• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.145-149
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• 2016

Characteristic of aluminum-silicon alloy paste which is applied on the rear side of PERC cell was investigated. The paste was made by aluminum-silicon alloy with eutectic composition to avoid the formation of void which is responsible for the degradation of the open-circuit voltage. Also, the glass frit component of the paste was changed to improve the adhesion of aluminum-silicon paste. We observed the formation of void and local back surface field between aluminum electrode and silicon base by SEM. The light IV, quantum efficiency and reflectance of the solar cells were characterized and compared for each paste.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.491-496
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• 2019

In this study, we prepare pure $WO_3$ inverse opal(IO) film with a thickness of approximately $3{\mu}m$ by electrodeposition, and an ultra-thin $TiO_2$ layer having a thickness of 2 nm is deposited on $WO_3$ IO film by atomic layer deposition. Both sets of photoelectrochemical properties are evaluated after developing dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). In addition, morphological, crystalline and optical properties of the developed films are evaluated through field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and UV/visible/infrared spectrophotometry. In particular, pure $WO_3$ IO based DSSCs show low $V_{OC}$, $J_{SC}$ and fill factor of 0.25 V, $0.89mA/cm^2$ and 18.9 %, achieving an efficiency of 0.04 %, whereas the $TiO_2/WO_3$ IO based DSSCs exhibit $V_{OC}$, $J_{SC}$ and fill factor of 0.57 V, $1.18mA/cm^2$ and 50.1 %, revealing an overall conversion efficiency of 0.34 %, probably attributable to the high dye adsorption and suppressed charge recombination reaction.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.252-259
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• 2005

Single crystal $CuGaSe_2$ layers were grown on thoroughly etched semi-insulating CaAs(100) substrate at $450^{\circ}C$ with hot wall epitaxy (HWE) system by evaporating $CuGaSe_2$ source at $610^{\circ}C$. The crystalline structure of the single crystal thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence (PL) and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXD). The carrier density and mobility of single crystal $CuGaSe_2$ thin films measured with Hall effect by Van der Pauw method are $4.87{\times}10^{17}cm^{-3}$ and $129cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ at 293 K, respectively. The temperature dependence of the energy band gap of the $CuGaSe_2$ obtained from the absorption spectra was well described by the Varshni's relation, $E_g(T)=1.7998eV-(8.7489{\times}10^{-4}eV/K)T^2/(T+335K)$. The voltage, current density of maxiumun power, fill factor, and conversion, efficiency of $n-CdS/p-CuGaSe_2$, heterojunction solar cells under $80mW/cm^2$ illumination were found to be 0.41 V, $21.8mA/cm^2$, 0.75 and 11.17%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.518-523
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• 2017

In commercial solar cells, the pattern of the front electrode is critical to effectively assemble the photo generated current. The power loss in solar cells caused by the front electrode was categorized as four types. First, losses due to the metallic resistance of the electrode. Second, losses due to the contact resistance of the electrode and emitter. Third, losses due to the emitter resistance when current flows through the emitter. Fourth, losses due to the shading effect of the front metal electrode, which has a high reflectance. In this paper, optimizing the number of finger on a $4{\times}4$ solar cell is demonstrated with known theory. We compared the short circuit current density and fill factor to evaluate the power loss from the front metal contact calculation result. By experiment, the short circuit current density($J_{sc}$), taken in each pattern as 37.61, 37.53, and $37.38mA/cm^2$ decreased as the number of fingers increased. The fill factor(FF), measured in each pattern as 0.7745, 0.7782 and 0.7843 increased as number of fingers increased. The results suggested that the efficiency(Eff) was measured in each pattern as 17.51, 17.81, and 17.84 %. Throughout this study, the short-circuit current densities($J_{sc}$) and fill factor(FF) varied according to the number of fingers in the front metal pattern. The effects on the efficiency of the two factors were also investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.461-465
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• 2016

