• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.179-184
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• 2016

In recent years, the on-resistance, power loss and cell density of Si power devices have not exhibited significant improvements, and performance is approaching the material limits. GaN is considered an attractive material for future high-power applications because of the wide band-gap, large breakdown field, high electron mobility, high switching speed and low on-resistance. Here we report on the Ohmic contact resistance and reverse-bias characteristics of AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes with and without annealing. Annealing in oxygen at $500^{\circ}C$ resulted in an increase in the breakdown voltage from 641 to 1,172 V for devices with an anode-cathode separation of $20{\mu}m$. However, these annealing conditions also resulted in an increase in the contact resistance of $0.183{\Omega}-mm$, which is attributed to oxidation of the metal contacts. Auger electron spectroscopy revealed diffusion of oxygen and Au into the AlGaN and GaN layers following annealing. The improved reverse-bias characteristics following annealing in oxygen are attributed to passivation of dangling bonds and plasma damage due to interactions between oxygen and GaN/AlGaN. Thermal annealing is therefore useful during the fabrication of high-voltage GaN devices, but the effects on the Ohmic contact resistance should be considered.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.28-28
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• 2009

Fabrications of antireflection structures on solar cell were investigated to trap the light and to improve quantum efficiency. Introductions of patterned substrate or textured layer for Si solar cell were performed to prevent reflectance and to increase the path length of incoming light. However, it is difficult to deposit conformally flat electrode on perpendicular plane. ZnO is II-VI compound semiconductor and well-known wide band-gap material. It has similar electrical and optical properties as ITO, but it is nontoxic and stable. In this study, Al-doped ZnO thin films are deposited as transparent electrode by atomic layer deposition method to coat on Si substrate with micro-scale structures. The deposited AZO layer is flatted on horizontal plane as well as perpendicular one with conformal 200 nm thickness. The carrier concentration, mobility and resistivity of deposited AZO thin film on glass substrate were measured $1.4\times10^{20}cm^{-3}$, $93.3cm^2/Vs$, $4.732\times10^{-4}{\Omega}cm$ with high transmittance over 80%. The AZO films were coated with polyimide and performed selective polyimide stripping on head of column by reactive ion etching to measure resistance along columns surface. Current between the micro-columns flows onto the perpendicular plane of deposited AZO film with low resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.188-192
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• 2018

In this study, we fabricated an $NO_X$ gas sensor using a composite film of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)/zinc oxide (ZnO). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) show good electronic conductivity and chemical-stability, and zinc oxide (ZnO) is a wide band gap semiconductor with a large exciton binding energy. Gas sensors require characteristics such as high speed, sensitivity, and selectivity. The fabricated gas sensor was used to detect $NO_X$ gas at different $NO_X$ concentrations. The sensitivity of the gas sensor increased with increasing gas concentrations. Additionally, while changing the temperature inside the chamber containing the MWCNT/ZnO gas sensor, we obtained the sensitivity and normalized responses for detecting $NO_X$ gas in comparison to ZnO and MWCNT film gas sensors. From the experimental results, we confirmed that the gas sensor sensing mechanism was enhanced in the composite-film gas-sensor and that the electronic interaction between MWCNT and ZnO contributed to the improved sensor performance.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1336-1346
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• 2018

Wide band gap semiconductor devices such as SiC MOSFETs are becoming the preferred devices for high frequency and high power density converters due to their excellent performances. However, the proportion of the switching loss that accounts for the whole inverter loss is growing along with an increase of the switching frequency. In view of the third quadrant working characteristics of a SiC MOSFET, synchronous rectification discontinuous pulse-width modulation is proposed (SRDPWM) to further reduce system losses. The SRDPWM has been analyzed in detail. Based on a frequency domain mathematical model, a quantitative mathematical analysis of the harmonic characteristic is conducted by double Fourier transform. Meanwhile, a switching loss model and a conduction loss model of inverter for SRDPWM have been built. Simulation and experimental results verify the result of the harmonic analysis of the double Fourier analysis and the accuracy of the loss models. The efficiencies of the SRDPWM and the SVPWM are compared. The result indicates that the SRDPWM has fewer losses and a higher efficiency than the SVPWM under high switching frequency and light load conditions as a result of the reduced number of switching transitions. In addition, the SRDPWM is more suitable for SiC MOSFET converters.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.81-86
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• 2016

