• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.211-211
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• 2012

The electrical loss of the photo-generated carriers is dominated by the recombination at the metal- semiconductor interface. In order to enhance the performance of the solar cells, many studies have been performed on the surface treatment with passivation layer like SiN, SiO2, Al2O3, and a-Si:H. In this work, Al2O3 thin films were investigated to reduce recombination at surface. The Al2O3 thin films have two advantages, such as good passivation properties and back surface field (BSF) effect at rear surface. It is usually deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. However, ALD process is a very expensive process and it has rather low deposition rate. In this study, the ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering method was used to deposit Al2O3 thin films. For optimization of the properties of the Al2O3 thin film, various fabrication conditions were controlled, such as ICP RF power, substrate bias voltage and deposition temperature, and argon to oxygen ratio. Chemical states and atomic concentration ratio were analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In order to investigate the electrical properties, Al/(Al2O3 or SiO2,/Al2O3)/Si (MIS) devices were fabricated and characterized using the C-V measurement technique (HP 4284A). The detailed characteristics of the Al2O3 passivation thin films manufactured by ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering technique will be shown and discussed.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.184-193
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• 2023

This study investigates the effects of a carbon fiber layer formed on the surface of an etched aluminum current collector on the electrochemical properties of the activated carbon electrodes for an electric double layer capacitor. A particle size analyzer, field-emission SEM, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm analyzer are employed to analyze the structure of the carbon fiber layer. The electric and electrochemical properties of the activated carbon electrodes using a carbon fiber layer are evaluated using an electrode resistance meter and a charge-discharge tester, respectively. To uniformly coat the surface with carbon fiber, we applied a planetary mill process, adjusted the particle size, and prepared the carbon paste by dispersing in a binder. Subsequently, the carbon paste was coated on the surface of the etched aluminum current collector to form the carbon under layer, after which an activated carbon slurry was coated to form the electrodes. Based on the results, the interface resistance of the EDLC cell made of the current collector with the carbon fiber layer was reduced compared to the cell using the pristine current collector. The interfacial resistance decreased from 0.0143 Ω·cm² to a maximum of 0.0077 Ω·cm². And degradation reactions of the activated carbon electrodes are suppressed in the 3.3 V floating test. We infer that it is because the improved electric network of the carbon fiber layer coated on the current collector surface enhanced the electron collection and interfacial diffusion while protecting the surface of the cathode etched aluminum; thereby suppressing the formation of Al-F compounds.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.89-98
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• 2015

PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance properties of chip seals and fog seals with polymer-modified emulsions. METHODS : The performance of chip seals and fog seals was evaluated on the basis of common issues in surface treatments. Granite aggregate and four types of asphalt emulsions (one of the unmodified and three of the modified emulsions) were used considering the usage in field. A Vialit test was performed to determine the aggregate retention, and the MMLS3 (Third Scale Model Mobile Load Simulator) test was conducted to determine the aggregate retention, bleeding, and rutting. In addition, the fog seal specimens were tested by the BPT (British Pendulum Test) to evaluate skid resistance. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS : Overall, the polymer-modified emulsions (PMEs) showed better aggregate retention and bleeding resistance for both chip seals and fog seals. When comparing the performance of the PMEs, the difference was not considerable. In addition, PMEs present significantly better rutting resistance than unmodified emulsions. For skid resistance, if the recommended mix design is applied, the specimens do not cause issues with skid resistance. Although all of the fog seal specimens were over the criteria for skid resistance, the specimen fabricated by the high emulsion application rate (EAR) of the unmodified emulsion was nearly equivalent to the skid value criteria. Therefore, the use of an unmodified emulsion with a high EAR should be carefully applied in the field.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.62-70
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• 1984

