• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 1996.11a
• /
• pp.560-564
• /
• 1996

In recently, annealing process of cold rolled sheet tend to change to continuous annealing process for improving qualify, saving yield. In the meantime as demand for various kind and small lot of products has been increasing, batch annealing has been appreciated for its small restriction for the operation. So, we tested on the effect for a hydrogen contents of atmospheric gas at annealing furnace. As a result of several investigation. We confirmed for the following characteristics ; improved productivity, uniform heating, improved surface quality, saving energy. Therefore, the use of hydrogen instead of nitrogen as the protective gas, combined with high convection in batch annealing furnaces, has shown that considerable increases in furnace output and material quality are attainable. Owing to the low density, high diffusion and reducing character of hydrogen, a better transfer resulting in uniform material temperatures and improved coil surfaces can be achieved.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 1997.04a
• /
• pp.327-331
• /
• 1997

As demand for various kinds and small lot products has been increasing, batch annealing has been appreciated for its small restiction for the opteration. The cold spot of the coil is very important in the BAF(Batch annealing furnace) annealing process. Because of the annealing cycle time in the BAF, annealing was decided on the cold spot of the coil. So, we tested the effect,variation of cold spot, for hydrogen contents of atmospheric gas at the annealing furnace. As a result of several investigations. We confirmed the following characteristics ; after the heating and soaking,the cold spot of coil moved to 1/3 of coil thickness in the NHx atmospheric gas, but the mid point of the coil thickness is the cold spot in the Ax or .H/sub2. atmospheric gas. Therefore, the use of hydrogen instead of nitrogen as the protective gas,combined with high convection in batch annealing furnaces, has shown that considerable increases in furnace output and material quality are attainable. Owing to the low density, high diffusion and reducing character of hydrogen, a better transfer resulting in uniform material temperatures and improved coil surfaces can be achieved.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
• /
• v.51 no.6
• /
• pp.236-239
• /
• 2002

Si nanocrystallites thin films on P-type (100) Si substrate have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition using a Nd:YAG laser. After deposition, samples were annealed in several environmental gases ;It the temperature range of 400 to $800^{\circ}C$ Hydrogen passivation was then performed in the forming gas (95 % $N_2$ + 5 % $H_2$) for 1 hr. Strong violet-indigo photoluminescence has been observed at room temperature on nitrogen ambient-annealed Si nanocrystallites. We report the variation of photoluminescence (PL) properties of Si thin films by changing annealing temperatures and by using hydrogen passivation. The results could suggest that the origin of violet-indigo PL should be related to the Quantum size effect of Si nanocrystallite.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
• /
• v.46 no.12
• /
• pp.18-23
• /
• 2009

The effect of hydrogen-nitrogen annealing on the interface trap properties of Metal-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon (MONOS) capacitors is investigated by analyzing the capacitors' gate leakage current and the interface trap density between the Si and $SiO_2$ layer. MONOS samples annealed at $850^{\circ}C$ for 30 s by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) are treated by additional annealing in a furnace, using annealing eases $N_2$ and 2% hydrogen and 98% nitrogen gas mixture $(N_2-H_2)$ at $450^{\circ}C$ for 30 mins. Among the three samples as-deposited, annealed in $N_2$ and $N_2-H_2$, MONOS sample annealed in an $N_2-H_2$ environment is found to have the lowest increase of interface-trap density from the capacitance-voltage experiments. The leakage current of sample annealed in $N_2-H_2$ is also lower than that of sample annealed in $N_2$.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.5 no.2 s.14
• /
• pp.9-13
• /
• 2001

A complete spectrum of risk assessment including qualitative and quantitative approaches were performed for the POSCO's Batch Annealing Furnace (BAF) gas systems. The purpose of BAF is to enhance the quality of steel by annealing it with either hydrogen/nitrogen mixture gas or pure hydrogen gas. Number of gas leak scenarios were identified to generate frequency of their occurrences. With the hypothetical accident scenarios given, fire/explosion impact studies were performed to estimate magnitude of significant consequences. Several different indices were also presented from which practical safety improvement action items could be established.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.13 no.8
• /
• pp.72-79
• /
• 1996

In a BAF(Batch Annealing Furnace), various studies have been pursued in order to reduce energy consumption rate to improve productivity and to stabilize the properties of products. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of both the atmospheric gas and convector plate shapes on the augmentation of heat transfer. The use of hydrogen instead of nitrogen as an atmospheric gas, combined with high convection in the BAF, has shown that considerable increases in furnace out put and significantly improved material quality are attainable. Because convector plate shapes make the atmosheric gas easily flow density, high diffusivity and reducing character of hydrogen, a better heat transfer rates resulting in uniform material temperature distribution and improved coil surface quality can be achieved. Also, it was found that the closed convector plate took more time for the annealing cycle time than the other plate type(open-type)by about ten hours.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
• /
• v.35 no.11A
• /
• pp.1091-1096
• /
• 2010

