• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.23-27
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• 2008

We have investigated the effect of annealing on the structural and optical properties of polycrystalline Ga doped ZnO (GZO) films grown on glass substrates by RF-magnetron sputter at room temperature. The structural and optical properties of as-grown GZO films were characterized and then samples were annealed at $400{\sim}600^{\circ}C$ in $N_2$ ambient for 30, 60 minutes, respectively. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to measure the grain size and the crystalline quality of the films. We found that the crystalline quality was improved and the grain size tends to be increased. The optical properties of GZO thin films were analyzed by UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometers. It is found that optical properties of thin films are increased by annealing and can be used for transparent electrode application. We believe that the appropriate post-growth heat treatment could be contributed to the improvement of GZO-based devices.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.661-668
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• 2010

Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$(CIGS) photovoltaic thin films were electrodeposited on Mo/glass substrates with an aqueous solution containing 2 mM $CuCl_2$, 8 mM $InCl_3$, 20 mM $GaCl_3$ and 8mM $H_2SeO_3$ at the electrodeposition potential of -0.6 to -1.0 V(SCE) and pH of 1.8. The best chemical composition of $Cu_{1.05}In_{0.8}Ga_{0.13}Se_2$ was found to be achieved at -0.7 V(SCE). The precursor Cu-In-Ga-Se films were annealed for crystallization to chalcopyrite structure at temperatures of 100-$500^{\circ}C$ under Ar gas atmosphere. The chemical compositions, microstructures, surface morphologies, and crystallographic structures of the annealed films were analyzed by EPMA, FE-SEM, AFM, and XRD, respectively. The precursor Cu-In-Ga-Se grains were grown sparsely on the Mo-back contact and also had very rough surfaces. However, after annealing treatment beginning at $200^{\circ}C$, the empty spaces between grains were removed and the grains showed well developed columnar shapes with smooth surfaces. The precursor Cu-In-Ga-Se films were also annealed at the temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ for 60 min under Se gas atmosphere to suppress the Se volatilization. The Se amount on the CIGS film after selenization annealing increased above the Se amount of the electrodeposited state and the $MoSe_2$ phase occurred, resulting from the diffusion of Se through the CIGS film and interaction with Mo back electrode. However, the selenization-annealed films showed higher crystallinity values than did the films annealed under Ar atmosphere with a chemical composition closer to that of the electrodeposited state.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.669-675
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• 2010

One of the greatest challenges for our society is providing powerful electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells are among the most promising candidates in terms of energy and power density. As the starting material, $TiCl_4{\cdot}YCl_3$ solution and dispersing agent (HCP) were mixed and synthesized using ammonia as the precipitation agent, in order to prepare the nano size Y doped spherical $TiO_2$ precursor. Then, the $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ was synthesized using solid state reaction method through the stoichiometric mixture of Y doped spherical $TiO_2$ precursor and LiOH. The Ti mole increased the concentration of the spherical particle size due to the addition of HPC with a similar particle size distribution in a well in which $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ spherical particles could be obtained. The optimal synthesis conditions and the molar ratio of the Ti 0.05 mol reaction at $50^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes and at $850^{\circ}C$ for 6 hours heat treatment time were optimized. $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ was prepared by the above conditions as a working electrode after generating the Coin cell; then, electrochemical properties were evaluated when the voltage range of 1.5V was flat, the initial capacity was 141 mAh/g, and cycle retention rate was 86%; also, redox reactions between 1.5 and 1.7V, which arose from the insertion and deintercalation of 0.005 mole of Y doping is not a case of doping because the C-rate characteristics were significantly better.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.204-205
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• 2011

