• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.178-183
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• 2016

Semiconductor gas sensors based on metal oxide are widely used in a number of applications, from health and safety to energy efficiency and emission control. Nanomaterials including nanowires, nanorods, and nanoparticles have dominated the research focus in this field owing to their large number of surface sites that facilitate surface reactions. Recently, metal oxide hollow structures using soft templates have been developed owing to their high sensing properties with large-area uniformity. Here, we provide a brief overview of metal oxide hollow structures and their gas-sensing properties from the aspects of template size, morphology, and additives. In addition, a gas-sensing mechanism and perspectives are presented.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2020

Gas sensors that operate at room temperature have been extensively studied because of sensor stability, lift time, and power consumption. To design effective room-temperature gas sensors, various nanostructures, such as nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanodomes, or nanofibers, are utilized because of their large-surface-to-volume ratio and unique surface properties. In addition, two-dimensional materials, including MoS₂, SnS₂, WS₂, and MoSe, and ultraviolet-activated methods have been studied to develop ideal room-temperature gas sensors. Herein, a brief overview of state-of-the-art research on room-temperature gas sensors and their sensing properties, including nanostructured materials, two-dimensional materials, the ultraviolet-activated method, and ionic-activated gas sensors, is provided.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.531-531
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• 2012

So many groups have been researching the green quantum dots such as InP, InP/ZnS for overcoming the semiconductor nanoparticles composed with heavy metals like as Cd and Pb so on. In spite of much effort to keep up CdSe quantum dots, it does not reach the good properties compared with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots. This quantum dot has improved its properties through the generation of core/shell CdSe/ZnS structure or core/multi-shell structures like as CdSe/CdS/ZnS and CdSe/CdS/ CdZnS/ZnS. In this research, we try to synthesize the InP multi-shell structure by the successiveion layer absorption reaction (SILAR) in the one pot. The synthesized multi-shell structure has improved quantum yield and photo-stability. To generate white light, highly luminescent InP multi-shell quantum dots were mixed with yellow phosphor and integrated on the blue LED chip. This InP multi-shell improved red region of the LEDs and generated high CRI.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.184-187
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• 2014

This study examined the effects of particle size on the light scattering of a nano-sized color filter pigment used to obtain a range of colors in liquid crystal displays. The contrast ratio is one of the most important characteristics of liquid crystal displays. When a color filter is located between two crossed polarizers, the size of the pigment can give rise to a decrease in the contrast ratio due to Rayleigh scattering by the nanoparticles in the filter. The size effect of the color filter pigment on the contrast ratio was investigated in terms of the depolarization parameter. As an experimental result, the depolarization parameter increased with decreasing pigment size. Therefore, a smaller pigment size can reduce light leakage caused by light scattering in the color filter between two crossed polarizers. The depolarization function was also proposed as a useful function for predicting the decrease in the contrast ratio of the color filter.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.52.1-52.1
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• 2009

Cupric oxide (CuO) is a p-type semiconductor with band gap of ~1.7 eV and reported to be suitable for catalysis, lithium-copper oxide electrochemical cells, and gas sensors applications. The nanoparticles, plates and nanowires of CuO were found sensing to NO2, H2S and CO. In this work, we report about the comparison about hydrogen sensing of nano thin film and nanowires structured CuO deposited on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The thin film and nanowires are synthesized by deposition of Cu on different substrate followed by oxidation process. Nano thin films of CuO are deposited on thermally oxidized silicon substrate, whereas nanowires are synthesized by using a porous thin film of SWNTs as substrate. The hydrogen sensing properties of synthesized materials are investigated. The results showed that nanowires cupric oxide deposited on SWNTs showed higher sensitivity to hydrogen than those of nano thin film CuO did.

• Vacuum Magazine
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.17-23
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• 2015

Medium Energy Ion Scattering (MEIS) has been successfully used for ultrathin film analysis such as gate oxides and multilayers due to its single atomic depth resolution in compostional and structural depth profiling. Recently, we developed a time-of-flight (TOF) MEIS for the first time, which can analyze a $10{\mu}m$ small spot. Small spot analysis would be useful for test pattern analysis in semiconductor industry and various thin film technology. The ion beam damage problem is minimized due to its improved collection efficiency by orders of magnitude and the ion beam neutralization problem is removed completely for quantitative analysis. Newly developed TOF-MEIS has been applied for gate oxides, ultra shallow junctions, nanoparticles, FINFET structures to provide compositional and structural profiles. Further development for submicron spot analysis and applications for functional nano thin films and nanostructured materials are expected for various nanotechnology and biotehnology.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.36 no.spc1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2006

Nanofabrication with finely focused ion and electron beams is reviewed, and position and size controlled fabrication of nano-metals and -semiconductors is demonstrated. A focused ion beam (FIB) interface attached to a column of 200keV transmission electron microscope (TEM) was developed. Parallel lines and dots arrays were patterned on GaAs, Si and $SiO_2$ substrates with a 25keV $Ga^+-FIB$ of 200nm beam diameter at room temperature. FIB nanofabrication to semiconductor specimens caused amorphization and Ga injection. For the electron beam induced chemical vapor deposition (EBI-CVD), we have discovered that nano-metal dots are formed depending upon the beam diameter and the exposure time when decomposable gases such as $W(CO)_6$ were introduced at the beam irradiated areas. The diameter of the dots was reduced to less than 2.0nm with the UHV-FE-TEM, while those were limited to about 15nm in diameter with the FE-SEM. Self-standing 3D nanostructures were also successfully fabricated.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.305-313
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• 2023

