The Korean Society of Surface Science and Engineering

This work studies dielectric breakdown behavior of AAO (anodic aluminum oxide) films formed on pure aluminum at a constant current density in 5 ~ 20 vol.% sulfuric acid (SA) and 2 ~ 8 wt.% oxalic acid (OA) solutions. It was observed that dielectric breakdown voltage of AAO film with the same thickness increased with increasing concentration of both SA and OA solutions up to 15 vol.% and 6 wt.%, respectively, above which it decreased slightly. The dielectric breakdown resistance of the OA films appeared to be superior to that of SA films. After dielectric breakdown test, cracks and a hole were observed. The crack length increased with increasing SA film thickness but it did not increase with increasing OA film thickness. To explain the reason why shorter cracks formed on the OA films than the SA films after dielectric breakdown test, the generation of tensile stresses at the oxide/ metal interface was discussed in relation to porosity of AAO films obtained from cross-sectional morphologies.

Anodic oxide film; Dielectric breakdown; Sulfuric acid; Oxalic acid; Aluminum.

Scholars have proposed wafer-level bonding and three-dimensional (3D) stacked integrated circuit (IC) and have investigated Cu–Cu bonding to overcome the limitation of Moore’s law. However, information about quantitative Cu–Cu direct-bonding conditions, such as temperature, pressure, and interfacial adhesion energy, is scant. This study determines the optimal temperature and pressure for Cu–Cu bonding by varying the bonding temperature to 100, 150, 200, 250, and 350 ℃ and pressure to 2,303 and 3,087 N/cm². Various conditions and methods for surface treatment were performed to prevent oxidation of the surface of the sample and remove organic compounds in Cu direct bonding as variables of temperature and pressure. EDX experiments were conducted to confirm chemical information on the bonding characteristics between the substrate and Cu to confirm the bonding mechanism between the substrate and Cu. In addition, after the combination with the change of temperature and pressure variables, UTM measurement was performed to investigate the bond force between the substrate and Cu, and it was confirmed that the bond force increased proportionally as the temperature and pressure increased.

Cu-to-Cu bonding; 3D stacking; 3D package; C2C; C2W.

The lifetime and corrosion resistance of the coating depends on its thickness and composition. We checked how the plating progressed according to the shape of the product to be plated. There was no significant difference in the composition or thickness of the plating according to the shape of the separately plated products. Samples of different shapes collected from products with complex shapes showed no significant difference in composition depending on the shape, but significant differences in thickness. This difference is due to the difference in applied current density depending on the shape of the product.

Plating; Etching; Corrosion; Zn-Ni Alloy; Microstructure.

Graphene, a two-dimensional material, has shown great potential in a variety of applications including microelectronics, optoelectronics, and graphene-based batteries due to its excellent electronic conductivity. However, the production of large-area, high-quality graphene remains a challenge. In this study, we investigated graphene growth on electrolytic copper foil using thermochemical vapor deposition (TCVD) to achieve a similar level of quality to the cold-rolled copper substrate at a lower cost. The combined effects of pre-annealing time, graphenized temperature, and partial pressure of hydrogen on graphene coverage and domain size were analyzed and correlated with the roughness and crystallographic texture of the copper substrate. Our results show that controlling the crystallographic texture of copper substrates through annealing is an effective way to improve graphene growth properties, which will potentially lead to more efficient and cost-effective graphene production. At a hydrogen partial pressure that is disadvantageous in graphene growth, electrolytic copper had an average size of 8.039 ㎛², whereas rolled copper had a size of 19.092 ㎛², which was a large difference of 42.1% compared to rolled copper. However, at the proper hydrogen partial pressure, electrolytic copper had an average size of 30.279 ㎛² and rolled copper had a size of 32.378 ㎛², showing a much smaller difference of 93.5% than before. This observation suggests this potentially leads the way for more efficient and cost-effective graphene production.

TCVD; Copper; Graphene.

Eu³⁺-doped SnO₂ (SnO₂:Eu³⁺) phosphor thin films were grown on quartz substrates by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The deposition temperature was varied from 100 to 400 ℃. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed that all the thin films had two mixed phases of SnO₂ and Eu₂Sn₂O₇. The 880 nmthick SnO₂:Eu³⁺ thin film grown at 100 ℃ exhibited numerous pebble-shaped particles. The excitation spectra of SnO₂:Eu³⁺ thin films consisted of a strong and broad peak at 312 nm in the vicinity from 250 to 350 nm owing to the O^2-–Eu³⁺ charge transfer band, irrespective of deposition temperature. Upon 312 nm excitation, the SnO₂:Eu³⁺ thin films showed a main emission peak at 592 nm arising from the ⁵D₀→⁷F₁ transition and a weak 615 nm red band originating from the ⁵D₀→⁷F₂ transition of Eu³⁺. As the deposition temperature increased, the emission intensities of two bands increased rapidly, approached a maximum at 100 ℃, and then decreased slowly at 400 ℃. The thin film deposited at 200 ℃ exhibited a band gap energy of 3.81 eV and an average transmittance of 73.7% in the wavelength range of 500 – 1100 nm. These results indicate that the luminescent intensity of SnO₂:Eu³⁺ thin films can be controlled by changing the deposition temperature.

Thin Film; Transmittance; Photoluminescence.

Photocatalysts are advanced materials which accelerate the photoreaction by providing ordinary reactions with other pathways. The catalysts have various advantages, such as low-cost, low operating temperature and pressure, and long-term use. They are applied to environmental and energy field, including the air and water purification, water splitting for hydrogen production, sterilization and selfcleaning surfaces. However, commercial photocatalysts only absorb ultraviolet light between 100 and 400 nm of wavelength which comprises only 5% in sunlight due to the wide band gap. In addition, rapid recombination of electron-hole pairs reduces the photocatalytic performance. Recently, studies on blackening photocatalysts by laser, thermal, and plasma treatments have been conducted to enhance the absorption of visible light and photocatalytic activity. The disordered structures could yield mid-gap states and vacancies could cause charge carrier trapping. Herein, liquid phase plasma (LPP) is adopted to synthesize Ag-doped black ZnO for the utilization of visible-light. The physical and chemical characteristics of the synthesized photocatalysts are analyzed by SEM/EDS, XRD, XPS and the optical properties of them are investigated using UV/Vis DRS and PL analyses. Lastly, the photocatalytic activity was evaluated using methylene blue as a pollutant.

Liquid phase plasma; Photocatalysts; Ag-doped black ZnO; Visible light; Methylene blue.