• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.68 no.3
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• pp.146-150
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• 2024

Precise molecular configuration elucidation of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) through advanced spectroscopic techniques is pivotal for enhancing P3HT-based photovoltaic device efficiencies since its high charge-carrier mobility is directly correlated to its well-ordered structure. In this study, we examine Raman depolarization ratios of annealed and non-annealed P3HT films to elucidate their intermolecular π-π configurations. Our findings suggest that the backbone of the annealed film possesses stronger π-π conjugation overlaps than that of the non-annealed film owing to the greater depolarization ratio of the annealed film. In addition, the depolarization ratios are also supported by theoretical calculations, where parallel-stacked thiophene structures display a higher depolarization ratio compared with that of twisted-stacked structures, as calculated by the Møller-Plesset perturbation theory. This study highlights the utility of polarized Raman spectroscopy as a versatile tool for assessing the degree of molecular order in highly conjugated polymer films.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.973-979
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• 2001

Tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited using r.f. magnetron reactive sputtering and the electrical properties, such as the resistivity, carrier concentration and mobility, were investigated as a function of the sample position under a given magnetron sputtering condition. The nonhomogeneity of the electrical properties with the sample position was observed under a given magnetron sputtering condition. The resistivity of ITO thin film on the substrate which corresponded to the center of the target had a minimum value, 2∼4$\times$10$\^$-4/$\Omega$$.$cm, and it increased symmetrically when the substrate deviated from the center. The density measurement result also showed that ITO thin film deposited at the center has a maximum density of 7.0g/cm$^3$, which was a relative density of about 97%, and the density decreased symmetrically as the substrate deviated from the center. The nonhomogeneity of electrical properties with the deposition position could be explained with the incidence angle of the source beam alpha, which is related with an atomic self-shadowing effect. It was confirmed experimentally that the density in film affect both the carrier mobility and the conductivity. In the case where the density of ITO thin film is 7.0g/cm$^3$, the magnitude of the mean free path was identical with that of the grain size(the diameter of column). However, in the other cases, the mean free path was smaller than the grain size. These results showed that the scattering of the free electrons at the grain boundary is the major factor for the electrical conduction in ITO thin films having a high density, and there exists other scattering sources such as vacancies, holes, or pores in ITO thin films having a low density.ing a low density.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.238-242
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• 2009

This study investigated the effects of organic loading rates on simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal in an innovative fixed-film aerobic bioreactor. The fixed-film bioreactor (FFB) was composed of a two-compartment aeration tank, in which a synthetic filamentous carrier was submerged as biofilm support media, and a settling tank which polyvinylidene media (Saran) was used as settling aid for suspended solids. Three different organic loading rates, ranging from 0.92-2.02 kg chemical oxygen demand/$m^3$/day were applied by varying hydraulic retention time (HRT). The total soluble organic carbon removal efficiencies were in the range of 90-97%. The removal efficiency of ammonia was found to be in the range of 70-84%. Total nitrogen removal efficiency was found to be in the range of 40-45%, which indicates that denitrification reactions occurred simultaneously in the attached biofilm on the fibrous media in the aeration tank. The settling performance of suspended solids was significantly improved due to the presence of Saran media in the settling compartment, even for a short HRT. The fixed-film aerobic bioreactor used in this study demonstrated efficient treatment efficiency even at higher organic loading rates and at short HRTs.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.270-273
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• 2007

In this report, Indium-free and Indium-reduced thin film materials for solar absorber were studied in order to search alternative materials for thin film solar cell. The films of $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ and $Cu_2ZnSnSe_2$ were deposited using mixed binary chalcogenides powders. From the film bulk analysis result, it is observed that Cu concentration is a function of substrate temperature as well as CuSe mole ratio in the target. Under optimized conditions, $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ and $Cu_2ZnSnSe_2$ thin films grow with strong (112), (220/204) and (312/116) reflections. Films are found to exhibit a high absorption coefficient of $10^4$ $cm^{-1}$. $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ film shows a 1.5 eV band gap. On the other side, an increasing of optical band gap from 1.0 eV to 1.25 eV ($CuInSnSe_2$) is found to be proportional with an increasing of Zn concentration. All films have a p-type semiconductor characteristic with a carrier concentration in the order of $10^{14}$ $cm^{-3}$, a mobility about $10^1$ $cm^{2{\cdot}-1.}S^{-1}$ and a resistivity at the range of $10^2-10^6$ ${\Omega}{\cdot}m$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.464.1-464.1
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• 2014

Among numerous material candidates, Cu(InxGa1-x)(SySe2-y) (CIGS) thin films have emerged as promising material candidates for thin film solar cell applications due to the high energy conversion efficiency and relatively low fabrication cost. The CIGS thin film solar cells consist of several materials, including Mo back contacts, ZnO-based window layers, and CdS buffer layers. All these materials have different crystal structures and contain quite distinct chemical elements, and hence the device characterization requires careful analyses. Most of all, identification of the major trap states resulting in the carrier recombination processes is a key step toward realization of high efficiency CIGS solar cells. We have carried out electrical investigations of CIGS thin film solar cells to specify the major trap states and their roles in photovoltaic performance. In particular, we have used the temperature-dependent transport characterizations and admittance spectroscopy. In this presentation, we will introduce some exemplary studies of DC and AC electrical characteristics of the CIGS solar cells.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.6 no.7
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• pp.678-683
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• 1996

