• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.417-423
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• 2011

A series of new quinoxaline-based thiophene copolymers (PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T) was synthesized via Yamamoto and Stille coupling reactions. The $M_ws$ of PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T were found to be 20,000, 12,000, and 29,000, with polydispersity indices of 2.0, 1.2, and 1.1, respectively. The UV-visible absorption spectra of the polymers showed two distinct absorption peaks in the ranges 350 - 460 nm and 560 - 600 nm, which arose from the ${\pi}-{\pi}^*$ transition of oligothiophene units and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) between a quinoxaline acceptor and thiophene donor. The HOMO levels of the polymer ranged from -5.37 to -5.17 eV and the LUMO levels ranged from -3.67 to -3.45 eV. The electrochemical bandgaps of PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T were 1.70, 1.71, and 1.72 eV, respectively, thus yielding low bandgap behavior. PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T had open circuit voltages of 0.58, 0.42, and 0.47 V, and short circuit current densities of 2.9, 5.29 and 9.05 mA/$cm^2$, respectively, when $PC_{71}BM$ was used as an acceptor. For the solar cells with PQx2T-PQx6T:$PC_{71}BM$ (1:3) blends, an increase in performance was observed in going from PQx2T to PQx6T. The power conversion efficiencies of PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T devices were found to be 0.69%, 0.73%, and 1.80% under AM 1.5 G (100 mW/$cm^2$) illumination.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.17-24
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• 2021

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) can be fabricated through solution process economically with variable bandgap that is controlled by composition of precursor solution. Tandem cells in which PSCs combined with silicon solar cells have potential to reach high power conversion efficiency over 30%, however, lack of long-term stability of PSCs is an obstacle to commercialization. Degradation of PSCs is mainly attributed to the mass transport of halide and metal electrode materials. In order to ensure the long-term stability, the mass transport should be inhibited. In this study, we confirmed degradation behaviors due to the mass transport in PSCs and designed buffer layers with LiF and/or SnO₂ to improve the long-term stability by suppressing the mass transport. Under high-temperature storage test at 85℃, PSCs without the buffer layers were degraded by forming PbI₂, AgI, and the delta phase of the perovskite material, while PSCs with the buffer layers showed improved stability with keeping the original phase of the perovskite. When the LiF buffer and encapsulation were applied to PSCs, superior long-term stability on 85℃-85% RH dump heat test was achieved; efficiency drop was not observed after 200 h. It was also confirmed that 90.6% of the initial efficiency was maintained after 200 hours of maximum power tracking test under AM 1.5G-1SUN illumination. Here, we have demonstrated that the buffer layer is essential to achieve long-term stability of PSCs.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.654-659
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• 2010

We have investigated the effect of rubrene-doped CuPc hole transport layer on the performance of p-i-n type bulk hetero-junction photovoltaic device with a structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/CuPc: rubrene/CuPc:C60(blending ratio 1:1)/C60/BCP/Al and have evaluated the current density-voltage(J-V) characteristics, short-circuit current($J_{sc}$), open-circuit voltage($V_{oc}$), fill factor(FF), and energy conversion efficiency(${\eta}_e$) of the device. By rubrene doping into CuPc hole transport layer, absorption intensity in absorption spectra decreased. However, the performance of p-i-n organic type bulk hetero-junction photovoltaic device fabricated with crystalline rubrene-doped CuPc was improved since rubrene shows higher bandgap and hole mobility compared to CuPc. Increased injection currents have effected on the performance improvement of the present device with energy conversion efficiency(${\eta}_e$) of 1.41%, which is still lower value compared to silicone solar cell and many efforts should be made to improve organic photovoltaic devices.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2021

In this study, (GaN)_1-x(ZnO)_x solid solution nanoparticles with a high zinc content are prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and subsequent nitridation. The structure and morphology of the samples are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The characterization results show a phase transition from the Zn and Ga-based oxides (ZnO or ZnGa₂O₄) to a (GaN)_1-x(ZnO)_x solid solution under an NH3 atmosphere. The effect of the precursor solution concentration and nitridation temperature on the final products are systematically investigated to obtain (GaN)_1-x(ZnO)_x nanoparticles with a high Zn concentration. It is confirmed that the powder synthesized from the solution in which the ratio of Zn and Ga was set to 0.8:0.2, as the initial precursor composition was composed of about 0.8-mole fraction of Zn, similar to the initially set one, through nitriding treatment at 700℃. Besides, the synthesized nanoparticles exhibited the typical XRD pattern of (GaN)_1-x(ZnO)_x, and a strong absorption of visible light with a bandgap energy of approximately 2.78 eV, confirming their potential use as a hydrogen production photocatalyst.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.61.1-61.1
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• 2010

$CuIn_{1-x}-GaxSe_2$ based materials with direct bandgap and high absorption coefficient are promising materials for high efficiency hetero-junction solar cells. CIGS champion cell efficiency(19.9%, AM1.5G) is very close to polycrystalline silicon(20.3%, AM1.5G). A reduction in the price of CIGS module is required for competing with well matured silicon technology. Price reduction can be achieved by decreasing the manufacturing cost and by increasing module efficiency. Manufacturing cost is mostly dominated by capital cost. Device properties of CIGS are strongly dependent on doping, defect chemistry and structure which in turn are dependent on growth conditions. The complex chemistry of CIGS is not fully understood to optimize and scale processes. Control of the absorber grain size, structural quality, texture, composition profile in the growth direction is important to achieving reliable device performance. In the present work, CIS nanoparticles were prepared by a simple wet chemical synthesis method and their structural and optical properties were investigated. XRD patterns of as-grown nanopowders indicate CIS(Cubic), $CuSe_2$(orthorhombic) and excess selenium. Further, as-grown and annealed nanopowders were characterized by HRTEM and ICP-OES. Grain growth of the nanopowders was followed as a function of temperature using HT-XRD with overpressure of selenium. It was found that significant grain growth occurred between $300-400^{\circ}C$ accompanied by formation of ${\beta}-Cu_{2-x}Se$ at high temperature($500^{\circ}C$) consistent with Cu-Se phase diagram. The result suggests that grain growth follows VLS mechanism which would be very useful for low temperature, high quality and economic processing of CIGS based solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.67-67
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• 2009

