• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.43-49
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• 2010

Direct printing technology is an attractive metallization method, which has become immerging as "Green technology" to the conventional photolithography, on account of low cost, simple process and environment-friendliness. In order to commercialize the printed electronics in industry, it is essential to evaluate the electrical properties of conductive circuits using direct printing technology. In this contribution, we focused on the electrical characteristics of inkjet-printed circuits. A Cu nanoink was inkjet-printed onto a Bisaleimide triazine(BT) substrate with parallel transmission line(PTL) and coplanar waveguide(CPW) type, then was sintered at $250^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. We calculated the resistivity of printed circuits through direct current resistance by the measurement of I-V curve: the resistivity was approximately 0.558 ${\mu}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ which is about 3.3 times that of bulk Cu. Cascade's probe system in the frequency range from 0 to 30 GHz were employed to measure the Scattering parameter(S-parameter) with or without a gap between the substrate and the probe station chuck. The result of measured S-parameter showed that all printed circuits had over 5 dB of return loss in the entire frequency range. In the curve of insertion loss, $S_{21}$, showed that the PTL type circuits had better transmission of radio frequency (RF) than CPW type.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.41 no.10
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• pp.788-795
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• 2013

A magnesium bipolar plate whose surface was protected by thinly deposited silver layer was investigated as an alternative to existing graphite bipolar plate of PEM fuel cells. Thin silver layer of $3{\mu}m$ was deposited on a magnesium alloy substrate by physical vapor deposition (PVD) method in an environment of $180^{\circ}C$. A number of tests were conducted on the fabricated magnesium based bipolar plates to determine their suitability for use in PEM fuel cell stacks. The test on corrosion resistance in the same pH condition as in a PEM operation demonstrated the layer protected the magnesium alloy substrate, while unprotected substrate suffered from severe corrosion. The contact resistance of the fabricated bipolar plate was less than $20m{\Omega}-cm^2$ which was superior to the conventional bipolar plates. A single cell was constructed using the fabricated bipolar plates and power output was measured. Due to the enhanced conductivity caused by low contact resistance, slight increase was observed in current density and output voltage. With low density of the magnesium substrate and ease on machining, the weight reduction of the stack of 30~40 % is possible to produce the same power output.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2008

In order to apply for transparent conductive oxide(TCO), we deposited ZnO thin films on the glass at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering method. Deposition conditions for high transmittance and low resistivity were optimized in our previous studies. Under the deposition condition with the RF power of 200 W, target to substrate distance of 30 mm and working pressure of 5 mTorr, highly conductive($7.4{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$) and transparent(over 85%) ZnO films were prepared. Highly oriented ZnO film in the [002] direction were obtained with specifically designed ZnO targets. Systematic study on dependence of deposition parameters on electrical and optical properties of the as-grown ZnO films were mainly investigated in this work. And for application tests using these films as transparent conductive oxide anodes, wet chemical etching behaviors of ZnO films were also investigated using various chemicals. Wet-chemical etching behavior of ZnO films were investigated using various acid solutions. The concentrations of these different acid solutions were controlled to study the etching shapes and etching rate. ZnO films were anisotropically etched at various concentrations and wet etching led to crater-like surface structure. Also we firstly found that the etching rate and etching shapes of ZnO films strongly depended on the etchant concentrations (i.e. pH) and the etching rate is exponentially decreased with increasing pH values regardless of the acid etchants.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.490.2-490.2
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• 2014

Since the general solar cells accept sun light at the front side, excluding the electrode area, electrons move from the emitter to the front electrode and start to collect at the grid edge. Thus the edge of gridline can be important for electrical properties of screen-printed silicon solar cells. In this study, the improvement of electrical properties in screen-printed crystalline silicon solar cells by contact treatment of grid edge was investigated. The samples with $60{\Omega}/{\square}$ and $70{\Omega}/{\square}$ emitter were prepared. After front side of samples was deposited by SiNx commercial Ag paste and Al paste were printed at front side and rear side respectively. Each sample was co-fired between $670^{\circ}C$ and $780^{\circ}C$ in the rapid thermal processing (RTP). After the firing process, the cells were dipped in 2.5% hydrofluoric acid (HF) at room temperature for various times under 60 seconds and then rinsed in deionized water. (This is called "contact treatment") After dipping in HF for a certain period, the samples from each firing condition were compared by measurement. Cell performances were measured by Suns-Voc, solar simulator, the transfer length method and a field emission scanning electron microscope. According to HF treatment, once the thin glass layer at the grid edge was etched, the current transport was changed from tunneling via Ag colloids in the glass layer to direct transport via Ag colloids between the Ag bulk and the emitter. Thus, the transfer length as well as the specific contact resistance decreased. For more details a model of the current path was proposed to explain the effect of HF treatment at the edge of the Ag grid. It is expected that HF treatment may help to improve the contact of high sheet-resistance emitter as well as the contact of a high specific contact resistance.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.6-14
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• 2001

