• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.97-102
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• 2019

Bifacial and semitransparent hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film solar cells in p-i-n configuration were prepared with front and rear transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrodes using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. Fluorine-doped tin oxide and tin-doped indium oxide films were used as front and rear TCO contacts, respectively. Film thickness of intrinsic a-Si:H absorber layers were controlled from 150 nm to 450 nm by changing deposition time. The dependence of performance characteristics of solar cells on the front and rear illumination direction were investigated. For front illumination, gradual increase in the short-circuit current density (J_SC) from 10.59 mA/㎠ to 14.19 mA/㎠ was obtained, whereas slight decreases from 0.83 V to 0.81 V for the open-circuit voltage (V_OC) and from 68.43% to 65.75% for fill factor (FF) were observed. The average optical transmittance in the wavelength region of 380 ~ 780 nm of the solar cells decreased gradually from 22.76% to 15.67% as the absorber thickness was changed from 150 nm to 450 nm. In case of the solar cells under rear illumination condition, the J_SC increased from 10.81 to 12.64 mA/㎠ and the FF deceased from 66.63% to 61.85%, while the V_OC values were maintained at 0.80 V with increasing the absorber thickness from 150 nm to 450 nm. By optimizing the deposition parameters, a high-quality bifacial and semitransparent a-Si:H solar cell with 350 nm-thick i-a-Si:H absorber layer exhibited the conversion efficiencies of 7.69% for front illumination and 6.40% for rear illumination, and average visible optical transmittance of 17.20%.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.963-968
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• 2009

Liquid crystal (LC; E7 and/or ML-0249)-embedded, poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-co-HFP)-based, polymer electrolytes were prepared for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The electrolytes contained 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (PMII), tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI), and iodine ($I_2$), which participate in the $I_3^-/I^-$ redox couple. The incorporation of photochemically stable PVdF-co-HFP in the DSSCs created a stable polymer electrolyte that resisted leakage and volatilization. DSSCs, with liquid crystal(LC)-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolytes between the amphiphilic ruthenium dye N719 absorbed to the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ photoanode and the Pt counter electrode, were fabricated. These DSSCs displayed enhanced redox couple reduction and reduced charge recombination in comparison to that fabricated from the conventional PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte. The behavior of the polymer electrolyte was improved by the addition of optimized amounts of plasticizers, such as ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC). The significantly increased short-circuit current density ($J_{sc}$, $14.60\;mA/cm^2$) and open-circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$, 0.68 V) of these DSSCs led to a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.42% and a fill factor of 0.65 under a standard light intensity of $100\;mW/cm^2$ irradiation of AM 1.5 sunlight. A DSSC fabricated by using E7-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte exhibited a maximum incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 50%.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.505-512
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• 2014

A new donor-accepter-donor-accepter-donor (D-A-D-A-D) type 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-thiophene-based acceptor unit 2,5-di(4-(5-bromo-4-octylthiophen-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-7-yl)thiophene ($DTBTTBr_2$) was synthesized. Copolymerized with fluorene and indeno[1,2-b]fluorene electron-rich moieties, two alternating narrow band gap (NBG) copolymers PF-DTBTT and PIF-DTBTT were prepared. And two copolymers exhibit broad and strong absorption in the range of 300-700 nm with optical band gap of about 1.75 eV. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels vary between -5.43 and -5.52 eV and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels range from -3.64 to -3.77 eV. Potential applications of the copolymers as electron donor material and $PC_{71}BM$ ([6,6]-phenyl-$C_{71}$ butyric acid methyl ester) as electron acceptors were investigated for photovoltaic solar cells (PSCs). Photovoltaic performances based on the blend of PF-DTBTT/$PC_{71}BM$ (w:w; 1:2) and PIF-DTBTT/$PC_{71}BM$ (w:w; 1:2) with devices configuration as ITO/PEDOT: PSS/blend/Ca/Al, show an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 2.34% and 2.56% with the open circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$) of 0.87 V and 0.90 V, short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$) of $6.02mA/cm^2$ and $6.12mA/cm^2$ under an AM1.5 simulator ($100mA/cm^2$). The photocurrent responses exhibit the onset wavelength extending up to 720 nm. These results indicate that the resulted narrow band gap copolymers are viable electron donor materials for polymer solar cells.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.69-78
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• 2019

