• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.341-346
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• 2011

In this study, we inserted a Zn buffer layer into a AZO/p-type a-si:H layer interface in order to lower the contact resistance of the interface. For the Zn layer, the deposition was conducted at 5 nm, 7 nm and 10 nm using the rf-magnetron sputtering method. The results were compared to that of the AZO film to discuss the possibility of the Zn layer being used as a transparent conductive oxide thin film for application in the silicon heterojunction solar cell. We used the rf-magnetron sputtering method to fabricate Al 2 wt.% of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) film as a transparent conductive oxide (TCO). We analyzed the electro-optical properties of the ZnO as well as the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer. After inserting a buffer layer into the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layers to enhance the interface properties, we measured the contact resistance of the layers using a CTLM (circular transmission line model) pattern, the depth profile of the layers using AES (auger electron spectroscopy), and the changes in the properties of the AZO thin film through heat treatment. We investigated the effects of the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer on the characteristics of silicon heterojunction solar cells and the way to improve the interface properties. When depositing AZO thin film on a-Si layer, oxygen atoms are diffused from the AZO thin film towards the a-Si layer. Thus, the characteristics of the solar cells deteriorate due to the created oxide film. While a diffusion of Zn occurs toward the a-Si in the case of AZO used as TCO, the diffusion of In occurs toward a-Si in the case of ITO used as TCO.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.204-211
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• 2006

The electrolyte in the solid oxide fuel cell must be dense enough to avoid gas leakage and thin enough to reduce the ohmic resistance. In order to manufacture the thin and dense electrolyte layer, 8 mol% $Y_2O_3$ stabilized-$ZrO_2$ (8YSZ) electrolyte layers were coated on the porous tubular substrate by the novel vacuum slurry dip-coating process. The effects of the slurry concentration, presintering temperature, and vacuum pressure on the thickness and the gas permeability of the coated electrolyte layers have been examined in the vacuum slurry coating process. The vacuum-coated electrolyte layers showed very low gas permeabilities and had thin thicknesses. The single cell with the vacuum-coated electrolyte layer indicated a good performance of $495\;mW/cm^2$, 0.7 V at $700^{\circ}C$. The experimental results show that the vacuum dip-coating process is an effective method to fabricate dense thin film on the porous tubular substrate.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.1972-1981
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• 2022

A typical ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steel sheet was subjected to pulsed laser surface remelting (LSR) and corrosion test in lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) at 550 ℃. There present two modification zones with distinct microstructures in the LSRed specimen: (1) remelted zone (RZ) consisting of both bulk δ-ferrite grains and martensitic plates and (2) heat-affected zone (HAZ) below the RZ, mainly composed of martensitic plates and high-density precipitates. Martensitic transformation occurs in both the RZ and the HAZ with the Kurdjumov-Sachs and Nishiyama-Wassermann orientation relationships followed concurrently, resulting in scattered orientations and specific misorientation characteristics. Hardnesses of the RZ and the HAZ are 364 ± 7 HV and 451 ± 15 HV, respectively, considerably higher than that of the matrix (267 ± 3 HV). In oxygen-saturated and oxygen-depleted LBE, thicknesses of oxide layers developed on both the as-received and the LSRed specimens increase with prolonging corrosion time (oxide layers always thinner under the oxygen-depleted condition). The corrosion resistance of the LSRed F/M steel in oxygen-saturated LBE is improved, which can be attributed to the grain-refinement accelerated formation of dense Fe-Cr spinel. In oxygen-depleted LBE, the growth of oxide layers is very low with both types of specimens showing similar corrosion resistance.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.500-505
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• 2022

In this study, we designed oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) with dual gate and tri layered split channels, and investigated the structural effect of the TFTs on the electrical characteristics. The dual gates played a key role in increasing the driving current, and the channel structure of tri layers and split form contributed to the increase in the carrier mobility. The tri layered channels consisting of the a-ITGZO and two ITO layers inserted between the gate dielectric and a-ITGZO led to the increase in the on-current by using ITO layers with high conductivity, and the split channels lowered series resistance of the channels. Compared with the mobility (15 cm²/V·s) of the single gate a-ITGZO TFT, the mobility (134 cm²/V·s) of the dual gate tri-layer split channel TFT was remarkably enhanced by the structural effect.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics A
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• v.32A no.11
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• pp.44-51
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• 1995

Homogeneous, compositionally graded, and superlattice-like silicon oxynitride(SiON) dielectric layers, with the refractive index varying from 1.46 to 2.05 as a function of film thickness, were grown by computer-controlled plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using silane, nitrogen, and nitrous oxide reactant gases. An antireflection(AR) coating and thin-film electroluminescent(TFEL) devices with multiple dielectrics were designed and fabricated using real time control of reactant gases of the PECVD system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.256-256
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• 2012

