringprocess under the same sputtering conditions; the WVTR of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film was about $5{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2/day$ by just single layer.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.59-63
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• 2008

Purpose: Ti thin films were deposited on slide glass and CR-39 lenses using small magnetron sputtering apparatus to of Ti thin films. Methods: The thickness of Ti thin films were measured by cross section SEM, the transmittance and reflectance of them were obtained using spectrophotometer, the refractive index and extinction of them were obtained from VASE data. Results: The transmittances of Ti thin films with 60 nm, 120 nm, 140 nm thickness were a little change within the visual region from 400 nm to 750 nm, but were increased a little amount at near 400 nm. The transmittance of 60 nm, 120 nm, 140 nm Ti thickness in d-line was 30%, 25%, 20%, respectively. Also, it was shown that the refractive indices and extinction coefficients of the Ti thin films obtained from VASE were similar to those of Ti thin film offered macleod program. Conclusions: Ti films on CR-39 with these transmittances were available for sunglass lens. It was indicated that the refractive indices and extinction coefficients of the Ti thin films were decreased with the thickness of Ti thin film, for the thickness of Ti thin films was due to very thin.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2012

Barium zirconate exhibits good thermo-chemical stability and proton conduction at high temperatures, but shows poor electron conductivity. Therefore, for high efficiency of hydrogen separation, a very thin and dense Pd-Barium zirconate membrane has to be coated on a porous substrate. A thin and dense Pd-Barium zirconate membrane was successfully synthesized on a porous substrate by means of dual sputtering method. The structural and chemical features of the $BaZr_{0.85}Y_{0.15}O_{3-{\delta}}$ membranes sputtered at $300^{\circ}C$ and $400^{\circ}C$ were investigated by X-ray diffractometry, and it was found that a well-crystallized membrane, Pm-3m space group of $BaZrO_3$, was synthesized. The surface and cross-sectional morphologies of membrane were assessed by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and TEM(transmission electron microscopy) of the surface and of cross sections. The cross sectional observation of Pd-$BaZr_{0.85}Y_{0.15}O_{3-{\delta}}$ membrane by dual sputtering shows that the coating is quite dense with columnar structure.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.2 s.273
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• pp.88-93
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• 2005

Ti-AI-Si-N coating layers were deposited on WC-Co substrates by a hybrid system of arc ion plating and sputtering techniques. The coatings were prepared with different Si contents to investigate the effect of Si content on their mechanical properties and microstructures. The dry sliding wear experiments were conducted on Ti-AI-Si-N coated WC-Co discs at constant load, 3N, and sliding speed, 0.1 m/s with two different counterpart materials such as steel ball and zirconia ball using a conventional ball-on-disc sliding wear apparatus. In the case of steel ball, the friction coefficient of Ti-AI-Si-N coating layers became lower than that of Ti-AI­N coating layers. The friction coefficient decreased with increasing of Si content due to adhesive wear behavior between coating layer and steel ball. On the contrary, in the case of zirconia ball, the friction coefficient increased with increasing of Si content, indicating that abrasive wear behavior was more dominant when the coating layers slid against zirconia ball.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.257-263
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• 2012

CrN/AlN multilayer coatings with various bilayer periods in the range of 1.8 to 7.4 nm were synthesized using a closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering method. Their crystalline structure, chemical compositions and mechanical properties have been investigated with Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, atomic force microscopy, nanoindentation, scratch tests. The properties of the multilayer coatings varied strongly depending upon the magnitude of the bilayer period. The multilayer coating with a bilayer period of 1.8 nm showed the maximum hardness and an elastic modulus of approximately 37.6 and 417 GPa, respectively, which was 1.54 times higher than the hardness predicted by the rule of mixture from the CrN and AlN coatings. The hardness of the multilayer coating increased as the bilayer period decreased, i.e. as the rotation speed increased. The Hall-Petch type relationship, hardness being related to (1/periodicity)$^{-1/2}$, suggested by Lehoczky was confirmed for the CrN/AlN multilayer coatings with bilayer period close to the 5-10 nm range. With decreasing bilayer period, the surface morphology of the films became rougher and the critical load of films for adhesion strength gradually decreased.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.238-242
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• 2010

In the present work, the influence of oxide on the Cr-Si-N coatings was investigated for the Cr-Si-O-N coatings on AISI 304 and Si wafer deposited by hybrid system, which combines the DC magnetron sputtering technique and arc ion plating (AIP) using Cr and Si target in an $Ar/N_2/O_2$ gaseous mixture. As the O content in the Cr-Si-N coatings increased, the diffraction patterns of the Cr-Si-O-N coatings showed CrN and $Cr_2O_3$ phases. However, as the O content increased to 28.8 at.%, diffraction peak of $Cr_2O_3$ was disappeared in the Cr-Si-O-N coating. The $d_{200}$ value was decreased with increasing of O content. The average grain size increased from about 40 nm to 65 nm as the O content increased. The maximum micro-hardness of the Cr-Si-O-N coating was obtained 4507 Hk at the O content of 24.8 at.%. The average friction coefficient of the Cr-Si-O-N coatings was gradually decreased by increasing the O content and the average friction coefficient decreased from 0.37 to 0.25 by increasing the O content. These results indicated that amorphous phase was increased in the Cr-Si-O-N coatings by increasing of O content.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.202-210
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• 2016

This study was intended to investigate the effect of the amount of magnesium addition and heat treatment in the Al-Mg coating film in order to improve corrosion resistance of aluminum coating. Al-Mg alloy films were deposited on cold rolled steel by physical vapor deposition sputtering method. Heat treatment was fulfilled in an nitrogen atmosphere at the temperature of $400^{\circ}C$ for 10 min. The morphology was observed by SEM, component and phase of the deposited films were investigated by using GDLS and XRD, respectively. The corrosion behaviors of Al-Mg films were estimated by exposing salt spray test at 5 wt.% NaCl solution and measuring polarization curves in deaerated 3 wt.% NaCl solution. With the increase of magnesium content, the morphology of the deposited Al-Mg films changed from columnar to featureless structure and particle size was became fine. The x-ray diffraction data for deposited Al-Mg films showed only pure Al peaks. However, Al-Mg alloy peaks such as $Al_3Mg_2$ and $Al_{12}Mg_{17}$ were formed after heat treatment. All the sputtered Al-Mg films obviously showed good corrosion resistance compared with aluminum and zinc films. And corrosion resistance of Al-Mg film was increased after heat treatment.