Various surface colors are predicted and implemented using the interference color generated by controlling the thickness of nano-level diamond like carbon (DLC) thin film. Samples having thicknesses of up to 385 nm and various interference colors are prepared using a single crystal silicon (100) substrate with changing processing times at low temperature by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The thickness, surface roughness, color, phases, and anti-scratch performance under each condition are analyzed using a scanning electron microscope, colorimeter, micro-Raman device, and scratch tester. Coating with the same uniformity as the surface roughness of the substrate is possible over the entire experimental thickness range, and more than five different colors are implemented at this time. The color matched with the color predicted by the model, assuming only the reflection mode of the thin film. All the DLC thin films show constant D/G peak fraction without significant change, and have anti-scratch values of about 19 N. The results indicate the possibility that nano-level DLC thin films with various interference colors can be applied to exterior materials of actual mobile devices.

The properties of 18 K red gold solder alloys were investigated by changing the content of In up to 10.0 wt% in order to replace the hazardous Cd element. Cupellation and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to check the composition of each alloy, and FE-SEM and UV-VIS-NIR-Colormeter were employed for microstructure and color characterization. The melting temperature, hardness, and wetting angle of the samples were determined by TGA-DTA, the Vickers hardness tester, and the Wetting angle tester. The cupellation result confirmed that all the samples had 18K above 75.0wt%-Au. EDS results showed that Cu and In elements were alloyed with the intended composition without segregation. The microstructure results showed that the amount of In increased, and the grain size became smaller. The color analysis revealed that the proposed solders up to 10.0 wt% In showed a color similar to the reference 18 K substrate like the 10.0 wt% Cd solder with a color difference of less than 7.50. TGA-DTA results confirmed that when more than 5.0 wt% of In was added, the melting temperature decreased enough for the soldering process. The Vickers hardness result revealed that more than 5.0 wt% In solder alloys had greater hardness than 10.0 wt% Cd solder, which suggested that it was more favorable in making a wire type solder. Moreover, all the In solders showed a lower wetting angle than the 10.0 wt% Cd solder. Our results suggested that the In alloyed 18 K red gold solders might replace the conventional 10.0 wt% Cd solder with appropriate properties for red gold jewelry soldering.

Using a customized diffusion bonder, we executed diffusion bonding for ring shaped white gold and red gold samples (inner, outer diameter, and thickness were 15.7, 18.7, and 3.0 mm, respectively) at a temperature of 780 °C and applied pressure of 2300 N in a vacuum of 5 × 10−2 torr for 180 seconds. Optical microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to investigate the microstructure and compositional changes. The mechanical properties were confirmed by Vickers hardness and shear strength tests. Optical microscopy and FE-SEM confirmed the uniform bonding interface, which was without defects such as micro pores. EDS mapping analysis confirmed that each gold alloy was 14K with the intended composition; Ni and Cu was included as coloring metals in the white and red gold alloys, respectively. The effective diffusion coefficient was estimated based on EDS line scanning. Individual values of Ni and Cu were 5.0 × 10−8 cm2/s and 8.9 × 10−8 cm2/s, respectively. These values were as large as those of the melting points due to the accelerated diffusion in this customized diffusion bonder. Vickers hardness results showed that the hardness values of white gold and red gold were 127.83 and 103.04, respectively, due to solid solution strengthening. In addition, the value at the interface indicated no formation of intermetallic compound around the bonding interface. From the shear strength test, the sample was found not to be destroyed at up to 100,000 gf due to the high bonding strength. Therefore, these results confirm the successful diffusion bonding of 14K white-red golds with a diffusion bonder at a low temperature of 780 °C and a short processing time of 180 seconds.

