• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.53-64
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• 2021

As the 5G service market is expected to grow rapidly, the development of high-power, high-efficiency power amplifiers for the 5G communication infrastructure is indispensable. Gallium nitride (GaN) is attracting great interest as a key device in power devices and integrated circuits due to its wide bandgap, high carrier concentration, high electron mobility, and high-power saturation characteristics. In this study, we investigate the technology trends of Ka-band GaN radio frequency (RF) power devices and integrated circuits for operation in the millimeter-wave band of recent 5G mobile communication services. We review the characteristics of GaN RF high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) devices to implement power amplifiers operating at frequencies around 28 GHz and compare the technology of foreign companies with the device characteristics currently developed by the Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI). In addition, the characteristics of Ka-band GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers manufactured using various GaN HEMT device technologies are reviewed by comparing characteristics such as frequency band, output power, and output power density of integrated circuits. In addition, by comparing the performance of the power amplifier developed by ETRI, the current status and future direction of domestic GaN power devices and integrated circuit technology will be discussed.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.993-994
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• 2008

Electrochromic (EC) devices are capable of reversibly changing their optical properties upon charge injection and extraction induced by the external voltage. The characteristics of the EC device, such as low power consumption, high coloration efficiency, and memory effects under open circuit status, make them suitable for use in a variety of applications including smart windows and electronic papers. Coloration due to reduction or oxidation of redox chromophores can be used for EC devices (e-paper), but the switching time is slow (second level). Recently, with increasing demand for the low cost, lightweight flat panel display with paper-like readability (electronic paper), an EC display technology based on dye-modified $TiO_2$ nanoparticle electrode was developed. A well known organic dye molecule, viologen, was adsorbed on the surface of a mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanoparticle film to form the EC electrode. On the other hand, ZnO is a wide bandgap II-VI semiconductor which has been applied in many fields such as UV lasers, field effect transistors and transparent conductors. The bandgap of the bulk ZnO is about 3.37 eV, which is close to that of the $TiO_2$ (3.4 eV). As a traditional transparent conductor, ZnO has excellent electron transport properties, even in ZnO nanoparticle films. In the past few years, one-dimension (1D) nanostructures of ZnO have attracted extensive research interest. In particular, 1D ZnO nanowires renders much better electron transportation capability by providing a direct conduction path for electron transport and greatly reducing the number of grain boundaries. These unique advantages make ZnO nanowires a promising matrix electrode for EC dye molecule loading. ZnO nanowires grow vertically from the substrate and form a dense array (Fig. 1). The ZnO nanowires show regular hexagonal cross section and the average diameter of the ZnO nanowires is about 100 nm. The cross-section image of the ZnO nanowires array (Fig. 1) indicates that the length of the ZnO nanowires is about $6\;{\mu}m$. From one on/off cycle of the ZnO EC cell (Fig. 2). We can see that, the switching time of a ZnO nanowire electrode EC cell with an active area of $1\;{\times}\;1\;cm^2$ is 170 ms and 142 ms for coloration and bleaching, respectively. The coloration and bleaching time is faster compared to the $TiO_2$ mesoporous EC devices with both coloration and bleaching time of about 250 ms for a device with an active area of $2.5\;cm^2$. With further optimization, it is possible that the response time can reach ten(s) of millisecond, i.e. capable of displaying video. Fig. 3 shows a prototype with two different transmittance states. It can be seen that good contrast was obtained. The retention was at least a few hours for these prototypes. Being an oxide, ZnO is oxidation resistant, i.e. it is more durable for field emission cathode. ZnO nanotetropods were also applied to realize the first prototype triode field emission device, making use of scattered surface-conduction electrons for field emission (Fig. 4). The device has a high efficiency (field emitted electron to total electron ratio) of about 60%. With this high efficiency, we were able to fabricate some prototype displays (Fig. 5 showing some alphanumerical symbols). ZnO tetrapods have four legs, which guarantees that there is one leg always pointing upward, even using screen printing method to fabricate the cathode.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.131-131
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• 2009

Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a material with a wide bandgap (3.26eV), a high critical electric field (~2.3MV/cm), a and a high bulk electron mobility ($\sim900cm^2/Vs$). These electronic properties allow high breakdown voltage, high-speed switching capability, and high temperature operation compared to Si devices. Although various SiC DMOSFET structures have been reported so far for optimizing performances, the effect of channel dimension on the switching performance of SiC DMOSFETs has not been extensively examined. This paper studies different channel dimensons ($L_{CH}$ : $0.5{\mu}m$, $1\;{\mu}m$, $1.5\;{\mu}m$) and their effect on the the device transient characteristics. The key design parameters for SiC DMOSFETs have been optimized and a physics-based two-dimensional (2-D) mixed device and circuit simulator by Silvaco Inc. has been used to understand the relationship. with the switching characteristics. To investigate transient characteristic of the device, mixed-mode simulation has been performed, where the solution of the basic transport equations for the 2-D device structures is directly embedded into the solution procedure for the circuit equations. We observe an increase in the turn-on and turn-off time with increasing the channel length. The switching time in 4H-SiC DMOSFETs have been found to be seriously affected by the various intrinsic parasitic components, such as gate-source capacitance and channel resistance. The intrinsic parasitic components relate to the delay time required for the carrier transit from source to drain. Therefore, improvement of switching speed in 4H-SiC DMOSFETs is essential to reduce the gate-source capacitance and channel resistance.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 2024

Silicon carbide (SiC) has emerged as a promising material for next-generation power semiconductor materials, due to its high thermal conductivity and high critical electric field (~3 MV/cm) with a wide bandgap of 3.3 eV. This permits SiC devices to operate at lower on-resistance and higher breakdown voltage. However, to improve device performance, advanced research is still needed to reduce point defects in the SiC epitaxial layer. This work investigated the electrical characteristics and defect properties using DLTS analysis. Four deep level defects generated by the implantation process and during epitaxial layer growth were detected. Trap parameters such as energy level, capture-cross section, trap density were obtained from an Arrhenius plot. To investigate the impact of defects on the device, a 2D TCAD simulation was conducted using the same device structure, and the extracted defect parameters were added to confirm electrical characteristics. The degradation of device performance such as an increase in on-resistance by adding trap parameters was confirmed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.180-180
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• 2010

Thin film transistors (TFTs) based on oxide semiconductors have emerged as a promising technology, particularly for active-matrix TFT-based backplanes. Currently, an amorphous oxide semiconductor, such as InGaZnO, has been adopted as the channel layer due to its higher electron mobility. However, accurate and repeatable control of this complex material in mass production is not easy. Therefore, simpler polycrystalline materials, such as ZnO and $SnO_2$, remain possible candidates as the channel layer. Inparticular, ZnO-based TFTs have attracted considerable attention, because of their superior properties that include wide bandgap (3.37eV), transparency, and high field effect mobility when compared with conventional amorphous silicon and polycrystalline silicon TFTs. There are some technical challenges to overcome to achieve manufacturability of ZnO-based TFTs. One of the problems, the stability of ZnO-based TFTs, is as yet unsolved since ZnO-based TFTs usually contain defects in the ZnO channel layer and deep level defects in the channel/dielectric interface that cause problems in device operation. The quality of the interface between the channel and dielectric plays a crucial role in transistor performance, and several insulators have been reported that reduce the number of defects in the channel and the interfacial charge trap defects. Additionally, ZnO TFTs using a high quality interface fabricated by a two step atomic layer deposition (ALD) process showed improvement in device performance In this study, we report the fabrication of high performance ZnO TFTs with a $Si_3N_4$ gate insulator treated using plasma. The interface treatment using electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) $O_2$ plasma improves the interface quality by lowering the interface trap density. This process can be easily adapted for industrial applications because the device structure and fabrication process in this paper are compatible with those of a-Si TFTs.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.89.2-89.2
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• 2010

The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a device for the conversion of visible light into electricity, based on the sensitization of wide bandgap semiconductors. The performance of the cell mainly depends on a dye used as sensitizer. The absorption spectrum of the dye and the anchorage of the dye to the surface of $TiO_2$ are important parameters determining the efficiency of the cell. Generally, transition metal coordination compounds(ruthenium polypyridyl complexes) are used as the effective sensitizers, due to their intense charge-transfer absorption in the whole visible range and highly efficient metal-to ligand charge transfer. However, ruthenium polypyridyl complexes contain a heavy metal, which is undesirable from point of view of the environmental aspects. Moreover, the process to synthesize the complexes is complicated and costly. Alternatively, organic dyes can be used for the same purpose with an acceptable efficiency. The advantages of organic dyes include their availability and low cost. We designed and synthesized a series of organic sensitizers containing long wavelength absorption-chromophores for the dye sensitized solar cell. The DSSC composed of Blue-chromophores for the sensitization absorbed long wavelength region which is different also applied into the dye-cocktail (mixing) system. The photovoltaic property of DSSCs organic long wavelength absorption-chromophores were measured and evaluated by comparison with that of individual chromophores.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.118.1-118.1
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• 2011