This study is aimed to investigate the electrically conductive properties of epoxy nanocomposites exposed to an acidic environment under various mechanical loads. For simultaneous assessment of the acidic environment and mechanical load on the electrical conductivity of the samples, the samples with and without carbon nanotubes were exposed to the acidic environment under three different loading conditions for 20 days. Then, the aged samples' strength and flexural stiffness degradation under crude oil and bending stress were measured using a three-point flexural test. The aged samples in the acidic environment and under 80 percent of their intact ultimate strength revealed a 9% and 26% reduction of their electrical conductivity for samples with and without CNTs, respectively. The presence of nanoparticles declined flexural stiffness by about 16.39%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the specimen were used to evaluate the dispersion quality of CNTs. The results of this study can be exploited in constructing conductive composite electrodes to be used in petroleum environments such as crude oil electrostatic tanks.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.493-493
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• 2014

The manufacturing cost of thin-film photovoltics can potentially be lowered by minimizing the amount of a semiconductor material used to fabricate devices. Thin-film solar cells are typically only a few micrometers thick, whereas crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafer solar cells are $180{\sim}300\mu}m$ thick. As such, thin-film layers do not fully absorb incident light and their energy conversion efficiency is lower compared with that of c-Si wafer solar cells. Therefore, effective light trapping is required to realize commercially viable thin-film cells, particularly for indirect-band-gap semiconductors such as c-Si. An emerging method for light trapping in thin film solar cells is the use of metallic nanostructures that support surface plasmons. Plasmon-enhanced light absorption is shown to increase the cell photocurrent in many types of solar cells, specifically, in c-Si thin-film solar cells and in poly-Si thin film solar cell. By proper engineering of these structures, light can be concentrated and coupled into a thin semiconductor layer to increase light absorption. In many cases, silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NP) are formed either on the front surface or on the rear surface on the cells. In case of poly-Si thin film solar cells, Ag NPs are formed on the rear surface of the cells due to longer wavelengths are not perfectly absorbed in the active layer on the first path. In our cells, shorter wavelengths typically 300~500 nm are also not effectively absorbed. For this reason, a new concept of plasmonic nanostructure which is NPs formed both the front - and the rear - surface is worth testing. In this simulation Al NPs were located onto glass because Al has much lower parasitic absorption than other metal NPs. In case of Ag NP, it features parasitic absorption in the optical frequency range. On the other hand, Al NP, which is non-resonant metal NP, is characterized with a higher density of conduction electrons, resulting in highly negative dielectric permittivity. It makes them more suitable for the forward scattering configuration. In addition to this, Ag NP is located on the rear surface of the cell. Ag NPs showed good performance enhancement when they are located on the rear surface of our cells. In this simulation, Al NPs are located on glass and Ag NP is located on the rear Si surface. The structure for the simulation is shown in figure 1. Figure 2 shows FDTD-simulated absorption graphs of the proposed and reference structures. In the simulation, the front of the cell has Al NPs with 70 nm radius and 12.5% coverage; and the rear of the cell has Ag NPs with 157 nm in radius and 41.5% coverage. Such a structure shows better light absorption in 300~550 nm than that of the reference cell without any NPs and the structure with Ag NP on rear only. Therefore, it can be expected that enhanced light absorption of the structure with Al NP on front at 300~550 nm can contribute to the photocurrent enhancement.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.6-12
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• 2014

In the present work, $WO_3$ and $WO_3-TiO_2$ were prepared by the chemical deposition method. Structural variations, surface state and elemental compositions were investigated for preparation of $WO_3-TiO_2$ sonocatalyst. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed for characterization of these new photocatalysts. A rhodamine B (Rh.B) solution under ultrasonic irradiation was used to determine the catalytic activity. Excellent catalytic degradation of an Rh.B solution was observed using the $WO_3-TiO_2$ composites under ultrasonic irradiation. Sonocatalytic degradation is a novel technology of treating wastewater. During the ultrasonic treatment of aqueous solutions sonoluminescence, cavitaties and "hot spot" occurred, leading to the dissociation of water molecules. In case of a $WO_3$ coupled system, a semiconductor coupled with two components has a beneficial role in improving charge separation and enhancing $TiO_2$ response to ultrasonic radiations. In case of the addition of $WO_3$ as new matter, the excited electrons from the $WO_3$ particles are quickly transferred to $TiO_2$ particle, as the conduction band of $WO_3$ is 0.74 eV which is -0.5 eV more than that of $TiO_2$. This transfer of charge should enhance the oxidation of the adsorbed organic substrate. The result shows that the photocatalytic performance of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles was improved by loading $WO_3$.