• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.688-688
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• 2013

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films have attracted a lot of attention as a cheap transparent conducting oxide (TCO) material that can replace the expensive Sn-doped In2O3. In particular, AZO thin films are widely used as a window layer of chalcogenide-based thin film solar cells such as Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS). Mostly important requirements for the window layer material of the thin film solar cells are the high transparency and the low sheet resistance, because they influence the light absorption by the activelayer and the electron collection from the active layer, respectively. In this study, we prepared the AZO thin films by RF magnetron sputtering using a ZnO/Al2O3 (98：2wt%) ceramic target, and the effect of the sputtering condition such as the working pressure, RF power, and the working distance on the optical, electrical, and crystallographic properties of the AZO thin films was investigated. The AZO thin films with optimized properties were used as a window layer of CZTS thin film solar cells. The CZTS active layers were prepared by the electrochemical deposition and the subsequent sulfurization process, which is also one of the cost-effective synthetic approaches. In addition, the solar cell properties of the CZTS thin film solar cells, such as the photocurrent density-voltage (J-V) characteristics and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) were investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.368-375
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• 2018

This study deals with the color formation of ceramic pigment in the $TiO_2$-SnO-ZnO system. We designed compounds to control the color formation depending on the composition using the Design of Experiment. The color coordinate values of synthesized pigments, $L^*a^*b^*$ were measured and statistically analyzed color for changing elements depending on its composition. The relationship between the major crystalline phases and chromaticity was examined using XRD, and the oxidation states of each element were analyzed by XPS. The synthesized pigments based on the compound design exhibited various color changes ranging from yellow-orange to green-blue and brown. The statistical analysis on the spectrophotometer results shows that $a^*$ and $b^*$ values decreased with $TiO_2$ content, and increased with SnO content. Yellow-orange color was detected with the main peak of SnO, and the green-blue color developed with the main peak of $Zn_2TiO_4$. The $a^*$ and $b^*$ values increased with increased SnO peak intensity, and decreased with increased $Zn_2TiO_4$ peak intensity. The results revealed that pigment color formation was influenced by changes in the main crystalline phases and crystalline intensity. However, XPS analysis of the oxidation states of each element showed little correlation with the pigment chromaticity result.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.145-145
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• 2010

In this paper, we report that the effects of hydrogen doping on the electrical and optical properties of typical transparent conducting oxide films such as ZnO and $SnO_2$ prepared by magnetron sputtering. Recently, density functional theory (DFT) calculations have shown strong evidence that hydrogen acts as a source of n-type conductivity in ZnO. In this work, the beneficial effect of hydrogen incorporation on Ga-doped ZnO thin films was demonstrated. It was found that hydrogen doping results a noticeable improvement of the conductivity mainly due to the increases in carrier concentration. Extent of the improvement was found to be quite dependent on the deposition temperature. A low resistivity of $4.0{\times}10^{-4}\;{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ was obtained for the film grown at $160^{\circ}C$ with $H_2$ 10% in sputtering gas. However, the beneficial effect of hydrogen doping was not observed for the films deposited at $270^{\circ}C$. Variations of the electrical transport properties upon vacuum annealing showed that the difference is attributed to the thermal stability of interstitial hydrogen atoms in the films. Theoretical calculations also suggested that hydrogen forms a shallow-donor state in $SnO_2$, even though no experimental determination has yet been performed. We prepared undoped $SnO_2$ thin films by RF magnetron sputtering under various hydrogen contents in sputtering ambient and then exposed them to H-plasma. Our results clearly showed that the hydrogen incorporation in $SnO_2$ leads to the increase in carrier concentration. Our experimental observation supports the fact that hydrogen acting as a shallow donor seems to be a general feature of the TCOs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.199-199
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• 2011

