We present a method of graphene synthesis with high thickness uniformity using the thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) technique; we demonstrate its application to a grid supporting membrane using transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation, particularly for nanomaterials that have smaller dimensions than the pitch of commercial grid mesh. Graphene was synthesized on electron-beam-evaporated Ni catalytic thin films. Methane and hydrogen gases were used as carbon feedstock and dilution gas, respectively. The effects of synthesis temperature and flow rate of feedstock on graphene structures have been investigated. The most effective condition for large area growth synthesis and high thickness uniformity was found to be 1000˚C and 5 sccm of methane. Among the various applications of the synthesized graphenes, their use as a supporting membrane of a TEM grid has been demonstrated; such a grid is useful for high resolution TEM imaging of nanoscale materials because it preserves the same focal plane over the whole grid mesh. After the graphene synthesis, we were able successfully to transfer the graphenes from the Ni substrates to the TEM grid without a polymeric mediator, so that we were able to preserve the clean surface of the as-synthesized graphene. Then, a drop of carbon nanotube (CNT) suspension was deposited onto the graphene-covered TEM grid. Finally, we performed high resolution TEM observation and obtained clear image of the carbon nanotubes, which were deposited on the graphene supporting membrane.

The defect sites on chemical vapor deposition grown graphene are investigated through the selective electrochemical deposition (SED) of Au nanoparticles. For SED of Au nanoparticles, an engineered potential pulse is applied to the working electrode versus the reference electrode, thereby highlighting the defect sites, which are more reactive relative to the pristine surface. Most defect sites decorated by Au nanoparticles are situated along the Cu grain boundaries, implying that the origin of the defects lies in the synthesis of uneven graphene layers on the rough Cu surface.

We analyzed the effect of etchants for metal catalysts in terms of the characteristics of resulting graphene films, such as sheet resistance, hall mobility, transmittance, and carrier concentration. We found the residue of FeCl3 etchant degraded the sheet resistance and mobility of graphene films. The residue was identified as an iron oxide containing a small amount of Cl through elemental analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. To remove this residue, we provide an alternative etching solution by introducing acidic etching solutions and their combinations (HNO3, HCl, FeCl3 + HCl, and FeCl3+HNO3). The combination of FeCl3 and acidic solutions (HCl and HNO3) resulted in more enhanced electrical properties than pure etchants, which is attributed to the elimination of left over etching residue, and a small amount of amorphous carbon debris after the etching process.

The a-Si:H/c-Si hetero-junction (HJ) solar cells have a variety of advantages in efficiency and fabrication processes. It has already demonstrated about 23% in R&D scale and more than 20% in commercial production. In order to further reduce the fabrication cost of HJ solar cells, fabrication processes should be simplified more than conventional methods which accompany separate processes of front and rear sides of the cells. In this study, we propose a simultaneous deposition of intrinsic thin a-Si:H layers on both sides of a wafer by dual hot wire CVD (HWVCD). In this system, wafers are located between tantalum wires, and a-Si:H layers are simultaneously deposited on both sides of the wafer. By using this scheme, we can reduce the process steps and time and improve the efficiency of HJ solar cells by removing surface contamination of the wafers. We achieved about 16% efficiency in HJ solar cells incorporating intrinsic a-Si:H buffers by dual HWCVD and p/n layers by PECVD.

Synthesis of carbon fibers from cotton fiber by pyrolysis process has been described. Synthesis parameters are optimized using Taguchi optimization technique. Synthesized carbon fibers are used for studying hydrogen adsorption capacity using Seivert's apparatus. Transmission electron microscopy analysis and X-ray diffraction of carbon fiber from cotton suggested it to be very transparent type material possessing graphitic nature. Carbon synthesized from cotton fibers under the conditions predicted by Taguchi optimization methodology (no treatment of cotton fiber prior to pyrolysis, temperature of pyrolysis 800℃, Argon as carrier gas and paralyzing time for 2 h) exhibited 7.32 wt% hydrogen adsorption capacity.

TiO2 nanowires were self-catalytically synthesized on bare Si(100) substrates using metallorganic chemical vapor deposition. The nanowire formation was critically affected by growth temperature. The TiO2 nanowires were grown at a high density on Si(100) at 510˚C, which is near the complete decomposition temperature (527˚C) of the Ti precursor (Ti(O-iPr)2(dpm)2). At 470˚C, only very thin (< 0.1μm) TiO2 film was formed because the Ti precursor was not completely decomposed. When growth temperature was increased to 550˚C and 670˚C, the nanowire formation was also significantly suppressed. A vaporsolid (V-S) growth mechanism excluding a liquid phase appeared to control the nanowire formation. The TiO2 nanowire growth seemed to be activated by carbon, which was supplied by decomposition of the Ti precursor. The TiO2 nanowire density was increased with increased growth pressure in the range of 1.2 to 10 torr. In addition, the nanowire formation was enhanced by using Au and Pt catalysts, which seem to act as catalysts for oxidation. The nanowires consisted of well-aligned ~20-30 nm size rutile and anatase nanocrystallines. This MOCVD synthesis technique is unique and efficient to self-catalytically grow TiO2 nanowires, which hold significant promise for various photocatalysis and solar cell applications.