The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a device for the conversion of visible light into electricity, based on the sensitization of wide bandgap semiconductors. The performance of the cell mainly depends on a dye used as sensitizer. The absorption spectrum of the dye and the anchorage of the dye to the surface of TiO2 are important parameters determining the efficiency of the cell. Generally, transition metal coordination compounds(ruthenium polypyridyl complexes) are used as the effective sensitizers, due to their intense charge-transfer absorption in the whole visible range and highly efficient metal-to ligand charge transfer. However, ruthenium polypyridyl complexes contain a heavy metal, which is undesirable from point of view of the environmental aspects. Moreover, the process to synthesize the complexes is complicated and costly. Alternatively, organic dyes can be used for the same purpose with an acceptable efficiency. The advantages of organic dyes include their availability and low cost. We designed and synthesized a series of organic sensitizers containing long wavelength absorption-chromophores for the dye sensitized solar cell. The DSSC composed of Blue-chromophores for the sensitization absorbed long wavelength region which is different also applied into the dye-cocktail (mixing) system. The photovoltaic property of DSSCs organic long wavelength absorption-chromophores were measured and evaluated by comparison with that of individual chromophores.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.70-79
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• 1991

$In_1-x$$GA_X$$As_y$$P_1-y$ has a very wide range of applications in optoelectronic devices especially for optical communications because $In_1-x$$GA_X$$As_y$$P_1-y$ has the bandgap of the lowest dispersion ($1.3\mum$) and the lowest loss ( $1.55\mum$) of the optical fiber by changing the composition. The quality of $In_1-x$$GA_X$$As_y$$P_1-y$ epitaxial layer is believed to have a significant effect on the performance of device. The OMVPE growth conditions for the latticematched $In_1x$$GA_X$$As_y$$P_1-y$/InP were investigated. Effects of growth conditions such as V/III ratio, growth temperature, and Ga source material on the electrical and optical properties were studied. The composition, electrical and optical properities of $In_1-x$$GA_X$$As_y$$P_1-y$ were characterized using double crystal X-ray diffractometer (DCD), photoluminescence (PL), XPS(ESCA) and Hall measurement.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.400-406
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• 2024

Next-generation wide-bandgap semiconductors such as SiC, GaN, and Ga2O3 are being considered as potential replacements for current silicon-based power devices due to their high mobility, larger size, and production of high-quality wafers at a moderate cost. In this study, we investigate the gradual modulation of chemical composition in multi-stacked metal oxide semiconductor thin films to enhance the performance and bias stability of thin-film transistors (TFTs). It demonstrates that adjusting the Ga ratio in the indium gallium oxide (IGO) semiconductor allows for precise control over the threshold voltage and enhances device stability. Moreover, employing multiple deposition techniques addresses the inherent limitations of solution-processed amorphous oxide semiconductor TFTs by mitigating porosity induced by solvent evaporation. It is anticipated that solution-processed indium gallium oxide (IGO) semiconductors, with a Ga ratio exceeding 50%, can be utilized in the production of oxide semiconductors with wide band gaps. These materials hold promise for power electronic applications necessitating high voltage and current capabilities.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.32-32
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• 2009

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a wide-bandgap semiconductor that has materials properties necessary for the high-power, high-frequency, high-temperature, and radiation-hard condition applications, where silicon devices cannot perform. SiC is also the only compound semiconductor material. on which a silicon oxide layer can be thermally grown, and therefore may fabrication processes used in Si-based technology can be adapted to SiC. So far, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been extensively used to study the surface charges, dielectric constants and electrical potential distribution as well as topography in silicon-based device structures, whereas it has rarely been applied to SiC-based structures. In this work, we investigated that the local oxide growth on SiC under various conditions and demonstrated that an increased (up to ~100 nN) tip loading force (LF) on highly-doped SiC can lead a direct oxide growth (up to few tens of nm) on 4H-SiC. In addition, the surface potential and topography distributions of nano-scale patterned structures on SiC were measured at a nanometer-scale resolution using a scanning kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPM) with a non-contact mode AFM. The measured results were calibrated using a Pt-coated tip. It is assumed that the atomically resolved surface potential difference does not originate from the intrinsic work function of the materials but reflects the local electron density on the surface. It was found that the work function of the nano-scale patterned on SiC was higher than that of original SiC surface. The results confirm the concept of the work function and the barrier heights of oxide structures/SiC structures.