• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.365-373
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• 2008

We have succeeded in synthesizing vertically aligned thin multi-walled carbon nanotubes (VA thin-MWCNTs) by a catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) method onto Fe/Al thin film deposited on a Si wafers using an optimum amount of hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$) additive. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images revealed that the as-synthesized CNT arrays were vertically well-oriented perpendicular to the substrate with relatively uniform length. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations indicated that the as-grown CNTs were nearly catalyst-free thin-MWCNTs with small outer diameters of less than 10nm. The average wall number is about 5. We suggested a possible growth mechanism of the VA thin-MWCNT arrays. The VA thin-MWCNTs showed a low turn-on electric field of about $1.1\;V/{\mu}m$ at a current density of $0.1\;{\mu}A/cm^2$ and a high emission current density about $2.5\;mA/cm^2$ at a bias field of $2.7\;V/{\mu}m$. Moreover, the VA thin-MWCNTs presented better field emission stability without degradation over 20 hours (h) at the emission current density of about $1\;mA/cm^2$.

• 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%.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.381-386
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• 2011

We fabricated the ZnO (zinc oxide)/$SiO_2$ (silicon dioxide) branch hierarchical nanostructures by the e-beam evaporation of $SiO_2$ onto the surface of the electrochemically grown ZnO nanorods on Si substrate, which leads to the self-assembled $SiO_2$ nanorods by oblique angle deposition between vapor flux and vertically aligned ZnO nanorods. In order to investigate the effects of $SiO_2$ deposition on the morphology and optical property of ZnO/$SiO_2$ branch hierarchical nanostructures, the evaporation time of $SiO_2$ was varied under a fixed deposition rate of 0.5 nm/s. The vertically aligned ZnO nanorods on Si substrate exhibited a low reflectance of <10% in the wavelength range of 300~535 nm. For ZnO/$SiO_2$ branch hierarchical nanostructures at 100 s of evaporation time of $SiO_2$, the more improved antireflective property was achieved. From these results, ZnO/$SiO_2$ branch hierarchical nanostructures are very promising for optoelectronic and photovoltaic device applications.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.479-486
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• 2007

Four point bending is used to study the dependences of bond strength of benzocyclobutene(BCB) bonded wafers and BCB thickness, the use of an adhesion promoter, and the materials being bonded. The bond strength depends linearly on BCB thickness, due to the thickness-dependent contribution of the plastic dissipation energy of the BCB and thickness independence of BCB yield strength. The bond strength increases by about a factor of two with an adhesion promoter for both $2.6{\mu}m$ and $0.4{\mu}m$ thick BCB, because of the formation of covalent bonds between adhesion promoter and the surface of the bonded materials. The bond strength at the interface between a silicon wafer with deposited oxide and BCB is about a factor of three higher than that at the interface between a glass wafer and BCB. This difference in bond strength is attributed to the difference in Si-O bond density at the interfaces. At the interfaces between plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited (PECVD) oxide coated silicon wafers and BCB, and between thermally grown oxide on silicon wafers and BCB, 12~13 and $15{\sim}16bonds/nm^2$ need to be broken. This corresponds to the observed bond energies, $G_0s$, of 18 and $22J/m^2$, respectively. Maximum 7~8 Si-O $bonds/nm^2$ are needed to explain the $5J/m^2$ at the interfaces between glass wafers and BCB.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.204-205
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• 2011

In thin film silicon solar cells, p-i-n structure is adopted instead of p/n junction structure as in wafer-based Si solar cells. PECVD is a most widely used thin film deposition process for a-Si:H or ${\mu}c$-Si:H solar cells. For best performance of thin film silicon solar cell, the dopant profiles at p/i and i/n interfaces need to be as sharp as possible. The sharpness of dopant profiles can easily achieved when using multi-chamber PECVD equipment, in which each layer is deposited in separate chamber. However, in a single-chamber PECVD system, doped and intrinsic layers are deposited in one plasma chamber, which inevitably impedes sharp dopant profiles at the interfaces due to the contamination from previous deposition process. The cross-contamination between layers is a serious drawback of a single-chamber PECVD system in spite of the advantage of lower initial investment cost for the equipment. In order to resolve the cross-contamination problem in single-chamber PECVD systems, flushing method of the chamber with NH3 gas or water vapor after doped layer deposition process has been used. In this study, a new plasma process to solve the cross-contamination problem in a single-chamber PECVD system was suggested. A single-chamber VHF-PECVD system was used for superstrate type p-i-n a-Si:H solar cell manufacturing on Asahi-type U FTO glass. A 80 MHz and 20 watts of pulsed RF power was applied to the parallel plate RF cathode at the frequency of 10 kHz and 80% duty ratio. A mixture gas of Ar, H2 and SiH4 was used for i-layer deposition and the deposition pressure was 0.4 Torr. For p and n layer deposition, B2H6 and PH3 was used as doping gas, respectively. The deposition temperature was $250^{\circ}C$ and the total p-i-n layer thickness was about $3500{\AA}$. In order to remove the deposited B inside of the vacuum chamber during p-layer deposition, a high pulsed RF power of about 80 W was applied right after p-layer deposition without SiH4 gas, which is followed by i-layer and n-layer deposition. Finally, Ag was deposited as top electrode. The best initial solar cell efficiency of 9.5 % for test cell area of 0.2 $cm^2$ could be achieved by applying the in-situ plasma cleaning method. The dependence on RF power and treatment time was investigated along with the SIMS analysis of the p-i interface for boron profiles.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.608-616
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• 2015

