• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.245-252
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• 2009

Changes in the surface morphology and light scattering of textured Al doped ZnO thin films on glass substrates prepared by rf magnetron sputtering were investigated. As-deposited ZnO:Al films show a high transmittance of above 80% in the visible range and a low electrical resistivity of $4.5{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$. The surface morphology of textured ZnO:Al films are closely dependent on the deposition parameters of heater temperature, working pressure, and etching time in the etching process. The optimized surface morphology with a crater shape is obtained at a heater temperature of $350^{\circ}C$, working pressure of 0.5 mtorr, and etching time of 45 seconds. The optical properties of light transmittance, haze, and angular distribution function (ADF) are significantly affected by the resulting surface morphologies of textured films. The film surfaces, having uniformly size-distributed craters, represent good light scattering properties of high haze and ADF values. Compared with commercial Asahi U ($SnO_2$:F) substrates, the suitability of textured ZnO:Al films as front electrode material for amorphous silicon thin film solar cells is also estimated with respect to electrical and optical properties.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.421.1-421.1
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• 2016

We studied indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) as transparent conductive oxide (TCO). A variety of TCO layer, such as ZnO:Al (AZO), InSnO2(ITO), Zn (O,S) etc, has been grown by various method, such as ALD, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), sputtering, laser ablation, sol-gel technique, etc. Among many deposition methods, ALD has various advantages such as uniformity of film thickness, film composition, conformality, and low temperature deposition, as compared with other techniques. In this study, we deposited indium-doped zinc oxide thin films using diethyl[bis(trimethylsilyl)amido]indium [Et2InN(TMS)2] as indium precursor, DEZn as zinc precursor and H2O as oxidant for ALD and investigated the optical and electrical properties of IZO films. As an alternative, this liquid In precursor would has several advantages in indium oxide thin-film processes by ALD, especially for low resistance indium oxide thin film and high deposition rate as compared to InCp, InCl3, TMIn precursors etc. We found out that Indium oxide films grown by Et2InN(TMS)2 and H2O precursor show ALD growth mode and ALD growth window. We also found out the different growth rate of Indium oxide as the substrate and investigated the effect of the substrate on Indium oxide growth.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.381-383
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• 2021

Light-activated metal oxide gas sensors have been investigated in recent decades. Light illumination enhances the sensing attributes, including the operational temperature, sensitivity, and selectivity. Unfortunately, high operating temperature is a major problem for gas sensors because of the huge energy consumption. Therefore, the importance of light-activated room-temperature sensing has increased. This paper reviews recent light-activated sensors and their sensing mechanisms with a specific focus on metal oxide gas sensors. Studies use the outstanding ZnO and SnO₂ sensors to research photoactivation when illuminated by various sources such as ultraviolet (UV), halogen lamp, or monochromatic light. Photon induction generates electron-hole pairs that increase the number of adsorption sites of gas molecules and ions improving the sensor's sensing properties.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.795-798
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• 2002

Replacing Pb-free glass composition for the dielectric materials is expected in PDP industry. In this study, phosphate glasses, $P_2O_5$- ZnO- SnO (PZS), $P_2O_5$-ZnO-BaO (PZB) were selected for a new transparent dielectric. Thermal properties (Tg, CTE) were measured with differential thermal analyzer and thermal mechanical analyzer. The glass transition of the glasses was ranged at $365{\sim}405^{\circ}C$ for the PZS system and $5.9{\sim}9.5{\times}\;10^{-6}$ of thermal expansion were found. The PZB system showed $445{\sim}470^{\circ}C$ of glass transition. Thus, the glass compositions would be a potential candidate for a transparent dielectric layer in plasma display panel.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2008

Various diatomic inorganic films and their composite films are packed as passivation films covering Ca cells on glass substrates by using an electron-beam evaporation technique. When these Ca cells are exposed to an ambient atmosphere, the water vapor penetrating through the passivation layers is absorbed in the Ca cells, resulting in a gradual progress of transparency in the Ca cells, which can be represented by changes of the optical transmittance in the visible range. Compared with the saturation times for the Ca cells to become completely transparent in the atmosphere, the protection effects of water vapor are estimated for various passivation films. The composite films consisting silicon oxide($SiO_2$) and tin oxide($SnO_2$) or zinc oxide(ZnO) are found to show a superior protection effect of water vapor as compared with diatomic inorganic films. Also, the main factors affecting the permeation of water vapor through the oxide films are found to be the polarizability and the packing density.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.285-291
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• 2020