The monomer N,N'-bis(3-pyrrol-1-yl-propyl)-4,4'-bipyridinium$(PF_6)_2$ was electrochemically polymerized on glassy carbon electrode surface. This polymer film electrode has electroactive sites on its bipyridinium ions distributed at the polymer strands. The formal potentials of the electrodes were -0.41V and -0.81V(vs. SSCE) for each step at phosphate buffer(pH=5.70). The diffusion coefficients of the dopants ions into the polymer matrix were $1.57{\times}10^{-4}$ and $4.35{\times}10^{-5}cm^2s^{-1}$ for first and second redox couple, respectively. The rate constants of electron transfer at $V^{2+/+}$ of the first step was a $57.53s^{-1}$, which was 22 times higher than $V^{+/0}$ one having $2.63s^{-1}$ in the solution. The charge transfer resistance of the polymer film was influenced by the dopant ion of the electrolyte. Thus the resistances were 22.63, 16.81, 12.44 and $11.36k{\Omega}$ for $LiClO_4,\;NaClO_4,\;KClO_4$, and phosphate buffer, respectively. The reaction order of the electropolymerization was first order and the rate constant of the polymerization was $1.31{\times}10^{-1}s^{-1}$ as determined by EQCM method. The G.C./p-BPB type electrode doped with phosphate ions showed a stability and reproducibility in CV procedure over 20 cycles.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.164-170
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• 2000

Neutron single crystal and powder diffraction techniques have been applied to the structure analysis of yttria-stabilized zirconium, Z $r_{0.73}$ $Y_{0.27}$ $O_{1.87}$., prepared by the skull-melting method. The crystal structure has been determined to be cubic symmetry, space group Fm/equation omitted/ with a=5.155(2)$\AA$, V=136.99(5)$\AA$, Z=4, and R(F)=5.65%, $\omega$R(I)=10.57% for 70 integrated intensities of Bragg Peaks observed from single crystal of Z $r_{0.73}$ $Y_{0.27}$ $O_{1.87}$. The stabilizer atoms randomly occupy the zirconium sites and there are displacements of oxygen atoms with amplitudes of $\Delta$/a~0.033 and 0.11 along <110> and <100> directions from the ideal positions of the fluorite structure, respectively. There are no significant differences in crystallographic data between the single crystal and powder studies. Diffraction pattern after Rietveld refinement, using neutron powder data, has shown the evidence of a tetragonal impurity phase, or a slight tetragonal distortion.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 2008

We have studied the properties of Ag/undoped ZnO (ZnO) multilayer thin films deposited on glass substrate by the facing targets sputtering method. In an attempt to find out the optimum conditions of the Ag thin film, which would be coated on the ZnO thin film, we investigated the changes of sheet resistance, transmittance and surface morphology as a function of deposition times and the substrate temperature. The electrical and optical characteristics of Ag/ZnO multilayers were evaluated by a four-point probe, a UV/VIS spectrometer with a spectral range of 390-770 nm, a X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), an atomic force microscope (AFM) and a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), respectively. We were able to prepare the Ag/ZnO multilayer thin film with sheet resistance of 9.25 $\Omega/sq.$ and transmittance of over 80% at 550nm.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.29-37
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• 2013