The migration of silver (Ag) in silicon carbide (SiC) and $^{110m}Ag$ through SiC of irradiated tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel has been studied for the past three to four decades. However, there is no satisfactory explanation for the transport mechanism of Ag in SiC. In this work, the diffusion coefficients of Ag measured and/or estimated in previous studies were reviewed, and then pre-exponential factors and activation energies from the previous experiments were evaluated using Arrhenius equation. The activation energy is $247.4kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ from Ag paste experiments between two SiC layers produced using fluidized-bed chemical vapor deposition (FBCVD), $125.3kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ from integral release experiments (annealing of irradiated TRISO fuel), $121.8kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ from fractional Ag release during irradiation of TRISO fuel in high flux reactor (HFR), and $274.8kJ{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ from Ag ion implantation experiments, respectively. The activation energy from ion implantation experiments is greater than that from Ag paste, fractional release and integral release, and the activation energy from Ag paste experiments is approximately two times greater than that from integral release experiments and fractional Ag release during the irradiation of TRISO fuel in HFR. The pre-exponential factors are also very different depending on the experimental methods and estimation. From a comparison of the pre-exponential factors and activation energies, it can be analogized that the diffusion mechanism of Ag using ion implantation experiment is different from other experiments, such as a Ag paste experiment, integral release experiments, and heating experiments after irradiating TRISO fuel in HFR. However, the results of this work do not support the long held assumption that Ag release from FBCVD-SiC, used for the coating layer in TRISO fuel, is dominated by grain boundary diffusion. In order to understand in detail the transport mechanism of Ag through the coating layer, FBCVD-SiC in TRISO fuel, a microstructural change caused by neutron irradiation during operation has to be fully considered.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.74-74
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• 2010

One-dimensional nanosturctures such as nanowires and nanotube have been mainly proposed as important components of nano-electronic devices and are expected to play an integral part in design and construction of these devices. Silicon carbide(SiC) is one of a promising wide bandgap semiconductor that exhibits extraordinary properties, such as higher thermal conductivity, mechanical and chemical stability than silicon. Therefore, the synthesis of SiC-based nanowires(NWs) open a possibility for developing a potential application in nano-electronic devices which have to work under harsh environment. In this study, one-dimensional nanowires(NWs) of cubic phase silicon carbide($\beta$-SiC) were efficiently produced by thermal chemical vapor deposition(T-CVD) synthesis of mixtures containing Si powders and hydrocarbon in a alumina boat about $T\;=\;1400^{\circ}C$ SEM images are shown that the temperature below $1300^{\circ}C$ is not enough to synthesis the SiC NWs due to insufficient thermal energy for melting of Si Powder and decomposition of methane gas. However, the SiC NWs are produced over $1300^{\circ}C$ and the most efficient temperature for growth of SiC NWs is about $1400^{\circ}C$ with an average diameter range between 50 ~ 150 nm. Raman spectra revealed the crystal form of the synthesized SiC NWs is a cubic phase. Two distinct peaks at 795 and $970\;cm^{-1}$ over $1400^{\circ}C$ represent the TO and LO mode of the bulk $\beta$-SiC, respectively. In XRD spectra, this result was also verified with the strongest (111) peaks at $2{\theta}=35.7^{\circ}$, which is very close to (111) plane peak position of 3C-SiC over $1400 ^{\circ}C$ TEM images are represented to two typical $\beta$-SiC NWs structures. One is shown the defect-free $\beta$-SiC nanowire with a (111) interplane distance with 0.25 nm, and the other is the stacking-faulted $\beta$-SiC nanowire. Two SiC nanowires are covered with $SiO_2$ layer with a thickness of less 2 nm. Moreover, by changing the flow rate of methane gas, the 300 sccm is the optimal condition for synthesis of a large amount of $\beta$-SiC NWs.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.11
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• pp.762-769
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• 2008