Background: For positron emission tomography (PET) application, cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) has been investigated by several institutes to replace detectors from a conventional system using photomultipliers or Silicon-photomultipliers (SiPMs). The spatial and energy resolution in using CZT can be superior to current scintillator-based state-of-the-art PET detectors. CZT has been under development for several years at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) to provide a high performance gamma ray detection, which needs a single crystallinity, a good uniformity, a high stopping power, and a wide band gap. Materials and Methods: Before applying our own grown CZT detectors in the prototype PET system, we investigated preliminary research with a developed discrete type data acquisition (DAQ) system for coincident events at 128 anode pixels and two common cathodes of two CZT detectors from Redlen. Each detector has a $19.4{\times}19.4{\times}6mm^3$ volume size with a 2.2 mm anode pixel pitch. Discrete amplifiers consist of a preamplifier with a gain of $8mV{\cdot}fC^{-1}$ and noise of 55 equivalent noise charge (ENC), a $CR-RC^4$ shaping amplifier with a $5{\mu}s$ peak time, and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) driver. The DAQ system has 65 mega-sample per second flash ADC, a self and external trigger, and a USB 3.0 interface. Results and Discussion: Characteristics such as the current-to-voltage curve, energy resolution, and electron mobility life-time products for CZT detectors are investigated. In addition, preliminary results of gamma ray imaging using 511 keV of a $^{22}Na$ gamma ray source were obtained. Conclusion: In this study, the DAQ system with a CZT radiation sensor was successfully developed and a PET image was acquired by two sets of the developed DAQ system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.424-424
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• 2008

Dye-sensitized Solar Cell (DSC) is a new type of solar cell by using photocatalytic properties of $TiO_2$. The electric potential distribution in DSCs has played a major role in the operation of such cells. Models based on a built-in electric field which sets the upper limit for the open circuit voltage(Voc) and/or the possibility of a Schottky barrier at the interface between the mesoporous wide band gap semiconductor and the transparent conducting substrate have been presented. $TiO_2$ thin films were deposited on the FTO substrate by Nd:YAG Pulsed Laser Deposition(PLD) at room temperature and post-deposition annealing at $500^{\circ}C$ in flowing $O_2$ atmosphere for 1 hour. The structural properties of $TiO_2$ thin films have investigated by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and atomic force microscope(AFM). Thickness of $TiO_2$ thin films were controlled deference deposition time and measurement by scanning electron microscope(SEM). Then we manufactured a DSC unit cells and I-V and efficiency were tested using solar simulator.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.105-106
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• 2008

Structural, optical and electrical properties of CdS films deposited by chemical bath deposition (CBD), which are a very attractive method for low-cost and large-area solar cells, are presented. Cadmium sulfide (CdS) is II-VI semiconductor with a wide band gap of approximately 2.42 eV. CdS films have a great application potential such as solar cell, optical detector and optoelectronics device. In this paper, effects of Rapid Thermal Process (RTP) on the properties of CdS films were investigated. The CdS films were prepared on a glass by chemical bath deposition (CBD) and subsequently annealed at standard temperature $(400^{\circ}C)$ and treatment time (10 min) in various atmospheres (air, vacuum and $N_2$). The CdS films treated RTP in $N_2$ for to min were showed larger grain size and higher carrier density than the other samples.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.312-316
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• 2016

In this study, we fabricated $NO_x$ gas sensor by using multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNT)/zinc oxide(ZnO) composite film. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have good electronic, chemical-stability, and sensitivity characteristics. And zinc oxide (ZnO) is a wide band gap and large exciton binding energy semiconductor. In particular, gas sensors require characteristics such as high speed, sensitivity, and selectivity. The fabricated gas sensor was used to detect $NO_x$ gas for different values of the $NO_x$ gas concentrations. The gas sensor that absorbed$NO_x$ gas molecules showed a increasing in resistance. The sensitivity of the gas sensor was increased by increasing the gas concentrations. Additionally, while changing the temperature inside the chamber for the MWCNT/ZnO composite film gas sensor, we obtained the sensitivity. And the comparison analysis to ZnO film gas sensor for detecting $NO_x$ gas. From the experiment result, we confirmed improvement of $NO_x$ gas detection characteristics using the MWCNT/ZnO composite film.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.110-110
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• 2010