N+NPP+ HLEBSF (high low emitter back surface field) solar cells which have N+N high low junction in the emitter as well as N+PP+ BSF cells were designed and fabricated by using <111> oriented P type Si wafers with the resistivity of 10$\Omega$/$\textrm{cm}^2$ and the thickness of 13-15 mil. Physical parameters (impurity concentration, thickness) at each region of N+PP+ and N+NPP+ cell were made equally through same masks and simultaneous process except N region of HLEBSF cell to investigate the high low emitter junction effect for efficiency improvement. Under the light intensity of 100 mW/$\textrm{cm}^2$, total area (active area) conversion efficiency were typically 10.94% (12.16%) for N+PP+ BSF cells and 12.07% (13.41%) for N+N PP+ cells. Efficiency improvement of N+NPP+ cell which has high low emitter Junction structure is resulted from the suppression of emitter recombination current and the increasement of open circuit voltage (Voc) and short circuit current (Ish) by removing heavy doping effects occurring in N+ emitter region.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.475-489
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• 2010

In order to verify the enhancement of ozone and carbon monoxide (CO) during springtime in East Asia, we investigated weather conditions and data from remote sensors, air quality models, and air quality monitors. These include the geopotential height archived from the final (FNL) meteorological field, the potential vorticity and the wind velocity simulated by the Meteorological Mesoscale Model 5 (MM5), the back trajectory estimated by the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, the total column amount of ozone and the aerosol index retrieved from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), the total column density of CO retrieved from the Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT), and the concentration of ozone and CO simulated by the Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers (MOZART). In particular, the total column density of CO, which mightoriginate from the combustion of fossil fuels and the burning of biomass in China, increased in East Asia during spring 2000. In addition, the enhancement of total column amounts of ozone and CO appeared to be associated with both the upper cut-off low near 500 hPa and the frontogenesis of a surface cyclone during a weak Asian dust event. At the same time, high concentrations of ozone and CO on the Earth's surface were shown at the Seoul air quality monitoring site, located at the surface frontogenesis in Korea. It was clear that the ozone was invaded by the downward stretched vortex anomalies, which included the ozone-rich airflow, during movement and development of the cut-off low, and then there was the catalytic photochemical reaction of ozone precursors on the Earth's surface during the day. In addition, air pollutants such as CO and aerosol were tracked along both the cyclone vortex and the strong westerly as shown at the back trajectory in Seoul and Busan, respectively. Consequently, the maxima of ozone and CO between the two areas showed up differently because of the time lag between those gases, including their catalytic photochemical reactions together with the invasion from the upper troposphere, as well as the path of their transport from China during the weak Asian dust event.

• Solar Energy
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.3-11
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• 1997

Because grain boundaries in polycrystalline silicon act as potential barriers and recombination centers for the photo-generated charge carriers, these defects degrade conversion effiency of solar cell. To reduce these effects of grain boundaries, we investigated various influencing factors such as thermal treatment, various grid pattern, selective wet etching for grain boundaries, buried contact metallization along grain boundaries, grid on metallic thin film. Pretreatment above $900^{\circ}C$ in $N_2$ atmosphere, gettering by $POCl_3$ and Al treatment for back surface field contributed to obtain a high quality poly-Si. To prevent carrier losses at the grain boundaries, we carried out surface treatment using Schimmel etchant. This etchant delineated grain boundaries of $10{\mu}m$ depth as well as surface texturing effect. A metal AI diffusion into grain boundaries on rear side reduced back surface recombination effects at grain boundaries. A combination of fine grid with finger spacing of 0.4mm and buried electrode along grain boundaries improved short circuit current density of solar cell. A ultra-thin Chromium layer of 20nm with transmittance of 80% reduced series resistance. This paper focused on the grain boundary effect for terrestrial applications of solar cells with low cost, large area, and high efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.430-430
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• 2012

The surface recombination velocity of the silicon solar cell could be reduced by passivation with insulating layers such as $SiO_2$, SiNx, $Al_2O_3$, a-Si. Especially, the aluminium oxide has advantages over other materials at rear surface, because negative fixed charge via Al vacancy has an additional back surface field effect (BSF). It can increase the lifetime of the hole carrier in p-type silicon. The aluminium oxide thin film layer is usually deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique, which is expensive and has low deposition rate. In this study, ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering technique was adopted to overcome drawbacks of ALD technique. In addition, it has been known that by annealing aluminium oxide layer in nitrogen atmosphere, the negative fixed charge effect could be further improved. By using ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering technique, oxygen to nitrogen ratio could be precisely controlled. Fabricated aluminium oxy-nitride (AlON) layer on silicon wafers were analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to investigate the atomic concentration ratio and chemical states. The electrical properties of Al/($Al_2O_3$ or $SiO_2/Al_2O_3$)/Si (MIS) devices were characterized by the C-V measurement technique using HP 4284A. The detailed characteristics of the AlON passivation layer will be shown and discussed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.153-165
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• 2019

