• Bulletin of the Korea Photovoltaic Society
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.18-31
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• 2017

박막 태양전지 기술은 현재 가장 큰 시장점유율을 보이고 있는 결정질 Si 태양전지의 차세대 후보로서 큰 관심을 받고 있다. 결정질 Si 태양전지보다 높은 효율로서, 저가로 생산할 수 있는 수준을 목표로 하여 $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ (CIGS) 를 비롯한 다양한 종류의 박막 태양전지들이 개발되고 있는데, 이 글에서는 최근에 범용성 초저가 박막 태양전지로 각광을 받고 있는 kesterite 박막 태양전지에 대해서 살펴보기로 한다. 가장 많이 연구되는 kesterite구조의 $Cu_2ZnSn(S,Se)_4$ (CZT(S,Se)) 박막 태양전지는 차세대 태양전지의 유력 후보군인 화합물태양전지 중에서 CdTe와 CIGS 그리고 새롭게 떠오르고 있는 페로브스카이트 등에 비해 범용 무독성 원소를 광흡수층으로 사용한다는 장점을 가지고 있지만 아직까지는 이들보다 효율이 낮아 상용화하기에는 좀 더 시간이 필요할 것으로 판단된다. CZT(S,Se)계 박막 태양전지의 기본적인 물성, 공정, 분석법 등을 알아보고 고효율을 달성하는 방법에 대하여 제시하고자 한다. 공정에 대한 상세한 최근 동향과 설명은 최근 한국공업화학회 소식지에 실린 강진규 박사의 리뷰논문을 참고하였다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.131-135
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• 2020

Silver nanowire (AgNW) networks have been adopted as a front electrode in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells due to their low cost and compatibility with the solution process. When an AgNW network is applied to a CIGS thin film solar cell, reflection loss can increase because the CdS layer, with a relatively high refractive index (n ~ 2.5 at 550 nm), is exposed to air. To resolve the issue, we apply solution-processed ZnO nanorods to the AgNW network as an anti-reflective coating. To obtain high performance of the optical and electrical properties of the ZnO nanorod and AgNW network composite, we optimize the process parameters - the spin coating of AgNWs and the concentration of zinc nitrate and hexamethylene tetramine (HMT - to fabricate ZnO nanorods. We verify that 10 mM of zinc nitrate and HMT show the lowest reflectance and 10% cell efficiency increase when applied to CIGS thin film solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.443-443
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• 2014

CIS 박막을 제조하기 위한 방법으로 셀렌화(selenization)방식, MOCVD방식, 동시진공증발(co-evaporation)방식, 전착(electrodeposition)방식 등이 있으나, 이러한 방식을 이용하여 CuInSe2 박막을 제조하는 경우 어떤 방법으로든 다원화합물의 조성 및 결정성을 조절하기가 매우 어려운 단점이 있었다. 기판의 온도를 일정 온도로 유지하도록 하고, 증발원을 가열하여 이에 내포된 물질(이원화합물 또는 단일원소)을 증발시켜 기판에 증착이 이루어지도록 하거나, 기판의 온도를 승온시키고 구리 이원화합물을 내포한 증발원을 가열해 물질을 증발시켜 기판에 증착이 이루어지도록 하는 방법으로 기판에 박막이 형성되도록 한다. 기판의 대면적화로 인해 균일한 박막의 형성이 어려워지고 있으며, 이중 15% 이상의 고효율을 보인 방법은 3-stage process를 이용한 동시진공증발방식으로, Cu, In, Ga, Se 등의 각 원소를 동시에 진공 증발시키면서 조성을 조절하여 태양전지에 적절한 전기적, 광학적 특성을 가지는 Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS)박막을 증착시키는 방법이다. 일반적으로, 실험실에서 연구되고 있는 장비의 구조는 증발원이 아래에 장착되어서 상향 증착되는 방식이다. 본 연구에서 사용된 장비는 하향 증발원이 측면에 장착되어서 하향 증착되는 방식으로 구성하였다. 증착되는 면방향으로, 적외선온도계(pyrometer)가 설치된 시창(viewport)의 오염 등으로 인하여, 지속적인 공정이 이루어지기 힘든 점을 개선하여 증착기판의 후면에 적외선 온도계를 설치하여 기판의 온도변화를 감지하여 공정에 반영할 수 있도록 하였다. 본 연구에서는 하향식 진공 증발원, 기판후면 온도모니터링모듈 등을 개발 장착하여, CIGS 박막을 제조하였으며, 버퍼층은 moving 스퍼터링법으로 ZnS를 증착하였고, 투명전극층은 PLD(Pulsed Laser Deposition)를 이용하여 제조하였다. 가장 높은 광변환효율을 보인 Al/ZnO/CdS/Mo/SLG박막시료는 유효면적 $0.45cm^2$에 광변환효율 15.65 %, Jsc : $33.59mA/cm^2$, Voc : 0.64 V, FF : 73.09 %를 얻을 수 있었으며, CdS를 ZnS로 대체한 Al/ZnO/ZnS/Mo/SLG박막시료는 유효면적 $0.45cm^2$에 광변환효율 12.45 %, Jsc : $33.62mA/cm^2$, Voc : 0.59 V, FF : 62.35 %를 얻을 수 있었다.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.226-231
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• 2017