In order to replace 14K white gold alloys, the properties of 5K white gold alloys (Au20-Ag80) were investigated by changing the contents of In (0.0-10.0 wt%). Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used to determine the precise content of alloys. Properties of the alloys such as hardness, melting point, color difference, and corrosion resistance were determined using Vickers Hardness test, TGA-DTA, UV-VIS-NIR-colorimetry, and salt-spray tests, respectively. Wetting angle analysis was performed to determine the wettability of the alloys on plaster. The results of the EDS analysis confirmed that the Au-Ag-In alloys had been fabricated with the intended composition. The results of the Vickers hardness test revealed that each Au-Ag-In alloy had higher mechanical hardness than that of 14K white gold. TGA-DTA analysis showed that the melting point decreased with an increase in the In content. In particular, the alloy containing 10.0 wt% In showed a lower melting temperature (> 70 °C) than the other alloys, which implied that alloys containing 10.0 wt% In can be used as soldering materials for Au-Ag-In alloys. Color difference analysis also revealed that all the Au-Ag-In alloys showed a color difference of less than 6.51 with respect to 14K white gold, which implied a white metallic color. A 72-h salt-spray test confirmed that the Au-Ag- In alloys showed better corrosion resistance than 14K white gold alloys. All Au-Ag-In alloys showed wetting angle similar to that of 14K white gold alloys. It was observed that the 10.0 wt% In alloy had a very small wetting angle, further confirming it as a good soldering material for white metals. Our results show that white 5K Au-Ag-In alloys with appropriate properties might be successful substitutes for 14K white gold alloys.

The cobalt silicides were investigated for employment as a catalytic layer for a DSSC. Using an E-gun evaporation process, we prepared a sample of 100 nm-thick cobalt on a p-type Si (100) wafer. To form cobalt silicides, the samples were annealed at temperatures of 300 oC, 500 oC, and 700 oC for 30 minutes in a vacuum. Four-point probe, XRD, FE-SEM, and CV analyses were used to determine the sheet resistance, phase, microstructure, and catalytic activity of the cobalt silicides. To confirm the corrosion stability, we also checked the microstructure change of the cobalt silicides after dipping into iodide electrolyte. Through the sheet resistance and XRD results, we determined that Co2Si, CoSi, and CoSi2 were formed successfully by annealing at 300 oC, 500 oC, and 700 oC, respectively. The microstructure analysis results showed that all the cobalt silicides were formed uniformly, and CoSi and CoSi2 layers were very stable even after dipping in the iodide electrolyte. The CV result showed that CoSi and CoSi2 exhibit catalytic activities 67 % and 54 % that of Pt. Our results for Co2Si, CoSi, and CoSi2 revealed that CoSi and CoSi2 could be employed as catalyst for a DSSC.

To alloy high melting point elements such as boron, ruthenium, and iridium with copper, heat treatment was performed using metal oxides of B2O3, RuO2, and IrO2 at the temperature of 1200 oC in vacuum for 30 minutes. The microstructure analysis of the alloyed sample was confirmed using an optical microscope and FE-SEM. Hardness and trace element analyses were performed using Vickers hardness and WD-XRF, respectively. Diffusion profile analysis was performed using D-SIMS. From the microstructure analysis results, crystal grains were found to have formed with sizes of 2.97 mm. For the copper alloys formed using metal oxides of B2O3, RuO2, and IrO2 the sizes of the crystal grains were 1.24, 1.77, and 2.23 mm, respectively, while these sizes were smaller than pure copper. From the Vickers hardness results, the hardness of the Ir-copper alloy was found to have increased by a maximum of 2.2 times compared to pure copper. From the trace element analysis, the copper alloy was fabricated with the expected composition. From the diffusion profile analysis results, it can be seen that 0.059 wt%, 0.030 wt%, and 0.114 wt% of B, Ru, and Ir, respectively, were alloyed in the copper, and it led to change the hardness. Therefore, we verified that alloying of high melting point elements is possible at the low temperature of 1200 oC.

