• Resources Recycling
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2003

Reusing of electroless Ni-Cu-B waste solution was investigated in the plating time, plating rate, solution composition and deposit. Plating time of nickel-catalytic surface took longer than that of zincated-catalytic surface. Initial solution with 40% waste solution additive at batch type was possible to reusing of waste solution. Plating time of initial solution at continuous type took longer 6 times over than that of batch type. Plating time of 40% waste solution additive at continuous type took longer 2 times over than that of batch type. Component change of nickel-copper for electroless deposition was greatly affected by deposited inferiority and larger decreased plating rate.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.469-474
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• 2007

Electroless deposition(ELD) was applied to fabricate Cu interconnections on a TaN diffusion barrier with Pd seed layer. The Pd seed layer was obtained by self-assembled monolayer method(SAM) with PDDA and PSS as surfactants. We were able to obtain about 10nm Pd nano particles as seeds for electroless Cu deposition and the density of Pd seeds was much higher than that of Pd seeds fabricated by conventional Pd sensitization-activation method. Also we were able to obtain finer Cu interconnections by ELD. Therefore we concluded that the Pd seed layer by SAM was able to be applied to form Cu interconnection by ELD for under 30nm feature.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.10-20
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• 2003

This paper is relative to the electroless deposition of nickel or copper films on polyimide and polytetrafluoroethylene substrates. First, it is presented an original approach of the electroless process which consists in grafting nitrogenated functionalities on the polymer surfaces via plasma or VUV-assisted treatments operating in a nitrogen-based atmosphere ($NH_3$, $N_2$), and then in catalysing the grafted surfaces in an aqueous tin-free, Pd(+2)-based solution. Adhesion of the Pd(+2) catalytic species on polymer surfaces is explained by the formation of strong covalent bonds between these species and the grafted nitrogenated groups. Second, it is show how a fragmentation test performed in conjunction with electrical measurements can be used to characterize the practical adhesion of the electroless coatings deposited on flexible polymer substrates, and to evidence the influence of some experimental parameters (plasma treatment time and nature of the gas phase).

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.250-253
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• 2007

An evaporated Ti/Pd/Ag contact system is most widely used to make high-efficiency silicon solar cells, however, the system is not cost effective due to expensive materials and vacuum techniques. Commercial solar cells with screen-printed contacts formed by using Ag paste suffer from a low fill factor and a high shading loss because of high contact resistance and low aspect ratio. Low-cost Ni and Cu metal contacts have been formed by using electroless plating and electroplating techniques to replace the Ti/Pd/Ag and screen-printed Ag contacts. Ni/Cu alloy is plated on a silicon substrate by electro-deposition of the alloy from an acetate electrolyte solution, and nickel-silicide formation at the interface between the silicon and the nickel enhances stability and reduces the contact resistance. It was, therefore, found that nickel-silicide was suitable for high-efficiency solar cell applications. The Ni contact was formed on the front grid pattern by electroless plating followed by anneal ing at $380{\sim}400^{\circ}C$ for $15{\sim}30$ min at $N_{2}$ gas to allow formation of a nickel-silicide in a tube furnace or a rapid thermal processing(RTP) chamber because nickel is transformed to NiSi at $380{\sim}400^{\circ}C$. The Ni plating solution is composed of a mixture of $NiCl_{2}$ as a main nickel source. Cu was electroplated on the Ni layer by using a light induced plating method. The Cu electroplating solution was made up of a commercially available acid sulfate bath and additives to reduce the stress of the copper layer. The Ni/Cu contact was found to be well suited for high-efficiency solar cells and was successfully formed by using electroless plating and electroplating, which are more cost effective than vacuum evaporation. In this paper, we investigated low-cost Ni/Cu contact formation by electroless and electroplating for crystalline silicon solar cells.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.11
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• pp.1041-1046
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• 2010

The reactions between a Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder alloy and electroless Ni/electroless Pd/immersion Au (ENEPIG) surface finishes with various Pd layer thicknesses (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, $0.4{\mu}m$) were examined for the effect of the Pd layer on the massive spalling of the $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ layer during reflow at $235^{\circ}C$. The thin layer deposition of an electroless Pd (EP) between the electroless Ni ($7{\mu}m$) and immersion Au ($0.06{\mu}m$) plating on the Cu substrate significantly retarded the massive spalling of the $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ layer during reflow. Its retarding effect increased with an increasing EP layer thickness. When the EP layer was thin (${\leq}0.1{\mu}m$), the retardation of the massive spalling was attributed to a reduced growth rate of the $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ layer and thus to a lowered consumption rate of Cu in the bulk solder during reflow. However, when the EP layer was thick (${\geq}0.2{\mu}m$), the initially dissolved Pd atoms in the molten solder resettled as $(Pd,Ni)Sn_4$ precipitates near the solder/$(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ interface with an increasing reflow time. Since the Pd resettlement requires a continuous Ni supply across the $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ layer from the Ni(P) substrate, it suppressed the formation of $(Ni,Cu)_3Sn_4$ at the $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5/Ni(P)$ interface and retarded the massive spalling of the $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ layer.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2016