A case study of monitoring and analysis of surface settlement induced by tunneling of Tabriz metro line 2 (TML2) is presented in this paper. The TML2 single tunnel has been excavated using earth pressure balanced TBM with a cutting-wheel diameter of 9.49 m since 2015. Presented measurements of surface settlements, were collected during the construction of western part of the project (between west depot and S02 station) where the tunnel was being excavated in sand and silt, below the water table and at an average axis depth of about 16 m. Settlement readings were back-analyzed using Gaussian formula, both in longitudinal and transversal directions, in order to estimate volume loss and settlement trough width factor. In addition to settlements, face support and tail grouting pressures were monitored, providing a comprehensive description of the EPB performance. Using the gap model, volume loss prediction was carried out. Also, COB empirical method for determination of the face pressure was employed in order to compare with field monitored data. Likewise, FE simulation was used in various sections employing the code Simulia ABAQUS, to investigate the efficiency of numerical modelling for the estimating of the tunneling induced-surface settlements under such a geotechnical condition. In this regard, the main aspects of a mechanized excavation were simulated. For the studied sections, numerical simulation is not capable of reproducing the high values of in-situ-measured surface settlements, applying Mohr-Coulomb constitutive law for soil. Based on results, for the mentioned case study, the range of estimated volume loss mostly varies from 0.2% to 0.7%, having an average value of 0.45%.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1061-1070
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• 2018

The main purpose of retaining wall methods for deep excavation is to keep the construction site safe from the earth pressure acting on the backfill during the construction period. Currently used retaining wall methods include the common strut method, anchor method, slurry wall method, and raker method. However, these methods have drawbacks such as reduced workspace and intrusion into private property, and thus, efforts are being made to improve them. The most advanced retaining wall method is the prestressed wale system, so far, in which a load corresponding to the earth pressure is applied to the wale by using the tension of a prestressed (PS) strand wire. This system affords advantages such as providing sufficient workspace by lengthening the strut interval and minimizing intrusion into private properties adjacent to the site. However, this system cannot control the tension of the PS strand wire, and thus, it cannot actively cope with changes in the earth pressure due to excavation. This study conducts a preliminary numerical analysis of the field applicability of the controllable prestressed wale system (CPWS) which can adjust the tension of the PS strand wire. For the analysis, back analysis was conducted through two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) numerical analyses based on the field measurement data of the typical strut method, and then, the field applicability of CPWS was examined by comparing the lateral deflection of the wall and adjacent ground surface settlements under the same conditions. In addition, the displacement and settlement of the wall were predicted through numerical analysis while the prestress force of CPWS was varied, and the structural stability was analysed through load tests on model specimens.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.33-40
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• 2008

This paper describes the performance of ground improvement project using prefabricated vertical drains of condition, in which approximately 10m dredged fill overlies original soft foundation layer in the coastal area composed of soft marine clay with high water content and high compressibility. From field monitoring results, excessive ground settlement compared with predicted settlement in design stage developed during the following one year. In order to predict the final consolidation behavior, recalculation of consolidation settlements and back analysis using observed settlements were conducted. Field monitoring results of surface settlements were evaluated, and then corrected because large shear deformation occurred by construction events in the early stages of consolidation. To predict the consolidation behavior, material functions and in-situ conditions from laboratory consolidation test were re-analyzed. Using these results, height of additional embankment is estimated to satisfy residual settlement limit and maintain an adequate ground elevation. The recalculated time-settlement curve has been compared with field monitoring results after additional surcharge was applied. It might be used for verification of recalculated results.