• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.265-272
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• 2014

The ion energy distributions (IEDs) arriving at a substrate strongly affect the etching rates in plasma etching processes. In order to determine the IEDs accurately, it is important to obtain the characteristics of radio frequency (rf) sheath at pulsed rf substrates. However, very few studies have been conducted to investigate pulsing effect on IEDs at multiple rf driven electrodes. Therefore, in this work, we extended previous one-dimensional dynamics model for pulsed-bias electrodes. We obtained the IEDs using the developed rf sheath model and observed that numerically solved IEDs are in a good agreement with the experimental results.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.110-116
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• 1992

For the modification of PET surface, Perfluoropropene and Methyl alcohol were LT-plasma polymerized on the PET fabrics as thin films by means of 13.56 MHz radio frequency generator. The surface properties of PET fabrics were modified from hydrophobic to hydrophilic by application of the postplasma reaction of thin films. The evidence of the modification was identified by observation of the presence of hydroxy group in IR spectrum and the evaluation of degree of hydrophilicity was performed by measuring frictional static voltage of PET fabric with cotton fabric. For the case of modification by PFP, the result performed at the condition of 25 W, 70 m torr has shown to be effective, and for MeOH, result performed at the condition of 25 W, 100 m torr effective. The effect of hydrophilic surface modification of MeOH plasma polymer was superior to that of PFP-plasma polymer.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.102-107
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• 2009

We investigated optical emission of oxygen plasma discharged by 13.56 MHz radio frequency (rf) by using optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Experimental measurement is done at a range of oxygen flow rate of 1$\sim$20 seem, rf power of 25$\sim$250 W, and orifice 3 and 5 mm in diameter. When oxygen plasma was generated, typical emission spectra for oxygen plasma were observed regardless of diameter of orifice. Strong atomic emission lines are observe at 776.8 an 843.9 nm, corresponding to the $3p^{5}P-3s^{5}S^{0}$ and $3p^{3}P-3s^{3}S^{0}$ transitions, respectively. The emission intensity of line at 776.8 and 843.9 nm increased with increasing the oxygen flow rate and rf power. The increasing rate of emission intensity of 776.8 nm line was larger than that of 843.9 nm line. When the diameter of orifice was 3 mm, the oxygen plasma was more stably generated than orifice 5 mm in diameter.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.134-140
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• 2004

Semi-crystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) film surfaces were modified with argon and oxygen plasmas by radio-frequency (RF) glow discharge at 240 mTorr/40 W; the changes in topography and surface structure were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in conjunction with specular reflectance of infrared microspectroscopy (IMS). Under our operating conditions, analysis of the AFM images revealed that longer plasma treatment results in significant ablation on the film surface with increasing roughness, regardless of the kind of plasma used. The basic topographies, however, were different depending upon the kind of gas used. The specular reflectance analysis showed that the ablative mechanisms of the argon and oxygen plasma treatments are entirely different with one another. For the Ar-plasma-treated PET surface, no observable difference in the chemical structure was observed before and after plasma treatment. On the other hand, the oxygen-plasma-treated PET surface displays a significant decrease in the number of aliphatic C-H groups. We conclude that a constant removal of material from the PET surface occurs when using the Ar-plasma, whereas preferential etching of aliphatic C-H groups, with respect to, e.g. , carbonyl and ether groups, occurs upon oxygen plasma.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.608-614
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• 2004

Isotactic polypropylene (PP) surfaces were modified with argon and oxygen plasmas using a radio­frequency (RF) glow discharge at 240 mTorr and 40 W. The changes in topography and surface structure were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in conjunction with specular reflectance of infrared (IR) microspectroscopy. Under our operating conditions, the AFM image analysis revealed that longer plasma treatment resulted in significant ablation on the PP surface, regardless of the kind of plasma employed, but the topography was dependent on the nature of the gases. Specular reflectance IR spectroscopic analysis indicated that the constant removal of surface material was an important ablative aspect when using either plasma, but the nature of the ablative behavior and the resultant aging effects were clearly dependent on the choice of plasma. The use of argon plasma resulted in a negligible aging effect; in contrast, the use of oxygen plasma caused a noticeable aging effect, which was due to reactions of trapped or isolated radicals with oxygen in air, and was partly responsible for the increased surface area caused by ablation. The use of oxygen plasma is believed to be an advantageous approach to modifying polymeric materials with functionalized surfaces, e.g., for surface grafting of unsaturated monomers and incorporating oxygen-containing groups onto PP.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.310-311
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• 2011