Stiction in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has been a major failure mechanism. Especially, in RF MEMS switches, moving parts often suffered in-use and release related stiction problems. Some materials and methods have been used to prevent this problem. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) has not only been used as a protective material owing to its good mechanical properties but also has been used as a hydrophobic material. Its properties could be controlled by post annealing treatment in various conditions. We synthesized DLC films using a radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF PECVD) method on silicon substrates using methane ($CH_4$) and hydrogen ($H_2$) gas. Then, the change of the hydrophobic property of the films was investigated undervarious annealing temperatures in nitrogen and in oxygen ambient. The films, that were annealed above $700^{\circ}C$ in nitrogen ambient, showed a high contact angle of water (> $90^{\circ}$) even though their mechanical property was sacrificed to some degree. The structural variation and the changes of the hydrophobic and mechanical properties of the DLC films were analyzed by Raman spectrum, contact angle measurement, surface profiler, and a nanoindentation test.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.19 no.8
• /
• pp.701-706
• /
• 2006

In addition to its similarity to genuine diamond film, diamond-like carbon (DLC) film has many advantages, including its wide band gap and variable refractive index. In this study, DLC films were prepared by the RF PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) method on silicon substrates using methane $(CH_4)$ and hydrogen $(H_2)$ gas. We examined the effects of the post annealing temperature on the structural variation of the DLC films. The films were annealed at temperatures ranging from 300 to $900^{\circ}C$ in steps of $200^{\circ}C$ using RTA equipment in nitrogen ambient. The thickness of the film and interface between film and substrate were observed by surface profiler, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), respectively. Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that DLC films were graphitized ($I_D/I_G$, G-peak position and $sp^2/sp^3$ increased) ratio at higher annealing temperature. The variation of surface as a function of annealing treatment was verified by a AFM and contact angle method.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.72-78
• /
• 2004

Cu seed layers deposited by magnetron sputtering onto tantalum nitride barrier films were treated with ECR plasma and then the copper films were electroplated and rapid thermal annealed in an argon or nitrogen atmosphere at various temperatures ranging from 200 to $500^{\circ}C$. Changes in the microstructure and physical properties of the copper films electroplated on the hydrogen ECR plasma cleaned copper seed layers were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses. It was found that the copper film undergoes complete recrystallization during annealing at a temperature higher than $400^{\circ}C$. The resistivity of the Cu film tends to decrease and the degree of (111) preferred orientation tends to increase as the annealing temperature increases. Theoptimum annealing condition for obtaining the film with the lowest resistivity, the smoothest surface and the highest degree of the (111) preferred orientation is rapid thermal annealing in a nitrogen atmosphere at $400^{\circ}C$ for 120 s. The resistivity and the surface roughness of the electroplated copper film annealed under this condition are 1.98 $\mu$O-cm and 17.77 nm, respectively.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.8 no.6
• /
• pp.217-222
• /
• 2009

The production of advanced high strength steels requires the improvement of cooling technology. The use of high cooling rates allows relatively low levels of expensive alloying additions to ensure sufficient hardenability. In classical annealing and hot-dip galvanizing lines a mixing station is used to provide atmosphere gas containing 3-5% hydrogen and 97-95% nitrogen in the various sections of the furnace, including the rapid cooling section. Heat exchange enhancement in this cooling section can be insured by the increased hydrogen concentration. Drever International developed a patented improvement of cooling technology based on the following features: pure hydrogen gas is injected only in the rapid cooling section whereas the different sections of the furnace are supplied with pure nitrogen gas; the control of flows through atmosphere gas management allows to get high hydrogen concentration in cooling section and low hydrogen content in the other furnace zones. This cooling technology development insures higher cooling rates without additional expensive hydrogen gas consumption and without the use of complex sealing equipments between zones. In addition reduction in electrical energy consumption is obtained. This atmosphere control development can be combined with geometrical design improvements in order to get optimised cooling technology providing high cooling rates as well as reduced strip vibration amplitudes. Extensive validation of theoretical research has been conducted on industrial lines. New lines as well as existing lines, with limited modifications, can be equipped with this new development. Up to now this technology has successfully been implemented on 6 existing and 7 new lines in Europe and Asia.