• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.183-189
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• 2013

$Cu_2ZnSn(S,Se)_4$ material is receiving an increased amount of attention for solar cell applications as an absorber layer because it consists of inexpensive and abundant materials (Zn and Sn) instead of the expensive and rare materials (In and Ga) in $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ solar cells. We were able to achieve a cell conversion efficiency to 4.7% by the selenization of a stacked metal precursor with the Cu/(Zn + Sn)/Mo/glass structure. However, the selenization of the metal precursor results in large voids at the absorber/Mo interface because metals diffuse out through the top CZTSe layer. To avoid the voids at the absorber/Mo interface, binary selenide compounds of ZnSe and $SnSe_2$ were employed as a precursor instead of Zn and Sn metals. It was found that the precursor with Cu/$SnSe_2$/ZnSe stack provided a uniform film with larger grains compared to that with $Cu_2Se/SnSe_2$/ZnSe stack. Also, voids were not observed at the $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$/Mo interface. A severe loss of Sn was observed after a high-temperature annealing process, suggesting that selenization in this case should be performed in a closed system with a uniform temperature in a $SnSe_2$ environment. However, in the experiments, Cu top-layer stack had more of an effect on reducing Sn loss compared to $Cu_2Se$ top-layer stack.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.216-222
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• 2010

Self-standing $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays were fabricated by potentiostatic anodic oxidation method using pure Ti foil as a working electrode and ethylene glycol solution as electrolytes with small addition of $NH_4F$ and $H_2O$. The influences of anodization temperature and time on the morphology and formation of $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays were investigated. The fabricated $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays were applied as a photoelectrode to dye-sensitized solar cells. Regardless of anodizing temperature and time, the average diameter and wall thickness of $TiO_2$ nanotube show a similar value, whereas the thickness show a different trend with reaction temperature. The thickness of $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays anodized at $20^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$ was time-dependent, but on the other hand its at $10^{\circ}C$ are independent of anodization time. The conversion efficiency is low, which is due to a morphology breaking of the $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays in manufacturing process of photoelectrode.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.348-353
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• 1996

Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was applied to polycrystalline CdTe thin films evaporated on CdS/ITO/glass substrate and the effect of the annealing temperatures and the atmosphere on physical properties of polycrystalline CdTe thin films and CdTe/CdS solar cell characteristics were studied. Results obtained by EDX showed that the bulk composition of CdTe remained stoichiometric after annealing at $550^{\circ}C$ in the air but the surface composition became Cd-rich. Cross-sectional TEM and micro EDX showed that columnar grains and micro-twins remained even after RTA, however, and the sulfur content in the annealed CdTe (added by sulfur diffusion from CdS during the annealing) was much smaller than that by furnace annealing. Among the investigated RTA temperatures and gas environments, the cell made with CdTe annealed at $550^{\circ}C$ in air showed the best solar energy conversion efficiency.

• Solar Energy
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.23-33
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• 1997

In this paper, performance of various working fluids is evaluated for the closed Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion(OTEC) power plant operating on Rankine cycle. The evaporator and condenser are modeled via UA and LMTD method while turbine and pump are modeled by specifying isentropic efficiencies. R22, Propane, Propylene, R134a, R125, R143a, R32, R410A and Ammonia are used as working fluids. Results show that newly developed fluids such as R410A and R32 that do not cause stratospheric ozone layer depletion perform as well as R22 and ammonia. The superheat at the evaporator exit and subcooling at the condenser exit do not affect the performance of the simple OTEC power cycle. Turbine efficiency and heat exchanger size influence greatly the performance of the Rankine cycle. Finally, it was shown that closed OTEC power plants can practically generate electricity when the difference in warm and cold sea water inlet temperatures is greater than $20^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.755-759
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• 2011

$Cu(In_{1-x},Ga_x)Se_2$ thin films have been considered as an effective absorber material for high efficient solar cells. In this paper, the CIGS thin films with varied Ga content were prepared using a co-evaporation process of three stage. We carry out structure and electrical optical property on the thin film in varied Ga content. CIGS thin films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy(EDS), four-point probe measurement, and the Hall measurement. To optimize Ga contents, Ga/(In+Ga) ratio were changed from 0.13 to 0.72. At this time the carrier concentrations were varied from $1.22{\times}10^{11}\;cm^{-3}$ to $5.07{\times}10^{16}\;cm^{-3}$, and electrical resistivity were varied from $1.11{\times}10^0\;{\Omega}-cm$ to $1.08{\times}10^2\;{\Omega}-cm$. A strong <220/204> orientation and a lager grain size were obtained at a Ga/(In+Ga) of 0.3. We were able to achieve conversion efficiency as high as 15.95% with a Ga/(In+Ga) of 0.3.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.419-424
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• 2022

Halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have improved rapidly over the past few years, and research on the optoelectrical properties of halide perovskite thin films has grown as well. Among the characterization techniques, photoluminescence (PL), a method of collecting emitted photons to evaluate the properties of materials, is widely applied to evaluate improvements in the performance of PSCs. However, since only photons emitted from the film in the escape cone are included, the photons collected in PL are a small fraction of the total photons emitted from the film. Unlike PSCs power conversion efficiency, PL measuring methods have not been standardized, and have been evaluated in a variety of ways. Thus, an in-depth study is needed of the methods used to evaluate materials using PL spectra. In this study, we examined the PL spectra of the perovskite light harvesting layer with different measurement protocols and analyzed the features. As the incident angle changed, different spectra were observed, indicating that the PL emission spectrum can depend on the measuring method, not the material. We found the intensity and energy of the PL spectra changes were due to the path of the emitted photons. Also, we found that the PL of halide perovskite thin films generally contains limited information. To solve this problem, the emitted photons should be collected using an integrating sphere. The results of this study suggest that the emission spectrum of halide perovskite films should be carefully interpreted in accordance with PL measuring method, since PL data is mostly affected by the method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.219-219
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• 2008

Energy harvesting from the environment has been of great interest as a standalone power source of wireless sensor nodes for ubiquitous sensor networks (USN). There are several power generating methods such as thermal gradients, solar cell, energy produced by human action, mechanical vibration energy, and so on. Most of all, mechanical vibration is easily accessible and has no limitation of weather and environment of outdoor or indoor. In particular, the piezoelectric energy harvesting from ambient vibration sources has attracted attention because it has a relative high power density comparing with other energy scavenging methods. Through recent advances in low power consumption RF transmitters and sensors, it is possible to adopt a micro-power energy harvesting system realized by MEMS technology for the system-on-chip. However, the MEMS energy harvesting system hassome drawbacks such as a high natural frequency over 300 Hz and a small power generation due to a small dimension. To overcome these limitations, we devised a novel power generator with a spiral spring structure. In this case, the energy harvester has a lower natural frequency under 200 Hz than a normal cantilever structure. Moreover, it has higher an energy conversion efficient because shear mode ($d_{15}$) is much larger than 33 mode ($d_{33}$) and the energy conversion efficiency is proportional to the piezoelectric constant (d). We expect the spiral type MEMS power generator would be a good candidate as a standalone power generator for USN.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.10
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• pp.787-793
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• 2015

In response to the growing interest in supercritical carbon dioxide ($S-CO_2$) power cycle technology because of its potential enhancement in compactness and efficiency, the $S-CO_2$ cycles have been studied intensively in the fields of nuclear power, concentrated solar power (CSP), and fossil fuel power generation. Despite this interest, there are relatively few studies on waste heat recovery applications. In this study, the $S-CO_2$ cycle that has a split flow with preheating was modeled and simulated. The variation in the power was investigated with respect to the changes in the value of a design parameter. Under the simulation conditions considered in this study, it was confirmed that the design parameter has an optimal value that can maximize the power in the $S-CO_2$ power cycle that has a split flow with preheating.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.731-744
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• 2017

Triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) is a special photochemical process that converts low energy photons to higher energy photon via combination of organic chemicals which fulfill specific energetic criteria. TTA-UC has been known as attractive technology that is able to enhance energy conversion efficiency of the photonic devices based on sunlight, which is achieved by conversion of wasted low energy photons in solar spectrum into higher energy photon. In the present paper, we introduced the photochemical mechanism and characteristics of TTA-UC phenomenon, which is yet unfamiliar to the domestic academia, and investigated recent research status, application, and future research directions of TTA-UC technology.

• KIEE International Transaction on Electrical Machinery and Energy Conversion Systems
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• v.3B no.3
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• pp.147-154
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• 2003

This paper presents a high-frequency boost type ZVS-PWM chopper-fed DC-DC power converter with a single active auxiliary edge-resonant snubber at the load stage which can be designed for power conditioners such as solar photovoltaic generation, fuel cell generation, battery and super capacitor energy storages. Its principle operation in steady-state is described in addition to a prototype setup. The experimental results of boost type ZVS-PWM chopper proposed here, are evaluated and verified with a practical design model in terms of its switching voltage and current waveforms, the switching v-i trajectory and the temperature performance of IGBT module, the actual power conversion efficiency, and the EMI of radiated and conducted emissions, and then discussed and compared with the hard switching scheme from an experimental point of view. Finally, this paper proposes a practical method to suppress parasitic oscillation due to the active auxiliary resonant switch at ZCS turn-off mode transition with the aid of an additional lossless clamping diode loop, and can be reduced the EMI conducted emission.