Due to the scaling down of the dielectrics thickness, the leakage currents arising from electron tunneling through the dielectrics has become the major technical barrier. Thus, much works has focused on the development of high k dielectrics in both cases of memories and CMOS fields. Among the high-k materials, $Al_2O_3$ considered as good candidate has been attracting much attentions, which own some good properties as high dielectric constant k value (~9), a high bandgap (~2eV) and elevated crystallization temperature, etc. Due to the easy control of ion energy and flux, low ownership and simple structure of the inductively coupled plasma (ICP), we chose it for high-density plasma in our study. And the $BCl_3$ was included in the gas due to the effective extraction of oxygen in the form of BClxOy compound. In this study, the etch characteristic of ALD deposited $Al_2O_3$ thin film was investigated in $BCl_3/N_2$ plasma. The experiment were performed by comparing etch rates and selectivity of $Al_2O_3$ over $SiO_2$ as functions of the input plasma parameters such as gas mixing ratio, DC-bias voltage and RF power and process pressure. The maximum etch rate was obtained under 15 mTorr process perssure, 700 W RF power, $BCl_3$(6 sccm)/$N_2$(14 sccm) plasma, and the highest etch selectivity was 1.9. We used the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to investigate the chemical reactions on the etched surface. The Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) was used for elemental analysis of etched surface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.194.1-194.1
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• 2015

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) with layered structure, has recently been considered as promising candidate for next-generation flexible electronic and optoelectronic devices because of its superior electrical, optical, and mechanical properties.[1] Scalability of thickness down to a monolayer and van der Waals expitaxial structure without surface dangling bonds (consequently, native oxides) make TMD-based thin film transistors (TFTs) that are immune to the short channel effect (SCE) and provide very high field effect mobility (${\sim}200cm^2/V-sec$ that is comparable to the universal mobility of Si), respectively.[2] In addition, an excellent photo-detector with a wide spectral range from ultraviolet (UV) to close infrared (IR) is achievable with using $WSe_2$, since its energy bandgap varies between 1.2 eV (bulk) and 1.8 eV (monolayer), depending on layer thickness.[3] However, one of the critical issues that hinders the successful integration of $WSe_2$ electronic and optoelectronic devices is the lack of a reliable and controllable doping method. Such a component is essential for inducing a shift in the Fermi level, which subsequently enables wide modulations of its electrical and optical properties. In this work, we demonstrate n-doping method for $WSe_2$ on poly-4-vinylphenol and poly (melamine-co-formaldehyde) (PVP/PMF) insulating layer and adjust the doping level of $WSe_2$ by controlling concentration of PMF in the PVP/PMF layer. We investigated the doping of $WSe_2$ by PVP/PMF layer in terms of electronic and optoelectronic devices using Raman spectroscopy, electrical measurements, and optical measurements.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.433-433
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• 2009

ZnO-based materials have been extensively studied for optoelectronic applications due to their superiors physical properties such as wide direct bandgap (~3.37 eV), large exciton binding energy (~60 meV), high transparency in the visible region, and low cost. Especially, one-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanostructures have attracted considerable attention owing to quantum confinement effect and high crystalline quality. Additionally, various nanostructures of ZnO such as nanorods, nanowires, nanoflower, and nanotubes have stimulated the interests because of their semiconducting. and piezoelectric properties. Among them, vertically aligned ZnO nanorods can bring the improved performance in various promising photoelectric fields including piezo-nanogenerators, UV lasers, dye sensitized solar cells, and photo-catalysis. In this work, we studied the effect of the annealing temperature of homo seed layers on the formation of ZnO nanorods grown by hydrothermal method. The effect of annealing temperature of seed layer on the length and orientation of the nanorods was investigated scanning electron microscopy investigation. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurement were performed to understand the effect of annealing temperatures of seed layers on the formation of nanorods. Moreover, the optical properties of the seed layers and the nanorods were studied by room temperature photoluminescence.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.105-109
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• 2007

In this paper, we fabricated TCO (transparent conductive oxide) electrode on flexible substrate in order to study effects of electrical and optical properties according to Al-doped ZnO(AZO) film thickness. The thickness of film was from 100 nm to 500 nm and was controlled by changing deposition time. We used High Resolution X-ray Diffractometer (HR-XRD) to analyze crystal structure and UV-visible spectrophotometer to measure property of optical transmittance, respectively. The surface images are obtained by using ESEM (Environment Scanning Electron Microscopy). In this experiment, all the AZO films deposited on flexible substrate show high transmittance over 90% and especially in the films with 400 nm and 500 nm thickness, the resistivity ($4.5{\times}10^{-3}\;{\Omega}-cm$) and optical bandgap energy (3.61 eV) are superior to the other films.

• 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.