Dual-frequency (DF) capacitively coupled plasmas (CCP) are used to separately control the mean ion energy and flux at the electrodes [1]. This separate control in capacitively coupled radio frequency discharges is one of the most important issues for various applications of plasma processing. For instance, in the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition processes such as used for solar cell manufacturing, this separate control is most relevant. It principally allows to increase the ion flux for high deposition rates, while the mean ion energy is kept constant at low values to prevent highly energetic ion bombardment of the substrate to avoid unwanted damage of the surface structure. DF CCP can be analyzed in a fashion similar to single-frequency (SF) driven with effective parameters [2]. It means that DF CCP can be converted into SF CCP with effective parameters such as effective frequency and effective current density. In this study, comparison of DF CCP and its converted effective SF CCP is carried out through particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo (PIC-MCC) simulations. The PIC-MCC simulation shows that DF CCP and its converted effective SF CCP have almost the same plasma characteristics. In DF CCP, the negative resistance arises from the competition of the effective current and the effective frequency [2]. As the high-frequency current increases, the square of the effective frequency increases more than the effective current does. As a result, the effective voltage decreases with the effective current and it leads to an increase of the ion flux and a decrease of the mean ion energy. Because of that, the negative resistance regime can be called the preferable regime for solar cell manufacturing. In this preferable regime, comparison of DF (13.56+100 or 200 MHz) CCP and SF (60 MHz) CCP with the same effective current density is carried out. At the lower effective current density (or at the lower plasma density), the mean ion energy of SF CCP is lower than that of DF CCP. At the higher effective current density (or at the higher plasma density), however, the mean ion energy is lower than that of SF CCP. In this case, using DF CCP is better than SF CCP for solar cell manufacturing processes.

• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2011

Commercial PAN fibers were thermally stabilized at 220 or $240^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. Those fibers were further stabilized using radio-frequency (RF) capacitive plasma discharge during 5 or 15 min. From Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results, it was observed that an additional plasma treatment led to further stabilization of PAN fibers. After stabilization, carbonization was performed to investigate the final tensile properties of the fabricated carbon fibers (CFs). The results revealed that a combination of thermal and plasma treatment is a possible stabilization process for manufacturing CFs. Morphology of CFs was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. The morphology shows that the plasma stabilization performed by the RF large gap plasma discharge may damage the surface of the CF, so it is necessary to select a proper process condition to minimize the damage.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.296-302
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• 2000

The surfaces of injection and pressure-molded sheets of poly(ethylene-covulylacetate)(EVA) foams used for shoe mid-sole were treated with low temperature plasma to improve adhesion with a water-based polyurethane adhesives. Several experimental variables were considered, such as radio frequency power, treating time, type of gas. gas flow, and distance between electrode and sample. The modificated surface by plasma treatment were characterized using contact angle meter, scanning electron microscopy(SEM), universal testing machine(UTM). Adhesion was tested by T-peel tests of treated EVA foams/polyurethane adhesive joints. The treatment in the low temperature plasma produced a noticeable decrease in contact angle. The peel strength of EVA foams treated with plasma was increased with plasma treating time, and gas flow.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.9
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• pp.3126-3132
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• 2023

To meet the increasing heating needs of the China Fusion Experimental Tokamak Reactor (CFETR), the output power in each Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD) transmission line should be increased from 250 kW to 500 kW. Therefore, a new high-power water load must be developed for the 4.6 GHz 500 kW LHCD system. This paper aims to report the most recent research progress of the water load: aluminum nitride (AlN) ceramic is used as the media material to isolate the water and vacuum, and the radio frequency (RF) simulation results show that the return loss of the water load is less than -25dB at 4.6 GHz over a wide temperature range. Under 500 kW continuous wave (CW) operation, the maximum temperatures of the ceramic and water are separately 67 ℃ and 62 ℃, resulting in thermal deformation of the ceramic of approximately 0.003 mm. Moreover, the AlN water load was tested on the 4.6 GHz 250 kW high-power test bench and found to work well with low reflected power.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.77-77
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• 2016

Thin films synthesized by plasma processes have been widely applied in a variety of industrial sectors. The structure control of thin film is one of prime factor in most of these applications. It is well known that the structure of this film is closely associated with plasma parameters and species of plasma which are electrons, ions, radical and neutrals in plasma processes. However the precise control of structure by plasma process is still limited due to inherent complexity, reproducibility and control problems in practical implementation of plasma processing. Therefore the study on the fundamental physical properties that govern the plasmas becomes more crucial for molecular scale control of film structure and corresponding properties for new generation nano scale film materials development and application. The thin films are formed through nucleation and growth stages during thin film depostion. Such stages involve adsorption, surface diffusion, chemical binding and other atomic processes at surfaces. This requires identification, determination and quantification of the surface activity of the species in the plasma. Specifically, the ions and neutrals have kinetic energies ranging from ~ thermal up to tens of eV, which are generated by electron impact of the polyatomic precursor, gas phase reaction, and interactions with the substrate and reactor walls. The present work highlights these aspects for the controlled and low-temperature plasma enhanced chemical vapour disposition (PECVD) of Si-based films like crystalline Si (c-Si), Si-quantum dot, and sputtered crystalline C by the design and control of radicals, plasmas and the deposition energy. Additionally, there is growing demand on the low-temperature deposition process with low hydrogen content by PECVD. The deposition temperature can be reduced significantly by utilizing alternative plasma concepts to lower the reaction activation energy. Evolution in this area continues and has recently produced solutions by increasing the plasma excitation frequency from radio frequency to ultra high frequency (UHF) and in the range of microwave. In this sense, the necessity of dedicated experimental studies, diagnostics and computer modelling of process plasmas to quantify the effect of the unique chemistry and structure of the growing film by radical and plasma control is realized. Different low-temperature PECVD processes using RF, UHF, and RF/UHF hybrid plasmas along with magnetron sputtering plasmas are investigated using numerous diagnostics and film analysis tools. The broad outlook of this work also outlines some of the 'Grand Scientific Challenges' to which significant contributions from plasma nanoscience-related research can be foreseen.