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.

Growth behavior of InGaN/GaN self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) was investigated with respect to different growth parameters in low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Locally formed examples of three dimensional InGaN islands were confirmed from the surface observation image with increasing indium source ratio and growth time. The InGaN/GaN QDs were formed in Stranski-Krastanow (SK) growth mode by the continuous supply of metalorganic (MO) sources, whereas they were formed in the Volmer-Weber (V-W) growth mode by the periodic interruption of the MO sources. High density InGaN QDs with 1~2nm height and 40~50nm diameter were formed by the S-K growth mode. Dome shape InGaN dots with 200~400nm diameter were formed by the V-W growth mode. InN content in InGaN QDs was estimated to be reduced with the increase of growth temperature. A strong peak between 420-460 nm (2.96-2.70 eV) was observed for the InGaN QDs grown by S-K growth mode in photoluminescence spectrum together with the GaN buffer layer peak at 362.2 nm (3.41 eV).

The properties of pyrolytic carbon (PyC) deposited from C2H2 and a mixture of C2H2/C3H6 on ZrO2 particles in a fluidized bed reactor were studied by adjusting the deposition temperature, reactant concentration, and the total gas flow rate. The effect of the deposition parameters on the properties of PyC was investigated by analyzing the microstructure and density change. The density could be varied from 1.0 g/cm3 to 2.2 g/cm3 by controlling the deposition parameters. The density decreased and the deposition rate increased as the deposition temperature and reactant concentration increased. The PyC density was largely dependent on the deposition rate irrespective of the type of the reactant gas used.

Polycrystalline germanium (Ge) thin films were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using tetra-allyl germanium [Ge(allyl)4], and germane (GeH4) as precursors. Ge thin films were grown on a TiN(50nm)/SiO2/Si substrate by varying the growth conditions of the reactive gas (H2), temperature (300-700˚C) and pressure (1-760Torr). H2 gas helps to remove carbon from Ge film for a Ge(allyl)4 precursor but not for a GeH4 precursor. Ge(allyl)4 exhibits island growth (VW mode) characteristics under conditions of 760Torr at 400-700˚C, whereas GeH4 shows a layer growth pattern (FM mode) under conditions of 5Torr at 400-700˚C. The activation energies of the two precursors under optimized deposition conditions were 13.4 KJ/mol and 31.0 KJ/mol, respectively.

For improvement of wear resistance property of atmospheric thermal plasma sprayed molybdenum (Mo) coating, diamond deposition on the atmospheric plasma sprayed molybdenum coating by the combustion flame chemical vapor deposition (CFCVD) has been operated. In this study, to diminish the thermal damage of the substrate during operation, a thermal insulator was equipped between substrate and water-cooled substrate holder. Consequently, diamond particles could be created on the Mo coating without fracture and peeling off. From these results, it was found that this process had a high potential in order to improve wear resistance of thermal sprayed coating.

The synthetic behaviors of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by Fe/MgO catalysts were investigated in 0~90 wt.% range of MgO mixture ratios by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) process. The CNTs were synthesized with 40 minutes of synthetic time, and 923 K of synthetic temperature using 0.1 L/min of ethylene gas and 1.0 L/min of hydrogen gas as synthetic and carrier gas, respectively. As the increase of synthetic temperatures and times, the diameters of CNTs become thicker. The carbon yield showed in a parabolic curve as MgO content increased and the maximum carbon yield was obtained at 30 wt.% of MgO. There were no obvious changes in the diameters of CNTs respect to the change of MgO content. Fe/MgO CNTs showed good crystalinity by High Resolution Transmission Electron microscope (HR-TEM) analysis. The behaviors of Fe/MgO CNTs have a tendency of depending on synthetic time and temperature rather than MgO content.

The effect of compositions of Al2O3 in the mixed Fe/Al2O3 catalysts on the synthetic behaviors of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) process was investigated in wide range of the mixture ratios of support materials. CNTs were synthesized with Fe/Al2O3 catalysis under the condition of 40 min in synthetic time, and 923 K of synthetic temperature using C2H4 and H2 as synthetic and carrier gas, respectively. The carbon yield with the content of Al2O3 showed in a parabolic curve and the maximum carbon yield was 40 wt.% of Al2O3. As the mixture ratio of Al2O3 increased, decreasing tendency was observed in the diameter of CNTs. Specific surface areas of CNTs were increased with the increase of the mixture ratio of Al2O3.