The aim is to investigate the spectra responsibilities of QD (Quantum Dot) for the innovation of new dosimetry application for therapeutic Megavoltage X-ray range. The unique electrical and optical properties of QD are expected to make it a good sensing material for dosimeter. This study shows the spectra responsibility of toluene based ZnCd QD and PPO (2.5-diphenyloxazol) mixed liquid scintillator. The QDs of 4 sizes corresponding to an emission wavelength (ZnCdSe/ZnS:$440{\pm}5nm$, ZnCdSeS:470, 500, $570{\pm}5nm$) were utilized. A liquid scintillator for control sample was made of toluene, PPO. The Composition of QD loaded scintillators are about 99 wt% Toluene as solvent, 1 wt% of PPO as primary scintillator and 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 wt% of QDs as solute. For the spectra responsibility of QD scintillation, they were irradiated for 30 second with 6 MV beam from a LINAC ($Infinity^{TM}$, Elekta). With the guidance of 1.0 mm core diameter optical fiber, scintillation spectrums were measured by a compact CCD spectrometer which could measure 200~1,000 nm wavelength range (CCS200, Thorlabs). We measured the spectra responsibilities of QD loaded organic liquid scintillators in two scintillation mechanisms. First was the direct transfer and second was using wave shifter. The emission peaks from the direct transfer were measured to be much smaller luminescent intensity than based on the wavelength shift from the PPO to QDs. The emission peak was shifted from PPO emission wavelength 380 nm to each emission wavelength of loaded QD. In both mechanisms, 500 nm QD loaded samples were observed to radiate in the highest luminescence intensity. We observed the spectra responsibility of QD doped toluene based liquid scintillator in order to innovate QD dosimetry applicator. The liquid scintillator loading 0.2 wt% of 500 nm emission wavelength QD has most superior responsibility at 6 MV photon beam. In this study we observed the spectra responsibilities for therapeutic X-ray range. It would be the first step of innovating new radiation dosimetric methods for radiation treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.45-46
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• 2015

Se 원소가 포함된 $CuIn_xGa_{1-x}Se_2$(CIGS) 단일 스퍼터링 타겟을 이용하여 후처리 공정없이 단일 스퍼터링 공정만으로 CIGS 흡수층 박막을 증착하여 소자 특성을 확인하였다. 단일 CIGS 흡수층 공정이 적용된 CIGS 박막태양전지 소자(유리기판/Mo/단일 CIGS 흡수층 박막/CdS/i-ZnO/Al-doped ZnO/Ni-Al grid)에서 10.0%의 태양광 변환 효을을 달성하였으며, 이는 기존의 복잡한 공정구조를 해결하여 대면적 양산화 CIGS 제조 공정에도 적용할 수 있음을 확인하였다.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.98.2-98.2
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• 2012

Thin film solar cells are growing up in the market due to their high efficiency and low cost. Especially CdTe and $CuInGaSe_2$ based solar cells are leading the other cells, but due to the limited percentage of the elements present in our earth's crust like Tellurium, Indium and Gallium, the price of the solar cells will increase rapidly. Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide (CZTS) and Copper Zinc Tin Selenide (CZTSe) semiconductor (having a kesterite crystal structure) are getting attention for its solar cell application as the absorber layer. CZTS and CZTSe have almost the same crystal structure with more environmentally friendly elements. Various authors have reported growth and characterization of CZTSe films and solar cells with efficiencies about 3.2% to 8.9%. In this study, a novel method to prepare CZTSe has been proposed based on selenization of stacked Copper Selenide ($Cu_2Se$), Tin Selenide ($SnSe_2$) and Zinc Selenide (Zinc Selenide) in six possible stacking combinations. Depositions were carried out through RF magnetron sputtering. Selenization of all the samples was performed in Close Space Sublimation (CSS) in vacuum at different temperatures for three minutes. Characterization of each sample has been performed in Field Emission SEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, EDS and Auger. In this study, the properties and results of $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ thin films grown by selenization will be presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.355-355
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• 2016