Recent advances in technology using ultra-thin noble metal film in oxide/metal/oxide structures have attracted attention because this material is a promising alternative to meet the needs of transparent conduction electrodes (TCE). AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films are prepared by magnetron sputtering for Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ (CZTSSe) of kesterite solar cells. It is shown that the electrical and optical properties of the AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films can be improved by the very low resistivity and surface plasmon effects due to the deposition of different thicknesses of Ag layer between oxide layers fixed at AZO 30 nm. The AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films of Ag 15 nm show high mobility of 26.4 ㎠/Vs and low resistivity and sheet resistance of 3.58^⁎10^-5 Ωcm and 5.0 Ω/sq. Also, the AZO/Ag (15 nm)/AZO multilayer film shows relatively high transmittance of more than 65 % in the visible region. Through this, we fabricated CZTSSe thin film solar cells with 7.51 % efficiency by improving the short-circuit current density and fill factor to 27.7 mV/㎠ and 62 %, respectively.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.42.2-42.2
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• 2010

Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) are of significant importance for their applications in various devices, such as light-emitting diodes, thin-film solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes, liquid crystal displays, and so on. In order for TCOs to contribute to the performance improvement of these devices, TCOs should have high transmittance and good electrical properties simultaneously. Sn-doped $In_2O_3$ (ITO) is the most commonly used TCO. However, indium is toxic and scarce in nature. Thus, ZnO has attracted a lot of attention because of the possibility for replacing ITO. In particular, group III impurity-doped ZnO showed the optoelectronic properties comparable to those of ITO electrodes. Al-doped ZnO exhibited the best performance among various doped ZnO films because of the high substitutional doping efficiency. However, in order for the Al-doped ZnO to replace ITO in electronic devices, their electrical and optical properties should further significantly be improved. In this connection, different ways such as a variation of deposition conditions, different deposition techniques, and post-deposition annealing processes have been investigated so far. Among the deposition methods, RF magnetron sputtering has been extensively used because of the easiness in controlling deposition parameters and its fast deposition rate. In addition, when combined with post-deposition annealing in a reducing ambient, the optoelectronic properties of Al-doped ZnO films were found to be further improved. In this presentation, we deposited Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:$Al_2O_3$ = 98:2 wt%) thin films on the glass and sapphire substrates using RF magnetron sputtering as a function of substrate temperature. In addition, the ZnO samples were annealed in different conditions, e.g., rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at $900^{\circ}C$ in $N_2$ ambient for 1 min, tube-furnace annealing at $500^{\circ}C$ in $N_2:H_2$=9:1 gas flow for 1 hour, or RTA combined with tube-furnace annealing. It is found that the mobilities and carrier concentrations of the samples are dependent on growth temperature followed by one of three subsequent post-deposition annealing conditions.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.4.2-4.2
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• 2009

산화아연 (ZnO)으로 대표되는 산화물반도체는 최근 다양한 비정질 산화물반도체들이 개발되고 있고 높은 이동도와 저온공정 등의 장점으로, 실리콘 기반 박막소자 (비정질-Si, 또는 다결정-Si(LTPS) 트랜지스터)를 대체할 차세대 박막 트랜지스터 (Thin-Film Transistor)의 핵심소재로 관심을 모으고 있다. 또한, 산화물 반도체는 근본적으로 투명하므로, 투명 전극 및 투명 기판재료와 함께 투명 디스플레이도 구현시킬 수 있을 것이다. 그렇지만, 핵심 전자소재로서 향후 디스플레이 및 디바이스에 성공적으로 적용되기 위해서는 소자의 특성 뿐만아니라, 전기적 신뢰성(reliability)을 강화시킬 필요가 있다. 본 발표에서는 In-Ga-Zn-oxide (IGZO), Zn-Sn-oxide (ZTO), Zn-In-Sn-oxide (ZITO) 및 도핑원소를 첨가한 소재에 이르기까지 다양한 산화물 반도체 소재 기술과 소자의 신뢰성 향상을 위한 기술 등을 소개할 것이다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.256-256
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• 2010

