• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.257-263
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• 2006

We have investigated the effect of silver added to Cu films on the microstructure evolution, resistivity, surface morphology, stress relaxation temperature, and adhesion properties of Cu(Ag) alloy thin films deposited on Mo glue layer upon annealing. In addition, pure Cu films deposited on Mo has been annealed and compared. The results show that the silver in Cu(Ag) thin films control the grain growth through the coarsening of its precipitates upon annealing at $300^{\circ}C{\sim}600^{\circ}C$ and the grain growth of Cu reveals the activation energy of 0.22 eV, approximately one third of activation energy for diffusion of Ag dopant along the grain boundaries in Cu matrix (0.75 eV). This indicates that the grain growth can be controlled by Ag diffusion along the grain boundaries. In addition, the grain growth can be a major contributor to the decreased resistivity of Cu(Ag) alloy thin films at the temperature of $300^{\circ}C{\sim}500^{\circ}C$, and decreases the resistivity of Cu(Ag) thin films to $1.96{\mu}{\Omega}-cm$ after annealing at $600^{\circ}C$. Furthermore, the addition of Ag increases the stress relaxation temperature of Cu(Ag) thin films, and thus leading to the enhanced resistance to the void formation, which starts at $300^{\circ}C$ in the pure Cu thin films. Moreover, Cu(Ag) thin films shows the increased adhesion properties, possibly resulting from the Ag segregating to the interface. Consequently, the Cu(Ag) thin films can be used as a metallization of advanced TFT-LCDs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.257-265
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• 2002

A stoichiometric mixture of evaporating materials for AgInS$_2$ single crystal thin films was prepared from horizontal furnace. To obtain the single crystal thin films, AgInS$_2$ mixed crystal was deposited on thoroughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by the Hot Wall Epitaxy(HWE) system. The source and substrate temperatures were 680 $^{\circ}C$ and 410 $^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of the single crystal thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence and double crystal X-ray diffraction(DCXD). The carrier density and mobility of AgInS$_2$ single crystal thin films measured from Hall effect by van der Pauw method are 9.35${\times}$10$\^$16/ cm$\^$-3/ and 294 $\textrm{cm}^2$/V$.$s at 293 K, respectively. From the optical absorption measurement, the temperature dependence of the energy band gap on AgInS$_2$ single crystal thin films was found to be E$\_$g/(T) : 2.1365 eV - (9.89 ${\times}$ 10$\^$-3/ eV) T$^2$/(2930 + T). After the as-grown AgInS$_2$ single crystal thin films was annealed in Ag-, S-, and In-atmospheres, the origin of point defects of AgInS$_2$ single crystal thin films has been investigated by using the photoluminescence(PL) at 10 K. The native defects of V$\_$AG/, V$\_$S/, Ag$\_$int/, and S$\_$int/ obtained from PL measurements were classified as a donors or acceptors type. And we concluded that the heat-treatment in the S-atmosphere converted AgInS$_2$ single crystal thin films to an optical p-type. Also, we confirmed that In in AgInS$_2$/GaAs did not form the native defects because In in AgInS$_2$ single crystal thin films did exist in the form of stable bonds.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.274-284
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• 2001

A stoichimetric mixture of evaporating materials for $AgInS_2$ single crystal thin films was prepared from horizontal furnace. To obtain the single crystal thin films. $AgInS_2$mixed crystal was deposited on thorughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by the Hot wall Epitaxy (HWE) system. The source and substrate temperatures were $680^{\circ}C$ and $410^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of the single thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence and double crystal X-ray diffraction(DCXD). The carrier density and mobility of $AgInS_2$ single crystal the films measured from Hall effect by van der Pauw method are $9.35\times 10^{16}/\terxtm{cm}^3$ and $294\terxtm{cm}^2$/V.s at 293 K, respectively. From the optical absorption measurement the temperature dependence of the energy band gap on AgInS$_2$ single crystal thin film was found to be $E_g$(T)= 2.1365eV-($9.89\times 10^{-3}eV/T^2$/(2930+T). After the as-grown $AgInS_2$ single crystal thin films was annealed in $Ag^-S^-$ and In-atmospheres, the origin of point defects of AgInS$_2$ single crystal the films has been investigated by using the photoluminescence(PL) at 10K. The native defects of $V_{Ag},V_s, Ag_{int}$ and $S_{int}$ int/ obtained from PL measurements were classified as a donors or acceptors type. And we concluded that the heat-treatment in the S-atmosphere converted $AgInS_2$ single crystal thin films to an optical p-type. Also, we confirmed that In in $AgInS_2$ /GaAs did not form the native defects because In is $AgInS_2$ single crystal thin films did exist in the form of stable bonds.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.620-626
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• 2018

Highly self-cleaning thin films of $TiO_2-SiO_2$ co-doped with Ag and F are prepared by the sol-gel method. The asprepared thin films consist of bottom $SiO_2$ and top $TiO_2$ layers which are modified by doping with F, Ag and F-Ag elements. XRD analysis confirms that the prepared thin film is a crystalline anatase phase. UV-vis spectra show that the light absorption of $Ag-F-TiO_2/SiO_2$ thin films is tuned in the visible region. The self-cleaning properties of the prepared films are evaluated by a water contact angle measurement under UV light irradiation. The photocatalytic performances of the thin films are studied using methylene blue dye under both UV and visible light irradiation. The $Ag-F-TiO_2/SiO_2$ thin films exhibit higher photocatalytic activity under both UV and visible light compared with other samples of pure $TiO_2$, Ag-doped $TiO_2$, and F-doped $TiO_2$ films.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.740-744
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• 2017

