• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.199-202
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• 2011

Ga doped ZnO thin films were deposited with RF magnetron sputtering on glass substrate without intentional substrate heating and then the effect of post deposition annealing temperature on the structural, optical and electrical properties of the films was investigated. The post deposition annealing process was conducted for 30 minutes in a vacuum of $1{\times}10^{-3}$ Torr and the vacuum annealing temperatures were 150 and $300^{\circ}C$, respectively. As increase annealing temperature, GZO films show the increment of the prefer orientation of ZnO (002) diffraction peak in the XRD pattern and the optical transmittance in a visible wave region was also increased, while the electrical sheet resistance was decreased. The figure of merit obtained in this study means that GZO films which vacuum annealed at $300^{\circ}C$ have the highest optoelectrical performance in this study.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.39 no.10
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• pp.928-934
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• 2002

Gallium doped Zinc Oxide(GZO) films were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering using a GZO ceramic target at various conditions such as substrate temperature (RT, 400), residual water pressure ($P_{H_2O}$; 1.61${\times}10^{-4}∼2.2{\times}10^{-3}$ Pa), introduction of $H_2$ gas (8.5%) and different magnetic field strengths(250, 1000G). GZO films deposited without substrate heating showed clear degradation in film crystallinity and electrical properties with increasing $P_{H_2O}$. The resistivity increased from 3.0${\times}10^{-3}$ to 3.1${\times}10^{-2}{\Omega}㎝$ and the grain size of the films decreased from 24 to 3 nm when PH2O was increased from 1.61${\times}10^{-4}$ to 2.2${\times}10^{-3}$ Pa. However, degradation in electrical properties with increasing $P_{H_2O}$ was not observed for the films deposited with introduction of 8.5% $H_2$. When magnetic field strength of the cathode increased from 250G to 1000G, crystallinity and electrical properties of GZO films improved remarkably about all the $P_{H_2O}$. This result could be attributed to the decrease in film damage caused by the decrease in plasma impedance.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.374-378
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• 2010

The effects of $O_2$ plasma pretreatment on the properties of Ga-doped ZnO films on polyimide substrate were studied. GZO films were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering process. To improve surface energy and adhesion between the polyimide substrate and the GZO film, $O_2$ plasma pretreatment process was used prior to GZO sputtering. As the RF power and the treatment time increased, the crystallinity increased and the contact angle decreased significantly. When the RF power was 100 W and the treatment time was 120 sec, the resistivity of GZO films on the polyimide substrate was $1.90{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}-cm$.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.453-457
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• 2007

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and Ga doped zinc oxide (GZO) with different thickness in range of 10nm to 100nm are prepared on glass substrate by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The structural and optical properties of the thin films is evaluated. The structural properties of ZnO and GZO are investigated by Tunneling Electron Microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optical properties are also investigated by UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer (200$\sim$1400nm). The much larger grain size of ZnO compared to GZO decreased the light scattering at the grain boundary and improved the transmittance. The transmittance of ZnO is higher than that of GZO through all of the ranges of wavelengths. In case of over 50nm, we found that the transmittance of ZnO is 20% higher than that of GZO.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.321-323
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• 2013

100 nm thick Ga doped ZnO (GZO) thin films were deposited with DC and RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature on glass substrate and Al coated glass substrate, respectively. and the effect of the Al underlayer on the optical and electrical properties of the GZO films was investigated. As-deposited GZO single layer films had an optical transmittance of 80% in the visible wavelength region, and sheet resistance of 1,516 ${\Omega}/{\Box}$, while the optical and electrical properties of GZO/Al bi-layered films were influenced by the thickness of the Al buffer layer. GZO films with 2 nm thick Al film show a lower sheet resistance of 990 ${\Omega}/{\Box}$, and an optical transmittance of 78%. Based on the figure of merit (FOM), it can be concluded that the thin Al buffer layer effectively increases the performance of GZO films as a transparent and conducting electrode without intentional substrate heating or a post deposition annealing process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.247-247
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• 2009

In this work, Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films for toxic gas sensor application were deposited on low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates, by RF magnetron sputtering method. LTCC is one of promising materials for integration with heater, low cost production and high manufacturing yields than silicon substrate. The LTCC substrates with thickness of $400\;{\mu}m$ were fabricated by laminating 12 greentapes which consist of alumina and glass particle in an organic binder. The GZO thin films deposited on the substrates and were analyzed by X-ray diffraction method (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The films are well crystallized in the hexagonal (wurzite) structure with increasing thickness. The fabricated sensors showed good sensitivity and fast response time to common types of toxic gases (NOx, COx).

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.48.1-48.1
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• 2007

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.140-143
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• 2011

In this work, Ga doped ZnO (GZO) films were prepared by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering without intentional substrate heating on glass substrate and then the effect of the intense electron irradiation on structural and electrical properties and the NOx gas sensitivity were investigated. Although as deposited GZO films showed a diffraction peak for ZnO (002) in the XRD pattern, GZO films that electron irradiated at electron energy of 900 eV showed the higher intense diffraction peaks than that of the as deposited GZO films. The electrical property of the films are also influenced with electron's energy. As deposited GZO films showed the three times higher resistivity than that of the films irradiated at 900 eV In addition, the sensitivity for NOx gas is also increased with electron irradiation energy and the film sensor showed the proportionally increased gas sensitivity with NOx concentration. This approach is promising in gaining improvement in the performance of thin film gas sensors used for the detection of hazard gas phase.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.175-180
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• 2010

Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films are widely used for optoelectronic applications. Among TCO materials, zinc oxide (ZnO) has been studied extensively for its high optical transmission and electrical conduction. In this study, the effects of $O_2$ plasma pretreatment on the properties of Ga-doped ZnO films (GZO) on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate were studied. The $O_2$ plasma pretreatment process was used instead of conventional oxide buffer layers. The $O_2$ plasma treatment process has several merits compared with the oxide buffer layer treatment, especially on a mass production scale. In this process, an additional sputtering system for oxide composition is not needed and the plasma treatment process is easily adopted as an in-line process. GZO films were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering process. To improve surface energy and adhesion between the PEN substrate and the GZO film, the $O_2$ plasma pre-treatment process was used prior to GZO sputtering. As the RF power and the treatment time increased, the contact angle decreased and the RMS surface roughness increased significantly. It is believed that the surface energy and adhesive force of the polymer surfaces increased with the $O_2$ plasma treatment and that the crystallinity and grain size of the GZO films increased. When the RF power was 100W and the treatment time was 120 sec in the $O_2$ plasma pretreatment process, the resistivity of the GZO films on the PEN substrate was $1.05\;{\times}\;10^{-3}{\Omega}-cm$, which is an appropriate range for most optoelectronic applications.