Doo-In Kim

Effects of Cr interlayer on mechanical and tribological properties of Cr-Al-Si-N nanocomposite coating

Abstract Cr-Al-Si-N coatings were deposited on SUS 304 substrate by a hybrid coating system. A Cr interlayer was introduced between Cr-Al-Si-N coating and SUS 304 substrate to improve the coating adherence. The effects of Cr interlayer on the microhardness, adhesion, and tribological behavior of Cr-Al-Si-N coatings were systematically investigated. The results indicate that the microhardness of the Cr-Al-Si-N coatings gradually deceases with increasing thickness of Cr interlayers. The adhesion between Cr-Al-Si-N and SUS 304 substrate is improved by addition of the Cr interlayers. A peak critical load of ∼50 N is observed for the coating containing Cr interlayer of 60 nm as compared ∼ 20 N for the coating without Cr interlayer. The thicker Cr interlayers result in reduced critical load values. Moreover, the wear resistance of the Cr-Al-Si-N coatings is greatly enhanced by introducing the Cr interlayer with thickness of 60 nm in spite of the decreased microhardness. The friction coefficient of the coating system is also moderately reduced.

Nonlinear current-voltage behavior of the isolated resistive switching filamentary channels in CuC nanolayer

Copper-doped amorphous carbon film was prepared by radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering and their resistive switching behaviors were studied under a conductive atomic force microscope (cAFM). The repetitive scanning over the same area using cAFM with various bias voltages revealed that most of the isolated conductive paths were involved in resistive switching with asymmetric nonlinear I-V characteristics. The observed I-V behavior of nanoscale filamentary channels indicates that electron transfer mechanism of resistive switching filamentary channel in Pt/CuC/Pt is a tunneling between Cu filamentary channel and electrode through the solid electrolyte rather than conduction through fully connected Cu filamentary channel.

Influence of Nitrogen Flow Ratio on the Microstructure, Composition, and Mechanical Properties of DC Magnetron Sputtered Zr–B–O–N Films

Nanocrystalline ZrB2 film and nanocomposite Zr-B-O-N films were prepared by non-reactive as well as reactive magnetron sputtering techniques, respectively. By means of X-ray diffraction analysis, electron probe microanalysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy, the influence of nitrogen flow ratio on the film microstructure and characteristics were investigated systematically, including the deposition rate, chemical compositions, phase constituents, grain size, chemical bonding, as well as cross-sectional morphologies. Meanwhile, the hardness and adhesion of above films were also evaluated by micro-indentation method and a scratch tester. With increasing the nitrogen flow ratio, the deposition rate of above films decreased approximately linearly, whereas the contents of N and O in the films increased gradually and tended to saturation. Moreover, the film microstructure was also altered gradually from a fine columnar microstructure to a featureless glass-structure. As the nitrogen flow ratio was 11.7%, the Zr-B-O-N film possessed an typical nanocomposite structure and presented good mechanical properties. During the process of reactive sputtering of metal borides, the introduction of nitrogen can show a pronounced suppression of columnar grain growth and strong nanocomposite structure forming ability.

Microtomography with sandwich detectors for small-animal bone imaging

An x-ray radiographic system consisting of two detectors in tandem, or a sandwich detector, can produce dual-energy image from a single-shot exposure. Subtraction of two images obtained from the two detectors can produce a sharper image through an unsharp masking effect if the two images are formed at different spatial resolutions. This is indeed possible by incorporating different thicknesses of x-ray conversion layers in the detectors. In this study, we have developed a microtomography system with a sandwich detector in pursuit of high-resolution bone-enhanced small-animal imaging. The results show that the bone-enhanced images reconstructed from the dual-energy projection data provide higher visibility of bone details than the conventionally reconstructed images. The microtomography with the single-shot dual-energy sandwich detector will be useful for the high-resolution bone-enhanced small-animal imaging.

Syntheses and Properties of Quaternary Cr-Ti-B-N Coatings by a High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering Technique

Cr-Ti-B-N coatings were synthesized by a hybrid coating system combining high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) and DC pulse magnetron sputtering from a TiB₂ and a Cr target in argon-nitrogen environment, respectively. By changing the power applied on the Cr and TiB₂ cathodes, the Cr-Ti-B-N coatings with various Ti/Cr ratio and B content were deposited. The phase structure, microstructure and chemical compositions of the Cr-Ti-B-N coatings were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission scanning electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). With increase of Cr element in the coatings, the nanocomposite microstructure consisting of nano-sized (Cr, Ti) N crystallites and amorphous BN phase were obtained in the coatings. The microhardness of the Cr-Ti-B-N coatings exhibited a peak value of ~41 GPa for the CrTi 0.1 B 0.4 N 1.3 , and then decreased with further increase of Cr content in the coatings, and all the coatings exhibited low friction coefficient. The oxidation and corrosion behavior of the Cr-Ti- B-N coatings revealed better properties due to the formation of a nanocomposite microstructure.

Effect of relative vapor pressure on separation of nanoscale contact in atomic force microscope

The separation of nanoscale contact junction is investigated in an atomic force microscope at various relative vapor pressure conditions. Gradual increase in adhesion force is observed as the relative vapor pressure increases. However, the force-deformation behaviors of the water-mediated nanoscale contacts vary extensively with the relative vapor pressure conditions. At low relative vapor pressure (p/ps<0.06), water molecules play a role as a weak glue contributing solid extension. In contrast, at high relative vapor pressure (p/ps=0.8), the highest adhesion force is observed without indication of the solid extension. The meniscus collapses and forms a water column after solids separates at an intermediate relative vapor pressure condition (p/ps=0.4). The detailed analysis revealed the transition of adhesion mechanism from the solid-dominant adhesion to liquid-dominant adhesion as the relative vapor pressure increases.

Effect of hexagonal-BN on phase transformation of additive-free Si3N4/SiC nanocomposites prepared from amorphous precursor

Si3N4/SiC nanocomposites are well known and attractive for advanced ceramic applications due to excellent mechanical and thermal properties, which make them suitable for use in turbine engines, heat exchangers, and other sophisticated applications. However, without the presence of additives, the fabrication of Si3N4/SiC composites is difficult. The additives form a liquid phase during sintering and facilitate the densification of the composite. However, the additives present a drawback at high temperatures since they decrease the mechanical properties of the composites. Recently, Si3N4/SiC composites were fabricated via the polymer precursor route without any additives, using electric field assisted sintering (EFAS). In this study, fully densified Si3N4/SiC nanocomposites incorporating hexagonal-BN were successfully fabricated by hot pressing without any additives at 1700 °C for 2 h under vacuum at a pressure of 50 MPa (via the amorphous precursor route). Moreover, the incorporation of additives and h-BN is found to decrease the content of SiC. The phase transformation, densification, microstructure, and mechanical properties were discussed and presented.