Homogenous silica-coated samples with controlled silica thickness were synthesized by the reverse microemulsion method. First, 7 nm size cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were prepared by thermal decomposition methods. Hydrophobic cobalt ferrites were coated with controlled using polyoxyethylene(5)nonylphenylether (Igepal) as a surfactant, and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The well controlled thickness of the silica shell was found to depend on the reaction time and the amount of surfactant used during production. Thick shell was prepared by increasing reaction time and small amount of surfactant.

Unreported dielectrics based on the binary system of MgO-SiO2 were investigated as potential candidates for microwave dielectric applications, particularly those demanding a high fired density and high quality factors. Extensive dielectric compositions having different molar ratios of MgO to SiO2, such as 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, and 5:1, were prepared by conventional solid state reactions between MgO and SiO2. 1 mol% of V2O5 was added to aid sintering for improved densification. The dielectric compositions were found to consist of two distinguishable phases of Mg2SiO4 and MgO beyond the 2:1 compositional ratio, which determined the final physical and dielectric properties of the corresponding composite samples. The increase of the ratio of MgO to SiO2 tended to improve fired density and quality factor (Q) without increasing grain size. As a promising composition, the 5MgO.SiO2 sample sintered at 1400 ˚C exhibited a low dielectric constant of 7.9 and a high Q × f (frequency) value of ~99,600 at 13.7 GHz.

Graphene has been effectively synthesized on Ni/SiO2/Si substrates with CH4 (1 SCCM) diluted in Ar/H2(10%) (99 SCCM) by using an inductively-coupled plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Graphene was formed on the entire surface of the 500 nm thick Ni substrate even at 700 ˚C, although CH4 and Ar/H2 gas were supplied under plasma of 600 W for 1 second. The Raman spectrum showed typical graphene features with D, G, and 2D peaks at 1356, 1584, and 2710 cm-1, respectively. With increase of growth temperature to 900 ˚C, the ratios of the D band intensity to the G band intensity and the 2D band intensity to the G band intensity were increased and decreased, respectively. The results were strongly correlated to a rougher and coarser Ni surface due to the enhanced recrystallization process at higher temperatures. In contrast, highquality graphene was synthesized at 1000 ˚C on smooth and large Ni grains, which were formed by decreasing Ni deposition thickness to 300 nm.

The Charge Trap Flash (CTF) memory device is a replacement candidate for the NAND Flash device. In this study,Pt/Al2O3/La2O3/SiO2/Si multilayer structures with lanthanum oxide charge trap layers were fabricated for nonvolatile memorydevice applications. Aluminum oxide films were used as blocking oxides for low power consumption in program/erase operationsand reduced charge transports through blocking oxide layers. The thicknesses of SiO2 were from 30Å to 50Å. From the C-Vmeasurement, the largest memory window of 1.3V was obtained in the 40Å tunnel oxide specimen, and the 50Å tunnel oxidespecimen showed the smallest memory window. In the cycling test for reliability, the 30Å tunnel oxide sample showed an abruptmemory window reduction due to a high electric field of 9~10MV/cm through the tunnel oxide while the other samples showedless than a 10% loss of memory window for 104cycles of program/erase operation. The I-V measurement data of the capacitorstructures indicated leakage current values in the order of 10-4A/cm2 at 1V. These values are small enough to be used in non-volatile memory devices, and the sample with tunnel oxide formed at 850oC showed superior memory characteristics comparedto the sample with 750oC tunnel oxide due to higher concentration of trap sites at the interface region originating from the roughinterface.

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were synthesized on different substrates (bare Si and SiO2/Si substrate) to investigate dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications as counter electrode materials. The synthesis of MWNTs samples used identical conditions of a Fe catalyst created by thermal chemical vapor deposition at 900˚C. It was found that the diameter of the MWNTs on the Si substrate sample is approximately 5~10nm larger than that of a SiO2/Si substrate sample. Moreover, MWNTs on a Si substrate sample were well-crystallized in terms of their Raman spectrum. In addition, the MWNTs on Si substrate sample show an enhanced redox reaction, as observed through a smaller interface resistance and faster reaction rates in the EIS spectrum. The results show that DSSCs with a MWNT counter electrode on a bare Si substrate sample demonstrate energy conversion efficiency in excess of 1.4 %.

