• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2012

To achieve low-cost and high-efficiency of thin-film solar cells applications, the sol-gel method that can be coated on a large area substrate, obtain homogeneous thin films of high purity was used. We studied structural and optical characteristics versus annealing temperature of $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ which has kesterite structure by substitution low-cost sulfur (S) instead of high-cost selenium (Se). By analyzing XRD patterns, main peak was observed at $2{\theta}=28.5^{\circ}$ when Zn/Sn ratio is 0.8/1.2. And when we observed kesterite structure which has orientation of (112) direction, the more annealing temperature increase the bigger strength of (112) direction is. $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ thin film showed characteristics of kesterite structure at $550^{\circ}C$. And when we calculated lattice constant, a = 5.5047 and $c=11.014{\AA}$ as same JCPDS (Joint Committee on Powder Standards) data measured. We measured optical transmittance to analyze optical characteristics. Optical transmittance was lower than 65 % at visible ray (${\lambda}=380{\sim}770nm$).

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.564-569
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• 2018

$Cu_2ZnSn(S,Se)_4$ (CZTSSe) films were prepared on Mo coated soda lime glass substrates by sulfo-selenization of sputtered stacked Zn-Sn-Cu(CZT) precursor films. The precursor was dried in a capped state with aqueous NaOH solution. The CZT precursor films were sulfo-selenized in the S + Se vapor atmosphere. Sodium was doped during the sulfo-selenization treatment. The effect of sodium doping on the structural and electrical properties of the CZTSSe thin films were studied using FE-SEM(field-emission scanning electron microscopy), XRD(X-ray diffraction), XRF(X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy), dark current, SIMS(secondary ion mass spectrometry), conversion efficiency. The XRD, XRF, FE-SEM, Dark current, SIMS and cell efficiency results indicated that the properties of sulfo-selenized CZTSSe thin films were strongly related to the sodium doping. Further detailed analysis and discussion for effect of sodium doping on the properties CZTSSe thin films will be discussed.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2017

Recently, three-dimensional (3D) light harvesting structures are highly attracted because of their high light harvesting capacity and charge collection efficiencies. In this study, we have fabricated $Cu_2ZnSn(S_xSe_{1-x})_4$ based 3D thin film solar cells on PR patterned Molybdenum (Mo) substrates using photolithography technique. Specifically, Mo patterns were deposited on PR patterned Mo substrates by sputtering and the thin Cu-Zn-Sn stacked layer was deposited over this Mo patterns by sputtering technique. The stacked Zn-Sn-Cu precursor thin films were sulfo-selenized to form CZTSSe pattern. Finally, CZTSSe absorbers were coated with thin CdS layer using chemical bath deposition and ZnO window layer was deposited over CZTSSe/CdS using DC sputtering technique. Fabricated 3-D solar cells were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) to study their structural, compositional and morphological properties, respectively. The 3% efficiency is achieved for this kind of solar cell. Further efforts will be carried out to improve the performance of solar cell through various optimizations.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.54-60
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• 2015

ZnSnO thin films were deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) process using diethyl zinc ($Zn(C_2H_5)_2$) and tetrakis (dimethylamino) tin ($Sn(C_2H_6N)_4$) as metal precursors and water vapor as a reactant. ALD process has several advantages over other deposition methods such as precise thickness control, good conformality, and good uniformity for large area. The composition of ZnSnO thin films was controlled by varying the ratio of ZnO and $SnO_2$ ALD cycles. The ALD ZnSnO film was an amorphous state. The band gap of ZnSnO thin films increased as the Sn content increased. The CIGS solar cell using ZnSnO buffer layer showed about 18% energy conversion efficiency. With such a high efficiency with the ALD ZnSnO buffer and no light soaking effect, AlD ZnSnO buffer mighty be a good candidate to replace Zn(S,O) buffer in CIGSsolar cells.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2012.03a
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• pp.400-403
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• 2012

$Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$(CZTSe) is emerged as a promising material for thin-film solar cells because of non-toxic, inexpensive and earth abundant more than $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ materials. For fabricating compound semiconductor thin-film solar cells, CdS is widely used for a buffer layer which fabricated by a chemical bath deposition method (CBD). Through the experiment, we controlled deposition temperature and mol ratio of solution conditions to find the proper grain 크기 and exact composition. The optimum CdS layers were characterized in terms of surface morphology by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The optimized CdS layer process was applied on CZTSe thin-films. The thickness of buffer layer related with device performance of solar cells which controlled by deposition time. Local surface potential of CdS/CZTSe thin-films was investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). From these results, we can deduce local electric properties with different thickness of buffer layer on CZTSe thin-films. Therefore, we investigated the effect of CdS buffer layer thickness on the CZTSe thin-films for decreasing device losses. From this study, we can suggest buffer layer thickness which contributes to efficiencies and device performance of CZTSe thin-film solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.472.1-472.1
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• 2014

