• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.21-25
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• 2009

The organic-inorganic thin film transistors (OITFTs) with ZnO channel layer and the cross-linked PVP (Poly-4-vinylphenol) gate insulator were fabricated on the patterned ITO gate/glass substrate. ZnO channel layer was deposited by using atomic layer deposition (ALD). In order to improve the electrical properties, $O_2$ plasma treatment onto PVP film was introduced and investigated the effect of the plasma treatments on the electrical properties of the OITFTs. The field effect mobility and sub-threshold slope (SS) values of the OITFT decreased slightly from 0.24 to 0.16 $cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ and from 9.7 to 9.2 V/dec, respectively with increasing RF power from 30 to 50 Watt. The $I_{on/off}$ ratio was about $10^3$ for all samples with $O_2$ plasma treatment.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.9
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• pp.678-685
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• 2011

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of applied pressure and sintering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties for spark plasma sintering (SPS) from commercial pure titanium (CP-Ti) powders. Spark plasma sintering is a relatively new sintering technique in powder metallurgy which is capable of sintering metal and ceramic powers quickly to full density at a fairly low temperature due to its unique features. SPS of -200 mesh or -400 mesh CP-Ti powders was carried out in an $Ar+H_2$ mixed gas flowing atmosphere between $650^{\circ}C$ and $750^{\circ}C$ under 10 to 80 MPa pressure. When SPS was carried out at relatively low temperatures ($650^{\circ}C$ to $750^{\circ}C$), the high (>60 MPa) pressure had a marked effect on densification and grain growth suppression. The full density of titanium was achieved at temperatures and pressures above $700^{\circ}C$ and 60 MPa by spark plasma sintering. The crystalline phase and microstructure of titanium sintered up to $700^{\circ}C$ consisted of ${\alpha}$-Ti and equiaxed grains. Vickers hardness ranging from 293 to 362 Hv and strength ranging from 304 to 410 MPa were achieved for spark plasma sintered titanium.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.63-71
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• 2002

Three fabrication techniques for forming thin barrier layer with uniform thickness and large barrier height in magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) are discussed. First, the effect of immiscible element addition to Cu layer, a high conducting layer generally placed under the MTJ, is investigated in order to reduce the surface roughness of the bottom ferromagnetic layer, on which the barrier is formed. The Ag addition to the Cu layer successfully realizes the smooth surface of the ferromagnetic layer because of the suppression of the grain growth of Cu. Second, a new plasma source, characterized as low electron energy of 1 eV and high density of $10^{12}$ $cm^{-3}$, is introduced to the Al oxidation process in MTJ fabrication in order to reduce damages to the barrier layer by the ion-bombardment. The magnetotransport properties of the MTJs are investigated as a function of the annealing temperature. As a peculiar feature, the monotonous decrease of resistance area product (RA) is observed with increasing the annealing temperature. The decrease of the RA is due to the decrease of the effective barrier width. Third, the influence of the mixed inert gas species for plasma oxidization process of metallic Al layer on the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) was investigated. By the use of Kr-O$_2$ plasma for Al oxidation process, a 58.8 % of MR ratio was obtained at room temperature after annealing the junction at $300{^{\circ}C}$, while the achieved TMR ratio of the MTJ fabricated with usual Ar-$0_2$ plasma remained 48.4%. A faster oxidization rate of the Al layer by using Kr-O$_2$ plasma is a possible cause to prevent the over oxidization of Al layer and to realize a large magnetoresistance.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.395-402
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• 2015

The suspension plasma spray (SPS) technique has been used to obtain dense $Y_2O_3$ coatings and to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional air plasma spray (APS). SPS uses suspensions containing micrometer or sub-micrometer sized powders dispersed in liquid media. In this study, microstructure developments and mechanical properties have been investigated as functions of particle size of source material and plasma processing parameters such as plasma power and stand-off distance. The microstructure of the coating was found to be highly related to the particle size and the plasma processing parameters, and it was directly reflected in the hardness and the adhesion strength. When fine powder (BET $16.4m^2/g$) was used as a raw material in the suspension, there was, with increasing stand-off distance, a change from a dense structure with a slightly bumpy surface to a porous structure with a cauliflower-like surface. On the other hand, when a coarse powder (BET $2.8m^2/g$) was used, the coating density was lower, with microscopic splats on the surface. Using fine $Y_2O_3$ powders, the coating layer with an optimum short stand-off distance showed a high hardness of approximately 90% of that of sintered $Y_2O_3$ and an adhesion strength several times higher than that of the coating by conventional APS.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.226-237
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• 2011

