The effects of electron beam(EB) irradiation on the electrical and optical properties of InGaZnO(IGZO) thin films fabricated using a sol-gel process were investigated. As the EB dose increased, the electrical characteristic of the IGZO TFTs changed from semiconductor to conductor, and the threshold voltage values shifted to the negative direction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the O 1s core level showed that the relative area of oxygen vacancies increased from 14.68 to 19.08 % as the EB dose increased from 0 to 1.5 × 1016 electrons/cm2. In addition, spectroscopic ellipsometer analysis showed that the optical band gap varied from 3.39 to 3.46 eV with increasing EB dose. From the result of band alignment, it was confirmed that the Fermi level(EF) of the sample irradiated with 1.5 × 1016 electrons/cm2 was located at the closest position to the conduction band minimum(CBM) due to the increase of electron carrier concentration

Aluminum-oxide(Al2O3) thin films were deposited by electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition at room temperature using trimethylaluminum(TMA) as the Al source and O2 plasma as the oxidant. In order to compare our results with those obtained using the conventional thermal ALD method, Al2O3 films were also deposited with TMA and H2O as reactants at 280 oC. The chemical composition and microstructure of the as-deposited Al2O3 films were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photo-electric spectroscopy(XPS), atomic force microscopy(AFM) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Optical properties of the Al2O3 films were characterized using UV-vis and ellipsometry measurements. Electrical properties were characterized by capacitance-frequency and current-voltage measurements. Using the ECR method, a growth rate of 0.18 nm/cycle was achieved, which is much higher than the growth rate of 0.14 nm/cycle obtained using thermal ALD. Excellent dielectric and insulating properties were demonstrated for both Al2O3 films.

The aim of the work was to investigate the thermo-electrical properties of low cost and rapidly produced randomly oriented carbon/carbon (C/C) composite. The composite body was fabricated by combining the high-pressure hot-pressing (HP) method with the lowpressure impregnation thermosetting carbonization (ITC) method. After the ITC method step selected samples were graphitized at 3000°C. Detailed characterization of the samples’ physical properties and thermal properties, including thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, specific heat and coefficient of thermal expansion, was carried out. Additionally, direct current (DC) electrical conductivity in both the in-plane and through-plane directions was evaluated. The results indicated that after graphitization the specimens had excellent carbon purity (99.9 %) as compared to that after carbonization (98.1). The results further showed an increasing trend in thermal conductivity with temperature for the carbonized samples and a decreasing trend in thermal conductivity with temperature for graphitized samples. The influence of the thickness of the test specimen on the thermal conductivity was found to be negligible. Further, all of the specimens after graphitization displayed an enormous increase in electrical conductivity (from 190 to 565 and 595 to 1180 S/cm in the through-plane and in-plane directions, respectively).

The effect of electron beam (EB) irradiation on the electrical properties of Zn-Sn-O (ZTO) thin films fabricated using a sol-gel process was investigated. As the EB dose increased, the saturation mobility of ZTO thin film transistors (TFTs) was found to slightly decrease, and the subthreshold swing and on/off ratio degenerated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the O 1s core level showed that the relative area of oxygen vacancies (VO) increased from 10.35 to 12.56 % as the EB dose increased from 0 to 7.5 × 1016 electrons/cm2. Also, spectroscopic ellipsometry analysis showed that the optical band gap varied from 3.53 to 3.96 eV with increasing EB dose. From the results of the electrical property and XPS analyses of the ZTO TFTs, it was found that the electrical characteristic of the ZTO thin films changed from semiconductor to conductor with increasing EB dose. It is thought that the electrical property change is due to the formation of defect sites like oxygen vacancies.

This work focuses on the electrical conduction mechanism in a lead free (Na0.5K0.5NbO3 ; NKN) ceramics system with LiNbO3 content of approximately critical concentration x ≥ 0.2. Lead free (1-x)(Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 - x(LiNbO3), NKN-LNx (x = 0.1, 0.2) ceramics were synthesized by solid-state reaction method. Crystal structures are confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The electric-mechanical bond coefficient k p decreases and the phase transition temperature T c increases with increasing x content, as determined by dielectric and piezoelectric measurements. The value of the real dielectric constants ε' and kBTε'' showed anomalies around T c (462 oC in the NKN-LN0.1 and 500 oC in the NKN-LN0.2). For the ionic conduction of mobile ions, the activation energies are obtained as EI = 1.76 eV (NKN-LN0.1) and EI = 1.55 eV (NKN-LN0.2), above T c, and EII = 0.78 (NKNLN0.1) and EII = 0.81 (NKN-LN0.2) below T c. It is believed that the conduction mechanisms of NKN-LNx ceramics are related to ionic hopping conduction, which may arise mainly due to the jumping of Li+ ions.

