Porous Cu-14 wt% Co with aligned pores is produced by a freeze drying and sintering process. Unidirectional freezing of camphene slurry with CuO-Co3O4 powders is conducted, and pores in the frozen specimens are generated by sublimation of the camphene crystals. The dried bodies are hydrogen-reduced at 500oC and sintered at 800oC for 1 h. The reduction behavior of the CuO-Co3O4 powder mixture is analyzed using a temperature-programmed reduction method in an Ar-10% H2 atmosphere. The sintered bodies show large and aligned parallel pores in the camphene growth direction. In addition, small pores are distributed around the internal walls of the large pores. The size and fraction of the pores decrease as the amount of solid powder added to the slurry increases. The change in pore characteristics according to the amount of the mixed powder is interpreted to be due to the rearrangement and accumulation behavior of the solid particles in the freezing process of the slurry.

In this study, porous Mo-5 wt% Cu with unidirectionally aligned pores is prepared by freeze drying of camphene slurry with MoO3-CuO powders. Unidirectional freezing of camphene slurry with dispersion stability is conducted at -25℃, and pores in the frozen specimens are generated by sublimation of the camphene crystals. The green bodies are hydrogen-reduced at 750℃ and sintered at 1000℃ for 1 h. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that MoO3- CuO composite powders are completely converted to a Mo-and-Cu phase without any reaction phases by hydrogen reduction. The sintered bodies with the Mo-Cu phase show large and aligned parallel pores to the camphene growth direction as well as small pores in the internal walls of large pores. The pore size and porosity decrease with increasing composite powder content from 5 to 10 vol%. The change of pore characteristics is explained by the degree of powder rearrangement in slurry and the accumulation behavior of powders in the interdendritic spaces of solidified camphene.

We report on the fabrication and photoelectrochemical(PEC) properties of a Cu2O thin film/ZnO nanorod array oxide p-n heterojunction structure with ZnO nanorods embedded in Cu2O thin film as an efficient photoelectrode for solardriven water splitting. A vertically oriented n-type ZnO nanorod array was first prepared on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate via a seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method and then a p-type Cu2O thin film was directly electrodeposited onto the vertically oriented ZnO nanorods array to form an oxide semiconductor heterostructure. The crystalline phases and morphologies of the heterojunction materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy as well as Raman scattering. The PEC properties of the fabricated Cu2O/ZnO p-n heterojunction photoelectrode were evaluated by photocurrent conversion efficiency measurements under white light illumination. From the observed PEC current density versus voltage (J-V) behavior, the Cu2O/ZnO photoelectrode was found to exhibit a negligible dark current and high photocurrent density, e.g., 0.77 mA/cm2 at 0.5 V vs Hg/HgCl2 in a 1 mM Na2SO4 electrolyte, revealing an effective operation of the oxide heterostructure. In particular, a significant PEC performance was observed even at an applied bias of 0 V vs Hg/ HgCl2, which made the device self-powered. The observed PEC performance was attributed to some synergistic effect of the p-n bilayer heterostructure on the formation of a built-in potential, including the light absorption and separation processes of photoinduced charge carriers.

Freeze drying of a porous Cu-Sn alloy with unidirectionally aligned pore channels was accomplished by using a composite powder of CuO-SnO2 and camphene. Camphene slurries with CuO-SnO2 content of 3, 5 and 10 vol% were prepared by mixing with a small amount of dispersant at 50˚C. Freezing of a slurry was done at -25˚C while the growth direction of the camphene was unidirectionally controlled. Pores were generated subsequently by sublimation of the camphene during drying in air for 48 h. The green bodies were hydrogen-reduced at 650˚C and then were sintered at 650˚C and 750˚C for 1 h. XRD analysis revealed that the CuO-SnO2 powder was completely converted to Cu-Sn alloy without any reaction phases. The sintered samples showed large pores with an average size of above 100μm which were aligned parallel to the camphene growth direction. Also, the internal walls of the large pores had relatively small pores. The size of the large pores decreased with increasing CuO-SnO2 content due to the change of the degree of powder rearrangement in the slurry. The size of the small pores decreased with increase of the sintering temperature from 650˚C to 750˚C, while that of the large pores was unchanged. These results suggest that a porous alloy body with aligned large pores can be fabricated by a freeze-drying and hydrogen reduction process using oxide powders.