W-ZrC and W-HfC composite powders were fabricated by the Plasma Alloying & Spheroidization (PAS) method and the powders were sprayed into hybrid coating layers by using Low Vacuum Plasma Spray (LVPS) process, respectively. Microstructure, mechanical properties, and ablation characteristics of the fabricated coating layers were investigated. The LVPS process led to successful production of W-Carbide hybrid coatings, approximately 400 ${\mu}M$ or above in thickness. As the substrate preheating temperature increased from $870^{\circ}C$ to $917^{\circ}C$, the hardness of the W-ZrC coating layer increased due to decreased porosity. Vickers hardness showed higher value (about 108.4 HV) in W-ZrC hybrid coating material compared to that of W-HfC while adhesive strength was found to be similar in both coating layers. The plasma torch test revealed good ablation resistance of the W-Carbide hybrid coating layers. The relatively high performance W-ZrC coating layer at the elevated temperature is thought to be attributed to both the strengthening effect of ZrC particle remained in the layer and the formation of ZrO2 phase with high temperature stability.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2008

EVA foam was treated by oxygen plasma under a various treatment time for surface modification. The effect of plasma treatment on surface properties of EVA foam was investigated in terms of FT-IR ATR, XPS, contact angle, and SEM analysis and the adhesion characteristic of the EVA foam was studied in peel strength. As a results, EVA foam treated by plasma led to an elimination of organic compound, an increase of oxygen content, and an increase of surface roughness, resulting in improving the adhesion properties of the EVA foam. As the plasma treatment time increased, the hydrophilicity and physical change of surface of the EVA foam were increased and showed maximum value at 180 s and 420 s, respectively. The maximum adhesion strength appeared at plasma treatment time of 420 s and therefore, in this study the physical change was thought to be a major factor for improving the adhesion of the EVA foam.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.37-41
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• 2019

Sheet resistance reduction in the Ag nanowire (NW) coated films is accomplished with slight improvement of optical properties for the application of transparent conducting electrodes by using $O_2$ plasma treatment. The sheet resistance was optimized after 30 seconds $O_2$ plasma treatment, showing the 27 % of maximum decrease of sheet resistance. It is found that the $O_2$ plasma treatment get rid of the residual organic materials at the junction of Ag NWs. However, the Ag NWs may be also snapped by the excessive $O_2$ plasma treatment can showing the collapses of Ag NWs networks. Furthermore, the optical properties such as optical transmittance and haze were monotonically improved with the $O_2$ plasma treatment time until 90 seconds.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.340-347
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• 2021

Among various metal oxide semiconductors, ZnO has an excellent electrical, optical properties with a wide bandgap of 3.3 eV. It can be applied as a photocatalytic material due to its high absorption rate along with physical and chemical stability to UV light. In addition, it is important to control the morphology of ZnO because the size and shape of the ZnO make difference in physical properties. In this paper, we demonstrate synthesis of size-controlled ZnO tetrapods using an atmospheric pressure plasma system. A micro-sized Zn spherical powder was continuously introduced in the plume of the atmospheric plasma jet ignited with mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. The effect of plasma power and collection sites on ZnO nanostructure was investigated. After the plasma discharge for 10 min, the produced materials deposited inside the 60-cm-long quartz tube were obtained with respect to the distance from the plume. According to the SEM analysis, all the synthesized nanoparticles were found to be ZnO tetrapods ranging from 100 to 600-nm-diameter depending on both applied power and collection site. The photocatalytic efficiency was evaluated by color change of methylene blue solution using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity increased with the increase of (101) and (100) plane in ZnO tetrapods, which is caused by enhanced chemical effects of plasma process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.376-376
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• 2016

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/functionalized bacterial cellulose nanowhiskers (f-BCNW) (0.1 wt%) composite nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning process and the thermomechanical properties were significantly enhanced more than the PEO and PEO/bacterial cellulose nanowhiskers (BCNW) (0.1 wt%) composite nanofibers. The functionalization of BCNW (f-BCNW) was performed by microwave plasma treatment for effects of nitrogen functionalization of chemically-driven BCNW. The N-containing functional groups of f-BCNW enhanced chemical bonding between the hydroxyl groups of the polymer chains in the PEO matrix and diameter size of PEO/f-BCNW (0.1 wt%) composite nanofibers were decreased more than PEO and PEO/BCNW (0.1 wt%) composite nanofibers on the same concentration. The strong interfacial interactions between the f-BCNW nanofillers and polymer matrix were improved the thermomechanical properties such as crystallization temperature, weight loss and glass transition temperature (Tg) compared to PEO and PEO/BCNW composites nanofibers. The results demonstrated that N2 plasma treatment of BCNW is very useful in improving thermal stability for bio-applications.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.35-40
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• 1998

In this study, the author investigated the effects of strengthening treatments on the mechanical properties of plasma sprayed Ni-base self fluxing alloy. Strengthening treatments for sprayed specimens were carried out in 4 different temperature conditions in vacuum furnace. The mechanical properties, such as microhardness, thermal shock resistance and erosion resistance were tested for the sprayed specimens after strengthening treatments. And it was proved that the mechanical properties of coating layer were much improved by strengthening treatments.