Recently, Thin film transistors (TFTs) with amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) can offer an important aspect for next generation displays with high mobility. Several oxide semiconductor such as ZnO, $SnO_2$ and InGaZnO have been extensively researched. Especially, as a well-known binary metal oxide, tin oxide ($SnO_2$), usually acts as n-type semiconductor with a wide band gap of 3.6eV. Over the past several decades intensive research activities have been conducted on $SnO_2$ in the bulk, thin film and nanostructure forms due to its interesting electrical properties making it a promising material for applications in solar cells, flat panel displays, and light emitting devices. But, its application to the active channel of TFTs have been limited due to the difficulties in controlling the electron density and n-type of operation with depletion mode. In this study, we fabricated staggered bottom-gate structure $SnO_2$-TFTs and patterned channel layer used a shadow mask. Then we compare to the performance intrinsic $SnO_2$-TFTs and doping hafnium $SnO_2$-TFTs. As a result, we suggest that can be control the defect formation of $SnO_2$-TFTs by doping hafnium. The hafnium element into the $SnO_2$ thin-films maybe acts to control the carrier concentration by suppressing carrier generation via oxygen vacancy formation. Furthermore, it can be also control the mobility. And bias stability of $SnO_2$-TFTs is improvement using doping hafnium. Enhancement of device stability was attributed to the reduced defect in channel layer or interface. In order to verify this effect, we employed to measure activation energy that can be explained by the thermal activation process of the subthreshold drain current.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.117-122
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• 2020

The effects of fast neutron irradiation on the electrical and optical properties of Li (3 at%) doped ZnSnO (ZTO) thin films fabricated using a sol-gel process are investigated. From the results of Li-ZTO TFT characteristics according to change of neutron irradiation time, the saturation mobility is found to increase and threshold voltage values shift to a negative direction from 1,000 s neutron irradiation time. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the O 1s core level shows that the relative area of oxygen vacancies is almost unchanged with different irradiation times. From the results of band alignment, it is confirmed that, due to the increase of electron carrier concentration, the Fermi level (E_F) of the sample irradiated for 1,000 s is located at the position closest to the conduction band minimum. The increase in electron concentration is considered by looking at the shallow band edge state under the conduction band edge formed by fast neutron irradiation of more than 1,000 s.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.710-715
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• 2018

In this study, $ZnFe_2O_4@SnO_2@TiO_2$ core-shell nanoparticles (NPs), a photocatalytic material with magnetic properties, were synthesized through a three-step process. Structural properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. It was confirmed that $ZnFe_2O_4$ of the spinel, $SnO_2$ of the tetragonal and $TiO_2$ of the anatase structure were synthesized. The magnetic properties of synthesized materials were studied by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The saturation magnetization value of $ZnFe_2O_4$, a core material, was confirmed at 33.084 emu/g. As a result of the formation of $SnO_2$ and $TiO_2$ layers, the magnetism due to the increase in thickness was reduced by 33% and 40%, respectively, but sufficient magnetic properties were reserved. The photocatalytic efficiency of synthesized materials was measured using methylene blue (MB). The efficiency of the core material was about 4.2%, and as a result of the formation of $SnO_2$ and $TiO_2$ shell, it increased to 73% and 96%, respectively while maintaining a high photocatalytic efficiency. In addition, the antibacterial activity was validated via the inhibition zone by using E. Coli and S. Aureus. The formation of shells resulted in a wider inhibition zone, which is in good agreement with photocatalytic efficiency measurements.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.223-227
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• 2016

The Zn, Sn, and ZnSn thin films were deposited on Si(100) substrate using radio frequency (RF) magnetron co-sputtering method. A surface profiler and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to investigate the Zn, Sn, and ZnSn thin films. Thickness of the thin films was measured by a surface profiler. The deposition rates of pure Zn and Sn thin films were calculated with thickness and sputtering time for optimization. From the survey XPS spectra, we could conclude that the thin films were successfully deposited on Si(100) substrate. The chemical environment of the Zn and Sn was monitored with high resolution XPS spectra in the binding energy regions of Zn 2p, Sn 3d, O 1s, and C 1s.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.27-30
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• 2006

In this paper, the undoped and Co-doped $Zn_4SnSe_6$ single crystals grown by the chemical transporting reaction(CTR) method using iodine as a transporting agent are investigated. For the crystal growth, the temperature gradient of the CTR furnace was kept at $680^{\circ}C$ for the source zone and at $780^{\circ}C$ for the growth zone for 7days. It was found from the analysis of x-ray diffraction that the $Zn_4SnSe_6$ and $Zn_4SnSe_6Co^{2+}$ compounds have a monoclinic structure. The direct optical energy band gap of the $Zn_4SnSe_6$ and $Zn_4SnSe_6Co^{2+}$ single crystals at 300K were found to be 2.146eV and 2.042eV.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.61.2-61.2
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• 2011