We prepared 8 samples of non-silver and silver-added master alloys containing silicon to confirm the existence of nickel-silicides. We then prepared products made of 14K and 18K white gold by using the prepared master alloys containing 0.25, 0.35, and 0.50 wt% silicon to check for nickel release. We then employed the EN 1811 testing standard to investigate the nickel release of the white gold products, and we also confirmed the color of the white gold products with an UV-VISNIR- color meter. We observed NiSix residue in all master alloys containing more than 0.50 wt% Si with EDS-nitric acid etching. For the white gold products, we could not confirm the existence of NiSix through XRD after aqua regia etching. In the EN 1811 test, only the white gold products with 0.25 wt% silicon master alloys successfully passed the nickel release regulations. Moreover, we confirmed that our white gold products showed excellent Lab indices as compared to those of commercial white gold ones, and the silver-added master alloys offered a larger L index. Our results indicate that employing 0.25 wt% silicon master alloys might be suitable for white gold products without nickel-silicide defects and nickel release problems.

We fabricated thermally evaporated 30 nm-Ni/(20 nm or 60 nm)a-Si:H/Si films to investigate the energy-saving property of silicides formed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at temperatures of 350˚C, 450˚C, 550˚C, and 600˚C for 40 seconds. A transmission electron microscope (TEM) and a high resolution X-ray diffractometer (HRXRD) were used to determine the cross-sectional microstructure and phase changes. A UVVIS-NIR and FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) were employed for near-IR and middle-IR absorbance. Through TEM and HRXRD analysis, for the nickel silicide formed at low temperatures below 450˚C, we confirmed columnar-shaped structures with thicknesses of 20~30 nm that had δ-Ni2Si phases. Regarding the nickel silicide formed at high temperatures above 550˚C, we confirmed that the nickel silicide had more than 50 nm-thick columnar-shaped structures with a Ni31Si12 phase. Through UV-VIS-NIR analysis, nickel silicide showed almost the same absorbance in the near IR region as well as ITO. However, in the middle IR region, the nickel silicides with low temperature showed similar absorbance to those from high temperature silicidation.

We fabricated 10 nm-TiO2 thin films for DSSC (dye sensitized solar cell) electrode application using ALD (atomic layer deposition) method at the low temperatures of 150˚ and 250˚. We characterized the crosssectional microstructure, phase, chemical binding energy, and absorption of the TiO2 using TEM, HRXRD, XPS, and UV-VIS-NIR, respectively. TEM analysis showed a 10 nm-thick flat and uniform TiO2 thin film regardless of the deposition temperatures. Through XPS analysis, it was found that the stoichiometric TiO2 phase was formed and confirmed by measuring main characteristic peaks of Ti 2p1, Ti 2p3, and O 1s indicating the binding energy status. Through UV-VIS-NIR analysis, ALD-TiO2 thin films were found to have a band gap of 3.4 eV resulting in the absorption edges at 360 nm, while the conventional TiO2 films had a band gap of 3.0 eV (rutile)~3.2 eV (anatase) with the absorption edges at 380 nm and 410 nm. Our results implied that the newly proposed nano-thick TiO2 film using an ALD process at 150˚ had almost the same properties as thsose of film at 250˚. Therefore, we confirmed that the ALD-processed TiO2 thin film with nano-thickness formed at low temperatures might be suitable for the electrode process of flexible devices.

Thermally evaporated 10 nm-Ni/1 nm-Au/(30 nm-poly)Si structures were fabricated in order to investigate the thermal stability of Au-inserted nickel silicide. The silicide samples underwent rapid thermal annealing at 300~1100˚C for 40 seconds. The sheet resistance was measured using a four-point probe. A scanning electron microscope and a transmission electron microscope were used to determine the cross-sectional structure and surface image. High-resolution X-ray diffraction and a scanning probe microscope were employed for the phase and surface roughness. According to sheet resistance and XRD analyses, nickel silicide with Au had no effect on widening the NiSi stabilization temperature region. Au-inserted nickel silicide on a single crystal silicon substrate showed nano-dots due to the preferred growth and a self-arranged agglomerate nano phase due to agglomeration. It was possible to tune the characteristic size of the agglomerate phase with silicidation temperatures. The nano-thick Au-insertion was shown to lead to self-arranged microstructures of nickel silicide.