• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
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• v.73 no.11
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• pp.1612-1618
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• 2018

In this work, the ground-state properties of an interacting electron gas confined in a two-dimensional quantum dot system with the Gaussian potential ${\upsilon}(r)=V_0(1-{\exp}(-r^2/p))$, where $V_0$ and p are confinement parameters, are determined numerically by using the Thomas-Fermi approximation. The shape of the potential is modified by changing the $V_0$ and the p values, and the influence of the confining potential on the system's properties, such as the chemical energy, the density profile, the kinetic energy, the confining energy, etc., is analyzed for both the non-interacting and the interacting cases. The results are compared with those calculated for a harmonic potential, and excellent agreement is obtained in the limit of high p values for both the non-interacting and the interacting cases.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.606-610
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• 2010

Films consisting of a silicon quantum dot superlattice were fabricated by alternating deposition of silicon rich silicon nitride and $Si_3N_4$ layers using an rf magnetron co-sputtering system. In order to use the silicon quantum dot super lattice structure for third generation multi junction solar cell applications, it is important to control the dot size. Moreover, silicon quantum dots have to be in a regularly spaced array in the dielectric matrix material for in order to allow for effective carrier transport. In this study, therefore, we fabricated silicon quantum dot superlattice films under various conditions and investigated crystallization behavior of the silicon quantum dot super lattice structure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra showed an increased intensity of the $840\;cm^{-1}$ peak with increasing annealing temperature due to the increase in the number of Si-N bonds. A more conspicuous characteristic of this process is the increased intensity of the $1100\;cm^{-1}$ peak. This peak was attributed to annealing induced reordering in the films that led to increased Si-$N_4$ bonding. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that peak position was shifted to higher bonding energy as silicon 2p bonding energy changed. This transition is related to the formation of silicon quantum dots. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis also confirmed the formation of silicon quantum dots. This study revealed that post annealing at $1100^{\circ}C$ for at least one hour is necessary to precipitate the silicon quantum dots in the $SiN_x$ matrix.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2019

Anodic oxidized $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays are promising materials for application in photoelectrochemical solar cells as the photoanode, because of their attractive properties including slow electron recombination rate, superior light scattering, and smooth electrolyte diffusion. However, because of the opacity of these nanotube electrodes, the back-side illumination is inevitable for the application in solar cells. Therefore, for the fabrication of solar cells with the anodic oxidized nanotube electrodes, it is required to develop efficient and transparent counter electrodes. Here, we demonstrate quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) based on the nanotube photoanode and transparent counter electrodes. The transparent counter electrodes based on Pt electrocatalysts were prepared by a simple thermal decomposition methods. The photovoltaic performances of QDSCs with nanotube photoanode were tested and optimized depending on the concentration of Pt precursor solutions for the preparation of counter electrodes.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.393-398
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• 2019

A poly[bis(4-butypheny)-bis(phenyl)benzidine] (poly-TPD) and poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) bilayer was employed as a hole transport layer (HTL) in solution-processed CdSe/ZnS quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs). The thickness of the PVK layer spin-coated onto the poly-TPD layer, whose thickness was fixed to 40 nm, was varied, with PVK layer thicknesses of 0 nm, 35 nm, 45 nm, and 55 nm. Because the thickness of the PVK can determine the hole transport properties of the HTL, a PVK thickness that maximizes the performance of the HTL for the QLEDs was investigated. By employing the optimized PVK thickness of 45 nm, the current efficiency of the QLED exhibited a 1.74 times improvement when compared with that of the QLED with poly-TPD based HTL without PVK. This was mainly attributed to the decrease in the energy barrier between the HTL and the quantum dot (QD) emitting layer (EML).

• 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 %.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.420.1-420.1
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• 2016

Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) is emerging as a promising active material for next-generation solar cell applications because of its inexpensive and solution-processable characteristics as well as unique properties such as a tunable band-gap due to the quantum-size effect and multiple exciton generation. However, the most widely used spin-coating method for the formation of the quantum dot (QD) active layers is generally hard to be adopted for high productivity and large-area process. Instead, the spray-coating technique may potentially be utilized for high-throughput production of the CQD solar cells (CQDSCs) because it can be adapted to continuous process and large-area deposition on various substrates although the cell efficiency is still lower than that of the devices fabricated with spin-coating method. In this work, we observed that the subsequent treatment of two different ligands, halide ion and butanedithiol, on the lead sulfide (PbS) QD layer significantly enhanced the cell efficiency of the spray CQDSCs. The maximum power conversion efficiency was 5.3%, comparable to that of the spin-coating CQDSCs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.110-110
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• 2010

