• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.354-355
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• 2009

In the fabrication of inverted top-emitting organic light emitting diodes (ITOLEDs), the sputtering process is needed for deposition of transparent conducting oxide (TCO) as top anode. Energetic particle bombardment, however, changes the physical properties of underlying layers. In this study, we examined plasma process effects on tungsten oxide ($WO_3$) hole injection layer (HIL). From our results, we suggest the theoretical mechanism to explain the correlation between the physical property changes caused by plasma process on $WO_3$ HIL and degradation of device performances.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.07c
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• pp.1357-1358
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• 2006

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film is a transparent electrode, which is widely applied to solar battery, illuminators, optical switches, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), and organic light emitting displays (OLEDs) due to its easy formation on glass substrates, goof optical transmittance, and good conductivity. ITO thin film is generally fabricated by various methods such as spray, CVD, evaporation, electron gun deposition, direct current electroplating, high frequency sputtering, and reactive DC sputtering. However, some problems such as peaks, bumps, large particles, and pin-holes on the surface of ITO thin film were reported, which caused the destruction of color quality, the reduction of device life time, and short-circuit. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) processis one of the suitable solutions which could solve the problems.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.475-476
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• 2005

Efficient electron injection is essential to achieve bright and efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In spite of high work function of Al, it is a common cathode because of its stability. In this paper, to overcome the poor electron injection in OLEDs with Al cathode, OLEDs with various composite cathodes were fabricated and investigated using a conventional OLEDs structure of indium tin oxide ITO/NPB(40 nm)/$Alq_3$(50 nm)/Al. composite cathodes were composed of alkaline materials such as Ca and Li, Al deposition or codeposited with AI. We showed best performance at the device with composite cathode (LiF/Al).

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.182-183
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• 2012

Organic light emitting diode (OLED) 나 organic photovoltaic device (OPV)와 같은 유기소자에 전극으로 쓰이고 있는 indium tin oxide (ITO) 박막의 품질을 향상시키기 위해 수소 및 산소의 가스량을 조절하면서 rf power를 이용하여 ITO 박막을 증착한 후 전기적, 광학적 특성을 관찰하여 보았다. 또한 ITO 박막의 대면적화 및 양산화를 위하여 Roll to Roll 장비를 적용하였다. 산소 분율 0.3%에서 두께 180 nm 와 면저항 21 ohm/sq.를 나타냈으며 수소 분율 0.8%에서 두께 180 nm, 면저항 22 ohm/sq.이 관찰되었다. 또한 산소 분율 0.3%로 고정한 후 수소 분율을 변화시키며 관찰한 결과 수소분율 0.3%에서 두께 180 nm, 면저항 19 ohm/sq.를 나타내었다.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.23-27
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• 2010

We prepared Al doped ZnO thin film as a top electrode on a glass substrate with a deposited $Alq_3$ for the top emission organic Light emitting device (TEOLED) with facing target sputtering (FTS) method and radio-frequency (RF) sputtering method, respectively. Before the deposition of AZO thin film, we evaporated the $Alq_3$ on glass substrate by thermal evaporation. And we evaluated the damage of organic layer. As a result, PL intensity of $Alq_3$ on grown by FTS method showed higher than that of grown by RF sputtering method, so we found that the FTS showed the lower damage sputtering than RF sputtering. Therefore, we can expect the FTS method is promising the low-damage sputtering system that can be used as a direct sputtering on the organic layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.100-101
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• 2012

