• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2008

We investigated for comparison of large-area i-a-Si:H and p-a-SiC:H film quality like thickness uniformity, optical bandgap and surface roughness using both ICP-CVD and PECVD on the large-area substrate(diameter of 100 mm). As a whole, films using ICP-CVD could be achieved much uniform thickness and bandgap of that using PECVD. For i-a-Si:H films, its uniformity of thickness and optical bandgap were 2.8 % and 0.38 %, respectively. Also, thickness and optical bandgap of p-a-SiC:H films using ICP-CVD could be obtained at 1.8 % and 0.3 %, respectively. In case of surface roughness, average surface roughness (below 5 nm) of ICP-CVD film could be much better than that (below 30 nm) of PECVD film. HIT solar cell with 2 wt%-AZO/p-a-SiC:H/i-a-Si:H/c-Si/Ag structure was fabricated and characterized with diameter of 152.3 mm in this large-area ICP-CVD system. Conversion efficiency of 9.123 % was achieved with a practical area of $100\;mm\;{\times}\;100\;mm$, which can show the potential to fabrication of the large-area solar cell using ICP-CVD method.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.213-221
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• 2022

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a binary carbon-silicon compound. In its two-dimensional form, monolayer SiC is composed of a monolayer carbon and silicon atoms constructed as a honeycomb lattice. SiC has recently been receiving increasing attention from researchers owing to its intriguing electronic properties. In this present work, SiC nanoribbons (SiCNRs) are modelled and simulated to obtain accurate electronic properties, which can further guide fabrication processes, through bandgap engineering. The primary objective of this work is to obtain the electronic properties of monolayer SiCNRs by applying numerical computation methods using nearest-neighbour tight-binding models. Hamiltonian operator discretization and approximation of plane wave are assumed for the models and simulation by applying the basis function. The computed electronic properties include the band structures and density of states of monolayer SiCNRs of varying width. Furthermore, the properties are compared with those of graphene nanoribbons. The bandgap of ASiCNR as a function of width are also benchmarked with published DFT-GW and DFT-GGA data. Our nearest neighbour tight-binding (NNTB) model predicted data closer to the calculations based on the standard DFT-GGA and underestimated the bandgap values projected from DFT-GW, which takes in account the exchange-correlation energy of many-body effects.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.103-109
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• 2014

Highly efficient hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) thin-film solar cells were prepared on flexible stainless steel substrates using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. To enhance the performance of solar cells, material properties of back reflectors, n-doped seed layers and wide bandgap nc-SiC:H window layers were optimized. The light scattering efficiency of Ag back reflectors was improved by increasing the surface roughness of the films deposited at elevated substrate temperatures. Using the n-doped seed layers with high crystallinity, the initial crystal growth of intrinsic nc-Si:H absorber layers was improved, resulting in the elimination of the defect-dense amorphous regions at the n/i interfaces. The nc-SiC:H window layers with high bandgap over 2.2 eV were deposited under high hydrogen dilution conditions. The vertical current flow of the films was enhanced by the formation of Si nanocrystallites in the amorphous SiC:H matrix. Under optimized conditions, a high conversion efficiency of 9.13% ($V_{oc}=0.52$, $J_{sc}=25.45mA/cm^2$, FF = 0.69) was achieved for the flexible nc-Si:H thin-film solar cells.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.240-240
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• 2007

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.3340-3344
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• 2013

The fabrication of polymer field-effect transistors with good electrical properties requires the minimization of molecular defects caused by low molecular weight (MW) fractions of a conjugated polymer. Here we report that the electrical properties of a narrow bandgap conjugated polymer could be dramatically improved as a result of dipping a thin film into a poor solvent. The dipping time in hexanes was controlled to efficiently eliminate the low molecular weight fractions and concomitantly improve the molecular ordering of the conjugated polymer. The correlation between the structural order and the electrical properties was used to optimize the dipping time and investigate the effects of the low MW fraction on the electrical properties of the resulting thin film.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.157-172
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• 2014