Noncontact direct-printed conductive silver patterns with an enhanced electrical resistivity are fabricated using a silver ink with a mixture of silver nanoparticles and nanoplates. The microstructure and electrical resistivity of the silver pattern are systematically investigated as a function of the mixing ratio of the nanoparticles and nanoplates. The pattern, which is fabricated using a mixture with a mixing ratio of 3(nanoparticles):7(nanoplates) and sintered at 200oC shows a highly dense and well-sintered microstructure and has a resistivity of 7.60 μΩ·cm. This originates a mutual synergistic effect through a combination of the sinterability of the nanoparticles and the packing ability of the nanoplates. This is a conductive material that can be used to fabricate noncontact direct-printed conductive patterns with excellent electrical conductivity for various flexible electronics applications, including solar cells, displays, RFIDs, and sensors.

Using current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements, the electrical properties of Au and Cu Schottky contacts to n-Ge were comparatively investigated. Lower values of barrier height, ideality factor and series resistance were obtained for the Au contact as compared to the Cu contact. The values of capacitance showed strong dependence on the bias voltage and the frequency. The presence of an inversion layer at the interface might reduce the intercept voltage at the voltage axis, lowering the barrier height for C-V measurements, especially at lower frequencies. In addition, a higher interface state density was observed for the Au contact. The generation of sputter deposition-induced defects might occur more severely for the Au contact; these defects affected both the I-V and C-V characteristics.

Tin is one of the most promising anode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries with a high energy density. However, the commercialization of tin-based anodes is still hindered due to the large volume change (over 260%) upon lithiation/delithiation cycling. To solve the problem, many efforts have been focused on enhancing structural stability of tin particles in electrodes. In this work, we synthesize tin nano-powders with an amorphous carbon layer on the surface and surroundings of the powder by electrical wire explosion in alcohol-based liquid media at room temperature. The morphology and microstructures of the powders are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Xray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The electrochemical properties of the powder for use as an anode material for lithium-ion battery are evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and a galvanometric dischargecharge method. It is shown that the carbon-coated tin nano-powders prepared in hexanol media exhibit a high initial charge specific capacity of 902 mAh/g and a high capacity retention of 89% after 50 cycles.

Ti films were deposited on glass substrates under various preparation conditions in a chamber of two-facing-target type dc sputtering; after deposition, the electric resistivity values were measured using a conventional four-probe method. Crystallographic orientations and microstructures, including the texture and columnar structure, were also investigated for the Ti films. The morphological features, including the columnar structures and surface roughness, are well explained on the basis of Thornton’s zone model. The electric resistivity and the thermal coefficient of the resistivity vary with the sputtering gas pressure. The minimum value of resistivity was around 0.4 Pa for both the 0.5 μm and 3.0 μm thick films; the apparent tendencies are almost the same for the two films, with a small difference in resistivity because of the different film thicknesses. The films deposited at high gas pressures show higher resistivities. The maximum of TCR is also around 0.4 Pa, which is the same as that obtained from the relationship between the resistivity and the gas pressure. The lattice spacing also decreases with increasing sputtering gas pressure for both the 0.5 μm and 3.0 μm thick films. Because they are strongly related to the sputtering gas pressures for Ti films that have a crystallographic anisotropy that is different from cubic symmetry, these changes are well explained on the basis of the film microstructures. It is shown that resistivity measurement can serve as a promising monitor for microstructures in sputtered Ti films.

