• Applied Microscopy
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.225-229
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• 2015

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are a class of two-dimensional (2D) materials that have attracted growing interest because of their promising applications. The properties of TMDs strongly depend on the crystalline structure and the number and stacking sequence of layers in their crystals and thin films. Though electrical, mechanical, and magnetic studies of 2D materials are being conducted, there is an evident lack of direct atom-by-atom visualization, limiting insight on these highly exciting material systems. Herein, we present our recent studies on the characterization of 2D layered materials by means of aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), in particular via high angle annular dark field (HAADF) imaging. We have identified the atomic arrangements and defects in 2H stacked TMDs, 1T stacked TMDs, distorted 1T stacked TMDs, and vertically integrated heterojunctions of 2D TMDs crystals.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.165-171
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• 2018

Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) is a recently proposed computational imaging method that achieves both high resolution (HR) and wide field of view. In the FPM framework, a series of low-resolution (LR) images at different illumination angles is used for high-resolution image reconstruction. On the basis of previous research, image noise can significantly degrade the FPM reconstruction result. Since the captured LR images contain a lot of dark-field images with low signal-to-noise ratio, it is very important to apply a noise-reduction process to the FPM raw dataset. However, the thresholding method commonly used for the FPM data preprocessing cannot separate signals from background noise effectively. In this work, we propose an improved thresholding method that provides a reliable background-noise threshold for noise reduction. Experimental results show that the proposed method is more efficient and robust than the conventional thresholding method.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.155-163
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• 2006

The defects in a synthesized crystal of ${\alpha}-Al_2O_3$ used as substrate for growing of semi-conductor materials such as GaN were examined by the conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Large Angle CBED and High-Angle Annular Dark Field (HAADF) STEM methods. The dominant defects found in the specimen are basal microtwins with the thickness of ${\sim}2\;to\;32 nm$ and the associated strong strain field at the interface of microtwin/matrix, basal dislocations and complex dislocations in the one of {$2\bar{1}\bar{1}3$} pyramidal slip plane. All these basal and pyramidal dislocations seem to be strong related to basal microtwins. It was also found that the density of defects is very uneven. In the certain area with the dimension of a few fm, the dislocation density is quite high as an order of ${/sim}10^{10}/cm^2, but the average density is roughly estimated to be less than ${\sim}10^5/cm^2, as is usually expected in general synthesized crystals.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

This study suggested comprehensive structural characterization methods for the commercial blue light emitting diodes(LEDs). By using the Z-contrast intensity profile of Cs-corrected high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscope(HAADF-STEM) images from a commercial lateral GaN-based blue light emitting diode, we obtained important structural information on the epilayer structure of the LED, which would have been difficult to obtain by conventional analysis. This method was simple but very powerful to obtain structural and chemical information on epi-structures in a nanometer-scale resolution. One of the examples was that we could determine whether the barrier in the multi-quantum well(MQW) was GaN or InGaN. Plan-view TEM observations were performed from the commercial blue LED to characterize the threading dislocations(TDs) and the related V-pit defects. Each TD observed in the region with the total LED epilayer structure including the MQW showed V-pit defects for almost of TDs independent of the TD types: edge-, screw-, mixed TDs. The total TD density from the region with the total LED epilayer structure including the MQW was about $3.6{\times}10^8cm^{-2}$ with a relative ratio of Edge- : Screw- :Mixed-TD portion as 80%: 7%: 13%. However, in the mesa-etched region without the MQW total TD density was about $2.5{\times}10^8cm^{-2}$ with a relative ratio of Edge- : Screw- :Mixed-TD portion of 86%: 5%: 9 %. The higher TD density in the total LED epilayer structure implied new generation of TDs mostly from the MQW region.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.564-569
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• 2018

$Cu_2ZnSn(S,Se)_4$ (CZTSSe) films were prepared on Mo coated soda lime glass substrates by sulfo-selenization of sputtered stacked Zn-Sn-Cu(CZT) precursor films. The precursor was dried in a capped state with aqueous NaOH solution. The CZT precursor films were sulfo-selenized in the S + Se vapor atmosphere. Sodium was doped during the sulfo-selenization treatment. The effect of sodium doping on the structural and electrical properties of the CZTSSe thin films were studied using FE-SEM(field-emission scanning electron microscopy), XRD(X-ray diffraction), XRF(X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy), dark current, SIMS(secondary ion mass spectrometry), conversion efficiency. The XRD, XRF, FE-SEM, Dark current, SIMS and cell efficiency results indicated that the properties of sulfo-selenized CZTSSe thin films were strongly related to the sodium doping. Further detailed analysis and discussion for effect of sodium doping on the properties CZTSSe thin films will be discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.192-193
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• 2006