넓은 밴드갭을 가지고 있어 가시광에서 투명하며 높은 이동도를 가진 산화물 반도체는 기존의 Si 기반 TFT 소자를 대체할 차세대 디스플레이의 핵심 소재기술로 관심이 높아지고 있다. 그러나 대표적인 산화물 반도체인 In-Ga-Zn-O (IGZO)에 포함된 인듐의 수요 증가에 따른 가격 급등 문제로 이를 대체할 수 있는 새로운 산화물 반도체 재료에 대한 연구의 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 이에 비교적 저가의 물질로 구성된 Zn-Sn-O계 산화물 소재에 대한 연구가 진행된 바 있으나, 높은 수준의 캐리어 농도를 가지고 있어 TFT 채널용 반도체소재로 적용되기 위해서는 이를 $10^{17}\;cm^{-3}$ 이하로 조절할 수 있는 기술개발이 요구된다. 본 연구는 마그네트론 스퍼터링법을 이용하여 증착된 Ga-Zn-Sn-O (GZTO) 박막의 갈륨 첨가에 따른 특성변화를 조사하였다. GZO ($Ga_2O_3$ 5wt%)와 $SnO_2$ 타켓의 인가 파워를 고정한 상태에서 $Ga_2O_3$ 타켓의 인가 파워를 0~100W로 조절하여 박막 내 Ga 함량을 증가시켰다. 제조된 모든 GZTO 박막은 Ga함량에 관계없이 비정질 구조를 가지며 가시광 영역에서 약 78%의 우수한 투과율을 나타낸다. Ga 함량에 따라 박막의 구조적, 광학적 특성은 크게 변하지 않지만 전기적 특성은 뚜렷한 변화를 나타냈다. $Ga_2O_3$ 파워가 증가할수록 박막 내 캐리어 농도와 이동도의 감소로 비저항이 크게 증가하는데 특히 캐리어 농도는 $Ga_2O_3$ 파워가 0에서 100W로 증가할 때 $2{\times}10^{18}$에서 $8{\times}10^{14}\;cm^{-3}$으로 감소하였다. 이는 Ga-O의 화학적 결합 에너지가 다른 원소들(Zn 또는 In)에 비해 커서 박막 내 산소공공의 감소가 야기되었기 때문이다. 이러한 전기물성의 변화를 이해하기 위해 XPS 분석을 수행하였다. 제조된 GZTO 박막은 $Ga_2O_3$ 파워가 증가함에 따라 O 1s peak에서 산소공공과 관련된 530.8 eV peak의 intensity가 감소한다. 따라서 Ga을 첨가에 따른 캐리어 농도의 감소는 산소공공의 발생억제로 기인한 것으로 판단되며, 본 연구결과는 ZTO계 비정질 산화물 반도체의 활용가능성을 제시하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.423-423
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• 2012

ZnO, SnO2, In2O3:Sn와 같은 투명하고 전도성이 있는 박막은 panel display, 전자발광소자, 박막트랜지스터, 태양전지 등의 전극물질로서 폭넓게 사용되고 있다. 이러한 전극 물질을 이용하는 광전자소자의 성능을 개선하기 위해서는 가시광선영역에서 광투과율이 높고, 전기전도도가 좋아야 한다. 최근 ZnO, SnO2, In2O3, MgO, Ga2O3 등으로 이루어진 3원 또는 다원화합물로 제조된 산화물 박막이 새로운 투명한 전도성 박막으로 많은 관심을 끌고 있다. 본 연구에서는 Ga2O3 박막을 radio-frequency magnetron sputtering 방법을 이용하여 증착하였다. 기존에 사용되던 ceramic target을 개선하여 powder target을 사용하였다. 반응가스는 순수하게 Ar 가스만 사용하였고, Sapphire(0001) 기판을 사용하였다. 초기에는 flat한 layered 구조로 증착이 이루어졌으나, 증착시간이 20분이 지나면서부터는 밤송이 모양을 가지는 나노구조체가 생성되기 시작하였고, 이후 나노 밤송이의 밀도가 점차 증가하였다. Ga2O3 나노 밤송이의 특성에 대하여 발표할 예정이다.