• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2024

Objectives: The primary aim of this study is to create an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) guide for high-risk maintenance tasks, specifically one designed for maintenance work (MW) in the electronics industry. Methods: The methodology involved a literature review, field investigations, and discussions. An initial draft of the OSH guide was created and then refined through consultations with experts possessing extensive experience in MW for electronic processes. Results: Specific MW tasks within electronics processing facilities identified as high-risk by the research were selected. A comprehensive OSH guide for these tasks was developed consisting of approximately 11 to 12 components and encompassing about 20-25 pages. Implementing safety and health measures before, during, and after MW is crucial for the protection of maintenance personnel. The guide is enriched with real-case scenarios of industrial accidents and occupational diseases to enhance maintenance workers' comprehension of the OSH principles. For a clearer understanding of and adherence to the safety protocols, the guide incorporates visual aids, including cartoons and photographs. Conclusions: This OSH guide is designed to ensure the protection of workers involved in maintenance activities in the electronics industry. It aligns with global standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Semiconductor Equipment and Material International (SEMI) to ensure a high level of safety and compliance.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.36-44
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• 2024

Copper electrodeposition technology is essential for producing copper films and interconnects in the microelectronics industries including semiconductor packaging, semiconductors and secondary battery, and there are extensive efforts to control the microstructure of these films and interconnects. In this study, we investigated the influence of crystallographic orientation on the local plastic deformation of copper films for secondary batteries deformed by uniaxial tensile load. Crystallographic orientation maps of two electrodeposited copper films with different textures were measured using an electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) system and then used as initial conditions for crystal plasticity finite element analysis to predict the local plastic deformation behavior within the films during uniaxial tension deformation. Through these processes, the changes of the local plastic deformation behavior and texture of the films were traced according to the tensile strain, and the crystal orientations leading to the inhomogeneous plastic deformation were identified.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.42-49
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• 2024

In the electromagnetic wave shielding material market, superior shielding performance in the high-frequency range, along with flexibility and durability, has emerged as critical requirements. The need for high-performance EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) films to address electromagnetic wave interference issues is growing, particularly in various industrial sectors such as smart electronic devices, automotive electronic systems, and communication equipment. In this study, a trimodal silver paste was developed and fabricated into an EMI film, with its performance evaluated. The developed silver paste, utilizing a modified epoxy binder, exhibited properties suitable for screen printing processes. The film demonstrated excellent shielding performance, with an average attenuation of -99 dB in the high-frequency range of the 5G spectrum (26.5 GHz to 40 GHz), and a shielding effectiveness of -90.3 dB at 33.6 GHz. Flexibility and durability tests showed that the film maintained its flexibility even at a curvature radius of 1 mm. In the bending cycle test, the resistance increased by approximately 25.5% from 0.51 Ω to 0.64 Ω after 10,000 cycles in the outer bending scenario, while in the inner bending scenario, the resistance decreased by about 3.6%, indicating reduced resistance to compressive stress.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.396-407
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• 2020

As fossil fuels are depleted worldwide, alternative resources is required to replace fossil fuels, and biofuels are in the spotlight as alternative resources. Biofuels are produced from biomass, which is a renewable resource to produce biofuels or bio-chemicals. Especially, in order to substitute fossil fuels, the research focusing the biofuel (biodiesel) production based on CO₂ and biomass achieves more attention recently. To produce biomass-based biodiesel, the development of a supply chain network is required considering the amounts of feedstocks (ex, CO₂ and water) required producing biodiesel, potential locations and capacities of bio-refineries, and transportations of biodiesel produced at biorefineries to demand cities. Although many studies of the biomass-based biodiesel supply chain network are performed, there are few types of research handled the uncertainty in CO₂ supply which influences the optimal strategies of microalgae-based biodiesel production. Because CO₂, which is used in the production of microalgae-based biodiesel as one of important resources, is captured from the off-gases emitted in power plants, the uncertainty in CO₂ supply from power plants has big impacts on the optimal configuration of the biodiesel supply chain network. Therefore, in this study, to handle those issues, we develop the two-stage stochastic model to determine the optimal strategies of the biodiesel supply chain network considering the uncertainty in CO₂ supply. The goal of the proposed model is to minimize the expected total cost of the biodiesel supply chain network considering the uncertain CO₂ supply as well as satisfy diesel demands at each city. This model conducted a case study satisfying 10% diesel demand in the Republic of Korea. The overall cost of the stochastic model (US$ 12.9/gallon·y) is slightly higher (23%) than that of the deterministic model (US$ 10.5/gallon·y). Fluctuations in CO₂ supply (stochastic model) had a significant impact on the optimal strategies of the biodiesel supply network.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.54-62
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• 2024

SICM (Scanning Ion Conductivity Microscopy) is a technique for measuring surface topography in an environment where electrochemical reactions occur, by detecting changes in ion conductivity as a nanopipette tip approaches the sample. This study includes an investigation of the current response curve, known as the approach curve, according to the distance between the tip and the sample. First, a simulation analysis was conducted on the approach curves. Based on the simulation results, then, several measuring experiments were conducted concurrently to analyze the difference between the simulated and measured approach curves. The simulation analysis confirms that the current squeezing effect occurs as the distance between the tip and the sample approaches half the inner radius of the tip. However, through the calculations, the decrease in current density due to the simple reduction in ion channels was found to be much smaller compared to the current squeezing effect measured through actual experiments. This suggests that ion conductivity in nano-scale narrow channels does not simply follow the Nernst-Einstein relationship based on the diffusion coefficients, but also takes into account the fluidic hydrodynamic resistance at the interface created by the tip and the sample. It is expected that SICM can be combined with SECM (Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy) to overcome the limitations of SECM through consecutive measurement of the two techniques, thereby to strengthen the analysis of electrochemical surface reactivity. This could potentially provide groundbreaking help in understanding the local catalytic reactions in electroless plating and the behaviors of organic additives in electroplating for various kinds of patterns used in semiconductor damascene processes and packaging processes.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2018

