• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.152-152
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• 2016

We studied the effect of the silver grid size on graphene transparent conducting films for flexible organic solar cells (OSCs). The silver grid was used an assistant layer of the graphene to reduce the sheet resistance of substrates. Silver grid with various graphene sizes for optimizing transmittance and sheet resistance of substrates were fabricated on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates to form the hybrid films. The optimized grid geometry on the single layer graphene (SLG) was the grid dimension $200{\mu}m{\times}200{\mu}m{\times}50nm{\times}2{\mu}m$ (length ${\times}$ width ${\times}$ height ${\times}$ linewidth), where the sheet resistance was $55.73{\Omega}/square$ with the average transmittance of ~ 92.83 % at 550 nm. The properties of the OSCs fabricated using SLG with optimized silver grids on PET substrates show a short circuit current of $10.9mA/cm^2$, an open circuit voltage of 0.58 V, a fill factor of 60.8 %, and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.9 %. The PCE was improved about 91% than that of the OSCs using the SLG without the silver grid. These results demonstrate that the optimized grid geometry to the based on the graphene transparent electrodes contribute to improving the performance of OSCs.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.250-257
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• 2016

Octahedral $Co_3O_4$/carbon nanofiber (CNF) composites are fabricated using electrospinning and hydrothermal methods. Their morphological characteristics, chemical bonding states, and electrochemical properties are used to demonstrate the improved photovoltaic properties of the samples. Octahedral $Co_3O_4$ grown on CNFs is based on metallic Co nanoparticles acting as seeds in the CNFs, which seeds are directly related to the high performance of DSSCs. The octahedral $Co_3O_4$/CNFs composites exhibit high photocurrent density ($12.73mA/m^2$), superb fill factor (62.1 %), and excellent power conversion efficiency (5.61 %) compared to those characteristics of commercial $Co_3O_4$, conventional CNFs, and metallic Co-seed/CNFs. These results can be described as stemmnig from the synergistic effect of the porous and graphitized matrix formed by catalytic graphitization using the metal cobalt catalyst on CNFs, which leads to an increase in the catalytic activity for the reduction of triiodide ions. Therefore, octahedral $Co_3O_4$/CNFs composites can be used as a counter electrode for Pt-free dye-sensitized solar cells.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.54-58
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• 2016

Laser-doped selective emitter process requires dopant source deposition, spin-on-glass, and is able to form selective emitter through SiNx layer by laser irradiation on desired locations. However, after laser doping process, the remaining dopant layer needs to be washed out. Laser-induced melting of pre-deposited impurity doping is a precise selective doping method minimizing addition of process steps. In this study, we introduce a novel scheme for fabricating highly efficient selective emitter solar cell by laser doping. During this process, laser induced damage induces front contact destabilization due to the hindrance of silver nucleation even though laser doping has a potential of commercialization with simple process concept. When the laser induced damage is effectively removed using solution etch back process, the disadvantage of laser doping was effectively removed. The devices fabricated using laser doping scheme power conversion efficiency was significantly improved about 1% abs. after removal the laser damages.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.94-98
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• 2011

A Sn-doped $In_2O_3$ (ITO) nanowire photoelectrode was produced using a simple metal evaporation method at low synthesis temperature (< $540^{\circ}C$). The nanowire electrodes have large surface area compared with that of flat ITO thin film, and show low electrical resistivity of $5.6{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$ at room temperature. In order to apply ITO nanowires to the photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), those surfaces were modified by $TiO_2$ nanoparticles using a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. The conversion efficiency of the fabricated $TiO_2$/ITO nanostructure-based DSSC was obtained at 1.4%, which was increased value by a factor of 6 than one without ITO nanowires photoelectrode. This result is attributed to the large surface area and superior electrical property of the ITO nanowires photoelectrode, as well as the structural advantages, including short diffusion length of photo-induced electrons, of the fabricated $TiO_2$/ITO nanostructure-based DSSC.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.265-271
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• 2016

We analyzed the interface characteristics of Zn-based thin-film buffer layers formed by a sulfur thermal cracker on a $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ (CIGS) light-absorber layer. The analyzed Zn-based thin-film buffer layers are processed by a proposed method comprising two processes - Zn-sputtering and cracker-sulfurization. The processed buffer layers are then suitable to be used in the fabrication of highly efficient CIGS solar cells. Among the various Zn-based film thicknesses, an 8 nm-thick Zn-based film shows the highest power conversion efficiency for a solar cell. The band alignment of the buffer/CIGS was investigated by measuring the band-gap energies and valence band levels across the depth direction. The conduction band difference between the near surface and interface in the buffer layer enables an efficient electron transport across the junction. We found the origin of the energy band structure by observing the chemical states. The fabricated buffer/CIGS layers have a structurally and chemically distinct interface with little elemental inter-diffusion.