Herein we studied the electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films for application in transparent conducting electrodes. The ITO and Ag thin films were deposited onto soda lime glass (SLG) using radiofrequency and DC-sputtering methods, respectively. The as-synthesized ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films were analyzed using 4-point probe, UV-Visible spectroscopy, and Hall measurement. We observed a rapid increase in electron concentration with increasing Ag thickness. However, electron mobility decreased with increasing Ag thickness. Finally, ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films showed a characteristic low sheet resistance of $18{\Omega}/sq$ and high optical transmittance value (80%) with variation of Ag thickness (5~10 nm).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.963-968
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• 2000

Magnetic properties and microstructures of Fe$\_$93-x/Zr$_3$B$_4$Ag$\_$x/ thin films were investigated as a function of addition of element Ag, (X$\_$Ag/=0 to 6 at.%) and annealing temperature, T$\_$a/=300$\^{C}$ to 600$\^{C}$. In the case of adding Ag, magnetic properties of Fe$\_$93-x/Zr$_3$B$_4$Ag$\_$x/ thin films were improved than those of Ag-free Fe$\_$93/Zr$_3$B$_4$thin films. The prominent soft magnetic properties with coercivity of 1.1 Oe, saturation magnetization of 2.2 T and permeability of 5400 at 50㎒ were obtained from Fe$\_$88/Zr$_3$B$_4$Ag$\_$5/ thin film annealed was lower than that of Fe-base or Co-base thin films reported previously. Such enhanced magnetic properties are presumably attributed to the format in ultra fine grains. Also, the reduced eddy current loss in the annealed sample is due to refined micro magnetic domains with increasing the amount of Ag in Fe$\_$93-x/Zr$_3$B$_4$Ag$\_$x/ thin films.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.13-16
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• 2014

We prepared the ITO/Ag multilayer thin films on soda-lime glass substrate by the Facing Target Sputtering System (FTS) at room temperature. To confirm the effect of Ag layer in ITO/Ag multilayer thin films, we have prepared various range of Ag layer in its thickness and investigated prior to the setting of ITO/Ag multilayer thin films. The thickness of Ag layer was controlled by the sputtering deposition time. Properties of as-prepared samples were investigated by using a four-point probe, UV-Visual spectrometer with a spectral visual range (400 - 800 nm) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). As a result, the transmittance of as-prepared samples turned out to be very low in the visible range due to light-scattering on the surface of thin film as the thickness of Ag layer got increased. However, reduction of phenomenon of light-reflection in visual range was observed around 20nm of Ag thickness. We prepared the ITO/Ag multilayer thin film with a resistivity of about $8{\times}10^{-5}[{\Omega}-cm]$ and a transmittance of more than 80 % at 550 nm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.385-386
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• 2007

We prepared the Al doped ZnO coating Ag multilayer thin films on glass without substrate heating using FTS system. The structure of multilayer thin films has Al doped ZnO/Ag/Al doped ZnO(AZO/Ag/AZO). The thickness of top and bottom AZO thin films were fixed to 50 nm, respectively and controlled the thickness of Ag thin films with deposition time. As-doped multilayer thin films were prepared at 1mTorr and input power (DC) of 100W at room temperature. To investigate the film properties, we employed four-point probe, UVNIS spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Hall Effect measurement system and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM).

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.113-116
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• 2017

100 nm thick Sn doped ZnO (ZTO) single layer, 15 nm thick Ag buffered ZTO (ZTO/Ag), Ag intermediated ZTO (ZTO/Ag/ZTO) and Ag capped ZTO (Ag/ZTO) films were prepared on poly-carbonate (PC) substrates by RF and DC magnetron sputtering and then the influence of the Ag thin film on the optical and electrical properties of ZTO films were investigated. As deposited ZTO thin films show the visible transmittance of 81.8%, while ZTO/Ag/ZTO trilayer films show a higher visible transmittance of 82.5% in this study. From the observed results, it can be concluded that the 15 nm thick Ag interlayer enhances the opto-electrical performance of ZTO thin films effectively for use as flexible transparent conducting oxides films in various opto-electrical applications.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.28-32
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• 2022

We investigated the optical and electrical characteristics of ITO/Ag/ITO (IAI) 3-layer thin films prepared by using RF/DC sputtering. To measure the thickness of all thin film samples, we used scanning electron microscopy. As a function of Ag thickness we characterized the optical transmittance and sheet resistance of the IAI samples by using UV-Visible spectroscopy and Hall measurement system, respectively. While the thickness of both ITO thin films in the 3-layered IAI samples were fixed at 50 nm, we varied Ag layer thickness in the range of 0 nm to 11 nm. The optical transmittance and sheet resistance of the 3-layered IAI thin films were found to vary strongly with the thickness of Ag film in the ITO (50 nm)/Ag(t₀)/ITO (50 nm) thin film. For the best transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrode, we obtained a 3-layered ITO (50 nm)/Ag (t₀ = 8.5 nm)/ITO (50 nm) that showed an avrage optical transmittance, AVT = 90.12% in the visible light region of 380 nm to 780 nm and the sheet resistance, R_□ = 7.24 Ω/□.