Oxide semiconductors such as zinc tin oxide (ZTO) or indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) have attracted a lot of research interest owing to their high potential for application as thin film transistors (TFTs) [1,2]. However, the instability of oxide TFTs remains as an obstacle to overcome for practical applications to electronic devices. Several studies have reported that the electrical characteristics of ZnO-based transistors are very sensitive to oxygen, hydrogen, and water [3,4,5]. To improve the reliability issue for the amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) thin-film transistor, back channel passivation layer is essential for the long term bias stability. In this study, we investigated the instability of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) by the back channel contaminations. The effect of back channel contaminations (humidity or oxygen) on oxide transistor is of importance because it might affect the transistor performance. To remove this environmental condition, we performed vacuum seasoning before the deposition of hybrid passivation layer and acquired improved stability. It was found that vacuum seasoning can remove the back channel contamination if a-IGZO film. Therefore, to achieve highly stable oxide TFTs we suggest that adsorbed chemical gas molecules have to be eliminated from the back-channel prior to forming the passivation layers.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.301-312
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• 2015

Corrosion of zirconium fuel cladding is known to limit the lifetime and reloading cycles of fuel in nuclear reactors. Oxide layers formed on ZIRLO4^{TM}$ cladding samples, after immersion for 300-hour and 50-day in a simulated primary water chemistry condition ($360^{\circ}C$ and 20 MPa), were analyzed by using the scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), in-situ transmission electron microscopy (in-situ TEM) with the focused ion beam (FIB) technique, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Both samples (immersion for 300 hours and 50 days) revealed the presence of the ZrO sub-oxide phase at the metal/oxide interface and columnar grains developed perpendicularly to the metal/oxide interface. Voids and micro-cracks were also detected near the water/oxide interface, while relatively large lateral cracks were found just above the less advanced metal/oxide interface. Equiaxed grains were mainly observed near the water/oxide interface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.354-357
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• 2002

Thermally grown gate oxide on 4H-SiC wafer was investigated. The oxide layers were grown at l150$^{\circ}C$ varying the carrier gas and post activation annealing conditions. Capacitance-Voltage(C-V) characteristic curves were obtained and compared using various gate electrode such as Al, Ni and poly-Si. The interface trap density can be reduced by using post oxidation annealing process in Ar atmosphere. All of the samples which were not performed a post oxidation annealing process show negative oxide effective charge. The negative oxide effective charges may come from oxygen radical. After the post oxidation annealing, the oxygen radicals fixed and the effective oxide charge become positive. The effective oxide charge is negative even in the annealed sample when we use poly silicon gate. Poly silicon layer was dope by POCl$_3$ process. The oxide layer may be affected by P ions in poly silicon layer due to the high temperature of the POCl$_3$ doping process.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.627-634
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• 2018

Gallium-based liquid metal, e.g., eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn), is highly attractive as an electrode material for flexible and stretchable devices. On the liquid metal, oxide layer is spontaneously formed, which has a wide band-gap, and therefore is electrically insulating. In this paper, we fabricate a capacitor based on eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) liquid metal and investigate its cyclic voltammetry (CV) behavior. The EGaIn capacitor is composed of two EGaIn electrodes and electrolyte. CV curves reveal that the EGaIn capacitor shows the behavior of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLC), where the oxide layers on the EGaIn electrodes serves as the dielectric layer of EDLC. The oxide thicker than the spontaneously-formed native oxide decreases the capacitance of the EGaIn capacitor, due to increased voltage loss across the oxide layer. The EGaIn capacitor without oxide layer exhibits unstable CV curves during the repeated cycles, where self-repair characteristic of the oxide was observed. Finally, the electrolyte concentration is optimized by comparing the CV curves at various electrolyte concentrations.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.12 no.S1
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• pp.88-91
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• 2003

Electromagnetic interference shielding and near-infrared cutoff filters for plasma display panel application were designed and fabricated by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Three types of the filters were prepared: the basic structure of type A consisted of [$TiO_2$ Ti Ag $TiO_2$]; type B, of [$TiO_2$ ITO Ag $TiO_2$]; type C, of [$TiO_2$ ITO Ag ITO $TiO_2$]. Ti and ITO layers deposited on Ag layers were employed as barriers to prevent the oxidation and the diffusion of Ag film into the adjacent oxide layers. Optical, electrical, chemical, and structural properties were investigated, and the result shows that the filters with the ITO barrier layers provided an enhancement in transmittance in the visible owing to a lower absorption of ITO layers than Ti layers. Type C filter showed better optical and electrical performances and smoother surface roughness than Type B and C filters: the average sheet resistance was as low as 1.51 $\Omega\Box$ (where $\square$ stands for a square film), the peak transmittance in the visible was as high as 78.2 %, and the average surface roughness was 1.48 nm.