• 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%.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.279-286
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• 2018

The use of eco-friendly energy in the offshore plant system is expanding because conventional generators are operated by fossil fuel or natural gas. Eco-friendly energy, which replaces existing power generation methods, should be capable of generating the power for lighting protection equipment, airborne fault indication, parameter measurement, and others. Most of the eco-friendly energy used in offshore plant facilities is solar and wind power. In the case of using photovoltaic power, because the structure must be constructed based as flat solar panels, it can be damaged easily by the wind. Therefore, there is a need for a new generation system composed of a spherical structure that does not require a separate structure and is less influenced by the wind. Considering these characteristics, in this study we designed, fabricated, and tested a unit that could provide the most efficient spherical photovoltaic power generation considering wind direction and wind pressure. Our test results indicated that the proposed system reduced costs because it did not require any separate structure, used eco-friendly energy, reduced carbon dioxide emissions, and expanded the proportion of eco-friendly energy use by offshore plant facilities.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1996.07c
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• pp.1418-1420
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• 1996

In this paper, structural properties of CdTe thin films and photovoltaic properties of thin film CdS/CdTe solar ceIl prepared by thermal vacuum evaporation were studied. Structural variation with $CdCl_2/heat$ treatment are assessed using x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The crystal structure of CdTe films was zincblend type with preferential orientation of the (111) plane parallel to the substrate. The $CdCl_2$ treatment appears to increase the grain size of polycrystalline CdTe thin film. It was found that CdS/CdTe solar cell characteristics were improved by the heat treatment with $CdCl_2$. The conversion efficiency, however, decreased when heat treatment temperature was too high.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.343-343
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• 2014

We reported on the electrical, optical, structural and morphological properties fabricated by co-sputtering for use as an anode for organic solar cells (OSCs). By adjusting RF and DC power of $MoO_3$ and IZO targets during co-sputtering, we fabricated the $MoO_3$-IZO electrode with graded content of the $MoO_3$ on the IZO films. At optimized $MoO_3$ thickness of 20 nm, the $MoO_3$ graded IZO electrode showed a higher mobility ($33cm^2/V-Sec$) than directly deposited $MoO_3$ on IZO film ($26cm^2/V-Sec$). At visible range (400nm~800nm), optical transmittance of the $MoO_3$ graded IZO electrode is higher than that of directly deposited $MoO_3$ on IZO film. High mobility of $MoO_3$ graded on IZO is attributed to less interface scattering between $MoO_3$ and IZO. To investigate the feasibility of $MoO_3$ graded IZO films, we fabricated conventional P3HT:PCBM based OSCs with $MoO_3$ graded IZO as a function of MoO3 thickness. The OSC fabricated on the $MoO_3$ graded IZO anode showed a fill factor of 66.53%, a short circuit current of $8.121mA/cm^2$, an open circuit voltage of 0.592 V, and a power conversion efficiency of 3.2% comparable to OSC fabricated on ITO anode and higher than directly deposited $MoO_3$ on IZO film. We suggested possible mechanism to explain the high performance of OSCs with a $MoO_3$ graded IZO.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.458.2-458.2
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• 2014

We have demonstrated that simple brush-painted Ti-doped $In_2O_3$(TIO) films can be used as a cost effective transparent anodes for organic solar cells (OSCs). We examined the RTA effects on the electrical, optical, and structural properties of the brush painted TIO electrodes. By the direct brushing of TIO nanoparticle ink and rapid thermal annealing (RTA), we can simply obtain TIO electrodes with a low sheet resistance of 28.25 Ohm/square and a high optical transmittance of 85.48% under atmospheric ambient conditions. Furthermore, improvements in the connectivity of the TIO nano-particles in the top region during the RTA process play an important role in reducing the resistivity of the brush-painted TIO anode. In particular, the brush painted TIO films showed a much higher mobility ($33.4cm^2/V-s$) than that of previously reported solution-process transparent oxide films ($1{\sim}5cm^2/V-s$) due to the effects of the Ti dopant with higher Lewis acid strength (3.06) and the reduced contact resistance of TIO nanoparticles. The OSCs fabricated on the brush-painted TIO films exhibited cell-performance with an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.61 V, shot circuit current (Jsc) of $7.90mA/cm^2$, fill factor (FF) of 61%, and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.94%. This indicates that brush-painted TIO film is a promising cost-effective transparent electrode for printing-based OSCs with its simple process and high performance.