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon(a-Si : H) layers, 120 nm and 50 nm in thickness, were deposited on 200 $nm-SiO_2$/single-Si substrates by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition(ICP-CVD). Subsequently, 30 nm-Ni layers were deposited by E-beam evaporation. Finally, 30 nm-Ni/120 nm a-Si : H/200 $nm-SiO_2$/single-Si and 30 nm-Ni/50 nm a-Si:H/200 $nm-SiO_2$/single-Si were prepared. The prepared samples were annealed by rapid thermal annealing(RTA) from $200^{\circ}C$ to $500^{\circ}C$ in $50^{\circ}C$ increments for 30 minute. A four-point tester, high resolution X-ray diffraction(HRXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning probe microscopy(SPM) were used to examine the sheet resistance, phase transformation, in-plane microstructure, cross-sectional microstructure, and surface roughness, respectively. The nickel silicide on the 120 nm a-Si:H substrate showed high sheet resistance($470{\Omega}/{\Box}$) at T(temperature) < $450^{\circ}C$ and low sheet resistance ($70{\Omega}/{\Box}$) at T > $450^{\circ}C$. The high and low resistive regions contained ${\zeta}-Ni_2Si$ and NiSi, respectively. In case of microstructure showed mixed phase of nickel silicide and a-Si:H on the residual a-Si:H layer at T < $450^{\circ}C$ but no mixed phase and a residual a-Si:H layer at T > $450^{\circ}C$. The surface roughness matched the phase transformation according to the silicidation temperature. The nickel silicide on the 50 nm a-Si:H substrate had high sheet resistance(${\sim}1k{\Omega}/{\Box}$) at T < $400^{\circ}C$ and low sheet resistance ($100{\Omega}/{\Box}$) at T > $400^{\circ}C$. This was attributed to the formation of ${\delta}-Ni_2Si$ at T > $400^{\circ}C$ regardless of the siliciation temperature. An examination of the microstructure showed a region of nickel silicide at T < $400^{\circ}C$ that consisted of a mixed phase of nickel silicide and a-Si:H without a residual a-Si:H layer. The region at T > $400^{\circ}C$ showed crystalline nickel silicide without a mixed phase. The surface roughness remained constant regardless of the silicidation temperature. Our results suggest that a 50 nm a-Si:H nickel silicide layer is advantageous of the active layer of a thin film transistor(TFT) when applying a nano-thick layer with a constant sheet resistance, surface roughness, and ${\delta}-Ni_2Si$ temperatures > $400^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1999.07d
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• pp.1928-1930
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• 1999

This paper describes on the growth of a ${\mu}c$-Si:H film on low cost substrate like glass by Hot Wire CVD method. The ${\mu}c$-Si:H film, prepared in 50mTorr pressure, $1800^{\circ}C$ wire temperature, and $H_2/SiH_4$ 10 showed three clear peaks. (111), (220), and (311) in X-ray spectroscopy. The crystallite size and crystalline volume fraction, calculated from Raman spectroscopy, was about 6nm and 70%, respectively. The FTIR transmission spectra of the film showed a different absorption peak with a-Si:H film around $2000-2100cm^{-1}$.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.569-578
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• 2005

The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of monolithically matching circuits, interface circuits, and RF core circuits to the same substrate. We designed and fabricated on-chip 1 to 6 GHz up-conversion and 1 to 8 GHz down-conversion mixers using a 0.8 mm SiGe hetero-junction bipolar transistor (HBT) process technology. To fabricate a SiGe HBT, we used a reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) system to grow a base epitaxial layer, and we adopted local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) isolation to separate the device terminals. An up-conversion mixer was implemented on-chip using an intermediate frequency (IF) matching circuit, local oscillator (LO)/radio frequency (RF) wideband matching circuits, LO/IF input balun circuits, and an RF output balun circuit. The measured results of the fabricated up-conversion mixer show a positive power conversion gain from 1 to 6 GHz and a bandwidth of about 4.5 GHz. Also, the down-conversion mixer was implemented on-chip using LO/RF wideband matching circuits, LO/RF input balun circuits, and an IF output balun circuit. The measured results of the fabricated down-conversion mixer show a positive power conversion gain from 1 to 8 GHz and a bandwidth of about 4.5 GHz.