• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.345-351
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• 2017

A double-layered anti-reflective coating with hydrophilic/abrasion-resistant properties was studied using anatase titanium dioxide($TiO_2$) and silicon oxycarbide($SiO_xC_y$) thin film. $TiO_2$ and $SiO_xC_y$ thin films were sequentially deposited on a glass substrate by DC sputtering and PECVD, respectively. The optical properties were measured by UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. The abrasion-resistance and the hydrophilicity were observed by a taber abrasion tester and a contact angle analyzer, respectively. The $TiO_2/SiO_xC_y$ double-layer thin film had an average transmittance of 91.3%, which was improved by 10% in the visible light region (400 to 800 nm) than that of the $TiO_2$ single-layer thin film. The contact angle of $TiO_2/SiO_xC_y$ film was $6.9^{\circ}$ right after UV exposure. After 9 days from the exposure, the contact angle was $10.2^{\circ}$, which was $33^{\circ}$ lower than that of the $TiO_2$ single-layer film. By the abrasion test, $SiO_xC_y$ film showed a superior abrasion-resistance to the $TiO_2$ film. Consequently, the $TiO_2/SiO_xC_y$ double-layer film has achieved superior anti-reflection, hydrophilicity, and abrasion resistance over the $TiO_2$ or $SiO_xC_y$ single-layer film.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.156-161
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• 2013

We fabricated transparent conductive electrodes with silver (Ag) nanofibers by electrospinning process. Ag nanofibers have high aspect ratio and fused junctions which result in low sheet resistance. Electrospinning is a fast and efficient process to fabricate continuous one-dimensional (1D) nanofibers. Ag/polymer ink were prepared in polymer matrix solution by a sol-gel method. Then, Ag/polymer nanofibers precursors are heated at $200{\sim}500^{\circ}C$ in air for 2 h to eliminate partially the polymers. The topographical features of the Ag nanofibers were characterized by FE-SEM, and the electrical property was analyzed through I-V measurement system. Finally, optical property was measured using UV/VIS spectroscopy. The transparent conductive electrodes with Ag nanofibers exhibited a sheet resistance (Rs) of $250{\Omega}/sq$ at a transparency (T) of 83%. Transparent conductive films, contain the Ag nanofibers as conductive materials, have good electrical, optical, and mechanical properties. Therefore, it is expected to be useful for the application of flexible display in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.230-234
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• 2013

IR cut-off thin films consisted of ATO nanoparticles were successfully fabricated by sol-gel method. The coating solution was synthesized with organic/inorganic hybrid binder and ATO colloidal solution and ATO thin films were coated on a slide glass with the withdrawal speed of 5~40 mm/s. As the withdrawal speed increased from 5 mm/s to 40 mm/s, the thickness of coating thin films also increased from $1.05{\mu}m$ to $4.25{\mu}m$ and the IR cut-off in wavelength of 780~2500 nm increased from 49.5 % to 66.7 %. In addition, the pencil hardness of ATO thin films dried at $80^{\circ}C$ was ca. 5H and the coating films were not removed after a cross cutter tape test because of the hybrid binder synthesized with tetraethylorthosilicate and methyltrimethoxysilane. The surface morphologies, optical properties and film thickness of prepared thin films with a different withdrawal speed were measured by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and Dektak.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.56-56
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• 2010

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have attracted much attention as a promising material for transparent conducting films (TCFs), due to their superior electrical conductivity, high mechanical strength, and complete flexibility as well as their one-dimensional morphological features of extremely high length-to-diameter ratios. This study investigated three kinds of SWCNTs with different purities: as-produced SWCNTs (AP-SWCNTs), thermally purified SWCNTs (TH-SWCNTs), thermally and acid purified SWCNTs (TA-SWCNTs). The purity of each SWCNT sample was assessed by considering absorption peaks in the semiconducting ($S_{22}$) and metallic ($M_{11}$) tubes with UV-Vis NIR spectroscopy and a metal content with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The purity increased as proceeding the purification stages from the AP-SWCNTs through the thermal purification to the acid purification. The samples containing different contents of SWCNTs were dispersed in water using sodium dodecyl benzensulfate (SDBS). Aqueous suspensions of different purities of SWCNTs were prepared to have similar absorbances in UV-Vis absorption measurements so that one can make the TCFs possess similar optical transmittances irrespective of the SWCNT purity. Transparent conductive SWCNT networks were formed by spraying an SWCNT suspension onto a poly(ethyleneterephthalate) (PET) substrate. As expected, the TCFs fabricated with AP-SWCNTs showed very high sheet resistances. Interestingly, the TH-SWCNTs gave lower sheet resistances to the TFCs than the TA-SWCNTs although the latter was of higher purity in the SWCNT content than the former. The TA-SWCNTs would be shortened in length and be more bundled by the acid purification, relative to the TH-SWCNTs. For both purified (TH, TA) samples, the subsequent nitric acid ($HNO_3$) treatment greatly lowered the sheet resistances of the TCFs, but almost eliminated the difference of sheet resistances between them. This seems to be because the electrical conductivity increased not only due to further removal of surfactants but also due to p-type doping upon the acid treatment. The doping effect was likely to overwhelm the effect of surfactant removal. Although the nitric acid treatment resulted in the similar. electrical properties to the two samples, the TCFs of TH-SWCNTs showed much lower sheet resistances than those of the TA-SWCNTs prior to the acid treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.393-393
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• 2012

