Pulsed Laser Ablation Characteristics of Light-Absorbing Mask Layer Based on Coating Thicknesses under Laser Lift-Off Patterning Process.

Thin transparent oxide layers are typically patterned for use in electronic products including semiconductors, displays, and solar cells for applications such as transparent electrodes, insulating films, and encapsulation films. Conventional patterning methods have traditionally been used in photolithography and lift-off processes. Photolithography employs the wet development process, which has disadvantages such as potential undercut effects, swelling, chemical contamination, and high process costs. On the other hand, laser ablation, which has the advantages of high accuracy, high speed, a noncontact nature, and selective processing, can be used to pattern thin films. However, absorption in transparent oxide films is usually low. In this study, experiments were conducted to determine the ablation characteristics of mask layers. The factors affecting ablation, including beam radii, fluences, overlap ratios, and coating thicknesses, were examined; and the parameters characteristic of residue-free ablation, namely the ablation threshold, minimum fluence, and minimum ablation linewidth, were also examined. The experimental results revealed that the beam radius was an important parameter in determining the resolutions of transparent films and substrates.

Enhanced Sorption of Supercritical CO2 and CH4 in the Hydrated Interlayer Pores of Smectite.

Understanding the long-term confinement of supercritical fluids in the clay pores of subsurface rocks is important for many geo-energy technologies, including geological CO2 storage. However, the adsorption properties of hydrated clay minerals remain largely uncertain because competitive adsorption experiments of supercritical fluids in the presence of water are difficult. Here, we report on the sorption properties of four source clay minerals-Ca-rich montmorillonite (STx-1b), Na-rich montmorillonite (SWy-2), illite-smectite mixed layer (ISCz-1), and illite (IMt-2)-for water at 20 °C up to relative humidity of 0.9. The measurements unveil the unsuitability of physisorption analysis by N2 (at 77 K) and Ar (at 87 K) gases to quantify the textural properties of clays because of their inability to probe the interlayers. We further measure the sorption of CO2 and CH4 on swelling STx-1b and nonswelling IMt-2, both in the absence (dehydrated at 200 °C) and the presence of sub-1W preadsorbed water (following dehydration) up to 170 bar at 50 °C. We observe enhanced sorption of CO2 and CH4 in STx-1b (50 and 65% increase at 30 bar relative to dry STx-1b, respectively), while their adsorption on IMt-2 remains unchanged, indicating the absence of competition with water. By describing the supercritical adsorption isotherms on hydrated STx-1b with the lattice density functional theory model, we estimate that the pore volume has expanded by approximately 6% through the formation of sub-nanometer pore space. By presenting a systematic approach of quantifying the smectite clay mineral's hydrated state, this study provides an explanation for the conflicting literature observations of gas uptake capacities in the presence of water.

Supercritical CO2 and CH4 Uptake by Illite-Smectite Clay Minerals.

Clay minerals abound in sedimentary formations and the interaction of reservoir gases with their submicron features have direct relevance to many geoenergy applications. The quantification of gas uptake over a broad range of pressures is key toward assessing the significance of these physical interactions on enhancing storage capacity and gas recovery. We report a systematic investigation of the sorption properties of three source clay minerals-Na-rich montmorillonite (SWy-2), illite-smectite mixed layer (ISCz-1), and illite (IMt-2)-using CO2 and CH4 up to 30 MPa at 25-115 °C. The textural characterization of the clays by gas physisorption indicates that micropores are only partly accessible to N2 (77 K) and Ar (87 K), while larger uptakes are measured with CO2 (273 K) in the presence of illite. The supercritical excess sorption experiments confirm these findings while revealing differences in uptake capacities that originate from the clay-specific pore size distribution. The lattice density functional theory model describes accurately the measured sorption isotherms by using a distribution of properly weighted slit pores and clay-specific solid-fluid interaction energies, which agree with isosteric heats of adsorption obtained experimentally. The model indicates that the maximum degree of pore occupancy is universal to the three clays and the two gases, and it depends solely on temperature, reaching values near unity at the critical temperature. These observations greatly support the model's predictive capability for estimating gas adsorption on clay-bearing rocks and sediments.

The characteristic variations of inkjet-printed silver nanoparticle ink during furnace sintering.

In this work, an experiment on furnace thermal sintering with printed silver (Ag) nanoparticle ink was carried out. The Ag nanoparticle ink employed in this study has a particle size of around 50 nm and particles constitute 34 wt% of the ink. The Ag nanoparticle ink was printed by inkjet printing. A thermal sintering process in a furnace was conducted at temperatures of 150, 200, and 250 degrees C for 20 to 3000 seconds. After sintering, electrical conductivities and cross-sectional images were measured. The specific resistance and the cross-sectional area of the sintered ink decrease as the sintering temperature increases. The SEM images indicate that surface premelting caused sintering below the melting temperature of silver, 960 degrees C, which increased neck growth and lowered the electrical resistance. Lastly, the minimum specific resistance of 7.08 microOmgega x cm was obtained after sintering for 3000 s at 250 degrees C. This specific resistance value was 4.4 times larger than that of bulk silver.