• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.364-364
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• 2012

평판 디스플레이 분야에 투명 비정질 산화물 반도체는 박막 트렌지스터(Thin film transistor; TFT)소자의 채널층으로 사용할 수 있다. 투명 비정질 산화물 반도체 IGZO (In-Ga-Zn-O)는 다른 비정질 재료에 비해 높은 전하 이동도를 가지기 때문에 우수한 성능의 TFT소자를 제작할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 RF magnetron sputtering법으로 corning 1737 유리기판 위에 RF 파워의 변화에 따라 증착한 IGZO박막의 광학적 전기적 특성 변화를 연구하였다. 박막 증착 조건은 초기 압력 $2.0{\times}10^{-6}Torr$, 증착 압력 $2.0{\times}10^{-2}Torr$, 반응가스 Ar 25 sccm, 증착 온도는 실온으로 고정하였으며, 공정변수로 RF 파워를 25 w, 50 w, 75 w, 100 w로 변화시키며, IGZO 타겟은 $In_2O_3$, $Ga_2O_3$, ZnO 분말을 각각 1 : 1 : 2mol% 조성비로 혼합하여 소결한 타겟을 사용하였다. 표면분석(AFM)결과 RF 파워가 증가함에 따라 거칠기가 증가하였으며, XRD 분석결과 Bragg's 법칙을 만족하는 피크가 나타나지 않는 비정질 구조임을 확인할 수 있었다. 가시광 영역에서 (450~700 nm) 25 w일 때 85% 이상을 확인하였고, RF 파워가 증가할수록 밴드갭이 감소하는 것을 확인하였다. RF 파워가 100 w인 경우 carrier 밀도는 $7.7{\times}10^{19}cm^{-3}$, Mobility $8.42cm^2V-s$, Resistivity $9.45{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}-cm$로 투명 전도막의 특성을 보였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.364-364
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• 2013

현재 투명전극은 주로 ITO를 사용하고 있으며, ITO는 인듐산화물(In2O3)과 주석산화물(SnO2)이 9대 1의 비율로 혼합된 화합물로 인듐이 주성분이다. 따라서 ITO 사용량의 증가는 인듐의 수요 증가를 이끌어 2003년 이후 인듐 잉곳의 가격이 급등하였다. LCD에 응용되는 금속재료의 가격추이를 비교해보면, 인듐이 가장 큰 변화를 보이고 있으며, 2005년 인듐 가격은 2002년 대비 1,000% 이상 상승하였다가 2007년 이후 500%p 하락하여 2008년 2월 22일 기준으로 톤당 49만 달러에 거래되고 있다. 같은 기간 동안 알루미늄의 가격은 76.6% 상승하였으며 구리는 394%, 주석은 331% 상승하였다. 이러한 인듐의 가격 상승폭은 동일한 기간 동안 다른 금속 재료와 비해 매우 크며, 단위 질량당 가격도 20배 이상 높은 수준이다. ITO의 주성분인 인듐의 이러한 가격의 급등 및 향후 인듐의 Shortage 예상으로 인해 ITO 대체재 확보의 필요성이 증가되고 있다. 태양광 발전산업에서 현재 주류인 결정질 실리콘 태양전지의 변환효율은 꾸준히 향상되고 있으나, 태양전지의 가격이 매년 서서히 하강되고 있는 실정에서 결정질 실리콘 가격의 상승 등으로 고부가 가치 산업유지에 어려움이 있으며, 생산 원가를 낮출 수 있는 태양전지 제조기술로는 2세대 태양전지로 불리는 박막형이 현재의 대안으로 자리매김하고 있으며, 박막태양전지 산업분야가 현재의 정부정책 지원 없이 자생력을 갖추고 또한 시장 경쟁력을 확보하기 위해서는 박막태양전지 개발과 더불어 저가의 재료개발도 시급한 상황이다. 본 연구에서는 In-line magnetron sputtering system을 사용하여 소다라임 유리기판 위에 박막태양전지용 투명전도성 ZnO(Al) 박막 및 ZnO(AlGa) 박막을 각각 제작하였다. 각각 박막의 표면특성 및 성장구조, 결정성을 조사하였고, 또한 전기적 특성, 홀이동도와 개리어농도, 박막의 두께, 광투과율 특성을 연구하였다. ZnO(Al)박막, ZnO(AlGa)박막 대한 각각 특성을 평가하고 그 결과들을 논하고자 한다.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.18.2-18.2
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• 2010

