• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.272.2-272.2
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• 2016

Copper-Tin (CuSn) thin films were synthsized by rf magnetron co-sputtering method with pure Cu and Sn metal targets with various rf powers and sputtering times. The obtained CuSn thin films were characterized by a surface profiler (alpha step), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy (XAES), and contact angle measurement. The deposition rates were calculated by the thickness of CuSn thin films and sputtering times. We observed hexagonal Cu20Sn6 and cubic Cu39Sn11 phases from the films by XRD measurement. From the survey XPS spectra, the Cu and Sn main peaks were observed. Therefore, we could conclude CuSn thin films were successfully fabricated on the substrate in this study. The changes of oxidation states and chemical environment of the films were investigated with high resolution XPS spectra in the regions of Cu 2p, Cu LMM, and Sn 3d. Surface free energy (SFE) and wettability of the CuSn thin films were studied with distilled water (DW) and ethylene glycol (EG) using the contact angle measurement. The total SFE of CuSn thin films decreased as rf power on Cu target increased. The contribution to the total SFE of dispersive SFE was relatively superior to polar SFE.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.175.1-175.1
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• 2015

CuSn thin films were deposited by rf magnetron co-sputtering method with pure Cu and Sn metal targets with a variety of rf powers. CuSn thin films were studied with a surface profiler (alpha step), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy (XAES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and contact angle measurement. The thickness of CuSn thin films was fixed at $200{\pm}10nm$ and deposition rate was calculated by the measured with a surface profiler. From the survey XPS spectra, the characteristic peaks of Cu and Sn were observed. Therefore, CuSn thin films were successfully synthesized on the Si (100) substrate. The oxidation state and chemical environment of Cu and Sn were investigated with the binding energy regions of Cu 2p XPS spectra, Sn 3d XPS spectra, and Cu LMM Auger spectra. Change of the crystallinity of the films was observed with XRD spectra. Using contact angle measurement, surface free energy (SFE) and wettability of the CuSn thin films were studied with distilled water (DW) and ethylene glycol (EG).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.360.2-360.2
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• 2016

CuSn thin films were fabricated by rf magnetron co-sputtering method on the Si(100) substrate for evaluation of the antibacterial effect. The co-sputtering process was performed with different rf powers and sputtering times to regulate the thickness of the films and relative atomic ratio of Cu to Sn. The physicochemical properties of the CuSn thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy (XAES), Optical microscope (OM), 4-point probe, and antibacterial test. An antibacterial test was conducted with Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as changing contact times between CuSn fillms and bacteria suspension. We compared to the crystalline structures of films before sterilization and after sterilization by XRD measurement. The changes of oxidation states of Cu and Sn and the chemical environment of films before and after antibacterial test were investigated with high resolution XPS spectra in the regions of Cu 2p, Cu LMM, and Sn 3d. After antibacterial test, the morphology of the films was checked with an OM images. The electrical properties of the CuSn films such as surface resistance and conductivity were measured by using 4-point probe.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2013

The $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ (CZTS) thin film solar cell is a candidate next generation thin film solar cell. For the application of an absorption layer in solar cells, CZTS thin films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at substrate temperature of $300^{\circ}C$ without post annealing process. Deposition time was carefully adjusted as the main experimental variable. Regardless of deposition time, single phase CZTS thin films are obtained with no existence of secondary phases. Irregularly-shaped grains are densely formed on the surface of CZTS thin films. With increasing deposition time, the grain size increases and the thickness of the CZTS thin films increases from 0.16 to $1{\mu}m$. The variation of the surface morphology and thickness of the CZTS thin films depends on the deposition time. The stoichiometry of all CZTS thin films shows a Cu-rich and S-poor state. Sn content gradually increases as deposition time increases. Secondary ion mass spectrometry was carried out to evaluate the elemental depth distribution in CZTS thin films. The optimal deposition time to grow CZTS thin films is 150 min. In this study, we show the effect of deposition time on the structural properties of CZTS thin film deposited on soda lime glass (SLG) substrate using PLD. We present a comprehensive evaluation of CZTS thin films.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.429-435
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• 2009

In this study, we investigated microstructure and the CO gas sensing properties of Ag-CuO-$SnO_2$ thin films prepared by co-evaporation and subsequently thermal oxidation at air atmosphere. The sensitivity of a Cu-Sn films, thermally oxidized at $600^{\circ}C$, is strongly affected by the amount of Cu. At Cu:7 wt%-Sn:93 wt%, the film exhibited a maximum sensitivity of ${\sim}2.3$ to CO gas of 1000 ppm at $300^{\circ}C$. In contrast, the sensitivity of a Sn-Ag film did not change significantly with the amount of Ag. An enhanced sensitivity of ${\sim}3.7$ was observed in the film with a composition of Ag:3 wt%-Cu:4 wt%-Sn:93 wt%, when thermally oxidized at $600^{\circ}C$. In addition, this thin film shows a response time of ${\sim}80$ sec and a recovery time of ${\sim}450$ sec to 1000 ppm CO gas. The results demonstrate that the CO sensitivity of the Ag-CuO-$SnO_2$ thin films may be closely associated with coexistence of $SnO_2$ and SnO phase, decrease in average particle size, and a porous microstructure. We also suggest that co-evaporation and followed by thermal oxidation is a very simple and effective method to prepare oxide gas sensor thin films.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.270-273
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• 2007