현재 Cu(In,Ga)Se2나 Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe)계 박막태양전지의 버퍼층으로 가장 많이 사용되는 물질은 CdS이다. 하지만 Cd의 독성 문제로 인해 사용에 제약이 있고, CdS의 작은 밴드갭(~2.4 eV)으로 인해 단 파장 영역에서 광활성층의 빛 흡수를 저해하는 문제 때문에 새로운 대체 물질을 찾으려는 연구가 많이 이루어지고 있다. 이러한 관점에서, ZnS계 물질은 독성 원소인 Cd을 사용하지 않고, 3.6 eV 정도의 큰 밴드갭을 가지기 때문에, CdS 버퍼층을 대체하기 위한 물질로 관심을 받고 있다. ZnS계 버퍼층을 증착하는 위해 chemical bath deposition (CBD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), thermal evaporation, spray pyrolysis, sputtering, elecrtrodepostion 등의 다양한 공정이 사용될 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 상기의 다양한 공정 가운데, 공정 단가가 낮고, 대면적 공정에 용이한 CBD 공정을 이용하여 ZnS계 버퍼층을 증착하는 연구를 수행하였다. 용액의 조성, 농도, 공정 온도, 시간 등을 비롯한 다양한 공정 변수가 ZnS계 박막의 morphology, 조성, 결정성, 광학적 특성 등 다양한 특성에 미치는 영향이 체계적으로 연구되었다. 또한, 상기 ZnS계 버퍼층을 CZTSSe 박막태양전지에 적용하여 CdS를 성공적으로 대체할 수 있음을 확인하였다. 본 연구를 통하여 ZnS계 버퍼층이 향후 친환경적인 박막태양전지 제조에 활용될 수 있는 가능성을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.526-532
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• 2015

Solar cells with other alternative energies are being importantly recognized related with post-2020 climate change regime formation. In a point of view of materials, solar cells are classified to organic and inorganic solar cells which can provide a plant-scale electricity. In particular, recent studies about compound semiconductor solar cells, such as III-V tandem solar cells, chalcopyrite-series CIGSSe solar cells, and kesterite-series CZTSSe solar cells were rapidly accelerated. In this report, we introduce a research trend and technical issues for the compound semiconductor solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.444.1-444.1
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• 2014

높은 광흡수 계수를 갖는 Cu(In,Ga)Se2(CIGS) 화합물 박막 소재는 고효율 태양전지 양산을 위해 가장 전도유망한 재료이나 상대적으로 매장량이 적은 In 및 Ga을 사용한다는 소재적 한계가 있다. Cu2ZnSnSe4(CZTSe) 혹은 Cu2ZnSnS4(CZTS)와 같은 Cu-Zn-Sn-Se계 화합물 반도체는 CIGS 내 희소원소인 In과 Ga이 범용원소인 Zn 및 Sn으로 대체된 소재로써 미래형 저가 태양전지 개발을 위해 활발히 연구되고 있는데, 그 화합물 조합에 따라 0.8eV부터 1.5eV까지의 에너지 밴드갭을 갖는 것으로 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 열분해법으로 CZTS 나노 입자를 합성하였다. 용매로 Oleylamine을 사용하였는데, $220^{\circ}C{\sim}340^{\circ}C$의 온도 범위에서 3시간 30분 동안 CZTS 나노입자를 합성하였고, $240^{\circ}C$에서 3시간~5시간까지 합성하였다. 헥산을 이용하여 원심분리기와 초음파세척기로 용매인 Oleylamine을 제거하였고, 진공오븐에서 건조된 CZTS 분말의 FE-SEM(Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope), XRD(X-Ray Diffraction), EDS(Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) 분석 등을 통해 합성온도에 따른 구조적, 화학적 조성 변화를 조사하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.321.1-321.1
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• 2013

높은 광흡수 계수를 갖는 Cu(In,Ga)Se2(CIGS) 화합물 박막 소재는 고효율 태양전지 양산을 위해 가장 전도유망한 재료이나 상대적으로 매장량이 적은 In 및 Ga을 사용한다는 소재적 한계가 있다. Cu2ZnSnSe4(CZTSe) 혹은 Cu2ZnSnS4(CZTS)와 같은 Cu-Zn-Sn-Se계 화합물 반도체는 CIGS 내 희소원소인 In과 Ga이 범용원소인 Zn 및 Sn으로 대체된 소재로써 미래형 저가 태양전지 개발을 위해 활발히 연구되고 있는데, 그 화합물 조합에 따라 0.8eV부터 1.5eV까지의 에너지 밴드갭을 갖는 것으로 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 열분해법으로 CZTS 나노 입자를 합성하였다. 용매로 Oleylamine을 사용하였는데, $260{\sim}340^{\circ}C$의 온도 범위에서 5시간 30분 동안 CZTS 나노입자를 합성하였고, $300^{\circ}C$에서 5시간 30분~9시간까지 합성하였다. 헥산을 이용하여 원심분리기와 초음파세척기로 용매인 Oleylamine을 제거하였고, 진공오븐에서 건조된 CZTS 분말의 FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope), XRD (X-Ray Diffraction), EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) 분석 등을 통해 합성온도에 따른 구조적, 화학적 조성 변화를 조사하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.688-688
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• 2013

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films have attracted a lot of attention as a cheap transparent conducting oxide (TCO) material that can replace the expensive Sn-doped In2O3. In particular, AZO thin films are widely used as a window layer of chalcogenide-based thin film solar cells such as Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS). Mostly important requirements for the window layer material of the thin film solar cells are the high transparency and the low sheet resistance, because they influence the light absorption by the activelayer and the electron collection from the active layer, respectively. In this study, we prepared the AZO thin films by RF magnetron sputtering using a ZnO/Al2O3 (98：2wt%) ceramic target, and the effect of the sputtering condition such as the working pressure, RF power, and the working distance on the optical, electrical, and crystallographic properties of the AZO thin films was investigated. The AZO thin films with optimized properties were used as a window layer of CZTS thin film solar cells. The CZTS active layers were prepared by the electrochemical deposition and the subsequent sulfurization process, which is also one of the cost-effective synthetic approaches. In addition, the solar cell properties of the CZTS thin film solar cells, such as the photocurrent density-voltage (J-V) characteristics and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) were investigated.