Samples of anodic oxide film used in semiconductor and display manufacturing processes were prepared at different electrolyte temperatures to investigate the corrosion resistance. The anodic oxide film was grown on aluminum alloy 6061 by using a sulfuric acid ($H_2SO_4$) electrolyte of 1.5 M at $0^{\circ}C$, $5^{\circ}C$, $10^{\circ}C$, $15^{\circ}C$, and $20^{\circ}C$. The insulating properties of the samples were evaluated by measuring the breakdown voltage, which gradually increased from 0.43 kV ($0^{\circ}C$) to 0.52 kV ($5^{\circ}C$), 1.02 kV ($10^{\circ}C$), and 1.46 kV ($15^{\circ}C$) as the electrolyte temperature was increased from $0^{\circ}C$ to $15^{\circ}C$, but then decreased to 1.24 kV ($20^{\circ}C$). To evaluate the erosion of the film by fluorine plasma, the plasma erosion and the contamination particles were measured. The plasma erosion was evaluated by measuring the breakdown voltage after exposing the film to $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ and $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasmas. With exposure to $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ plasma, the breakdown voltage of the film slightly decreased at $0^{\circ}C$, by 0.41 kV; however, the breakdown voltage significantly decreased at $20^{\circ}C$, by 0.83 kV. With exposure to $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasma, the breakdown voltage of the film slightly decreased at $0^{\circ}C$, by 0.38 kV; however, the breakdown voltage significantly decreased at $20^{\circ}C$, by 0. 77 kV. In addition, for the entire temperature range, the breakdown voltage decreased more when sample was exposed to $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasma than to $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ plasma. The decrease of the breakdown voltage was lower in the anodic oxide film samples that were grown slowly at lower temperatures. The rate of breakdown voltage decrease after exposure to fluorine plasma was highest at $20^{\circ}C$, indicating that the anodic oxide film was most vulnerable to erosion by fluorine plasma at that temperature. Contamination particles generated by exposure to the $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ and $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasmas were measured on a real-time basis. The number of contamination particles generated after the exposure to the respective plasmas was lower at $5^{\circ}C$ and higher at $0^{\circ}C$. In particular, for the entire temperature range, about five times more contamination particles were generated with exposure to $NF_3/O_2/Ar$ plasma than for exposure to $CF_4/O_2/Ar$ plasma. Observation of the surface of the anodic oxide film showed that the pore size and density of the non-treated film sample increased with the increase of the temperature. The change of the surface after exposure to fluorine plasma was greatest at $0^{\circ}C$. The generation of contamination particles by fluorine plasma exposure for the anodic oxide film prepared in the present study was different from that of previous aluminum anodic oxide films.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.375-375
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• 2010

CdTe as an absorber material is widely used in thin film solar cells with the heterostructure due to its almost ideal band gap energy of 1.45 eV, high photovoltaic conversion efficiency, low cost and stable performance. The deposition methods and preparation conditions for the fabrication of CdTe are very important for the achievement of high solar cell conversion efficiency. There are some rearranged reports about the deposition methods available for the preparation of CdTe thin films such as close spaced sublimation (CSS), physical vapor deposition (PVD), vacuum evaporation, vapor transport deposition (VTD), closed space vapor transport, electrodeposition, screen printing, spray pyrolysis, metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and RF sputtering. The RF sputtering method for the preparation of CdTe thin films has important advantages in that the thin films can be prepared at low growth temperatures with large-area deposition suitable for mass-production. The authors reported that the optical and electrical properties of CdTe thin film were closely connected by the thickness-uniformity of the film in the previous study [1], which means that the better optical absorbance and the higher carrier concentration could be obtained in the better condition of thickness-uniformity for CdTe thin film. The thickness-uniformity could be controlled and improved by the some process parameters such as vacuum level and RF power in the sputtering process of CdTe thin films. However, there is a limitation to improve the thickness-uniformity only in the preparation process [1]. So it is necessary to introduce the external or additional method for improving the thickness-uniformity of CdTe thin film because the cell size of thin film solar cell will be enlarged. Therefore, the authors firstly applied the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process to improving the thickness-uniformity of CdTe thin films with a G&P POLI-450 CMP polisher [2]. CMP process is the most important process in semiconductor manufacturing processes in order to planarize the surface of the wafer even over 300 mm and to form the copper interconnects with damascene process. Some important CMP characteristics for CdTe were obtained including removal rate (RR), WIWNU%, RMS roughness, and peak-to-valley roughness [2]. With these important results, the CMP process for CdTe thin films was performed to improve the thickness-uniformity of the sputtering-deposited CdTe thin film which had the worst two thickness-uniformities of them. Some optical properties including optical transmittance and absorbance of the CdTe thin films were measured by using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer (Varian Techtron, Cary500scan) in the range of 400 - 800 nm. After CMP process, the thickness-uniformities became better than that of the best condition in the previous sputtering process of CdTe thin films. Consequently, the optical properties were directly affected by the thickness-uniformity of CdTe thin film. The absorbance of CdTe thin films was improved although the thickness of CdTe thin film was not changed.