There has been an explosive development of nanocrystal (NC) synthesis and application due to their composition-dependent specific properties. Despite the composition, shape, and size of NCs foremost determine their physicochemical properties, the surface state and molecule conjugation also drastically change their characteristics. To make practical use of NCs, it is a prerequisite to understand the NC surface state and the degree to which they have been modified because the reaction occurs on the interface between the NCs and the surrounding medium. We report in here an analysis method to identify conjugated ligands and their binding states on semiconductor nanocrystals based on their molecular information. Surface science techniques, such as time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and FT-IR spectroscopy, are adopted based on the micro-aggregated sampling method. Typical trioctylphosphine oxide-based synthesis methods of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) have been criticized because of the peculiar effects of impurities on the synthesis processes. Since the ToF-SIMS technique provides molecular composition evidence on the existence of certain ligands, we were able to clearly identify the n-octylphosphonic acid (OPA) as a surface ligand on CdSe/ZnS QDs. Furthermore, the complementary use of the ToF-SIMS technique with the FT-IR technique could reveals the OPA ligands' binding state as bidentate complexes.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.35.1-35.1
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• 2011

New photovoltaic (PV) materials and manufacturing approaches are needed for meeting the demand for lower-cost solar cells. The prototypal thin-film photovoltaic absorbers (CdTe and $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$) can achieve solar conversion efficiencies of up to 20% and are now commercially available, but the presence of toxic (Cd,Se) and expensive elemental components (In, Te) is a real issue as the demand for photovoltaics rapidly increases. To overcome these limitations, there has been substantial interest in developing viable alternative materials, such as $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ (CZTS) is an emerging solar absorber that is structurally similar to CIGS, but contains only earth abundant, non-toxic elements and has a near optimal direct band gap energy of 1.4~1.6 ev and a large absorption coefficient of ${\sim}10^4\;cm^{-1}$. The CZTS absorber layers are grown and investigated by various fabrication methods, such as thermal evaporation, e-beam evaporation with a post sulfurization, sputtering, non-vacuum sol-gel, pulsed laser, spray-pyrolysis method and electrodeposition technique. In the present work, we report an alternative method for large area deposition of CZTS thin films that is potentially high throughput and inexpensive when used to produce monolithically integrated solar panel modules. Specifically, we have developed an aqueous chemical approach based on chemical bath deposition (CBD) with a subsequent sulfurization heat treatment. Samples produced by our method were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, absorbance and photoluminescence. The results show that this inexpensive and relatively benign process produces thin films of CZTS exhibiting uniform composition, kesterite crystal structure, and good optical properties. A preliminary solar cell device was fabricated to demonstrate rectifying and photovoltaic behavior.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.97-97
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• 2010

We demonstrate the hybrid polymer-quantum dot based multi-functional device (Organic bistable devices, Light-emitting diode, and Photovoltaic cell) with a single active-layer structure consisting of CdSe/ZnS semiconductor quantum-dots (QDs) dispersed in a poly N-vinylcarbazole (PVK) and 1,3,5-tirs- (N-phenylbenzimidazol-2-yl) benzene (TPBi) fabricated on indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/glass substrate by using a simple spin coating technique. The multi-functionality of the device as Organic bistable device (OBD), Light Emitting Diode (LED), and Photovoltaic cell can be successfully achieved by adding an electron transport layer (ETL) TPBi to OBD for attaining the functions of LED and Photovoltaic cell in which the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level of TPBi is positioned at the energy level between the conduction band of CdSe/ZnS and LiF/Al electrode (band-gap engineering). Through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study, the active layer of the device has a p-i-n structure of a consolidated core-shell structure in which semiconductor QDs are uniformly and isotropically adsorbed on the surface of a p-type polymer core and the n-type small molecular organic materials surround the semiconductor QDs.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 2021

In this study, quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSC) using CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QD) of various sizes with green, yellow, and red colors are developed. Quantum dots, depending their different sizes, have advantages of absorbing light of various wavelengths. This absorption of light of various wavelengths increases the photocurrent production of solar cells. The absorption and emission peaks and excellent photochemical properties of the synthesized quantum dots are confirmed through UV-visible and photoluminescence (PL) analysis. In TEM analysis, the average sizes of individual green, yellow, and red quantum dots are shown to be 5 nm, 6 nm, and 8 nm. The J-V curves of QDSSC for one type of QD show a current density of 1.7 mA/㎠ and an open-circuit voltage of 0.49 V, while QDSSC using three type of QDs shows improved electrical characteristics of 5.52 mA/㎠ and 0.52 V. As a result, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of QDSSC using one type of QD is as low as 0.53 %, but QDSSC using three type of QDs has a measured efficiency of 1.4 %.