Lithium metal anode with the highest theoretical capacity to replace graphite anodes are being reviewed. However, the dendrite growth during repeated oxidation/reduction reaction on lithium metal surface, which results in poor cycle performance and safety issue has hindered its successful implementation. In our previous work, we solved this problem by using surface modification technique whereby a surface pattern on lithium metal anode is introduced. Although the micro-patterned Lithium metal electrode is beneficial to control Li metal deposition efficiently, it is difficult to control the mossy-like Li granulation at high current density ($>2.0mA\;cm^{-2}$). In this study, we introduce vinylene carbonate (VC) electrolyte additive on micro patterned lithium metal anode to suppress the lithium dendrite growth. Owing to the synergetic effect of micro-patterned lithium metal anode and VC electrolyte additive, lithium dendrite at a high current density is dense. As a result, we confirmed that the cycle performance was further improved about 6 times as compared with the reference electrode.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.993-998
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• 2014

Silver (Ag) grid patterned PET substrates were manufactured by thermal roll-imprinting methods. We coated highly conductive layer (HCL) as a supply electrode on the Ag grid patterned PET in the three kinds of conditions. One was no-HCL without conductive PEDOT:PSS on the Ag grid patterned PET substrate, another was thin-HCL coated with ~50 nm thickness of conductive PEDOT:PSS on the Ag grid PET, and the other was thick-HCL coated with ~95 nm thickness of conductive PEDOT:PSS. These three HCLs in order showed 73.8%, 71.9%, and 64.7% each in transmittance, while indicating $3.84{\Omega}/{\Box}$, $3.29{\Omega}/{\Box}$, and $2.65{\Omega}/{\Box}$ each in sheet resistance. Fabrication of organic solar cells (OSCs) with HCL Ag grid patterned PET substrates showed high power conversion efficiency (PCE) on the thin-HCL device. The thick-HCL device decreased efficiency due to low open circuit voltage ($V_{OC}$). And the Ag grid pattern device without HCL had the lowest energy efficiency caused by quite low short current density ($J_{SC}$).

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.285-291
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• 2020

Recent advances in technology using ultra-thin noble metal film in oxide/metal/oxide structures have attracted attention because this material is a promising alternative to meet the needs of transparent conduction electrodes (TCE). AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films are prepared by magnetron sputtering for Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ (CZTSSe) of kesterite solar cells. It is shown that the electrical and optical properties of the AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films can be improved by the very low resistivity and surface plasmon effects due to the deposition of different thicknesses of Ag layer between oxide layers fixed at AZO 30 nm. The AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films of Ag 15 nm show high mobility of 26.4 ㎠/Vs and low resistivity and sheet resistance of 3.58^⁎10^-5 Ωcm and 5.0 Ω/sq. Also, the AZO/Ag (15 nm)/AZO multilayer film shows relatively high transmittance of more than 65 % in the visible region. Through this, we fabricated CZTSSe thin film solar cells with 7.51 % efficiency by improving the short-circuit current density and fill factor to 27.7 mV/㎠ and 62 %, respectively.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.447-452
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• 2018