To increase the capacitance of an Al electrolytic capacitor, the anodic oxide film, Al2O3, was partly replaced by an Al2O3-ZrO2 (Al-Zr) composite film prepared by the vacuum infiltration method and anodization. The microstructure and composition of the prepared samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The coated and anodized samples showed multi-layer structures, which consisted of an inner Al hydrate layer, a middle Al- Zr composite layer, and an outer Al2O3 layer. The thickness of the coating layer could go up to 220 nm when the etched Al foil was coated 8 times. The electrical properties of the samples, such as specific capacitance, leakage current, and withstanding voltages, were also characterized after anodization at 100 V and 600 V. The capacitances of samples with ZrO2 coating were 36.3% and 27.5% higher than those of samples without ZrO2 coating when anodized at 100 V and 600 V, respectively.

The electrical transport properties of La0.5Sr0.5CrO3 below room temperatures were investigated by dielectric, dc resistivity, magnetic properties and thermoelectric power. Below TC, La0.5Sr0.5CrO3 contains a dielectric relaxation process in the tangent loss and electric modulus. The La0.5Sr0.5CrO3 involves the transition from high temperature thermal activated conduction process to low temperature one. The transition temperature corresponds well to the Curie point. The relaxation mechanism has been discussed in the frame of electric modulus spectra. The scaling behavior of the modulus suggests that the relaxation mechanism describes the same mechanism at various temperatures. The low temperature conduction and relaxation takes place in the ferromagnetic phase. The ferromagnetic state in La0.5Sr0.5CrO3 indicates that the electron - magnon interaction occurs, and drives the carriers towards localization in tandem with the electron - lattice interaction even at temperature above the Curie temperature.

Carbon composites for flexible fiber heating element were examined to improve the electrical conductivity in this study. Carbon composites using carbon black, denka black, super-c, super-p with/without CNF or dispersant such as BCS03 and Sikament-nn were prepared. Carbon composite slurry was coated on plane film and yarns(cotton, polyester) and the performances of prepared heating materials were investigated by checking electrical surface resistance, adhesion strength. The plane heating element using carbon black under natural drying condition(25℃) had better physical properties such as surface resistance(185.3 Ohm/sq) and adhesion strength(above 90%) than those of other carbon composite heating elements. From these results, polyester heating element coated by carbon black showed better electrical line resistance(33.2 kOhm/cm) than cotton heating element. Then, it was found that polyester heating element coated by carbon black with CNF(3 wt%) and BCS03(1 wt%) appeared best properties(0.604 kOhm/cm).

Ti alloys are extensively used in high-technology application because of their strength, oxidation resistance at high temperature. However, Ti alloys tend to be classified very difficult to cut material. In this paper, The powder synthesis, spark plasma sintering (SPS), bulk material properties such as electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity are systematically examined on Ti2AlN and Ti2AlC materials having most light-weight and oxidation resistance among the MAX phases. The bulk samples mainly consisted of Ti2AlN and Ti2AlC materials with density close to theoretical value were synthesized by a SPS method. Machining characteristics such as machining time, surface quality are analyzed with measurement of voltage and current waveform according to machining condition of micro-electrical discharge machining with micro-channel shape.

Sb-doped SnO2(ATO) thin films were prepared using electrospinning. To investigate the optimum properties of the electrospun ATO thin films, the deposition numbers of the ATO nanofibers(NFs) were controlled to levels of 1, 2, 4, and 6. Together with the different levels of deposition number, the structural, chemical, morphological, electrical, and optical properties of the nanofibers were investigated. As the deposition number of the ATO NFs increased, the thickness of the ATO thin films increased and the film surfaces were gradually densified, which affected the electrical properties of the ATO thin films. 6 levels of the ATO thin film exhibited superior electrical properties due to the improved carrier concentration and Hall mobility resulting from the increased thickness and surface densification. Also, the thickness of the samples had an effect on the optical properties of the ATO thin films. The ATO thin films with 6 deposited levels displayed the lowest transmittance and highest haze. Therefore, the figure of merit(FOM) considering the electrical and optical properties showed the best value for ATO thin films with 4 deposited levels.