n-type silicon shows the better tolerance towards metal impurities with a higher minority carrier lifetime compared to p-type silicon substrate. Due to better lifetime stability as compared to p-type during illumination made the photovoltaic community to switch toward n-type wafers for high efficiency silicon solar cells. We fabricated the front electrode of the n-type solar cell with AgAl paste. The electrodes characteristics of the AgAl paste depend on the contact junction depth that is closely related to the firing temperature. Metal contact depth with p+ emitter, with optimized depth is important as it influence the resistance. In this study, we optimize the firing condition for the effective formation of the metal depth by varying the firing condition. The firing was carried out at temperatures below $670^{\circ}C$ with low contact depth and high contact resistance. It was noted that the contact resistance was reduced with the increase of firing temperature. The contact resistance of $5.99m{\Omega}cm^2$ was shown for the optimum firing temperature of $865^{\circ}C$. Over $900^{\circ}C$, contact junction is bonded to the Si through the emitter, resulting the contact resistance to shunt. we obtained photovoltaic parameter such as fill factor of 76.68%, short-circuit current of $40.2mA/cm^2$, open-circuit voltage of 620 mV and convert efficiency of 19.11%.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.566-572
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• 2020

In the recent years, thin film solar cells (TFSCs) have emerged as a viable replacement for crystalline silicon solar cells and offer a variety of choices, particularly in terms of synthesis processes and substrates (rigid or flexible, metal or insulator). Among the thin-film absorber materials, SnS has great potential for the manufacturing of low-cost TFSCs due to its suitable optical and electrical properties, non-toxic nature, and earth abundancy. However, the efficiency of SnS-based solar cells is found to be in the range of 1 ~ 4 % and remains far below those of CdTe-, CIGS-, and CZTSSe-based TFSCs. Aside from the improvement in the physical properties of absorber layer, enormous efforts have been focused on the development of suitable buffer layer for SnS-based solar cells. Herein, we investigate the device performance of SnS-based TFSCs by introducing double buffer layers, in which CdS is applied as first buffer layer and ZnMgO films is employed as second buffer layer. The effect of the composition ratio (Mg/(Mg+Zn)) of RF sputtered ZnMgO films on the device performance is studied. The structural and optical properties of ZnMgO films with various Mg/(Mg+Zn) ratios are also analyzed systemically. The fabricated SnS-based TFSCs with device structure of SLG/Mo/SnS/CdS/ZnMgO/AZO/Al exhibit a highest cell efficiency of 1.84 % along with open-circuit voltage of 0.302 V, short-circuit current density of 13.55 mA cm^-2, and fill factor of 0.45 with an optimum Mg/(Mg + Zn) ratio of 0.02.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.279.1-279.1
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• 2016

박막 트랜지스터 (thin film transistor, TFT)는 고밀도, 대면적화로 높은 전자의 이동도가 요구되면서, 비정질 실리콘 (a-Si)에서 다결정 실리콘 (poly-Si) TFT 로 연구되었다. 이에 따라 비정질 실리콘에서 결정질 실리콘으로의 상변화에 대한 결정화 연구가 활발히 진행되었다. 또한, 박막 태양전지 분야에서도 유리기판 위에 비정질 층을 증착한 후에 열처리를 통해 상변화하는 고상 결정화 (solid-phase crystallization, SPC) 기술을 적용하여, CSG (thin-film crystalline silicon on glass) 태양전지를 보고하였다. 이러한 비정질 실리콘 층의 결정화 기술을 결정질 실리콘 태양전지 에미터 형성 공정에 적용하고자 한다. 이 때, 플라즈마화학증착 (Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, PECVD) 장비로 증착된 비정질 실리콘 층의 열처리를 통한 결정화 정도가 중요한 요소이다. 따라서, 비정질 실리콘 층의 결정화에 영향을 주는 인자에 대해 연구하였다. 비정질 실리콘 증착 조건(H2 가스 비율, 도펀트 유무), 실리콘 기판의 결정방향, 열처리 온도에 따른 결정화 정도를 엘립소미터(elipsometer), 투과전자현미경 (transmission electron microscope, TEM), 적외선 분광기 (Fourier Transform Infrared, FT-IR) 측정을 통하여 비교 하였다. 이를 기반으로 결정화 온도에 따른 비정질 실리콘의 결정화를 위한 활성화 에너지를 계산하였다. 비정질 실리콘 증착 조건 보다 기판의 결정방향이 결정화 정도에 크게 영향을 미치는 것으로 확인하였다.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2011

