• Applied Microscopy
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.279-284
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• 2008

The phase change materials have been extensively used as an optical rewritable data storage media utilizing their phase change properties. Recently, the phase change materials have been spotlighted for the application of non-volatile memory device, such as the phase change random access memory. In this work, we have investigated the crystallization behavior and microstructure analysis of In-Sb-Te (IST) thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering. Transmission electron microscopy measurement was carried out after the annealing at $300^{\circ}C$, $350^{\circ}C$, $400^{\circ}C$ and $450^{\circ}C$ for 5 min. It was observed that InSb phases change into $In_3SbTe_2$ phases and InTe phases as the temperature increases. It was found that the thickness of thin films was decreased and the grain size was increased by the bright field transmission electron microscopy (BF TEM) images and the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns. In a high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) study, it shows that $350^{\circ}C$-annealed InSb phases have {111} facet because the surface energy of a {111} close-packed plane is the lowest in FCC crystals. When the film was heated up to $400^{\circ}C$, $In_3SbTe_2$ grains have coherent micro-twins with {111} mirror plane, and they are healed annealing at $450^{\circ}C$. From the HRTEM, InTe phase separation was occurred in this stage. It can be found that $In_3SbTe_2$ forms in the crystallization process as composition of the film near stoichiometric composition, while InTe phase separation may take place as the composition deviates from $In_3SbTe_2$.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.23-32
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• 2003

The spectroe-ellipsometric constant $\Delta$, Ψ and the ellipsometric growth curves at the wavelength of 632.8 nm are collected. These are critically examined to find out the optimum growth condition of phase change $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5(GST)$ thin films as an optical recording medium. GST films are prepared using DC magnetron sputtering technique, under the selected experimental conditions of Ar gas pressure (5 mTorr, 7 mTorr and 10 mTorr), DC power of sputtering gun (15 W, 30 W and 45 W), and substrate temperature (from room temperature to 18$0^{\circ}C$). Based on the three film model, the density distribution of deposited GST films are obtained versus Ar gas pressure and DC power by analyzing spectro-ellipsometric data. The calculated evolution curves at the wavelength of 632.8 nm, are fit into the in situ observed ones to get information about the evolution of density distribution during film growth. The density distribution showed different evolution curves depending on deposition conditions. The GST films fabricated at DC power of 30 W or 45 W, and at Ar gas pressure of 7 mTorr turned out to be the most homogeneous one out of those prepared at room temperature, even though the maximum density difference between the dense region and the dilute region of the GST film was still significant (~50%). Finally, in order to find the optimum growth condition of homogeneous GST thin films, the substrate temperature is varied while Ar gas pressure is fixed at 7 mTorr and DC power at 30 W and 45 W respectively. A monotonic decrease of void fraction except for a slight increase at 18$0^{\circ}C$ is observed as the substrate temperature increases. Decrease of void fraction indicates an increase of film density and hence an improvement of film homogeneity. The optimum condition of the most homogeneous GST film growth turned out to be 7 mTorr of Ar gas pressure, 15$0^{\circ}C$ of substrate temperature. and 45 W of DC power. The microscopic images obtained using scanning electron microscope, of the samples prepared at the optimum growth condition, confirmed this conclusion. It is believed that the fabrication of homogeneous GST films will be quite beneficial to provide a reliable optical recording medium compatible with repeated write/erase cycles.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2008.07a
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• pp.1287-1288
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• 2008

In the past work, we showed that $Ge_1Se_1Te_2$ thin films provide a promising alternative for PRAM applications to overcome the problems of conventional $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ PRAM devices. However, $Ge_1Se_1Te_2$ thin films were unstable at SET and RESET process. Because of unstable state and its melting temperature, we alloyed As for 5wt%, 10wt% and 15wt% respectively. The phase transition temperature of $Ge_1Se_1Te_2$-only thin film is found to be 213$^{\circ}C$ while As 10wt% alloyed $Ge_1Se_1Te_2$ showed phase transition at 242$^{\circ}C$ with more stability.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.266-270
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• 1984

The photoelectrochemical properties of the reduced $TiO_2$ceramic electrodes are investigated varying the thickness of the electrodes and the amounts of $Sb_2O_3$ as dopant. As the thickness of the undoped. $TiO_2$ceramic electrode increases the photocurrent tends to decrease. However for the R-F sputtered $TiO_2$ thin film electrodes the photocurrent tends to increase to about 1$\mu\textrm{m}$ thick and then decreases with increasing thickness. For the $TiO_2$ ceramic electrodes doped with $Sb_2O_3$ the photocurrent decreases with inreasing the amounts of dopant and in the case of rapid cooling in air without reduction treatment the photocurrent shows lower value. Also visible light excitation is observed at 500~550(nm) wavelength for the $TiO_2$ ceramic electrodes doped with $Sb_2O_3$comparing wtih the $TiO_2$ ceramic electrodes (~420nm)

