• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.493-493
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• 2014

The manufacturing cost of thin-film photovoltics can potentially be lowered by minimizing the amount of a semiconductor material used to fabricate devices. Thin-film solar cells are typically only a few micrometers thick, whereas crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafer solar cells are $180{\sim}300\mu}m$ thick. As such, thin-film layers do not fully absorb incident light and their energy conversion efficiency is lower compared with that of c-Si wafer solar cells. Therefore, effective light trapping is required to realize commercially viable thin-film cells, particularly for indirect-band-gap semiconductors such as c-Si. An emerging method for light trapping in thin film solar cells is the use of metallic nanostructures that support surface plasmons. Plasmon-enhanced light absorption is shown to increase the cell photocurrent in many types of solar cells, specifically, in c-Si thin-film solar cells and in poly-Si thin film solar cell. By proper engineering of these structures, light can be concentrated and coupled into a thin semiconductor layer to increase light absorption. In many cases, silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NP) are formed either on the front surface or on the rear surface on the cells. In case of poly-Si thin film solar cells, Ag NPs are formed on the rear surface of the cells due to longer wavelengths are not perfectly absorbed in the active layer on the first path. In our cells, shorter wavelengths typically 300~500 nm are also not effectively absorbed. For this reason, a new concept of plasmonic nanostructure which is NPs formed both the front - and the rear - surface is worth testing. In this simulation Al NPs were located onto glass because Al has much lower parasitic absorption than other metal NPs. In case of Ag NP, it features parasitic absorption in the optical frequency range. On the other hand, Al NP, which is non-resonant metal NP, is characterized with a higher density of conduction electrons, resulting in highly negative dielectric permittivity. It makes them more suitable for the forward scattering configuration. In addition to this, Ag NP is located on the rear surface of the cell. Ag NPs showed good performance enhancement when they are located on the rear surface of our cells. In this simulation, Al NPs are located on glass and Ag NP is located on the rear Si surface. The structure for the simulation is shown in figure 1. Figure 2 shows FDTD-simulated absorption graphs of the proposed and reference structures. In the simulation, the front of the cell has Al NPs with 70 nm radius and 12.5% coverage; and the rear of the cell has Ag NPs with 157 nm in radius and 41.5% coverage. Such a structure shows better light absorption in 300~550 nm than that of the reference cell without any NPs and the structure with Ag NP on rear only. Therefore, it can be expected that enhanced light absorption of the structure with Al NP on front at 300~550 nm can contribute to the photocurrent enhancement.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.547-553
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• 2017

This study focused on the difference of photocatalytic performance by the incorporation of Pd into the $TiO_2$ framework and suggested five different catalysts composed of $TiO_2$ and x mol% $Pd-TiO_2$ (x = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0). A typical sol-gel method was used to synthesize catalysts, and the phenol photodegradation performance of each catalysts was evaluated. The physicochemical and optical properties of catalysts were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM/EDS), ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy (UV/Vis), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), and photocurrent measurements. With the addition of Pd ions, the band gap of catalysts was shortened and the charge separation between photogenerated electrons and holes easily also occurred. As a result, the phenol photo-destruction performance over 0.75 mol% $Pd-TiO_2$ catalyst was 3 times higher than that of pure $TiO_2$. This is believed to be due to Pd ions acted as an electron capturing function during photocatalysis.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.517-526
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• 2008

A one-chip DC-DC converter circuit for OLED(Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display module of automotive clusters is newly proposed. OLED panel driving voltage circuit, which is a charge-pump type, has improved characteristics in miniaturization, low cost and EMI(Electro-Magnetic Interference) compared with DC-DC converter of PWM(Pulse Width Modulator) type. By using bulk-potential biasing circuit, charge loss due to parasitic PNP BJT formed in charge pumping, is prevented. In addition, the current dissipation in start-up circuit of band-gap reference voltage generator is reduced by 42% and the layout area of ring oscillator is reduced by using a logic voltage VLP in ring oscillator circuit using VDD supply voltage. The driving current of VDD, OLED driving voltage, is over 40mA, which is required in OLED panels. The test chip is being manufactured using $0.25{\mu}m$ high-voltage process and the layout area is $477{\mu}m{\times}653{\mu}m$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.114-114
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• 2009