In thin film silicon solar cells, p-i-n structure is adopted instead of p/n junction structure as in wafer-based Si solar cells. PECVD is a most widely used thin film deposition process for a-Si:H or ${\mu}c$-Si:H solar cells. For best performance of thin film silicon solar cell, the dopant profiles at p/i and i/n interfaces need to be as sharp as possible. The sharpness of dopant profiles can easily achieved when using multi-chamber PECVD equipment, in which each layer is deposited in separate chamber. However, in a single-chamber PECVD system, doped and intrinsic layers are deposited in one plasma chamber, which inevitably impedes sharp dopant profiles at the interfaces due to the contamination from previous deposition process. The cross-contamination between layers is a serious drawback of a single-chamber PECVD system in spite of the advantage of lower initial investment cost for the equipment. In order to resolve the cross-contamination problem in single-chamber PECVD systems, flushing method of the chamber with NH3 gas or water vapor after doped layer deposition process has been used. In this study, a new plasma process to solve the cross-contamination problem in a single-chamber PECVD system was suggested. A single-chamber VHF-PECVD system was used for superstrate type p-i-n a-Si:H solar cell manufacturing on Asahi-type U FTO glass. A 80 MHz and 20 watts of pulsed RF power was applied to the parallel plate RF cathode at the frequency of 10 kHz and 80% duty ratio. A mixture gas of Ar, H2 and SiH4 was used for i-layer deposition and the deposition pressure was 0.4 Torr. For p and n layer deposition, B2H6 and PH3 was used as doping gas, respectively. The deposition temperature was $250^{\circ}C$ and the total p-i-n layer thickness was about $3500{\AA}$. In order to remove the deposited B inside of the vacuum chamber during p-layer deposition, a high pulsed RF power of about 80 W was applied right after p-layer deposition without SiH4 gas, which is followed by i-layer and n-layer deposition. Finally, Ag was deposited as top electrode. The best initial solar cell efficiency of 9.5 % for test cell area of 0.2 $cm^2$ could be achieved by applying the in-situ plasma cleaning method. The dependence on RF power and treatment time was investigated along with the SIMS analysis of the p-i interface for boron profiles.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.522-526
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• 2007

Structural features and electrochemical performances of cokes pyrolized from oxidized cokes were examined, and compared with KOH-activated coke. Needle cokes ($d_{002}=3.5{\AA} $), having a graphene layer structure, were changed to a single phase of graphite oxide after oxidation treatment with an acidic solution having an $NaCLO_3$/needle coke composition ratio of above 7.5, and the inter-layer distance of the oxidized coke was expanded to $6.9{\AA} $ with increasing oxygen content. After heating at $200^{\circ}C$, the oxidized coke was pyrolized to the graphene layer structure with inter-layer distance of $3.6{\AA} $. However, the change of the inter-layer distance of the needle coke was not observed in the KOH activation process. On the other hand, an intercalation of electrolyte ions into the pyrolized coke, observed at first charge, occurred at 1.0 V, in which the value was lower than that of KOH-activation coke. The cell capacitor using pyrolized coke exhibited a lower internal resistance of $0.57{\Omega}$ in 1 kHz, and a larger capacitance per weight and volume of 30.3 F/g and 26.9 F/ml at the two-electrode system in the potential range 0~2.5 V than those of the cell capacitor using KOH-activation of coke. This better electrochemical performance may be associated with structure defects in the graphene layer derived from the process of the inter-layer expansion and shrinkage.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.711-716
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• 1993

The mechanism for electrochemical oxidation of natural alkaloid, ${\iota}$-sparteine (SP) was studied in acetonitrile solvent. The cyclic voltammogram of SP shows two irreversible anodic peaks at +0.75 V and +1.45 V vs. Ag/AgCl (0.1M AgNO$_2$ in acetonitrile) electrode. Coulometry reveals that the number of electrons involved in each oxidation peaks is in the range of 1.2∼1.3 respectively. Neutral imine radical was produced by fast deprotonation of SP radical cation formed by oxidation of one nitrogen atom in SP. Two pathways are possible for the reaction of the neutral radical: Due to the disproportionation of the radical, SP and enamine were mainly produced. Also, the 1,2-dehydrosparteinium cation was formed as minor product through the second one electron transfer oxidation of this radical. The (+)-lupanine was produced by treatment of sparteinium cation with potassium hydroxide. We have isolated and confirmed the electrolysis products using IR, GC-MS, UV-Vis, and thin-layer spectroelectrochemical method.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2014