PURPOSES : This study aims to review the possibility of developing a road snow-melting system that can prevent slip accidents by maintaining a constant temperature of the winter roads and enhance performance of structures, including improvement of compressive strength by mixing carbon nanotube (hereafter referred to as CNT) with cement paste, the basic material. METHODS : To achieve the above purpose, an experiment was conducted by mixing power-type CNT and wrap-type CNT up to cement paste formulation by weight of 0.0wt%~4.1wt% in accordance with "KS L ISO 679(of cement strength test method)", and compressive strength was measured at 28 days of curing. In addition, the volume resistivity of the specimen was measured to test thermal and electrical characteristics, and the rate of temperature changes in specimen surface by power consumption was measured by passing electricity through the cross-sections of the specimen. Meanwhile, the criteria for checking the performance as a road snow-melting system was determined as volume resistivity of $100{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ or less. RESULTS : A comparative analysis between specimen with 0wt% CNT content in plain status and specimen containing various types of CNTs was carried out. From its results, it was found that compressive strength increased approximately 19%, showing the highest rate when 0.2wt% of wrap-type CNT was contained, but volume resistivity of $100{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ or less appeared only in specimens containing more than 0.2wt% CNT. In addition, it was observed that the surface temperature increased by $4.62^{\circ}C$ per minute on average in specimens containing 3.2wt% CNT. CONCLUSIONS : In this study, CNT was examined as an underlying material for a road snow-melting system, and the possibility of developing the road now-melting system was reviewed by conducting various experiments using CNT-Cement composites. From the experimental results, the specimens were found to have a superior performance when compared to the existing road snow-melting systems that place the heat transfer medium such as copper on the road. However, satisfactory strength performance were not obtained from the specimen containing CNT(2.0% or more) that functions as a heating element, which leads to the need for reviewing methods to increase the strength by using plasticizer or admixture.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.475-479
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• 2012

We present a novel polymer fabrication process involving direct UV patterning of a hyperbranched polymer, AEO3000. Compared to PDMS, which is the most widely used polymer in bioMEMS devices, the present polymer has advantages with regard to electrode integration and fast fabrication. We designed a four-chip microelectrofluidic bench having three electrical pads and two fluidic I/O ports. We integrated a microfluidic mixer and a cell separator on the bench to characterize the interconnection performance and sample manipulation. Electrical and fluidic characterization of the microfluidic bench was performed. The measured electrical contact resistance was $0.75{\pm}0.44{\Omega}$, which is small enough for electrical applications, and the pressure drop was 8.3 kPa, which was 39.3% of the value in the tubing method. By performing yeast mixing and a separation test in the integrated module on the bench, we successfully showed that the interconnected chips could be used for bio-sample manipulation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.288-289
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• 2011

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) is a typical highly Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) currently used as a transparent electrode material. Most widely used deposition method is the sputtering process for ITO film deposition because it has a high deposition rate, allows accurate control of the film thickness and easy deposition process and high electrical/optical properties. However, to apply high quality ITO thin film in a flexible microelectronic device using a plastic substrate, conventional DC magnetron sputtering (DMS) processed ITO thin film is not suitable because it needs a high temperature thermal annealing process to obtain high optical transmittance and low resistivity, while the generally plastic substrates has low glass transition temperatures. In the room temperature sputtering process, the electrical property degradation of ITO thin film is caused by negative oxygen ions effect. This high energy negative oxygen ions(about over 100eV) can be critical physical bombardment damages against the formation of the ITO thin film, and this damage does not recover in the room temperature process that does not offer thermal annealing. Hence new ITO deposition process that can provide the high electrical/optical properties of the ITO film at room temperature is needed. To solve these limitations we develop the Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) system. The MFSS is based on DMS and it has the plasma limiter, which compose the permanent magnet array (Fig.1). During the ITO thin film deposition in the MFSS process, the electrons in the plasma are trapped by the magnetic field at the plasma limiters. The plasma limiter, which has a negative potential in the MFSS process, prevents to the damage by negative oxygen ions bombardment, and increases the heat(-) up effect by the Ar ions in the bulk plasma. Fig. 2. shows the electrical properties of the MFSS ITO thin film and DMS ITO thin film at room temperature. With the increase of the sputtering pressure, the resistivity of DMS ITO increases. On the other hand, the resistivity of the MFSS ITO slightly increases and becomes lower than that of the DMS ITO at all sputtering pressures. The lowest resistivity of the DMS ITO is $1.0{\times}10-3{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ and that of the MFSS ITO is $4.5{\times}10-4{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$. This resistivity difference is caused by the carrier mobility. The carrier mobility of the MFSS ITO is 40 $cm^2/V{\cdot}s$, which is significantly higher than that of the DMS ITO (10 $cm^2/V{\cdot}s$). The low resistivity and high carrier mobility of the MFSS ITO are due to the magnetic field shielded effect. In addition, although not shown in this paper, the roughness of the MFSS ITO thin film is lower than that of the DMS ITO thin film, and TEM, XRD and XPS analysis of the MFSS ITO show the nano-crystalline structure. As a result, the MFSS process can effectively prevent to the high energy negative oxygen ions bombardment and supply activation energies by accelerating Ar ions in the plasma; therefore, high quality ITO can be deposited at room temperature.