현재 박막 트랜지스터는 비정질 실리콘 기반의 개발이 주를 이루고 있으며, 이 비정질 실리콘은 성막공정이 간단하고 대면적에 용이하지만 전기적인 특성이 우수하지 않기 때문에 디스플레이의 적용에 어려움을 겪고 있다. 이에 따라 poly-Si을 이용한 박막 트랜지스터의 연구가 진행되고 있는데, 이는 공정온도가 높고, 대면적에의 응용이 어렵다. 따라서 앞으로 저온 공정이 가능하며 대면적 응용이 용이한 박막 트랜지스터의 연구가 필수적이다. 한편 최근 박막 트랜지스터의 채널층으로 사용되는 물질에는 oxide 기반의 ZnO, SnO2, In2O3 등이 주로 사용되고 있고, 보다 적합한 채널층을 찾기 위한 연구가 많이 진행되어 왔다. 최근 Hosono 연구팀에서 IGZO를 채널층으로 사용하여 high mobility, 우수한 on/off ratio의 특성을 가진 소자 제작에 성공함으로써 이를 시작으로 IGZO의 연구 또한 세계적으로 활발한 연구가 이루어지고 있다. 특히, ZnO는 wide band gap (3.37eV)을 가지고 있어 적외선 및 가시광선의 투과율이 좋고, 전기 전도성과 플라즈마에 대한 내구성이 우수하며, 낮은 온도에서도 성막이 가능하다는 특징을 가지고 있다. 그러나 intrinsic ZnO 박막은 bias stress 같은 외부 환경이 변했을 경우 전기적인 성질의 변화를 가져올 뿐만 아니라 고온에서의 공정이 불안정하다는 요인을 가지고 있다. ZnO의 전기적인 특성을 개선하기 위해 본 연구에서는 hafnium을 doping한 ZnO을 channel layer로 소자를 제작하고 전기적 특성을 평가하였다. 이를 위해 DC magnetron sputtering을 이용하여 ZnO 기반의 박막 트랜지스터를 제작하였다. Staggered bottom gate 구조로 ITO 물질을 전극으로 사용하였으며, 제작된 소자는 semiconductor analyzer를 이용하여 출력특성과 전이 특성을 평가하였으며, ZnO channel layer 증착시 hafnium이 도핑 되는 양을 조절하여 소자를 제작한 후 intrinsic ZnO의 소자 특성과 비교 분석하였다. 그 결과 hafnium을 doping 시킨 소자의 field effect mobility가 $6.42cm^2/Vs$에서 $3.59cm^2/Vs$로 낮아졌지만, subthreshold swing 측면에서는 1.464V/decade에서 0.581V/decade로 intrinsic ZnO 보다 좋은 특성을 나타냄을 알 수 있었다. 그리고 intrinsic ZnO의 경우 외부환경에 대한 안정성 문제가 대두되고 있는데, hafnium을 도핑한 ZnO의 경우 temperature, bias temperature stability, 경시변화 등의 다양한 조건에서의 안정성이 확보된다면 intrinsic ZnO 박막트랜지스터의 문제점을 해결할 수 있는 물질로 될 것이라고 기대된다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.48-48
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• 2011

We have developed a chemically-driven top-down approach using vapor phase HCl to form various GaN nanostructures and successfully demonstrated dislocation-free and strain-relaxed GaN nanostructures without etching damage formed by a selective dissociation method. Our approach overcomes many limitations encountered in previous approaches. There is no need to make a pattern, complicated process, and expensive equipment, but it produces a high-quality nanostructure over a large area at low cost. As far as we know, this is the first time that various types of high-quality GaN nanostructures, such as dot, cone, and rod, could be formed by a chemical method without the use of a mask or pattern, especially on the Ga-polar GaN. It is well known that the Ga-polar GaN is difficult to etch by the common chemical wet etching method because of the chemical stability of GaN. Our chemically driven GaN nanostructures show excellent structure and optical properties. The formed nanostructure had various facets depending on the etching conditions and showed a high crystal quality due to the removal of defects, such as dislocations. These structure properties derived excellent optical performance of the GaN nanostructure. The GaN nanostructure had increased internal and external quantum efficiency due to increased light extraction, reduced strain, and improved crystal quality. The chemically driven GaN nanostructure shows promise in applications such as efficient light-emitting diodes, field emitters, and sensors.