Optically active nanostructures such as subwavelength moth-eye antireflective structures or surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) active structures have been demonstrated to provide the effective suppression of unwanted reflections as in subwavelength structure (SWS) or effective enhancement of selective signals as in SERS. While various nanopatterning techniques such as photolithography, electron-beam lithography, wafer level nanoimprinting lithography, and interference lithography can be employed to fabricate these nanostructures, roll-to-roll (R2R) nanoimprinting is gaining interests due to its low cost, continuous, and scalable process. R2R nanoimprinting requires a master to produce a stamp that can be wrapped around a quartz roller for repeated nanoimprinting process. Among many possibilities, two different types of mask can be employed to fabricate optically active nanostructures. One is self-assembled Au nanoparticles on Si substrate by depositing Au film with sputtering followed by annealing process. The other is monolayer silica particles dissolved in ethanol spread on the wafer by spin-coating method. The process is optimized by considering the density of Au and silica nano particles, depth and shape of the patterns. The depth of the pattern can be controlled with dry etch process using reactive ion etching (RIE) with the mixture of SF6 and CHF3. The resultant nanostructures are characterized for their reflectance using UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer (Agilent technology, Cary 5000) and for surface morphology using scanning electron microscope (SEM, JEOL JSM-7100F). Once optimized, these optically active nanostructures can be used to replicate with roll-to-roll process or soft lithography for various applications including displays, solar cells, and biosensors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.338-338
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• 2012

사파이어 ($Al_2O_3$)는 높은 밴드갭 에너지 (~19.5 eV)를 가진 물질로서 우수한 내마모성, 강도, 전기 절연성 및 안정한 화학적 특성을 갖고 발광다이오드 기판, 보석재료 등 각종 산업 및 기술적 분야에서 널리 사용되고 있다. 특히, 플립칩 발광다이오드 구조의 경우 광추출효율을 향상시키기 위해 높은 투과도를 갖는 사파이어 기판이 요구되어 왔으며, 지금까지 건식/습식식각방법을 이용한 사파이어 표면에 마이크로 크기의 심한 거칠기 또는 요철이 형성된 나노크기의 격자구조를 형성시키는 연구가 진행되어 오고 있다. 그 중, 나노 크기의 격자구조는 공기에서 반도체 기판까지 선형적인 유효굴절률 분포를 갖기 때문에 표면에서 생기는 Fresnel 반사 손실을 줄일 수 있다. 이러한 구조를 형성하기 위해서는 식각 마스크가 필요한데, 형성 방법으로 레이저 간섭 리소그래피, 전자빔 리소그래피, 나노임프린트 리소그래피 등이 있으나, 비싼 가격과 복잡한 공정 절차 등의 단점을 지니고 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 식각 마스크 패턴을 위해, 보다 저렴하고 간단한 실리카 나노구 및 열적응집 금 나노 입자를 이용하였다. 양면 폴리싱 c-plane 사파이어 기판을 사용하였고, 단일 층의 주기적인 실리카 나노구를 기판 표면에 스핀코팅에 의해 도포한 후 유도결합플라즈마 식각 장비를 이용하여 식각하여 주기적인 패턴을 갖는 렌즈모양의 격자구조를 형성하였다. 그리고 주기적으로 형성된 격자 위에 열 증착기를 이용하여 금 박막을 증착한 후 급속열적어닐닝(rapid thermal annealing)을 이용하여 열처리함으로써 비주기적인 금 나노입자를 형성시켰다. 형성된 금 나노패턴을 이용하여 동일한 조건으로 식각함으로써 광대역 및 전방향성 높은 투과도를 갖는 원뿔 모양의 사파이어 나노구조를 제작하였다. 제작된 샘플의 패턴 및 식각 형상은 전자현미경을 사용하여 관찰하였으며, UV-vis-NIR 분광광도계 (spectrophotometer)를 사용하여 투과율을 측정하였다. 렌즈 모양 표면 위에 원뿔모양의 나노구조를 갖는 사파이어 기판은 일반적인 사파이어 기판보다 향상된 투과율 특성을 보였다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.194-199
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• 2016