For the past a few years, we have intensively researched the printable inorganic conductors and ZnO-based amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) for thin-film transistors. For printable conductor materials, we have focused on the aqueous Ag and Cu ink which possess a variety of advantages, comparing with the conventional metal inks based on organic solvent system. The aqueous Ag ink was designed to achieve the long-term dispersion stability using a specific polymer which can act as a dispersant and capping agent, and the aqueous Cu ink was carefully formulated to endow the oxidation stability in air and even aqueous solvent system. The both inks were successfully printed onto either polymer or glass substrate, exhibiting the superior conductivity comparable to that of bulk one. For printable ZnO-based AOSs, we have researched the noble way to resolve the critical problem, a high processing-temperature above $400^{\circ}C$, and recently discovered that Ga doping in ZnO-based AOSs promotes the formation of oxide lattice structures with oxygen vacancies at low annealing-temperatures, which is essential for acceptable thin-film transistor performance. The mobility dependence on annealing temperature and AOS composition was analyzed, and the chemical role of Ga are clarified, as are requirements for solution-processed, low-temperature annealed AOSs.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.175-180
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• 2010

Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films are widely used for optoelectronic applications. Among TCO materials, zinc oxide (ZnO) has been studied extensively for its high optical transmission and electrical conduction. In this study, the effects of $O_2$ plasma pretreatment on the properties of Ga-doped ZnO films (GZO) on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate were studied. The $O_2$ plasma pretreatment process was used instead of conventional oxide buffer layers. The $O_2$ plasma treatment process has several merits compared with the oxide buffer layer treatment, especially on a mass production scale. In this process, an additional sputtering system for oxide composition is not needed and the plasma treatment process is easily adopted as an in-line process. GZO films were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering process. To improve surface energy and adhesion between the PEN substrate and the GZO film, the $O_2$ plasma pre-treatment process was used prior to GZO sputtering. As the RF power and the treatment time increased, the contact angle decreased and the RMS surface roughness increased significantly. It is believed that the surface energy and adhesive force of the polymer surfaces increased with the $O_2$ plasma treatment and that the crystallinity and grain size of the GZO films increased. When the RF power was 100W and the treatment time was 120 sec in the $O_2$ plasma pretreatment process, the resistivity of the GZO films on the PEN substrate was $1.05\;{\times}\;10^{-3}{\Omega}-cm$, which is an appropriate range for most optoelectronic applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.497-497
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• 2013

Semiconducting amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) has attracted significant research attention as improved deposition techniques have made it possible to make high-quality a-IGZO thin films. IGZO thin films have several advantages over thin film transistors (TFTs) based on other semiconducting channel layers.The electron mobility in IGZO devices is relatively high, exceeding amorphous Si (a-Si) by a factor of 10 and most organic devices by a factor of $10^2$. Moreover, in contrast to other amorphous semiconductors, highly conducting degenerate states can be obtained with IGZO through doping, yet such a state cannot be produced with a-Si. IGZO thin films are capable of mobilities greaterthan 10 $cm^2$/Vs (higher than a-Si:H), and are transparent at visible wavelengths. For oxide semiconductors, carrier concentrations can be controlled through oxygen vacancy concentration. Hence, adjusting the oxygen partial pressure during deposition and post-deposition processing provides an effective method of controlling oxygen concentration. In this study, we deposited IGZO thinfilms at optimized conditions and then analyzed the film's electrical properties, surface morphology, and crystal structure. Then, we explored how to generate IGZO thin films using DC magnetron sputtering. We also describe the construction and characteristics of a bottom-gate-type TFT, including the output and transfer curves and bias stress instability mechanism.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.3-3
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• 2010