투명전극부터 디스플레이 산업에 이르기까지 광범위하게 응용되어지고 있고 개발되어지고 있는 투명전도산화물(TCO)은 ZnO, In2O3, SnO2 등을 기본으로 하는 n-type 재료가 대부분이다. 그러나 투명전도 산화물을 이용한 light emitting diode(LED), 투명한 태양전지, p-형 TFT와 같은 투명전자소자의 개발을 위해서는 p-type 소재가 필수적이다. p-type TCO 소재는 비교적 연구 개발 실적이 매우 부진한 실정이었다. 1997년 넓은 밴드갭을 가지는 ABO2(delafossite) 산화물이 p-type으로서 안정적이라는 것을 보고함에 따라 이에 대한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 현재 ABO2 형태를 가진 Delafossite구조 산화물이 가장 유망한 p-type 투명전도체 소재로 거론되고 있다. Delafossite 구조가 p-type 투명전도체에 적합한 결정구조인 이유는 밴드갭이 넓고 공유결합에 유리하기 때문이다. Delafossite구조는 상온에서 2종류의 polytype(상온에서 Rhombohedaral구조와 hexagonal 구조)이 존재하며 이들은 각각 3R 및 2H의 결정 구조를 가지고 있다. ABO2의 delafossite구조에서 Cu+의 배열은 c-축을 따라 Cu-O-Cr-O-Cu의 연속적인 층 구조로서 2차원연결로 보여 진다. 보고된 Cu- base delafossite구조를 가지는 재료들은 CuAlO2, CuGaO2, CuInO2 등 여러가지가 있다. 본 연구에서는 PLD를 이용하여 c-plane 사파이어 기판위에 성장된 delafossite구조인 CuCrO2박막의 특성을 알아보았다. p-type 특성을 위하여 CuCrO2에 Zn를 첨가하였으며 그에 따른 구조적 전기적 특성을 조사하였다. 성장온도와 산소분압을 $500{\sim}700^{\circ}C$, 0~10mTorr로 변화시켜 특성을 연구하였다. 성장온도 $700^{\circ}C$, 산소분압 10mTorr에서 c-plane 사파이어 기판위에 c-축 배향의 에피성장된 CuCrO2:Zn 박막을 얻을 수 있었다. Mg를 도핑함에 따른 p-type 특성보다 현저히 떨어지는 것을 확인하였다. 또한 동일한 조건임에도 특정한 이차상의 존재를 통해 도핑된 Zn의 위치를 추측할 수 있었다. 온도와 분압에 따른 결정성과 표면상태를 SEM을 통해서 확인하였다.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.88-88
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• 2009

실리콘 이종접합 태양전지 제작을 위한 주요 요소기술 중 TCO/a-Si:H 간의 계면 특성은 태양전지 효율을 결정하는 주요 인자이다. 일반적으로 투명전도 산화막으로는 ZnO:Al 또는 ITO 가 사용되고 있으며 Zn, In, Sn, O 등의 확산과 Si원소의 확산으로 TCO/a-Si:H 계면에서 $SiO_x$가 생성되어 태양전지 충진률을 감소시키는 영향을 미친다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 TCO/a-Si 계면에서 확산을 방지 하면서 패시베이션 역할을 하는 완충층을 삽입하여 실리콘 이종접합 태양전지의 효율을 높이는 연구를 수행하였다. 완충층으로 사용된 ZnO:Al의 수소화와 Zn 박막, $TiO_2$ 박막의 전기 광학적 특성을 분석하였고 AES 분석을 통해 $SiO_x$의 생성과 각 원소의 확산정도를 분석하고, CTLM을 이용하여 TCO/완충층/a-Si 간의 접촉저항을 측정하였다. 결과적으로 완충층으로 사용된 $TiO_2$(5nm)는 광특성에 큰 감소요인 없이 전기적 특성과 접촉저항 특성이 우수하였으며, 원소들간의 확산방지층으로도 우수한 특성을 보였다. ZnO:Al의 수소화는 SIMS 분석 결과 수소원소들이 계면쪽에 위치하지 않고 표면쪽에 다수 존재함으로써 패시베이션 특성을 크게 보이지 않았으나 AZO 박막의 전기적 특성은 크게 향상 시켰다. 그밖에 완충층으로 사용된 Zn 박막은 두께가 두꺼원 질수록 접촉저항의 감소를 가져왔으나 광학적 특성이 크게 감소하면서 효율적인 광포획 특성을 가지지 못하였다. 본 연구를 통하여 TCO/a-Si:H 간의 완충층 삽입을 통해 접촉저항을 낮추고 원소간의 확산을 억제하여 계면 패시베이션 특성을 향상 시킬수 있었다.