In this report, Indium-free and Indium-reduced thin film materials for solar absorber were studied in order to search alternative materials for thin film solar cell. The films of $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ and $Cu_2ZnSnSe_2$ were deposited using mixed binary chalcogenides powders. From the film bulk analysis result, it is observed that Cu concentration is a function of substrate temperature as well as CuSe mole ratio in the target. Under optimized conditions, $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ and $Cu_2ZnSnSe_2$ thin films grow with strong (112), (220/204) and (312/116) reflections. Films are found to exhibit a high absorption coefficient of $10^4$ $cm^{-1}$. $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ film shows a 1.5 eV band gap. On the other side, an increasing of optical band gap from 1.0 eV to 1.25 eV ($CuInSnSe_2$) is found to be proportional with an increasing of Zn concentration. All films have a p-type semiconductor characteristic with a carrier concentration in the order of $10^{14}$ $cm^{-3}$, a mobility about $10^1$ $cm^{2{\cdot}-1.}S^{-1}$ and a resistivity at the range of $10^2-10^6$ ${\Omega}{\cdot}m$.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.54-62
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• 2007

In this paper, we report the research highlight on the preparation and characterization of Indium-free $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ and Indium-reduced $CulnZnSe_2$ thin films in order to seek the viability of these absorber materials to be applied in thin film solar cells. The films of $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4\;and\;CulnZnSe_2$ were prepared using mixed binary chalcogenides powders. It was observed that Cu concentration was a function of substrate temperature as well as CuSe mole ratio in the target. Under an optimized condition, $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4\;and\;CulnZnSe_2$ thin films grew with strong [112]. [220/204] and [312/116] reflections. Both $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4\;and\;CulnZnSe_2$ films were found to exhibit a high absorption coefficient of $104^4cm^{-1}\;Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ film showed a band gap of 1.5eV which closes to the optimum band gap of an ideal solar absorber for a solar cell. On the other side, an increase of optical band gap from 1.0 to 1.25eV was found to be proportional with an increase of Zn concentration in the $CulnZnSe_2$ film. All films in this study revealed a p-type semiconductor characteristic.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.177-181
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• 2014

$Cu_2ZnSn(S_xSe_{1-x})_4$ (CZTSSe) absorber thin films were prepared on Mo coated soda lime glass substrates by sulfo-selenization of sputtered stacked Zn-Sn-Cu precursor thin films. The Zn-Sn-Cu precursor thin films were sulfo-selenized inside a graphite box containing S and Se powder using rapid thermal processing furnace at $540^{\circ}C$ in Ar atmosphere with pre-treatment at $300^{\circ}C$. The effect of different S/Se ratio on the structural, compositional, morphological and electrical properties of the CZTSSe thin films were studied using XRD (X-ray diffraction), XRF (X-ray fluorescence analysis), FE-SEM (field-emission scanning electron microscopy), respectively. The XRD, FE-SEM, XRF results indicated that the properties of sulfo-selenized CZTSSe thin films were strongly related to the S/Se composition ratio. In particular, the CZTS thin film solar cells with S/(S+Se)=0.25 shows best conversion efficiency of 4.6% ($V_{oc}$ : 348 mV, $J_{sc}$ : $26.71mA/cm^2$, FF : 50%, and active area : $0.31cm^2$). Further detailed analysis and discussion for effect of S/Se composition ratio on the properties CZTSSe thin films will be discussed.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.305-309
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• 2012

In this study, ZnO nanorods and $SnO_2$-CuO heterogeneous oxide were grown on membrane-type gas sensor platforms and the sensing characteristics for carbon monoxide (CO) were studied. Diaphragm-type gas sensor platforms with built-in Pt micro-heaters were made using a conventional bulk micromachining method. ZnO nanorods were grown from ZnO seed layers using the hydrothermal method, and the average diameter and length of the nanorods were adjusted by changing the concentration of the precursor. Thereafter, $SnO_2$-CuO heterogeneous oxide thin films were grown from evaporated Sn and Cu thin films. The average diameters of the ZnO nanorods obtained by changing the concentration of the precursor were between 30 and 200 nm and the ZnO nanorods showed a sensitivity value of 21% at a working temperature of $350^{\circ}C$ and a carbon monoxide concentration of 100 ppm. The $SnO_2$-CuO heterogeneous oxide thin films showed a sensitivity value of 18% at a working temperature of $200^{\circ}C$ and a carbon monoxide concentration of 100 ppm.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.185-189
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• 2011

$Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ thin films for solar absorber application were prepared by pulsed laser deposition of a synthesized $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ compound target. The film's composition revealed that the deposited films possess an identical composition with the target material. Further film compositional control toward a stoichiometric composition was performed by optimizing substrate temperature, deposition time and target rotational speed. At the optimum condition, X-ray diffraction patterns of films showed that the films demonstrated polycrystalline stannite single phase with a high degree of (112) preferred orientation. The absorption coefficient of $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ thin films were above 104 cm.1 with a band gap of 1.45 eV. At an optimum condition, films were identified as a p type semiconductor characteristic with a resistivity as low as $10^{-1}{\Omega}cm$ and a carrier concentration in the order of $10^{17}cm^{-3}$.