본 실험에서는 Silicon (001) 기판을 사용하여 silicon 기판상에 modified Stranski-Krastanow(S-K) 방식으로 InAs quantum dot (QD) 을 성장하고 그 위에 InSb layer를 형성하였다. 기판온도 $390^{\circ}$에서 In injection period를 4번 반복하여 제작된 InAs quantum dot layer를 buffer로 사용하였으며, QD layer의 밀도는 $1{\mu}m^2$ 당 600개, height가 $6.2\;{\pm}\;2.0\;nm$, width가 $36.1\;{\pm}\;9.2\;nm$ 정도이다. 성장된 $2.8{\mu}m$ 두께의 InSb film의 특성을 분석해 보면 AFM 상에서의 root mean square (rms) roughness는 5.142nm정도이며, electron mobility는 340 K 에서 $41,352cm^2/Vs$, 1.8 K에서는 $4,215cm^2/Vs$ 정도를 나타내었다. 본 실험에서는 다른 실험과는 달리 InAs QD 을 buffer layer로 사용하였으며, silicon기판도 아무런 처리가 되지 않은 (001)기판을 사용하였으므로 기존의 다른 연구 결과와는 차별성을 가진다. 또한 buffer로 사용된 InAs quantum dot layer의 종류를 한 가지로 고정하고 실험을 하였지만 추후 더욱 다양한 밀도와 크기의 quantum dot layer를 적용시키고, 기존의 다른 논문에서 적용된 방법들을 추가로 적용시켜 본다면 mobility값은 더욱 증가할 것으로 생각된다. 이러한 연구를 통해 값이 싸고 구하기 쉬운 silicon기판상에 silicon에 비하여 더 좋은 특성을 갖는 III-V족 화합물 반도체 소자를 구현 할 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.183-187
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• 2006

We present the effects of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) temperature on the structural and optical properties of self-assembled InAs quantum dot (QD) structures grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The photoluminescence (PL) measurements are performed in a closed-cycle refrigerator as a function of temperature for the unannealed and annealed samples. RTA at higher temperature results in the increase in island size, the corresponding decrease in the density of islands, and the redshift in the PL emission from the islands. The temperature dependence of the PL peak energy for the InAs QDs is well expressed by the Varshni equation. The thermal quenching activation energies for the samples unannealed and annealed at $600^{\circ}C$ are found to be $25{\pm}5meV$ and $47{\pm}5$ meV, respectively.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.36 no.spc1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2006

Self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) were grown by the atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) techniques, The structure and the thermal stability of QDs have been studied by high resolution electron microscopy with in-situ heating experiment capability, The ALE and MBE QDs were found to form a hemispherical structure with side facets in the early stage of growth, Upon capping by GaAs layer, however, the apex of QDs changed to a flat one. The ALE QDs have larger size and more regular shape than those of MBE QDs. The QDs collapse due to elevated temperature was observed directly in atomic scale, In situ heating experiment within TEM revealed that the uncapped QDs remained stable up to $580^{\circ}C$, However, at temperature above $600^{\circ}C$, the QDs collapsed due to the diffusion and evaporation of In and As from the QDs, The density of the QDs decreased abruptly by this collapse and most of them disappeared at above $600^{\circ}C$.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.411-414
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• 2013

In order to enhance the photovoltaic property of the CdS/CdSe co-sensitized quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs), the surface of nanoporous $TiO_2$ photoanode was modified by ultrathin $Al_2O_3$ layer before the deposition of quantum dots (QDs). The $Al_2O_3$ layer, dip-coated by 0.10 M Al precursor solution, exhibited the optimized performance in blocking the back-reaction of the photo-injected electrons from $TiO_2$ conduction band (CB) to polysulfide electrolyte. Transient photocurrent spectra revealed that the electron lifetime (${\tau}_e$) increased significantly by introducing the ultrathin $Al_2O_3$ layer on $TiO_2$ surface, whereas the electron diffusion coefficient ($D_e$) was not varied. As a result, the $V_{oc}$ increased from 0.487 to 0.545 V, without appreciable change in short circuit current ($J_{sc}$), thus inducing the enhancement of photovoltaic conversion efficiency (${\eta}$) from 3.01% to 3.38%.