The plasma damage free and room temperature processedthin film deposition technology is essential for realization of various next generation organic microelectronic devices such as flexible AMOLED display, flexible OLED lighting, and organic photovoltaic cells because characteristics of fragile organic materials in the plasma process and low glass transition temperatures (Tg) of polymer substrate. In case of directly deposition of metal oxide thin films (including transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS)) on the organic layers, plasma damages against to the organic materials is fatal. This damage is believed to be originated mainly from high energy energetic particles during the sputtering process such as negative oxygen ions, reflected neutrals by reflection of plasma background gas at the target surface, sputtered atoms, bulk plasma ions, and secondary electrons. To solve this problem, we developed the NBAS (Neutral Beam Assisted Sputtering) process as a plasma damage free and room temperature processed sputtering technology. As a result, electro-optical properties of NBAS processed ITO thin film showed resistivity of $4.0{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}m$ and high transmittance (>90% at 550 nm) with nano- crystalline structure at room temperature process. Furthermore, in the experiment result of directly deposition of TCO top anode on the inverted structure OLED cell, it is verified that NBAS TCO deposition process does not damages to the underlying organic layers. In case of deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin film on the plastic polymer substrate, the room temperature processed sputtering coating of high quality TCO thin film is required. During the sputtering process with higher density plasma, the energetic particles contribute self supplying of activation & crystallization energy without any additional heating and post-annealing and forminga high quality TCO thin film. However, negative oxygen ions which generated from sputteringtarget surface by electron attachment are accelerated to high energy by induced cathode self-bias. Thus the high energy negative oxygen ions can lead to critical physical bombardment damages to forming oxide thin film and this effect does not recover in room temperature process without post thermal annealing. To salve the inherent limitation of plasma sputtering, we have been developed the Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process as the high quality oxide thin film deposition process at room temperature. The MFSS process is effectively eliminate or suppress the negative oxygen ions bombardment damage by the plasma limiter which composed permanent magnet array. As a result, electro-optical properties of MFSS processed ITO thin film (resistivity $3.9{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, transmittance 95% at 550 nm) have approachedthose of a high temperature DC magnetron sputtering (DMS) ITO thin film were. Also, AOS (a-IGZO) TFTs fabricated by MFSS process without higher temperature post annealing showed very comparable electrical performance with those by DMS process with $400^{\circ}C$ post annealing. They are important to note that the bombardment of a negative oxygen ion which is accelerated by dc self-bias during rf sputtering could degrade the electrical performance of ITO electrodes and a-IGZO TFTs. Finally, we found that reduction of damage from the high energy negative oxygen ions bombardment drives improvement of crystalline structure in the ITO thin film and suppression of the sub-gab states in a-IGZO semiconductor thin film. For realization of organic flexible electronic devices based on plastic substrates, gas barrier coatings are required to prevent the permeation of water and oxygen because organic materials are highly susceptible to water and oxygen. In particular, high efficiency flexible AMOLEDs needs an extremely low water vapor transition rate (WVTR) of $1{\times}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$. The key factor in high quality inorganic gas barrier formation for achieving the very low WVTR required (under ${\sim}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$) is the suppression of nano-sized defect sites and gas diffusion pathways among the grain boundaries. For formation of high quality single inorganic gas barrier layer, we developed high density nano-structured Al2O3 single gas barrier layer usinga NBAS process. The NBAS process can continuously change crystalline structures from an amorphous phase to a nano- crystalline phase with various grain sizes in a single inorganic thin film. As a result, the water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film have improved order of magnitude compared with that of conventional $Al_2O_3$ layers made by the RF magnetron sputteringprocess under the same sputtering conditions; the WVTR of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film was about $5{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2/day$ by just single layer.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.77-81
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• 2020

Commercialization of flexible OLED displays, such as rollable and foldable displays, has attracted tremendous interest in next-generation display markets. However, during bending deformation, cracking and delamination of thin films in the flexible display panels are the critical bottleneck for the commercialization. Therefore, measuring mechanical properties of the fragile thin films in the flexible display panels is essential to prevent mechanical failures of the devices. In this study, tensile properties of the metal and ceramic nano-thin films were quantitatively measured by using a direct tensile testing method on the water surface. Elastic modulus, tensile strength, and elongation of the sputtered Mo, MoTi thin films, and PECVD deposited SiN_x thin films were successfully measured. As a result, the tensile properties were varied depending on the deposition conditions and the film thickness. The measured tensile property values can be applied to stress analysis modeling for mechanically robust flexible displays.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.13 no.1 s.38
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• pp.51-55
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• 2006

The green emitting high performance OLEDs using the $Alq_3$-C545T fluorescent system have been fabricated and characterized. In the device fabrication, 2-TNATA [4,4',4'-tris(2-naphthylphenyl-phenylamino)-triphenylamine] as a hole injection material and NPB [N,N'-bis(1-naphthyl)-N,N'-diphenyl-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine] as a hole transport material were deposited on the ITO(indium thin oxide)/glass substrate by vacuum evaporation. And then, green color emission layer was deposited using $Alq_3$ as a host material and C-545T[10-(2-benzothiazolyl)-1,1,7,7- tetramethyl-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H,5H,11H-[1]/benzopyrano[6,7,8-ij]-quinolizin-11-one] as a dopant. Finally, small molecule OLEDs with structure of ITO/2-TNATA/NPB/$Alq_3$:C545T/$Alq_3$/LiF/Al were obtained by in-situ deposition of $Alq_3$, LiF and Al as the electron transport material, electron injection material and cathode, respectively. Green OLEDs fabricated in our experiments showed the color coordinate of CIE(0.29, 0.65) and the maximum power efficiency of 7.3 lm/W at 12 V with the peak emission wavelength of 521 nm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.10-10
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• 2010