We investigated cleaning effects using NH4OH solution on the surface of Cu film. A 20 nm Cu film was deposited on Ti / p-Si (100) by sputter deposition and was exposed to air for growth of the native Cu oxide. In order to remove the Cu native oxide, an NH4OH cleaning process with and without TS-40A pre-treatment was carried out. After the NH4OH cleaning without TS-40A pretreatment, the sheet resistance Rs of the Cu film and the surface morphology changed slightly(δRs:~10mΩ/sq.). On the other hand, after NH4OH cleaning with TS-40A pretreatment, the Rs of the Cu film changed abruptly (δRs:till~700mΩ/sq.); in addition, cracks showed on the surface of the Cu film. According to XPS results, Si ingredient was detected on the surface of all Cu films pretreated with TS-40A. This Si ingredient(a kind of silicate) may result from the TS-40A solution, because sodium metasilicate is included in TS-40A as an alkaline degreasing agent. Finally, we found that the NH4OH cleaning process without pretreatment using an alkaline cleanser containing a silicate ingredient is more useful at removing Cu oxides on Cu film. In addition, we found that in the NH4OH cleaning process, an alkaline cleanser like Metex TS-40A, containing sodium metasilicate, can cause cracks on the surface of Cu film.

The alumina dispersion-strengthened (DS) C15715 Cu alloy fabricated by a powder metallurgy route was annealed at temperatures ranging from in the air and in vacuum. The effect of the annealing on microstructural stability and room-temperature mechanical properties of the alloy was investigated. The microstructure of the cold rolled OS alloy remained stable until the annealing at in the air and in vacuum. No recrystallization of original grains occurred, but the dislocation density decreased and newly formed subgrains were observed. The alloy annealed at in the air experienced recrystallization and grain growth took place, however annealing in vacuum at did not cause the microstructural change. The mechanical property of the alloy was changed slightly with the annealing if the microstructure remained stable. However, the strength of the specimen that was recrystallized decreased drastically.

O2plasma와 H(hfac)을 이용한 Cu 박막의 건식 식각을 조사하였다. 휘발성이 큰 Cu(hfac)2와 H2O를 탈착시키기 위하여 O2 Plasma를 이용한 Cu 박막의 산화와 생성된 Cu 산화막을 H(hfac)과의 반응으로 제거하는 공정으로 식각을 수행하였다. Cu 박막의 식각율은 50-700 /min의 범위를 보였으며, 기판온도, H(hfac)/O2 유량비, plasma power에 따라 변하였다. Cu 박막의 식각율은 기판온도 215˚C보다 높은 온도구간에서 RF power가 증가함에 따라 증가하였고, 산화 공정과 H (hfac)과의 반응이 균형을 이루는 최적의 H (hfac)/O2 유량비는 1:1임을 확인하였다. Ti mask를 사용한 Cu Patterning은 유량비 1 : 1, 기판온도 250˚C에서 실시하였고, 30˚외 taper slope를 갖는 등방성 etching profile을 얻을 수 있었다. Taper angle을 갖는 Cu 건식 patterning은 고해상도의 대면적 thin film transistor liquid-crystal(TFT-LCDs)를 위래 필요한 것으로써 기판온도, RF power, 유량비를 조절한 one-step 공정으로부터 성공적으로 얻을 수 있었다.

The synthesis of W-l5wt%Cu nanocomposite powder by hydrogen reduction of ball milled W-Cu oxide mixture was investigated in terms of powder characteristics such as particle size, mixing homogeneity and micropore structure. It is found that the micropores in the ball milled oxide (2-50 nm in size) act as an effective removal path of water vapor, followed by the formation of dry atmosphere at reaction zone. Such thermodynamic condition enhances the nucleation of W phase but suppresses the growth process, being in favor of the formation of W nanoparticles (about 21 nm in size). In addition, the superior mixing homogeneity of starting oxide mixture turned out to Play a significant role for forming extraordinary chemical homogeneity of W-l5wt%Cu nanocomposite powder.