In this study, ultrafine nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO NPs) were well synthesized using a simple wet chemical method under low temperature, 300 °C. An Ni(OH)₂ precursor was well precipitated by dropping NH₄OH into an Ni(Ac)₂ solution. TG-DTA showed that the weight of the precipitate decreases until 300 °C; therefore, the precursor was heat-treated at 300 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicated that hexagonal-structured NiO NPs with (200) preferred orientation was synthesized. In addition, BET specific surface area (SSA) and HRTEM analyses revealed that spherical NiO NPs were formed with SSA and particle size of 60.14 m²/g and ca. 5–15 nm by using the low temperature method. FT-IR spectra of the NiO NPs showed only a sharp vibrating absorption peak at around 550 cm⁻¹ owing to the Ni-O bond. Additionally, in UV-vis absorption spectra, the wavelength for absorption edge and energy band gap of the ultrafine NiO NPs was 290 nm and 3.44 eV.

In this study, ITO nanoparticles (ITO-NPs) were reused from ITO target scraps to synthesize low cost ITO-NPs and to apply to make sputtering target for transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs). By controlling heat-treatment temperature as 980 °C, we achieved reused ITO-NPs having Brunauer, Emmett and Teller specific surface area (BET SSA) and average particle size 8.05 m2/g and 103.8 nm, respectively. The BET SSA decreases along with increasing heat-treatment temperature. The ITO-NPs were grown as round mound shape, and highly crystallized to (222) preferred orientations. Also, applying the reused ITO-NPs, we achieved an ITO target of which density was 99.6%. Using the ITO target, we achieved high quality TCE layer of which sheet resistance and optical transmittance at 550 nm were 29.5 Ω/sq. and 82.3%. Thus, it was confirmed that the reused ITO-NPs was feasible to sputtering target for TCEs layer.

In this study, TiN thin films fabricated based on the substrate temperature process parameters of a DC magnetron sputtering device and their characteristics are analyzed. TiN thin films are deposited on Si wafer (100) substrates by setting the substrate temperatures to ambient temperature, 100, 200, and 300 °C. The residual stress measurement using the XRD method, adhesion characteristic analysis performed using a nanoscratch test to measure the critical load of the nanoindentation device, and leaky surface acoustic wave (LSAW) measurement were conducted using the V(z) technique of the ultrasonic microscope; the correlations between each measurement were analyzed. The residual stress of the TiN thin film was relieved by up to approximately 48% and adhesion properties enhanced by approximately 10% with an increase in the substrate temperature. In addition, the velocity of the LSAW presented a tendency to increase by up to approximately 5%. The residual stress and velocity of the LSAW were found to be inversely proportional, while the critical load and velocity of the LSAW were directly proportional.