We prepared polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) beads with a particle size of 80 nm to improve the energy conversion efficiency (ECE) by increasing the effective surface area and the dye absorption ability of the working electrodes (WEs) in a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC). We prepared the $TiO_2$ layer with PMMA beads of 0.0~1.0 wt%; then, finally, a DSSC with $0.45cm^2$ active area was obtained. Optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the microstructure of the $TiO_2$ layer with PMMA. UV-VIS-NIR was used to determine the optical absorbance of the WEs with PMMA. A solar simulator and a potentiostat were used to determine the photovoltaic properties of the PMMA-added DSSC. Analysis of the microstructure showed that pores of 200 nm were formed by the decomposition of PMMA. Also, root mean square values linearly increased as more PMMA was added. The absorbance in the visible light regime was found to increase as the degree of PMMA dispersion increased. The ECE increased from 4.91% to 5.35% when the amount of PMMA beads added was increased from 0.0 to 0.4 wt%. However, the ECE decreased when more than 0.6 wt% of PMMA was added. Thus, adding a proper amount of PMMA to the $TiO_2$ layer was determined to be an effective method for improving the ECE of a DSSC.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.589-593
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• 2014

AlNO multi-layer thin films on aluminum substrates were prepared by DC reactive magnetron sputtering method. $Al_2O_3$/AlNO(LMVF)/AlNO(HMVF)/Al/substrate of 4 multi-layer has been prepared in an Ar and ($N_2+O_2$) gas mixture, and $Al_2O_3$ of top layer is anti-reflection layer on double AlNO(LMVF)/AlNO(HMVF) layers and Al metal of infrared reflection layer. In this study, the roughness and surface properties of AlNO thin films were estimated by field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM). The grain size of AlNO thin films increased with increasing sputtering power. The composition of thin films has been systematically investigated using electron probe microanalysis(EPMA). The optical properties with wavelength spectrum were recorded by UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometry at a range of 200~1,500 nm. The absorptance of AlNO films shows the increasing trend with swelling ($N_2+O_2$) gas mixture in HMVF and LMVF deposition. The excellent optical performance showed above 98% of absorptance in visible wavelength region.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.294-300
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• 2017

$TeO_x$ thin films were deposited at various $O_2$/Ar gas-flow ratios by a reactive RFmagneton sputtering technique from $TeO_2$ and Te targets. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed that the $TeO_x$ thin films were amorphous. The structure and chemical composition of the $TeO_x$ thin films were investigated by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The optical characteristics of the $TeO_x$ thin films were investigated by an Ellipsometer and a UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer. According to the $O_2$/Ar gas-flow ratios, the atomic composition ratio of $TeO_x$ thin films was divided into two regions(x=1-2, 2-3). Different optical characteristics were shown in each region. With an increasing $O_2$/Ar gas-flow ratio, the refractive index of the $TeO_x$ thin films decreased and the optical bandgap of the films increased.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.121.1-121.1
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• 2011

현재 상용화되고 있는 단결정 실리콘 태양전지는 알루미늄 페이스트를 이용하여 후면의 전 영역에 전계를 형성한다. 최근에는 고효율을 얻기 위하여 후면에 패시베이션 효과와 장파장에 대한 반사도를 증가 시키는 SiNx막을 증착 후, 국부적으로 전계를 형성하는 국부 후면 전극(Local back surface field)기술이 연구되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 전면만 텍스쳐 된 단결정 실리콘 웨이퍼를 이용하였다. Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition(PECVD)를 이용하여 전,후면에 SiNx를 증착 하였고 후면의 국부적인 전극 패턴 형성을 위하여 SiNx 식각용 페이스트를 사용한 스크린 프린팅 기술을 이용하였다. 스크린 프린팅을 이용하여 패턴이 형성된 후면에 알루미늄을 인쇄 한 후 Rapid Thermal Process(RTP)를 이용하여 소성 공정 조건을 변화시켰다. 소성 조건 동안 형성되는 후면 전계층은 peak 온도와 승온속도, 냉각 속도에 따라 형상이나 특성이 변화하기 때문에 소성 조건을 변화시키며 국부적 후면 전계 형성의 최적화에 관한 연구를 수행하였다. 패이스트를 이용하여 SiNx를 식각 후 광학 현미경(Optical Microscopy)을 사용하여 SiNx의 식각 유무를 살펴보았고, RTP로 형성된 국부 전계층의 형성 두께, 주변 부분의 형상을 살피기 위해 도핑 영역을 혼합수용액으로 식각하여 주사 전자 현미경(SEM)을 이용하여 관찰 하였다. 또한 후면의 특성을 살펴보기 위해 분광 광도계(UV/VIS/NIR Spectrophotometer)를 사용하여 후면 SiNx층의 유무에 따른 반사도를 비교, 측정 하였다.