가시광역에서 80% 이상의 높은 투과율과 전기전도성을 동시에 갖는 투명전도성 산화물(TCO) 박막은 LCD, PDP, OLED, 태양전지 등의 다양한 분야에 투명전극재료로서 사용되고 있다. 이들 TCO 박막은 Magnetron sputtering, Chemical vapor deposition, Pulse laser deposition, Ink jet등과 같은 다양한 방법으로 증착할 수 있지만, 대면적의 기판에 균일한 박막형성 및 박막과 기판의 높은 부착력등 양산성의 관점에서 우월성을 가지고 있기 때문에 생산라인에서는 DC magnetron sputtering법이 주로 사용되고 있다. 이 경우, 산화물 박막의 미세구조, 내부응력, 광학적 및 전기적 특성은 스퍼터링 과정에서 발생하는 고에너지 입자들의 기판입사 충격에 크게 의존하기 때문에 고품질의 TCO박막을 제작하기 위해서는 증착공정인자들의 제어는 매우 중요한 것으로 알려져 있다. 대표적 TCO박막재료로서 $In_2O_3$계, ZnO계 및 $SnO_2$계를 들 수 있으며, 이들 중에서 Sn을 $In_2O_3$에 치환고용시킨 ITO박막의 경우, 전기적 및 광학적 특성이 상대적으로 우수하기 때문에 실용화 TCO박막으로서 가장 널리 사용되고 있다. 한편, Flexible display의 경우, 유연성의 폴리머기판위에 증착되는 TCO박막에 대하여 요구되는 특성으로는 높은 투과율 및 낮은 비저항은 물론, 박막표면의 평활도 (낮은 표면조도), bending에 대한 높은 기계적 특성 (낮은 내부응력), 수분침투에 대한 높은 barrier특성 및 저온공정 등을 들 수 있다. 그러나 높은 전기전도도를 가지는 ITO박막을 제작하기 위해서는 $200^{\circ}C$ 이상의 증착온도가 필요하며, 이때 얻어진 다결정의 ITO박막은 높은 표면조도 및 bending시에 낮은 기계적 내구성이 문제점으로 지적되고 있다. 한편, 기판가열 없이 증착한 비정질 ITO박막은 낮은 표면조도, 높은 엣칭속도 및 양호한 식각특성을 나타내지만, 상대적으로 높은 비저항 및 기판과의 낮은 부착력 등이 지적되고 있다. 따라서 본 강연에서는 비정질 ITO박막의 결정화 온도 (약 $160^{\circ}C$) 이상에서도 비정질 구조를 유지하기 때문에 낮은 표면조도와 높은 엣칭속도를 가지면서 상대적으로 전기적 특성과 기계적 내구성이 개선된 새로운 고온형 비정질 TCO박막에 대한 최근의 연구성과를 소개하고자 한다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.207-207
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• 2011

Amorphous transparent oxide semiconductors (a-TOS) have been widely studied for many optoelectronic devices such as AM-OLED (active-matrix organic light emitting diodes). Recently, Nomura et al. demonstrated high performance amorphous IGZO (In-Ga-Zn-O) TFTs.1 Despite the amorphous structure, due to the conduction band minimum (CBM) that made of spherically extended s-orbitals of the constituent metals, an a-IGZO TFT shows high mobility.2,3 But IGZO films contain high cost rare metals. Therefore, we need to investigate the alternatives. Because Aluminum has a high bond enthalpy with oxygen atom and Alumina has a high lattice energy, we try to replace Gallium with Aluminum that is high reserve low cost material. In this study, we focused on the electrical properties of IZO:Al thin films as a channel layer of TFTs. IZO:Al were deposited on unheated non-alkali glass substrates (5 cm ${\times}$ 5 cm) by magnetron co-sputtering system with two cathodes equipped with IZO target and Al target, respectively. The sintered ceramic IZO disc (3 inch ${\phi}$, 5 mm t) and metal Al target (3 inch ${\phi}$, 5 mm t) are used for deposition. The O2 gas was used as the reactive gas to control carrier concentration and mobility. Deposition was carried out under various sputtering conditions to investigate the effect of sputtering process on the characteristics of IZO:Al thin films. Correlation between sputtering factors and electronic properties of the film will be discussed in detail.