In the microelectronics packaging industry, the adhesion strength between Cu and polyimide and the thermal stability are very important factors, as they influence the performance and reliability of the device. The three different buffer layers of Cr, 50%Cr-50%Ni, and Ni were adopted in a Cu/buffer layer/polyimide system and compared in terms of their adhesion strength and thermal stability at a temperature of 300˚C for 24hrs. A 90-degree peel test and XPS analysis revealed that both the peel strength and thermal stability decreased in the order of the Cr, 50%Cr-50%Ni and Ni buffer layer. The XPS analysis revealed that Cu can diffuse through the thin Ni buffer layer (200Å), resulting in a decrease in the adhesion strength when the Cu/buffer layer/polyimide multilayer is heat-treated at a temperature of 300˚C for 24hrs. In contrast, Cu did not diffuse through the Cr buffer layer under the same heat-treatment conditions.
In this report, the structural and optical properties of sol-gel derived MgxZn1-xO thin films upon changes in the composition and annealing temperature were investigated. The Mg2+ content and the annealing temperature were varied in the range of 0≤x≤0.35 and 400˚C≤T≤600˚C, respectively. The films exhibited a hexagonal wurtzite structure of a polycrystalline nature. The optical transmittance exceeded 85% and the optical band gap of the film was tuned as high as 3.84 eV at a value of x = 0.35 (annealed at 400˚C), which was evidently the maximum Mg2+ content for the single-phase polycrystalline MgxZn1-xO thin films prepared in this experiment. The optical band gap and photoluminescence emission were tailored to the higher energy side while maintaining crystallinity without a significant change of the lattice constant.
This study investigates GaAs dry etching in capacitively coupled BCl3/N2 plasma at a low vacuum pressure (>100 mTorr). The applied etch process parameters were a RIE chuck power ranging from 100~200W on the electrodes and a N2 composition ranging from 0~100% in BCl3/N2 plasma mixtures. After the etch process, the etch rates, RMS roughness and etch selectivity of the GaAs over a photoresist was investigated. Surface profilometry and field emission-scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze the etch characteristics of the GaAs substrate. It was found that the highest etch rate of GaAs was 0.4μm/min at a 20 % N2 composition in BCl3/N2 (i.e., 16 sccm BCl3/4 sccm N2). It was also noted that the etch rate of GaAs was 0.22μm/min at 20 sccm BCl3 (100 % BCl3). Therefore, there was a clear catalytic effect of N2 during the BCl3/N2 plasma etching process. The RMS roughness of GaAs after etching was very low (~3nm) when the percentage of N2 was 20 %. However, the surface roughness became rougher with higher percentages of N2.
Density functional theory was utilized to investigate the growth of an indium nanowire on a Si (001) buckled surface. A site between the edge of two Si dimers is most favorable when the first In atom is adsorbed on the surface at an adsorption energy level of 2.26 eV. The energy barriers for migration from other sites to the most favorable site are low. When the second In atom is adsorbed next to the first In atom to form an In dimer perpendicular to the Si dimer row, the adsorption energy is the highest among all adsorption sites. The third In atom prefers either of the sites next to the In dimer along the In dimer direction. The fourth In atom exhibited the same tendency showed by the second atom. The second and fourth In adsorption energy levels are higher than the first and third levels as the In atoms consume the third valence electron by forming In dimers. Therefore, the In nanowire grows perpendicular to the Si dimer row on the Si (001) surface, as it satisfies the bonding of the three valence electrons of the In atoms.
In this paper, non-treated ACF (Activated Carbon Fiber) /TiO2 and Zn-treated ACF/TiO2 were prepared. The prepared composites were characterized in terms of their structural crystallinity, elemental identification and photocatalytic activity. XRD patterns of the composites showed that the non-treated ACF/TiO2 composite contained only typical single and clear anatase forms while the Zn-treated ACF/TiO2 contained a mixed anatase and rutile phase with a unique ZnO peak. SEM results show that the titanium complex particles are uniformly distributed on and around the fiber and that the titanium complex particles are more regularly distributed on and around the ACF surfaces upon an increase of the ZnCl2 concentration. These EDX spectra show the presence of peaks from the C, O and Ti elements. Moreover, peaks of the Zn element were observed in the Zn-treated ACF/TiO2 composites. The prominent photocatalytic activity of the Zn-treated ACF/TiO2 can be attributed to the three different effects of photo-degradation: doping, absorptivity by an electron transfer, and adsorptivity of porous ACFs between the Zn-TiO2 and Zn-ACF.