The wet coating process could easily be made from large area film with printing paste mixed with semiconductor and binder material at room temperature. Semiconductor film fabricated about 25mm thickness was evaluated by field emissions-canning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). X-ray performance data such as dark current, sensitivity and signal to noise ratio (SNR) were evaluated. The $Hgl_2$ semiconductor was shown in much lower dark current than the others, but the best sensitivity. In this paper, reactivity and combination character of semiconductor and binder material that affect electrical and X-ray detection properties would prove out though experimental results.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.197-203
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• 2002

The main emphasis of this study was to find an new hydrogen absorbing alloy such as Mg-Ti-Ni-H systems, and to investigate their hydrogenation properties. ($Mg_9Ti_x$)-10, 20wt%Ni-Hx systems were prepared by hydrogen induced mechanical alloying(HIMA) using Mg and Ni chips and sponge Ti. The particles synthesized were characterized by X-ray diffraction, and their morphologies were observed by means of scanning electron microscopy(SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). In addition, the crystal structures were analyzed in terms of their bright-/ dark field images and the selected area diffraction pattern(SADP) of transmission electron microscopy(TEM).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.902-908
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• 2002

Homogeneously aligned nematic liquid crystal displays (LCDs) driven by in-plane or fringe field were known to exhibit wide viewing angle and appeared to be black in the off state. However, the existence of spacers inside the cell causes the deformation of the liquid crystal molecules. Such a deformation of the liquid crystal causes light-leakage in the dark state, which lowers contrast ratio of the display. We found that the light-leakage due to deformation of the LC director near the spacer mainly depends on the dielectric anisotropy and the ratio of elastic constants of the LC. In this paper, the mechanism on deformation of the LC near spacer is investigated by optical polarizing microscopy.

• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.2379-2383
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• 2018

We report a facile one-pot aqueous-phase synthesis of PdAu bimetallic nanoparticles with different Pd/Au ratio. The synthesis was conducted by co-reduction of Pd and Au precursor using ascorbic acid as a reducing agent and in the presence of polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH). By high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) analyses, we found that the synthesized nanoparticles had an onion-like core/shell/shell/shell structure with Au-rich core, Pd-rich shell, Au-rich shell, and Pd shell, respectively. We also investigated the catalytic performance of the synthesized PdAu nanoparticles toward hydrogen peroxide generation reaction.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.92-97
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• 2009

As nanomaterials might enter into cells and have high reactivity with intracellular structures, it is necessary to assay possible genotoxic risk of them. One of these approaches, we investigated possible genotoxic potential of gold nanoparticle (AuNP) using L5178Y cells. Four different sizes of AuNP (4, 15, 100 or 200 nm) were synthesized and the sizes and structures of AuNP were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and stability was analyzed by a UV/Vis. Spectrophotometer. Cytotoxicity was assessed by direct cell counting, and cellular location was detected by dark field microscope at 6, 24 and 48 h after treatment of AuNP. Comet assay was conducted to examine DNA damage and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ mRNA level was assay by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Synthetic AuNP (4, 50, 100 and 200 nm size) had constant characteristics and stability confirmed by TEM, SEM and spectrophotometer for 10 days, respectively. Dark field microscope revealed the location of AuNP in the cytoplasm at 6, 24 and 48 h. Treatment of 4 nm AuNP induced dose and time dependent cytotoxicity, while other sizes of AuNP did not. However, Comet assay represented that treatment of 100 nm and 200 nm AuNP significantly increased DNA damage compared to vehicle control (p <0.01). Treatment of 100 nm and 200 nm AuNP significantly increased TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA expression compared to vehicle control (p<0.05, p<0.01, respectively). Taken together, AuNP induced DNA damage in L5178Y cell, associated with induction of oxidative stress.