Screen printing of commercially available Ag paste is the most widely used method for the front side metallization of Si solar cells. However, the metallization using Ag paste is expensive and needs high temperature annealing for reliable contact. Among many metallization schemes, Ni/Cu/Sn plating is one of the most promising methods due to low contact resistance and mass production, resulting in high efficiency and low production cost. Ni layer serves as a barrier which would prevent copper atoms from diffusion into the silicon substrate. However, Ni based schemes by electroless deposition usually have low thermal stability, and require high annealing process due to phosphorus content in the Ni based films. These problems can be resolved by adding W element in Ni-based film. In this study, Ni-W-P alloys were formed by electroless plating and properties of it such as sheet resistance, resistivity, specific contact resistivity, crystallinity, and morphology were investigated before and after annealing process by means of transmission line method (TLM), 4-point probe, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

• Resources Recycling
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• v.14 no.4 s.66
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• pp.34-40
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• 2005

Reusing of electroless Co-Cu-P waste solution was investigated in the respect of plating time, plating rate, solution composition and deposit. Plating time of cobalt-catalytic surface took longer than that of zincated-catalytic surface. It was possible to reuse the waste solution by mixing $50\%$ fresh solution at batch type. Plating time of initial solution at continuous type took longer 7.5 times over than that of batch type. Plating time of $50\%$ waste solution additive at continuous type took longer 2.5 times over than that of batch type. Component change of cobalt-topper for electroless deposition was greatly affected by deposit inferiority and rapid decrease in plating rate.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.167-171
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• 2004

The electroless deposition of copper on the hydrogen-terminated Si(111) surface was investigated by means of attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The hydrogen-terminated Si(111) surface prepared was stable under air atmosphere for a day or more. It was found from ATR-FTIR that two bands centered at 2000 and 2260 $cm^{-1}$ appeared after the H-Si(111) surface was immersed in 40% $NH_4F$ solution containing 10 mM $Cu^{2+}$. On the other hand, STM image included the copper islands with a height of 5 nm and a diameter of 10-20 nm. The EDS data displayed the presence of copper, silicon and oxygen species. The results were rationalized in terms of the redox reaction of surface Si atoms and $Cu^{2+}$ ions in solutions, which are changed into $Si(OH)_x(F)_y$ containing $SiF_6^{2-}$ ions and neutral copper islands.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.136-137
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• 2003

In this study, in order to fabricate sintered dental implant, the effects of HA, Ti and TiN on corrosion and biocompatibility, cell toxicity, osseointegration of electroless Cu-plated and sintered stainless steel implant were investigated using various characteristics. The effects of Ti/TiN/HA coating on the interface activation and surface characteristics of sintered stainless steels(SSS) by electron-beam physical vapor deposition(EB-PVD) method have been studied. Stainless steel compacts containing 2, 4, and 10 wt%Cu were prepared by electroless Cu-plating method which results in the increased homogenization in alloying powder. The specimens were coated with HA, Ti and TiN with few $\mu\textrm{m}$ thickness respectively by EB-PVD method. The microstructures and phase analysis were conducted by using SEM. Biocompatibility were investigated in experimental dog. The corrosion behaviors were investigated using potentiosat in 0.9% NaCl solution and corrosion surface was observed using SEM and XPS.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.14 no.2 s.61
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• pp.108-115
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• 2007

Cu-Ni-P alloy nano powders were fabricated by the electrical explosion of electroless Ni plated Cu wires. The effect of applied voltage on the explosion was examined by applying pulse voltage of 6 and 28 kV, The estimated overheating factor, K, were 1.3 for 6 kV and 2.2 for 28 kV. The powders produced with pulse voltage of 6 kV were composed of Cu-rich solid solution, Ni-rich solid solution, and $Ni_3P$ phase. While, those produced with 28 kV were complete Cu-Ni-P solid solution and small amount of $Ni_3P$ phase. The initial P content of 6.5 at.% was reduced to 2-3 at.% during explosion due to its high vapour pressure.