ZnO has received considerable attention due to its potential applicability to optoelectronic devices such as ultraviolet-light emitting diodes (UVLEDs) and laser diodes (LDs). As well known, however, polar ZnO with the growth direction along the c-axis has spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations that will result in decreased quantum efficiency. Recently, nonpolar ZnO has been studied to avoid such a polarization effect. In order to realize applications of nonpoar ZnO-based films to LEDs, growth of high quality alloys for quantum well structures is one of the important tasks that should be solved. $Mg_xZn_{1-x}O$ and $Cd_xZn_{1-x}O$ is ones of most promising alloys for this application because the alloys of ZnO with MgO and CdO provide a wide range of band-gap engineering spanning from 2.4 to 7.8 eV. In this study, we investigated on $Mg_xZn_{1-x}O$ films grown with various Mg/Zn flux ratios The films were grown on R-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). we investigated on $Mg_xZn_{1-x}O$ films grown with various Mg/Zn flux ratios. The films were grown on R-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). With the relatively low Mg/Zn flux ratios, a typical striated anisotropic surface morphology which was generally observed from the nonpolar (11-20) ZnO film on r-plane sapphire substrates. By increasing the Mg/Zn flux ratio, however, additional islands were appeared on the surface and finally the surface morphology was entirely changed, which was generally observed for the (0001) polar ZnO films by losing the striated morphology. Investigations by X-ray $\Theta-2{\Theta}$ diffraction revealed that (0002) and (10-11) ZnO planes are appeared in $Mg_xZn_{1-x}O$ films by increasing the Mg/Zn flux ratio. Further detailed investigation by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) will be discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.163-167
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• 2017

Along with the progress of white LED technology, red phosphors have become increasingly important in industry and academia, and a more specific demand has steadily increased in the market. Red phosphors are used in high efficiency and high rendering LED lightings. However, using red phosphors with $Eu^{2+}$ activators caused color rewarming and reduced emission intensity in white LED chips due to strong reabsorption in the green or yellow wavelength range caused by the 4f-5d transition. $Mn^{4+}$ doped phosphors which have no such drawbacks and which can further improve the color rendering index (CRI) are now of great interest. However, $Mn^{4+}$-doped phosphors have a disadvantage in that the emission wavelength is determined depending on the host due to the $^2E_g{\rightarrow}^4A_2$ transition. In this study, the $SrO-BaO-GeO_2$ solid-solution was selected, and $Sr_{1-x}B_axGe_4O_9:Mn^{4+}{_{0.005}}$ ($0{\leq}x{\leq}1$) phosphors were synthesized and characterized. This led to a versatile color tuning in LED technology.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.576-583
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• 2018

Silicon carbide is considered to be a potentially useful material for high-temperature electronic devices, as its band gap is larger than that of silicon and the p-type and/or n-type conduction can be controlled by impurity doping. Particularly, porous n-type SiC ceramics fabricated from ${\beta}-SiC$ powder have been found to show a high thermoelectric conversion efficiency in the temperature region of $800^{\circ}C$ to $1000^{\circ}C$. For the application of SiC thermoelectric semiconductors, their figure of merit is an essential parameter, and high temperature (above $800^{\circ}C$) electrodes constitute an essential element. Generally, ceramics are not wetted by most conventional braze metals,. but alloying them with reactive additives can change their interfacial chemistries and promote both wetting and bonding. If a liquid is to wet a solid surface, the energy of the liquid-solid interface must be less than that of the solid, in which case there will be a driving force for the liquid to spread over the solid surface and to enter the capillary gaps. Consequently, using Ag with a relatively low melting point, the junction of the porous SiC semiconductor-Ag and/or its alloy-SiC and/or alumina substrate was studied. Ag-20Ti-20Cu filler metal showed promise as the high temperature electrode for SiC semiconductors.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.193-203
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• 2005

