• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.816-820
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• 2013

We investigated the characteristics of the silicon oxy-nitride and nitride films grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at the low temperature with a varying $NH_3/N_2O$ mixing ratio and a fixed $SiH_4$ flow rate. The deposition temperature was held at $150^{\circ}C$ which was the temperature compatible with the plastic substrate. The composition and bonding structure of the nitride films were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Nitrogen richness was confirmed with increasing optical band gap and increasing dielectric constant with the higher $NH_3$ fraction. The leakage current density of the nitride films with a high NH3 fraction decreased from $8{\times}10^{-9}$ to $9{\times}10^{-11}(A/cm^2$ at 1.5 MV/cm). This results showed that the films had improved electrical properties and could be acceptable as a gate insulator for thin film transistors by deposited with variable $NH_3/N_2O$ mixing ratio.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

In this study, the stress-strain response and the cracking behaviors of ITO film on a PET substrate are investigated. The cracking behaviors of ITO thin films deposited on a thermoplastic semi-crystalline polymer developed for flexible display applications was investigated by means of tensile experiments equipped with an electrical measurement apparatus and an in-situ optical microscope. Electrical resistance increased gradually in the elastic-to-plastic transition region of the stress strain curves and cracks formed. Numerous cracks were found in this region, and the increase of the resistance was linked to the cracking of ITO thin films. Upon loading, the initial cracks perpendicular to the tensile axis were observed at about 1% of the total strain. They propagated to the entire sample width as the strain increased. The spacing between the horizontal cracks is thought to be determined by the fracture strength and the thickness of the ITO film as well as by the interfacial strength between the ITO and PET. The effect of the strain rate on the cracking behavior was also investigated. The crack density increased as the strain increased. The spacing between the horizontal cracks (perpendicular to the stress axis) increased as the strain rate decreased. The increase of the crack density as the strain rate decreased can be attributed to the higher fraction of the plastic strain to the total strain at a given total strain. The higher critical strain for the onset of the increase in the resistance and the crack initiation of the ITO/PET with a thinner ITO film (300 ohms/sq.) suggests a higher strength of the thinner ITO film.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.199-204
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• 2012

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) have received considerable attention because their potential applications for nano-scale thin-film structures have been widely researched for large-scale integration industries, such as semiconductors and displays. However, research in developing n-type materials and devices has been relatively shortage than developing p-type materials. Therefore, we report on the fabrication of top-contact [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyricacidmethylester (PCBM) TFTs by using three different solvent, o-dichlorobenzene, toluene and chloroform. An appropriate choice of solvent shows that the electrical characteristics of PCBM TFTs can be improved. Moreover, our PCBM TFTs with the cross-linked Poly(4-vinylphenol) dielectric layer exhibits the most pronounced improvements in terms of the field-effect mobility (${\sim}0.034cm^2/Vs$) and the on/off current ratio (${\sim}1.3{\times}10^5$) for our results. From these results, it can be concluded that solvent-modification of an organic semiconductor in PCBM TFTs is useful and can be extended to further investigations on the PCBM TFTs having polymeric gate dielectrics. It is expected that process optimizations using solution-processing of organic semiconductor materials will allow the development of the n-type organic TFTs for low-cost electronics and various electronic applications.

• Journal of the Korean Graphic Arts Communication Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.45-56
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• 2012

Printing technology is accepted by appropriate technology that smart phones, tablet PC, display(LCD, OLED, etc.) precision recently in the electronics industry, the market grows, this process in the ongoing efforts to improve competitiveness through the development of innovative technologies. So printed electronics appeared by new concept. This technology development is applied on electronic components and circuits for the simplification of the production process and reduce processing costs. Low-temperature process making possible for widening, slimmer, lighter, and more flexible, plastic substrates, such as(flexible) easily by forming a thin film on a substrate has been studied. In the past, the formation of the electrode used a screen printing method. But the screen printing method is formation of fine patterns, high-speed printing, mass production is difficult. The roll-to-roll printing method as an alternative to screen printing to produce electronic devices by printing techniques that were used traditionally in the latest technology and processing techniques applied to precision control are very economical to implement fine-line printing equipment has been evaluated as. In order to function as electronic devices, especially the dozens of existing micro-level of non-dot print fine line printing is required, the line should not break at all, because according to the specifications required to fit the ink transfer conditions should be established. In this study of roll-to-roll printing conductive paste suitable for gravure offset printing by developing Ag paste for forming fine patterns to study the basic physical properties with the aim of this study were to.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.100-101
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• 2012