Silicon dioxide as gate dielectrics was grown at 400˚C on a polycrystalline Si substrate by inductively coupled plasma oxidation using a mixture of O2 and N2O to improve the performance of polycrystalline Si thin film transistors. In conventional high-temperature N2O annealing, nitrogen can be supplied to the Si/SiO2 interface because a NO molecule can diffuse through the oxide. However, it was found that nitrogen cannot be supplied to the Si/SiO2 interface by plasma oxidation as the N2O molecule is broken in the plasma and because a dense Si-N bond is formed at the SiO2 surface, preventing further diffusion of nitrogen into the oxide. Nitrogen was added to the Si/SiO2 interface by the plasma oxidation of mixtures of O2/N2O gas, leading to an enhancement of the field effect mobility of polycrystalline Si TFTs due to the reduction in the number of trap densities at the interface and at the Si grain boundaries due to nitrogen passivation.

The sintering behavior of zircon with silica was investigated. Zircon with 5 vol% of sedimentation SiO2 resulted in the apparent density of 4.45 g/cm3, the diametral tensile strength of 12.125 kgf/cm2, and the micro Vickers hardness of 1283 HV. The dissociation temperature and mechanical characteristics of the ZrSiO4 were changed with different kinds of SiO2. SiO2 addition prevented dissociation of ZrSiO4. Zircon with 5 vol% of sedimentation SiO2 and with 5 vol% of fused SiO2 resulted in increased diametral tensile strength and increased micro Vickers hardness by suppression of ZrSiO4 dissociation and low temperature liquid SiO2 formation. Zircon with fumed SiO2 and quartz SiO2 resulted in decreased diametral tensile strength and decreased micro Vickers hardness because of cristobalite and quartz phase formation and high temperature liquid SiO2 formation. Zircon with 10 vol% of SiO2 resulted in decreased diametral tensile strength and decreased micro Vickers hardness because of weak particle coupling due to excess formation of liquid SiO2.

Effect The effect of sintering additives (SiO2, Al2O3, Clay) on the mechanical characteristics of sintered zircon was investigated. 1 vol% of additives in zircon powder was was sintered at 120~1500˚C, the mechanical characteristics were measured, and microstructure analysis were was conducted. Al2O3 and clay additions increase the formation of monoclinic and tetragonal-ZrO2 formation. An addition of SiO2 addition suppressed the formation of tetragonal-ZrO2 formation., The A specimen sintered at 1400˚C showed the a density of 4.05 g/cm3 and the a microhardness of 1120 HV, respectively.

High-energy mechanical milling (HEMM) and sintering into Al-Mg alloy melt were employed tofabricate an Al alloy matrix composite reinforced with submicron and micron sized Al2O3 particles. Al-basedmetal matrix composite (MMC) reinforced with submicron and micron sized Al2O3 particles was successfullyfabricated by sintering at 1000oC for 2h into Al-Mg alloy melt, which used high energy mechanical milled Al-SiO2-CuO-ZnO composite powders. Submicron/micron-sized Al2O3 particles and eutectic Si were formed by in situdisplacement reaction between Al, SiO2, CuO, and ZnO during sintering for 2h into Al-Mg alloy melt and werehomogeneously distributed in the Al-Si-(Zn, Cu) matrix. The refined grains and homogeneously distributedsubmicron/micron-sized Al2O3 particles had good interfacial adhesive, which gives good wear resistance withhigher hardness.

ZnS- composite is normally used for sputtering target. In recent years, high sputtering power for higher deposition rate often causes crack formation of the target. Therefore the target material is required that the sintered target material should have high crack resistance, excellent strength and a homogeneous microstructure with high sintered density. In this study, raw ZnS and ZnS- powders prepared by a 3-D mixer or high energy ball-milling were successfully densified by spark plasma sintering, the effective densification method of hard-to-sinter materials in a short time. After sintering, the fracture toughness was measured by the indentation fracture (IF) method. Due to the effect of crack deflection by the residual stress occurred by the second phase of fine , the hardness and fracture toughness reached to 3.031 GPa and , respectively

Field emission display(FED) is actively investigated in view of the development of full color flat-panel display, which can replace some cathode-ray tube(CRT). Thus, the development of new phosphors appropriate for FED is urgently needed and has been actively investigated. In this work, SrTiO3:Pr3+ phosphor was prepared by sol-gel method and the coating was applied by sol-gel method combined with sonication on these phosphor's surface into diluted precursor solution. It was found that very fine particles of coating material were formed on phosphor's surface. The luminescent intensity of SrTiO3:Pr3+ phosphor coated with SiO2 and Al2O3 was considerably increased without any noticeable change in color chromaticity. The optimum concentration of coating material was found to be 1wt% and the optimum pH value of the solution was 10.