In the fabrication processes of thin film thermoelectrics, a subsequent annealing treatment is inevitable to reduce the defects and residual stresses introduced during the film growth, and to make the uniform carrier concentration of the film. However, the diffusion-induced atomic redistribution and the broadening of p/n junction region are expected to affect the thermoelectric properties of thin film modules. The present study intends to investigate the diffusion at the p/n junctions of thermoelectric thin films and to relate it to the property changes. The film junctions of p-type(Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3)and n-type(Bi2Te2.4Se0.6)were prepared by the flash evaporation method. Aluminum thin layer was employed as a diffusion barrier between p-and n-type films of the junction. This was found to be an effective barrier by showing a negligible diffusion into both type films. After annealing treatment, the thermoelectric properties of p/n couples with aluminum barrier layer were accordingly retained their properties without any deterioration.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.67 no.6
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• pp.799-803
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• 2018

We demonstrated memory thin-film transistors (MTFTs) with organic ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) and an amorphous oxide semiconducting indium gallium zinc oxide channel on the elastomeric substrate. The dielectric constant for the P(VDF-TrFE) thin film prepared on the elastomeric substrate was calculated to be 10 at a high frequency of 1 MHz. The voltage-dependent capacitance variations showed typical butterfly-shaped hysteresis behaviors owing to the polarization reversal in the film. The carrier mobility and memory on/off ratio of the MTFTs showed $15cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$ and $10^6$, respectively. This result indicates that the P(VDF-TrFE) film prepared on the elastomeric substrate exhibits ferroelectric natures. The fabricated MTFTs exhibited sufficiently encouraging device characteristics even on the elastomeric substrate to realize mechanically stretchable nonvolatile memory devices.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.111-115
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• 2015

To improve the efficiency of the Si solar cell, high minority carrier life time is required. Therefore, the passivation technology is important to eliminate point defects on the silicon surface, causing the loss of minority carrier recombination. PECVD or post-annealing of thermally-grown $SiO_2$ is commonly used to form the passivation layer, but a high-temperature process and low thermal stability is a critical factor of low minority carrier lifetime. In this study, atomic layer deposition was used to grow the $Al_2O_3$ passivation layer at low temperature process. $Al_2O_3$ was selected as a passivation layer which has a low surface recombination velocity because of the fixed charge density. For the high charge density, an improved minority carrier lifetime, and a low surface recombination, nitrogen was doped in the $Al_2O_3$ thin film and the improvement of passivation was studied.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.55.1-55.1
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• 2010

Cost efficient and large area deposition of superior quality $Al_2O_3$ doped zinc oxide (AZO) films is instrumental in many of its applications including solar cell fabrication due to its numerous advantages over ITO films. In this study, AZO films were prepared by a highly efficient rotating cylindrical dc magnetron sputtering system using AZO target, which has a target material utilization above 80%, on glass substrates in argon ambient. A detailed analysis on the electrical, optical and structural characteristics of AZO thin films was carried out for solar cell application. The properties of films were found to critically depend on deposition parameters such as sputtering power, substrate temperature, working pressure, and thickness of the films. A low resistivity of ${\sim}5.5{\times}10-4{\Omega}-cm$ was obtained for films deposited at 2kW, keeping the pressure and substrate temperature constant at 3 mtorr and $230^{\circ}C$ respectively, mainly due to an increase in carrier mobility and large grain size which would reduce the grain boundary scattering. The increase in carrier mobility with power can be attributed to the columnar growth of AZO film with (002) preferred orientation as revealed by XRD analysis. The AZO films showed a high transparency of>87% in the visible wavelength region irrespective of deposition conditions. Our results offers a cost-efficient AZO film deposition method which can fabricate films with significant low resistivity and high transmittance that can find application in thin-film solar cells.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.666-672
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• 2014

We have investigated the gate insulator effects on the electrical performance of p-type tin monoxide (SnO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). Various SnO TFTs are fabricated with different gate insulators of a thermal $SiO_2$, a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) $SiO_x$, a $150^{\circ}C$-deposited PEVCD $SiO_x$, and a $300^{\circ}C$-deposited PECVD $SiO_x$. Among the devices, the one with the $150^{\circ}C$-deposited PEVCD $SiO_x$ exhibits the best electrical performance including a high field-effect mobility ($=4.86cm^2/Vs$), a small subthreshold swing (=0.7 V/decade), and a turn-on voltage around 0 (V). Based on the X-ray diffraction data and the localized-trap-states model, the reduced carrier concentration and the increased carrier mobility due to the small grain size of the SnO thin-film are considered as possible mechanisms, resulting in its high electrical performance.