• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.2505-2511
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• 2014

Indium oxide nanocrystals ($In_2O_3$ NCs) with sizes of 5.5 nm-10 nm were synthesized by hot injection of the mixture precursors, indium acetate and oleic acid, into alcohol solution (1-octadecanol and 1-octadecence mixture). Field emission transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM), High resolution X-Ray diffraction (X-ray), Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were employed to investigate the size, surface molecular structure, and crystallinity of the synthesized $In_2O_3$ NCs. When covered by oleic acid as a capping group, the $In_2O_3$ NCs had a high crystallinity with a cubic structure, demonstrating a narrow size distribution. A high mobility of $2.51cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ and an on/off current ratio of about $1.0{\times}10^3$ were observed with an $In_2O_3$ NCs thin film transistor (TFT) device, where the channel layer of $In_2O_3$ NCs thin films were formed by a solution process of spin coating, cured at a relatively low temperature, $350^{\circ}C$. A size-dependent, non-monotonic trend on electron mobility was distinctly observed: the electron mobility increased from $0.43cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ for NCs with a 5.5 nm diameter to $2.51cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ for NCs with a diameter of 7.1 nm, and then decreased for NCs larger than 7.1 nm. This phenomenon is clearly explained by the combination of a smaller number of hops, a decrease in charging energy, and a decrease in electronic coupling with the increasing NC size, where the crossover diameter is estimated to be 7.1 nm. The decrease in electronic coupling proved to be the decisive factor giving rise to the decrease in the mobility associated with increasing size in the larger NCs above the crossover diameter.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.494-500
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• 2014

Indium-doped zinc oxide nanocrystals (IZO NCs), capped with stearic acid (SA) of different sizes, were synthesized using a hot injection method in a noncoordinating solvent 1-octadecene (ODE). The ligand exchange process was employed to modify the surface of IZO NCs by replacing the longer-chain ligand of stearic acid with the shorter-chain ligand of butylamine (BA). It should be noted that the ligand-exchange percentage was observed to be 75%. The change of particle size, morphology, and crystal structures were obtained using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction pattern results. In our study, the 5 nm and 10 nm IZO NCs capped with stearic acid (SA-IZO) were ligand-exchanged with butylamine (BA), and were then spin-coated on a thermal oxide ($SiO_2$) gate insulator to fabricate a thin film transistor (TFT) device. The films were then annealed at various temperatures: $350^{\circ}C$, $400^{\circ}C$, $500^{\circ}C$, and $600^{\circ}C$. All samples showed semiconducting behavior and exhibited n-channel TFT. Curing temperature dependent on mobility was observed. Interestingly, mobility decreases with the increasing size of NCs from 5 to 10 nm. Miller-Abrahams hopping formalism was employed to explain the hopping mechanism insight our IZO NC films. By focusing on the effect of size, different curing temperatures, electron coupling, tunneling rate, and inter-NC separation, we found that the decrease in electron mobility for larger NCs was due to smaller electronic coupling.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.284-284
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• 2009

We have fabricated semiconductor nanocrystals using phase separation on flexible substrates for future application in QD-LEDs. The phase separation between the CdSe semiconductor nanocrystals and TPD organic underlayer can occur during the solvent drying, and the CdSe may rise towards the surface of the coated films, which is arranged into close packed array called self-assembly process. In this work, the polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) films of $200{\mu}m$ thickness was used as a flexible substrate, which was coated with indium tin oxide(ITO) as a transparent electrode of <$15{\Omega}/cm^2$. A number of solvents such as chloroform, toluene, and hexane was used and their coating properties were investigated using the spin coating process. The dispersion of both QD and TPD was rather poor in toluene and hexane and resulted in rougher surface and some aggregates. Meanwhile, the surface roughness of templates can be a very critical issue in the fabrication of QD-LED devices. Some experiments was performed to reduce the ~4nm surface roughness of the PEN films and It can be decreased to the minimum of ~0.7nm. Also discussed are the optical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals used in this phase separation and possible large area and continuous coating process for future application.