Highly c-axis oriented nanocrystalline ZnO thin films on silica glass substrates were prepared by spin coating-pyrolysis process with a zinc naphthenate precursor. Only the XRD intensity peak of (002) phase was observed for all samples. With an increase in heat treatment temperature, the peak intensity of (002) phase increases. No significant aggregation of particle was present. From scanning probe microscopy analyses, three-dimensional grain growth, which was thought to be due to inhomogeneous substrate surface and c-axis oriented grain growth of the ZnO phase, was independent on heal-treatment temperature. Highly homogeneous surface of the highly-oriented ZnO film was observed at $800^{\circ}C$. All the films exhibited a high transmittance (above 80%) in visible region except film heat treated at $1000^{\circ}C$, and showed a sharp fundamental absorption edge at about $0.38{\sim}0.40{\mu}m$. The estimated energy band gap for all the films were within the range previously reported for films and single crystal. ZnO films, consisting of densely packed grains with smooth surface morphology were obtained by heat treatment at $600^{\circ}C{\sim}800^{\circ}C$, expected to be ideal for practical application, such as transparent conductive film and optical device.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.349-354
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• 1999

The temperature dependences of the Hall coefficient, carrier mobility, electrical resistivity, Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity, and figure-of-merit of the undoped and $CdI_2$-doped 90% $Bi_2Te_3-10% Bi_2Se_3$, single crystals, grown by the Bridgman method, have been characterized at temperatures ranging from 77K to 600K. The saturated carrier concentration and degenerate temperature of the undoped 90% $Bi_2Te_3-10% Bi_2Se_3$ single crystal are $5.85\times10_{18}cm^{-3}$ and 127K, respectively. The scattering parameter of the 90% $Bi_2Te_3-10% Bi_2Se_3$ single crystal is determined to b -0.23, and the electron mobility to hole mobility ratio ($\mu_e/\mu_h)$ is 1.45. The bandgap energy at 0K of the 90% <$Bi_2Te_3-10% Bi_2Se_3$ single crystal is 0.200 eV. Adding $CdI_2$as a donor dopant, a maximum figure-of-merit of $3.2\times10^{-3}/K$$CdI_2$-doped specimen.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.71-77
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• 2014

In this paper, we investigated the effects of high-energy electron beam irradiation (HEEBI) on the optical transmittance of InGaZnO (IGZO) films grown on transparent Corning glass substrates, with a radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. The IGZO thin films deposited at low temperature were treated with HEEBI in air at room temperature (RT) with an electron beam energy of 0.8 MeV and doses of $1{\times}10^{14}-1{\times}10^{16}electrons/cm^2$. The optical transmittance of the IGZO films was measured using an ultraviolet visible near-infrared spectrophotometer (UVVIS). The detailed estimation process for separating the transmittance of HEEBI-treated IGZO films from the total transmittance of IGZO films on transparent substrates treated with HEEBI is given in this paper. Based on the experimental results, we concluded that HEEBI with an appropriate dose of $10^{14}electrons/cm^2$ causes a maximum increase in the transparency of IGZO thin films. We also concluded that HEEBI treatment with an appropriate dose shifted the optical band gap ($E_g$) toward the lower energy region from 3.38 to 3.31 eV. This $E_g$ shift suggested that HEEBI in air at RT with an appropriate dose acts like a thermal annealing treatment in vacuum at high temperature.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.596-601
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• 2020

Silicon carbide is considered a potentially useful material for high-temperature electronic devices because of its large band gap energy and p-type or n-type conduction that can be controlled by impurity doping. Accordingly, the thermoelectric properties of -SiC powder prepared by refined diatomite were investigated for high value-added applications of natural diatomite. -SiC powder was synthesized by a carbothermal reduction of the SiO₂ in refined diatomite using carbon black. An acid-treatment process was then performed to eliminate the remaining impurities (Fe, Ca, etc.). n-Type semiconductors were fabricated by sintering the pressed powder at 2000℃ for 1~5h in an N2 atmosphere. The electrical conductivity increased with increasing sintering time, which might be due to an increase in carrier concentration and improvement in grain-to-grain connectivity. The carrier compensation effect caused by the remaining acceptor impurities (Al, etc.) in the obtained -SiC had a deleterious influence on the electrical conductivity. The absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient increased with increasing sintering time, which might be due to a decrease in the stacking fault density accompanied by grain or crystallite growth. On the other hand, the power factor, which reflects the thermoelectric conversion efficiency of the present work, was slightly lower than that of the porous SiC semiconductors fabricated by conventional high-purity -SiC powder, it can be stated that the thermoelectric properties could be improved further by precise control of an acid-treatment process.