The plasma damage free and room temperature processedthin film deposition technology is essential for realization of various next generation organic microelectronic devices such as flexible AMOLED display, flexible OLED lighting, and organic photovoltaic cells because characteristics of fragile organic materials in the plasma process and low glass transition temperatures (Tg) of polymer substrate. In case of directly deposition of metal oxide thin films (including transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS)) on the organic layers, plasma damages against to the organic materials is fatal. This damage is believed to be originated mainly from high energy energetic particles during the sputtering process such as negative oxygen ions, reflected neutrals by reflection of plasma background gas at the target surface, sputtered atoms, bulk plasma ions, and secondary electrons. To solve this problem, we developed the NBAS (Neutral Beam Assisted Sputtering) process as a plasma damage free and room temperature processed sputtering technology. As a result, electro-optical properties of NBAS processed ITO thin film showed resistivity of $4.0{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}m$ and high transmittance (>90% at 550 nm) with nano- crystalline structure at room temperature process. Furthermore, in the experiment result of directly deposition of TCO top anode on the inverted structure OLED cell, it is verified that NBAS TCO deposition process does not damages to the underlying organic layers. In case of deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin film on the plastic polymer substrate, the room temperature processed sputtering coating of high quality TCO thin film is required. During the sputtering process with higher density plasma, the energetic particles contribute self supplying of activation & crystallization energy without any additional heating and post-annealing and forminga high quality TCO thin film. However, negative oxygen ions which generated from sputteringtarget surface by electron attachment are accelerated to high energy by induced cathode self-bias. Thus the high energy negative oxygen ions can lead to critical physical bombardment damages to forming oxide thin film and this effect does not recover in room temperature process without post thermal annealing. To salve the inherent limitation of plasma sputtering, we have been developed the Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process as the high quality oxide thin film deposition process at room temperature. The MFSS process is effectively eliminate or suppress the negative oxygen ions bombardment damage by the plasma limiter which composed permanent magnet array. As a result, electro-optical properties of MFSS processed ITO thin film (resistivity $3.9{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, transmittance 95% at 550 nm) have approachedthose of a high temperature DC magnetron sputtering (DMS) ITO thin film were. Also, AOS (a-IGZO) TFTs fabricated by MFSS process without higher temperature post annealing showed very comparable electrical performance with those by DMS process with $400^{\circ}C$ post annealing. They are important to note that the bombardment of a negative oxygen ion which is accelerated by dc self-bias during rf sputtering could degrade the electrical performance of ITO electrodes and a-IGZO TFTs. Finally, we found that reduction of damage from the high energy negative oxygen ions bombardment drives improvement of crystalline structure in the ITO thin film and suppression of the sub-gab states in a-IGZO semiconductor thin film. For realization of organic flexible electronic devices based on plastic substrates, gas barrier coatings are required to prevent the permeation of water and oxygen because organic materials are highly susceptible to water and oxygen. In particular, high efficiency flexible AMOLEDs needs an extremely low water vapor transition rate (WVTR) of $1{\times}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$. The key factor in high quality inorganic gas barrier formation for achieving the very low WVTR required (under ${\sim}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$) is the suppression of nano-sized defect sites and gas diffusion pathways among the grain boundaries. For formation of high quality single inorganic gas barrier layer, we developed high density nano-structured Al2O3 single gas barrier layer usinga NBAS process. The NBAS process can continuously change crystalline structures from an amorphous phase to a nano- crystalline phase with various grain sizes in a single inorganic thin film. As a result, the water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film have improved order of magnitude compared with that of conventional $Al_2O_3$ layers made by the RF magnetron sputteringprocess under the same sputtering conditions; the WVTR of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film was about $5{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2/day$ by just single layer.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.12 no.4 s.37
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• pp.275-280
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• 2005

We propose a new approach to greatly simplify the fabrication of conventional nanoimprint lithography (NIL) by combined nanoimprint and photolithography (CNP). We introduce a hybrid mask mold (HMM) made from UV transparent material with a UV-blocking Cr metal layer placed on top of the mold protrusions. We used a negative tone photo resist (PR) with higher selectivity to substrate the CNP process instead of the UV curable monomer and thermal plastic polymer that has been commonly used in NIL. Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on HMM plays a reliable role for pattern transfer when the HMM is separated from the transfer layer. Hydrophilic $SiO_2$ thin film was deposited on all parts of the HMM, which improved the formation of SAM. This $SiO_2$ film made a sub-10nm formation without any pattern damage. In the CNP technique with HMM, the 'residual layer' of the PR was chemically removed by the conventional developing process. Thus, it was possible to simplify the process by eliminating the dry etching process, which was essential in the conventional NIL method.