The three-dimensional Nano-Electronic Modeling toolkit (NEMO 3-D) is an open source software package that allows the atomistic calculation of single-particle electronic states and optical response of various semiconductor structures including bulk materials, quantum dots, impurities, quantum wires, quantum wells and nanocrystals containing millions of atoms. This paper, first, describes a software module introduced in the NEMO 3-D toolkit for the calculation of electronic bandstructure and interband optical transitions in nanowires having wurtzite crystal symmetry. The energetics (Hamiltonian) of the quantum system under study is described via the tight-binding (TB) formalism (including $sp^3$, $sp^3s^*$ and $sp^3d^5s^*$ models as appropriate). Emphasis has been given in the treatment of surface atoms that, if left unpassivated, can lead to the creation of energy states within the bandgap of the sample. Furthermore, the developed software has been validated via the calculation of: a) modulation of the energy bandgap and the effective masses in [0001] oriented wurtzite nanowires as compared to the experimentally reported values in bulk structures, and b) the localization of wavefunctions and the optical anisotropy in GaN/AlN disk-in-wire nanowires.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.566-571
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• 2019

One-pot hydrothermal route was adopted to synthesize Al:BiVO₄, at 4 h and 8 h reaction durations, by adding 1% aluminiumoxide powder (w/v) to the precursors. The products were investigated using several characterization techniques that conform a significant morphological change and a decrease in bandgap energy of the materials upon Al modification of scheelite monoclinic bismuth vanadate matrix at both hydrothermal durations. Antibacterial experiments were performed against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in visible light condition to harness the photoxidation property of Al-doped BiVO₄ and compare to that of unaltered BiVO₄. Minimum inhibitory concentration of the synthesized materials was identified. The results indicate that Al-doping on BiVO₄ has a significant effect on its photocatalytic antibacterial performance. Al:BiVO₄ synthesized at 8 h hydrothermal treatment parades excellent sunlight-driven photocatalysis compared to the one synthesized at 4 h.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.695-698
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• 2017

ZnMgBeGaO/Ag/ZnMgBeGaO multilayer structures were sputter grown and characterized in detail. Results indicated that the electrical properties of the ZnMgBeGaO films were significantly improved by inserting an Ag layer with proper thickness (~ 10 nm). Structures with thicker Ag films showed much lower optical transmission, although the electrical conductivity was further improved. It was also observed that the electrical properties of the multilayer structure were sizably improved by annealing in vacuum (~35 % at $300^{\circ}C$). The optimum ZnMgBeGaO(20nm)/Ag(10nm)/ZnMgBeGaO(20nm) structure exhibited an electrical resistivity of ${\sim}2.6{\times}10^{-5}{\Omega}cm$ (after annealing), energy bandgap of ~3.75 eV, and optical transmittance of 65 % ~ 95 % over the visible wavelength range, representing a significant improvement in characteristics versus previously reported transparent conductive materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.302-302
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• 2010

비정질 실리콘 박막 태양전지의 설계에 있어서 빛을 처음 받아들이는 p-layer는 전체적인 태양전지 특성에 큰 영향을 준다. 본 논문에서는 window layer의 gas flow rate 변화에 따른 특성이 태양전지에 미치는 영향에 대한 simulation을 수행하였다. 가변 조건으로는 window layer의 산소와 붕소 양에 따른energy bandgap과 conductivity 그리고 activation energy를 단계별로 변화시켜 simulation을 수행하였다. Simulation 결과 산소와 붕소의 양에 따른 window layer의 특성은 태양전지의 특성에 큰 영향을 끼친다. 본 연구는 simulation data를 기반으로 real device 제작하는데 큰 도움이 될 것이다.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.159-167
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• 2023

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is commonly used in sunscreen formulations to protect the skin surface and prevent the penetration of harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays by the physical scattering action of light. However, a disadvantage of using TiO₂ is that it can cause white turbidity when used on skin due to its inactive mineral ingredient. In addition, when TiO₂ particles are reduced to nanosize to eliminate opacity, they can increase the transmittance of visible light and reduce whitening, but may lead to serious skin problems, such as allergic inflammation. To overcome these issues, the bandgap of TiO₂ was controlled by adjusting the amount of oxygen defect and nitrogen amount, resulting in color TiO₂ tailored to the skin. This innovative technology can reduce the whitening phenomenon and effectively block blue light, which is known to cause skin aging by inducing active oxygen. The bandgap controlled TiO₂ compounds proposed in this study are hypoallergenic, broad-spectrum, and environmentally friendly. Furthermore, these compounds have been shown to significantly enhance sun protection factor (SPF) of sunscreens, demonstrating their compatibility with blue light blocking products.