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.139.2-139.2
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• 2016

Electrons and phonons in chalcogenide-based materials play are important factors in the performance of an optical data storage media and thermoelectric devices. However, the fundamental kinetics of carriers in chalcogenide materials remains controversial, and active debate continues over the mechanism responsible for carrier relaxation. In this study, we investigated ultrafast carrier dynamics in an multilayered $\{Sb(3{\AA})/Te(9{\AA})\}n$ thin film during the transition from the amorphous to the crystalline phase using optical pump terahertz probe spectroscopy (OPTP), which permits the relationship between structural phase transition and optical property transitions to be examined. Using THz-TDS, we demonstrated that optical conductance and carrier concentration change as a function of annealing temperature with a contact-free optical technique. Moreover, we observed that the topological surface state (TSS) affects the degree of enhancement of carrier lifetime, which is closely related to the degree of spin-orbit coupling (SOC). The combination of an optical technique and a proposed carrier relaxation mechanism provides a powerful tool for monitoring TSS and SOC. Consequently, the response of the amorphous phase is dominated by an electron-phonon coupling effect, while that of the crystalline structure is controlled by a Dirac surface state and SOC effects. These results are important for understanding the fundamental physics of phase change materials and for optimizing and designing materials with better performance in optoelectronic devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.142-142
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• 2007

Micro thermoelectric generator has been attractive for the alternative power source to operate the wireless sensor node. In this paper, we designed the column-type micro thermoelectric device and their device characteristics were measured. n-type Bi2Te3 and p-type BiSbTe3 thermoelectric thin films were grown on (001) GaAs substrates by metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) and they were pattemed. The height of thermoelectric film were controlled by the deposition time, temperature and MO-x gas pressure. Seebeck coefficient was measured at room temperature and hole concentration and electrical resistivity of thermoelectric film were also characterized.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.390-397
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• 2017

In this paper, we propose a scheme for designing a tunable pixel layer based on a $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ (GST) alloy thin film. We show that the phase change of GST can significantly affect the reflection characteristic when the GST film is embedded into a dielectric encapsulation layer. We investigate the appropriate positions of the GST film within the dielectric layer for high diffraction efficiency, and we prove that they are antinodes of Fabry-Perot resonance inside the dielectric layer. Using the proposed scheme, we can increase the diffraction efficiency by about ten times compared to a bare GST film pixel, and 80 times for the first-to-zeroth-order diffraction power ratio. We show that the proposed scheme can be designed alternatively for a broadband or wavelength-selective type by tuning the dielectric thickness, and we discuss a multi-phase example with a double-stack structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.268-271
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• 2004

The phase transition from amorphous to crystalline states, and vice versa, of $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ films by applying electrical pulses have been studied. This material can be used as nonvolatile memory. The reversible phase transition between the amorphous and crystalline states, which is accompanied by a considerable change in electrical resistivity, is exploited as means to store bits of information. The nonvolatile memory cells are composed of a simple sandwich (metal/chalcogenide/metal). It was formed that the threshold voltage depends on thickness, electrode distance, annealing time and temperature, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2010

The crystallization speed (v) of amorphous (InTe)$_x$(GeTe) (x = 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) films and their thermal, optical and electrical behaviors have been investigated using nano-pulse scanner (wavelength = 658 nm, laser beam diameter < 2 ${\mu}m$), X-ray diffraction (XRD), 4-point probe and UV-vis-IR spectrophotometer. These results were compared with those of $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ (GST) film, comprehensively utilized for phase-change random access memory (PRAM). Both v-value and thermal stability of (InTe)$_{0.1}$(GeTe) and (InTe)$_{0.3}$(GeTe) films could be enhanced in comparison with those of the GST. Contrarily, the v-value in the (InTe)$_{0.5}$(GeTe) film was so drastically deteriorated that we could not quantitatively evaluate it. This deterioration is thought because amorphous (InTe)$_{0.5}$(GeTe) film has relatively high reflectance, resulting in too low absorption to cause the crystallization. Conclusively, it could be thought that a proper compositional (InTe)$_x$(GeTe) films (e.g., x < 0.3) may be good candidates with both high crystallization speed and thermal stability for PRAM application.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.172-177
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• 1985

The semiconducting property of Sb-doped tin oxide thin film electrode was investigated and the electrocatalytic effect of this electrode for $SO_2$ (or sulfite, bisulfite ions) oxidation reaction was studied under various conditions. The anodic oxidation of $SO_2$ at tin oxide thin film electrode commenced at lower potential with increasing pH, and good electrocatalytic effect was shown of $SO_3^=$ oxidation in basic solution. In the acidic solutions the electrocatalytic effect of platinum-or palladium-incorporated tin oxide electrode was found to be due to the sites of Pt or Pd exposed on the electrode surface. The electrocatalytic effect of tin oxide electrode was distinctive from that of Pt-or Pd-containing electrodes.