An amphiphilic graft copolymer comprising a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) backbone and poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) side chains (PVC-g-PSSA) was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Mesoporous titanium dioxide $(TiO_2)$ films with crystalline anatase phase were synthesized via a sol-gel process by templating PVC-g-PSSA graft copolymer. Titanium isopropoxide (TTIP), a $TiO_2$ precursor was selectively incorporated into the hydrophilic PSSA domains of the graft copolymer and grew to form mesoporous $TiO_2$ films, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The performances of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) were systematically investigated by varying spin coating times and the amounts of P25 nanoparticies. The energy conversion efficiency reached up to 2.7% at 100 mW/$cm^2$ upon using quasi-solid-state polymer electrolyte.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.8.1-8.1
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• 2011

Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) materials have been widely used as an electron collector in DSSC. This is required to have an extremely high porosity and surface area such that the dye can be sufficiently adsorbed and be electronically interconnected, resulting in the generation of a high photocurrent within cells. In particular, their geometrical structures and crystalline phase have been extensively investigated as important issues in improving its photovoltaic efficiency. In this study, we present a new strategy to fabricate a photoelectrode having a periodic structured $TiO_2$ film templated from 1D or 3D polystyrene (PS) microspheres array. Monodisperse PS spheres of various radiuses were used for colloidal array on FTO glasses and two types of photoelectrode structures with different $TiO_2$ materials were investigated respectively. One is the igloo-shaped electrode prepared by $TiO_2$ deposition by RF-sputtering onto 2D microsphere-templated substrates. At the interface between the film and substrate, there are voids formed by the decomposition of PS microspheres during the calcination step. These holes might be expected to play the predominant roles as scattering spherical voids to promote a light harvesting effect, a spacious structure for electrolytes with higher viscosity and effective paths for electron transfer. Additionally the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ phase prepared by the RF-sputtering method was previously reported to improve the electron drift mobility within $TiO_2$ electrodes. This yields solar cells with a cell efficiency of 2.45% or more at AM 1.5 illumination, which is a very remarkable result, considering its $TiO_2$ electrode thickness (<2 ${\mu}m$). This study can be expanded to obtain higher cell efficiency by higher dye loading through the increase of surface area or multi-layered stacking. The other is the inverse opal photonic crystal electrode prepared by titania particles infusion within 3D colloidal arrays. To obtain the enlargement of ordered area and high quality of crystallinity, the synthesis of titania particles coated with a organic thin layer were applied instead of sol-gel process using the $TiO_2$ precursors. They were dispersed so well in most solvents without aggregates and infused successfully within colloidal array structures. This ordered mesoporous structure provides the large surface area leading to the enough adsorption of dye molecules and have an light harvesting effect due to the photonic band gap properties (back-and-forth reflection effects within structures). A major advantage of this colloidal array template method is that the pore size and its distribution within $TiO_2$ photoelectrodes are determined by those of latex beads, which can be controlled easily. These materials may have promising potentials for future applications of membrane, sensor and so on as well as solar cells.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.497-501
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• 2011

The CdS thin film used as a window layer in the CdTe thin film solar cell transports photo-generated electrons to the front contact and forms a p-n junction with the CdTe layer. This is why the electrical, optical, and surface properties of the CdS thin film influence the efficiency of the CdTe thin film solar cell. When CdTe thin film solar cells are fabricated, a heat treatment is done to improve the qualities of the CdS thin films. Of the many types of heat treatments, the $CdCl_2$ heat treatment is most widely used because the grain size in CdS thin films increases and interdiffusion between the CdS and the CdTe layer is prevented by the heat treatment. To investigate the changes in the electrical, optical, and surface properties and the crystallinity of the CdS thin films due to heat treatment, CdS thin films were deposited on FTO/glass substrates by the rf magnetron sputtering technique, and then a $CdCl_2$ heat treatment was carried out. After the $CdCl_2$ heat treatment, the clustershaped grains in the CdS thin film increased in size and their boundaries became faint. XRD results show that the crystallinity improved and the crystalline size increased from 15 to 42 nm. The resistivity of the CdS single layer decreased from 3.87 to 0.26 ${\Omega}cm$, and the transmittance in the visible region increased from 64% to 74%.