Fluorine-doped SnO2 (FTO) thin film/Ag nanowire (NW) double layers were fabricated by means of spin coating and ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. To investigate the optimum thickness of the FTO thin films when used as protection layer for Ag NWs, the deposition time of the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis process was varied at 0, 1, 3, 5, or 10 min. The structural, chemical, morphological, electrical, and optical properties of the double layers were examined using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, the Hall effect measurement system, and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Although pure Ag NWs formed isolated droplet-shaped Ag particles at an annealing temperature of 300 oC, Ag NWs covered by FTO thin films maintained their high-aspect-ratio morphology. As the deposition time of the FTO thin films increased, the electrical and optical properties of the double layers degraded gradually. Therefore, the double layer fabricated with FTO thin films deposited for 1 min exhibited superb sheet resistance (~14.9Ω/□), high optical transmittance (~88.6 %), the best FOM (~19.9 × 10−3 Ω−1), and excellent thermal stability at an annealing temperature of 300 oC owing to the good morphology maintenance of the Ag NWs covered by FTO thin films.

In this study, in order to improve the thermal and electrical properties of epoxy/graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), surface modifications of GNPs are conducted using silane coupling agents. Three silane coupling agents, i.e. 2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)-ethyltrimethoxysilane (ETMOS), 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane (GPTS), and 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS), were used. Among theses, GPTMS exhibits the best modification performance for fabricating GNP-incorporated epoxy composites. The effect of the silanization is evaluated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The electrical and thermal conductivities are characterized. The epoxy/silanized GNPs exhibits higher thermal and electrical properties than the epoxy/raw GNPs due to the improved dispersion state of the GNPs in the epoxy matrix. The TEM microphotographs and Turbiscan data demonstrate that the silane molecules grafted onto the GNP surface improve the GNP dispersion in the epoxy.

The effect of sintering temperature on the microstructure, electrical and dielectric properties of (V, Mn, Co, Dy, Bi)- codoped zinc oxide ceramics was investigated in this study. An increase in the sintering temperature increased the average grain size from 4.7 to 10.4 μm and decreased the sintered density from 5.47 to 5.37 g/cm3. As the sintering temperature increased, the breakdown field decreased greatly from 6027 to 1659 V/cm. The ceramics sintered at 900 oC were characterized by the highest nonlinear coefficient (36.2) and the lowest low leakage current density (36.4 μA/cm2). When the sintering temperature increased, the donor concentration of the semiconducting grain increased from 2.49 × 1017 to 6.16 × 1017/cm3, and the density of interface state increased from 1.34 × 1012 to 1.99 × 1012/cm2. The dielectric constant increased greatly from 412.3 to 1234.8 with increasing sintering temperature.

A zinc oxide (ZnO) hybrid structure was successfully fabricated on a glass substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). In-situ growth of a multi-dimensional ZnO hybrid structure was achieved by adjusting the growth temperature to determine the morphologies of either film or nanorods without any catalysts such as Au, Cu, Co, or Sn. The ZnO hybrid structure was composed of one-dimensional (1D) nanorods grown continuously on the two-dimensional (2D) ZnO film. The ZnO film of 2D mode was grown at a relatively low temperature, whereas the ZnO nanorods of 1D mode were grown at a higher temperature. The change of the morphologies of these materials led to improvements of the electrical and optical properties. The ZnO hybrid structure was characterized using various analytical tools. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the surface morphology of the nanorods, which had grown well on the thin film. The structural characteristics of the polycrystalline ZnO hybrid grown on amorphous glass substrate were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Hall-effect measurement and a four-point probe were used to characterize the electrical properties. The hybrid structure was shown to be very effective at improving the electrical and the optical properties, decreasing the sheet resistance and the reflectance, and increasing the transmittance via refractive index (RI) engineering. The ZnO hybrid structure grown by MOCVD is very promising for opto-electronic devices as Photoconductive UV Detectors, anti-reflection coatings (ARC), and transparent conductive oxides (TCO).

Pt nanopowder-dispersed SiO2 (SOP) films were prepared by RF co-sputtering method using Pt and SiO2 targets in Ar atmosphere. The growth rate and Pt content in the film were controlled by means of manipulating the RF power of Pt target while that of SiO2 was fixed. The roughness of the film was increased with increasing the power of Pt target, which was mainly due to the increment of the size and planar density of Pt nanopowder. It was revealed that SOP film formed at 10, 15, 20 W of Pt power contained 2.3, 2.7, and 3.0 nm of spherical Pt nanopowder, respectively. Electrical conductivity of SOP films was exponentially increased with increasing Pt power as one can expect. Interestingly, conductivity of SOP films from Hall effect measurement was greater than that from DC I-V measurement, which was explained by the significant increase of electron density.