Titanium nanotubes (TNT) of various lengths ranging from $0.34^{\circ}C$ to a maximum of $8.9^{\circ}C$ were prepared by anodizing a titanium metal sheet in an electrolyte containing fluorine ion ($F^-$) of HF, NaF and $NH_4F$. When TNT prepared by anodizing was calcined at $450^{\circ}C$, anatase crystals with photo activity were formed. The TNT-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) showed a maximum conversion efficiency of 4.71% when the TNT length was $2.5{\mu}m$. This value was about 18% higher than photo conversion efficiency of the FTO-based DSSC coated with titania paste. And the short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$) of the TNT-DSSC was $9.74mA/cm^2$, which was about 35% higher than the $7.19mA/cm^2$ of FTO-DSSC. The reason for the higher conversion efficiency of TNT-DSSC solar cells is that photoelectrons generated from dyes are rapidly transferred to the electrode surface through TNT, and the recombination of photoelectrons and dyes is suppressed.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.42 no.8 s.338
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• pp.53-60
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• 2005

Recently, sub-micron CMOS technologies have taken the place of III-V materials in a number of areas in integrated circuit designs, in particular even for the applications of gjgabit optical communication applications due to its low cost, high integration level, low power dissipation, and short turn-around time characteristics. In this paper, a four-channel transimpedance amplifier (TIA) array is realized in a standard 0.35mm CMOS technology Each channel includes an optical PIN photodiode and a TIA incorporating the fully differential regulated cascode (RGC) input configuration to achieve effectively enhanced transconductance(gm) and also exploiting the inductive peaking technique to extend the bandwidth. Post-layout simulations show that each TIA demonstrates the mid-band transimpedance gain of 59.3dBW, the -3dB bandwidth of 2.45GHz for 0.5pF photodiode capacitance, and the average noise current spectral density of 18.4pA/sqrt(Hz). The TIA array dissipates 92mw p in total from a single 3.3V supply The four-channel RGC TIA array is suitable for low-power, high-speed optical interconnect applications.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.1985-1988
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• 2014

$Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ (CZTSe) thin films were synthesized on transparent conducting oxide glass substrates via a simple, non-toxic, and low-cost process using a precursor solution paste. A three-step heating process (oxidation, sulfurization, and selenization) was employed to synthesize a CZTSe thin film as an absorber layer for use in thin-film solar cells. In particular, we focused on the effects of sulfurization conditions on CZTSe film formation. We found that sulfurization at $400^{\circ}C$ involves the formation of secondary phases such as $CuSe_2$ and $Cu_2SnSe_3$, but they gradually disappeared when the temperature was increased. The formed CZTSe thin films showed homogenous and good crystallinity with grain sizes of approximately 600 nm. A solar cell device was tentatively fabricated and showed a power conversion efficiency of 2.2% on an active area of 0.44 $cm^2$ with an open circuit voltage of 365 mV, a short current density of 20.6 $mA/cm^2$, and a fill factor of 28.7%.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.16-19
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• 2014

Anodic self-organized titania nanotube (TNT) arrays have a great potential as efficient electron-transport materials for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Herewith we report the photovoltaic and kinetic investigations for a series of heteroleptic ruthenium complexes (RD16-RD18) sensitized on TNT films for DSSC applications. We found that the RD16 device had an enhanced short-circuit current density ($J_{SC}/mAcm^{-2}=15.0$) and an efficiency of power conversion (${\eta}=7.2%$) greater than that of a N719 device (${\eta}=7.1%$) due to the increasing light-harvesting and the broadened spectral features with thiophene-based ligands. However, the device made of RD17 (adding one more hexyl chain) showed smaller $J_{SC}(14.1mAcm^{-2})$ and poorer ${\eta}(6.8%)$ compare to those of RD16 due to smaller amount of dye-loading and less efficient electron injection for the RD17 device than for the RD16 device. For the RD18 dye (adding one more thiophene unit and one more hexyl chain), we found that the device showed even lower $J_{SC}(13.2mAcm^{-2}) $ that led to a poorest device performance (${\eta}=6.2%$) for the RD18 device. These results are against to those obtained from the same dyes sensitized on $TiO_2$ nanoparticle films and they can be rationalized according to the electron transport kinetics measured using the methods of charge extraction and transient photovoltage decays.