We investigated the influence of the indium content on the threshold voltage ($V_{th}$) shift of sol-gel-derived indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs). Surplus indium composition ratio into IGZO decreases the value of $V_{th}$ of IGZO TFTs showed huge $V_{th}$ shift in the negative direction. $V_{th}$ shift decreases from 10 to -28.2V as Indium composition ratio is increased. Because the free electron density is increased according to variation of the Indium composition ratio.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.88-88
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• 2008

In this study, effect of thickness on structural, electrical and optical properties of B doped ZnO:Ga (GZOB) films was investigated. GZOB films were deposited on glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. The thickness range of films were from 100 nm to 600 nm to identified as increasing thickness, stress between substrate and GZOB film. The average transmittance of the films was over 80 % until 500 nm. Then a resistivity of $9.16\times10^{-4}\Omega$-cm was obtained. We presented that a GZOB film of 400 nm was optimization to obtain a high transmittance and conductivity.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.620-624
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• 2015

We have studied structural, optical and electrical properties of In-Ga-doped ZnO (IGZO) thin films. The IGZO thin films were deposited on the corning 1737 glass by RF magnetron sputtering method. The RF power in sputtering process was varied as 30, 50, 70, and 90 W respectively. All of the IGZO thin films transmittance in the visible range (400 nm ~ 800 nm) was above 83%. XRD analysis showed the IGZO thin films amorphous structure of the thin films without any peak. And also IGZO thin film have low resistivity ($1.99{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$), high carrier concentration ($6.4{\times}10^{20}cm^{-3}$), and mobility ($10.3cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$). By the studies we found that IGZO transparent thin film can be used as optoelectronic material and introduced application possibility for future electronic devices.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.215-218
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• 2011

A novel design of gas sensor using Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films which are deposited on low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates is presented. The LTCC substrates with thickness of 400 ${\mu}m$ are fabricated by laminating 12 green tapes which consist of alumina and glass particle in an organic binder. The GZO thin films with different thickness are deposited on LTCC substrates, by RF magnetron sputtering method. The microstructure and sensing properties of GZO gas sensing films are analyzed as a function of the film thickness. The films are well crystallized in the hexagonal (wurzite) structure with increasing thickness. The maximum sensitivity of 3.49 is obtained at 100 nm film thickness and the fastest 90% response time of 27.2 sec is obtained at 50 nm film thickness for the operating temperature of $400^{\circ}C$ to the $NO_2$ gas.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.106.1-106.1
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• 2011

The Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells have been achieved until almost 20% efficiency by NREL. These solar cells include chemically deposited CdS as buffer layer between CIGS absorber layer and ZnO window layer. Although CIGS solar cells with CdS buffer layer show excellent performance, the short wavelength response of CIGS solar cell is limited by narrow CdS band gap of about 2.42 eV. Taking into consideration the environmental aspect, the toxic Cd element should be replaced by a different material. Among Cd-free candidate materials, the CIGS thin film solar cells with ZnS buffer layer seem to be promising with 17.2%(module by showa shell K.K.), 18.6%(small area by NREL). However, ZnS/CIGS solar cells still show lower performance than CdS/CIGS solar cells. There are several reported reasons to reduce the efficiency of ZnS/CIGS solar cells. Nakada reported ZnS thin film had many defects such as stacking faults, pin-holes, so that crytallinity of ZnS thin film is poor, compared to CdS thin film. Additionally, it was known that the hetero-interface between ZnS and CIGS layer made unfavorable band alignment. The unfavorable band alignment hinders electron transport at the heteo-interface. In this study, we focused on growing defect-free ZnS thin film and for favorable band alignment of ZnS/CIGS, bandgap of ZnS and CIGS, valece band structure of ZnS/CIGS were modified. Finally, we verified the photovoltaic properties of ZnS/CIGS solar cells.