A large amount of acidic waste solution is generated from the practical electrokinetic decontamination equipments for the remediation of soil contaminated with uranium. After filtration of uranium hydroxides formed by adding CaO into the waste solution, the filtrate was recycled in order to reduce the volume of waste solution. However, when the filtrate was used in an electrokinetic equipment, the low permeability of the filtrate from anode cell to cathode cell due to a high concentration of calcium made several problems such as the weakening of a fabric tamis, the corrosion of electric wire and the adhension of metallic oxides to the surface of cathode electrode. To solve these problems, sulfuric acid was added into the filtrate and calcium in the solution was removed as $CaSO_4$ precipitate. A decontamination test using a small electrokinetic equipment for 20 days indicated that Ca-removed waste solution decreased uranium concentration of the waste soil to 0.35 Bq/g, which is a similar to a decontamination result obtained by distilled water.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2007

Interfacial fracture energy(${\Gamma}$) between $Al_2O_3$ thin film deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition(ALD) and sputter deposited Cu electrode for embedded PCB applications is measured from a $90^{\circ}$ peel test. While the interfacial fracture energy of $Cu/Al_2O_3$ is very poor, Cr adhesion layer increases the interfacial fracture energy to $39.8{\pm}3.2g/mm\;for\;Ar^+$ RF plasma power density of $0.123W/cm^2$, which seems to come from the enhancement of the mechanical interlocking and Cr-O chemical bonding effects.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.82-87
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• 2005

The cathode material, $LiNi_{0.5}Mn_{1.5}O_4$, for high voltage applications of Li-ion batteries exhibits impurity phases due to oxygen deficiency during the high temperature heat treatment. The impurity phase reduces the electrochemical properties of the electrode since the deficiency spinel structure disturbs the lithium ion intercalation and deintercalation. In this study, Cr-substituted $LiNi_{0.5-x}Mn_{1.5}Cr_xO_4(0{\leq}x{\leq}0.05)$ powders are synthesized by a sol-gel method in order to reduce the amount of the impurity phases in the $LiNi_{0.5-x}Mn_{1.5}Cr_xO_4$. Thermal analysis of the cathode material shows that the $LiNi_{0.5}Mn_{1.5}O_4$ without Cr substitution looses $2\%$ of its weight due to oxygen deficiency but the amount of weight loss is diminished when Cr is substituted. XRD analysis also supports the reduction of the impurity phases in the cathode after chromium substitution, suggesting that the improvement of the electrochemical properties such as the capacity retention and electrochemical stability are attributed to the low content of impurity phases in the Cr-substituted $LiNi_{0.5-x}Mn_{1.5}Cr_xO_4.$

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.122-129
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• 2008

This paper gives the experimental results for the effective precipitation of particulated matter(PM) below 1[${\mu}m$] of diameter using the electrostatic precipitator, which is designed by ourselves. In order to improve the precipitation efficiency, the vertical and parallel magnetic field to the electric field is applied simultaneously by arranging ferrite magnets. When the parallel magnetic field is applied, the precipitation efficiency does not improve in comparison with non-magnets. However, when the vertical magnetic field is applied, it is improved about 5[%] more than the case of non-magnetized ferrite plate used. In addition, when the magnets are installed at the center of ground plate electrodes, the precipitation efficiency is ranged from 17 to 32[%] under the applied voltage of 5[kV]. It is similar to the case of the magnet arrangement at the front part of ground electrode. Also, the precipitation efficiency is more improved by arranging magnets as the inside part and zigzag on the electrodes. Especially, large particles of 0.7 and 1[${\mu}m$] is more easily captured by electrostatic precipitator. Consequently, it is convinced that the vertical magnetic field is more desirable than parallel magnetic field on the electric field for the effective treatment of particulated matter.