Micro-scale copper bumps for build-up PCB were electroplated using a pulse-reverse method. The effects of the current density, pulse-reverse ratio and brightener concentration of the electroplating process were investigated and optimized for suitable performance. The electroplated micro-bumps were characterized using various analytical tools, including an optical microscope, a scanning electron microscope and an atomic force microscope. Surface analysis results showed that the electroplating uniformity was viable in a current density range of 1.4-3.0 A/dm2 at a pulse-reverse ratio of 1. To investigate the brightener concentration on the electroplating properties, the current density value was fixed at 3.0 A/dm2 as a dense microstructure was achieved at this current density. The brightener concentration was varied from 0.05 to 0.3 ml/L to study the effect of the concentration. The optimum concentration for micro-bump electroplating was found to be 0.05 ml/L based on the examination of the electroplating properties of the bump shape, roughness and grain size.
Lubricant-based nanofluids were prepared by dispersing carbon nanoparticles in gear oil. In this study, the effects of the particle size, shape and dispersity of the particles on the tribological properties of nanofluids were investigated. Dispersion experiments were conducted with a high-speed bead mill and an ultrasonic homogenizer, and the surfaces of the nanoparticles were simultaneously modified with several dispersants. The effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluids was measured by the transient hot-wire method, and the tribological behaviors of the nanofluids were also investigated with a disk-on-disk tribo-tester. The results of this study clearly showed that the combination of the nanoparticles, the deagglomeration process, the dispersant and the dispersion solvent is very important for the dispersity and tribological properties of nanofluids. Lubricant-based nanofluids showed relatively low thermal conductivity enhancement, but they were highly effective in decreasing the frictional heat that was generated. For nanofluids containing 0.1vol.% graphite particles in an oil lubricant, The friction coefficient in the boundary and fluid lubrication range was reduced to approximately 70% of the original value of pure lubricant.
Eu3+ -doped Y2O3 red phosphor was synthesized in a flux method using the chemicals Y2O3, Eu2O3,H3BO3 and BaCl2·2H2O. The effect of a flux addition on the preparation of Y2O3:Eu3+ red phosphor used asa cold cathode fluorescence lamp was investigated. H3BO3 and BaCl2·2H2O fluxes were used due to theirdifferent melting points. The crystallinity, thermal properties, morphology, and emission characteristics weremeasured using XRD, TG-DTA, SEM, and a photo-excited spectrometer. Under UV excitation of 254nm, Eu2O33.7mol% doped Y2O3 exhibited a strong narrow-band red emission, peaking at 612nm. From this result, thephosphor synthesized by firing Y2O3 with 3.7mol% of Eu2O3, 0.25mol% of H3BO3 and 0.5mol% of BaCl2·2H2Ofluxes at 1400oC for 2 hours had a larger particle size of 4µm on average compared to the phosphor of theH3BO3 flux alone. In addition, a phosphor synthesized by the two fluxes together had a rounder corner shape,which led to the maximum emission intensity.
In chemistry, the study of sonochemistry is concerned with understanding the effect of sonic waves and wave properties on chemical systems. In the area of chemical kinetics, it has been observed that ultrasound can greatly enhance chemical reactivity in a number of systems by as much as a million-fold. Nano-technology is a super microscopic technology in which structures of 100 nanometers or smaller can be investigated. This technology has been used to develop TiO2 materials and TiO2 devices of that size. Thus far, electrochemistry methods and photochemistry methods have generally been used to create TiO2 nano-size particles. However, these methods are complicated and create pollutants as a by-product. In the present study, nano-scale silver particles (5 nm) were prepared in a sonochemistry method. Sonochemistry deals with mechanical energy that is provided by the collapse of cavitation bubbles that form in solutions during exposure to ultrasound. TiO2 powders 25 nm in size doped with Ag were formed using an ultrasonic sound technique. The experimental results showed the high possibility of removing pollution through the action of a photocatalyst. This powder synthesis technique can be considered as an environmentally friendly powder-forming processing owing to its energy saving characteristics.
The effects of post-CMP cleaning on the chemical and galvanic corrosion of copper (Cu) and titanium(Ti) were studied in patterned silicon (Si) wafers. First, variation of the corrosion rate was investigated as afunction of the concentration of citric acid that was included in both the CMP slurry and the post-CMP solution.The open circuit potential (OCP) of Cu decreased as the citric acid concentration increased. In contrast withCu, the OCP of titanium (Ti) increased as this concentration increased. The gap in the OCP between Cu andTi increased as citric acid concentration increased, which increased the galvanic corrosion rate between Cu andTi. The corrosion rates of Cu showed a linear relationship with the concentrations of citric acid. Second, theeffect of Triton X-100®, a nonionic surfactant, in a post-CMP solution on the electrochemical characteristics ofthe specimens was also investigated. The OCP of Cu decreased as the surfactant concentration increased. Incontrast with Cu, the OCP of Ti increased greatly as this concentration increased. Given that Triton X-100®changes its micelle structure according to its concentration in the solution, the corrosion rate of eachconcentration was tested.