• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.97-102
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• 2019

Bifacial and semitransparent hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film solar cells in p-i-n configuration were prepared with front and rear transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrodes using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. Fluorine-doped tin oxide and tin-doped indium oxide films were used as front and rear TCO contacts, respectively. Film thickness of intrinsic a-Si:H absorber layers were controlled from 150 nm to 450 nm by changing deposition time. The dependence of performance characteristics of solar cells on the front and rear illumination direction were investigated. For front illumination, gradual increase in the short-circuit current density (J_SC) from 10.59 mA/㎠ to 14.19 mA/㎠ was obtained, whereas slight decreases from 0.83 V to 0.81 V for the open-circuit voltage (V_OC) and from 68.43% to 65.75% for fill factor (FF) were observed. The average optical transmittance in the wavelength region of 380 ~ 780 nm of the solar cells decreased gradually from 22.76% to 15.67% as the absorber thickness was changed from 150 nm to 450 nm. In case of the solar cells under rear illumination condition, the J_SC increased from 10.81 to 12.64 mA/㎠ and the FF deceased from 66.63% to 61.85%, while the V_OC values were maintained at 0.80 V with increasing the absorber thickness from 150 nm to 450 nm. By optimizing the deposition parameters, a high-quality bifacial and semitransparent a-Si:H solar cell with 350 nm-thick i-a-Si:H absorber layer exhibited the conversion efficiencies of 7.69% for front illumination and 6.40% for rear illumination, and average visible optical transmittance of 17.20%.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.210-216
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• 2010

This paper investigates the dependence of a-Si:H/c-Si passivation and heterojunction solar cell performances on various cleaning processes of silicon wafers. It is observed that the passivation quality of a-Si:H thin-films on c-Si wafers depends highly on the initial H-termination properties of the wafer surface. The effective minority carrier lifetime (MCLT) of highly H-terminated wafer is beneficial for obtaining high quality passivation of a-Si:H/c-Si. The wafers passivated by p(n)-doped a-Si:H layers have low MCLT regardless of the initial H-termination quality. On the other hand, the MCLT of wafers incorporating intrinsic (i) a-Si:H as a passivation layer shows sensitive variation with initial cleaning and H-termination schemes. By applying the improved cleaning processes, we can obtain an MCLT of $100{\mu}sec$ after H-termination and above $600{\mu}sec$ after i a-Si:H thin film deposition. By adapting improved cleaning processes and by improving passivation and doped layers, we can fabricate a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells with an active area conversion efficiency of 18.42%, which cells have an open circuit voltage of 0.670V, short circuit current of $37.31\;mA/cm^2$ and fill factor of 0.7374. These cells show more than 20% pseudo efficiency measured by Suns-$V_{oc}$ with an elimination of series resistance.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2009

The propagation characteristics in parallel plate waveguide with dielectric layer having periodic metal strip pattern are investigated. PIN diode ON/OFF states are regarded as the short and open circuit, respectively, in the simulation using CST's MWS. The $11.25^{\circ}$, $22.5^{\circ}$, and $45^{\circ}$ layers which can be used for X-band 4-bit Radant lens phase shifter, are designed. The simulated results for each dielectric layer are $11.28^{\circ}$, $23.2^{\circ}$, and $46.22^{\circ}$, respectively. Also, the equivalent circuit of each layer at the operating band is realized and simulated using Agilent's ADS. The ADS simulated results are compared with the MWS simulated ones. Measured differential phase shills at the center frequency are $9.6^{\circ}$, $22.4^{\circ}$, and $43^{\circ}$, respectively.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.117.2-117.2
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• 2011

Since Gratzel and co-workers developed a new type of solar cell based on the nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted considerable attention on account of their high solar energy-to-conversion efficiencies (11%), their easy manufacturing process with low cost production compared to conventional p-n junction solar cells. The mechanism of DSSC is based on the injection of electrons from the photoexcited dye into the conduction band of nanocrystalline TiO2. The oxidized dye is reduced by the hole injection process from either the hole counter or electrolyte. Thus, the electronic structures, such as HOMO, LUMO, and HOMO-LUMO gap, of dye molecule in DSSC are deeply related to the electron transfer by photoexcitation and redox potential. To date, high performance and good stability of DSSC based on Ru-dyes as a photosensitizer had been widely addressed in the literatures. DSSC with Ru-bipyridyl complexes (N3 and N719), and the black ruthenium dye have achieved power conversion efficiencies up to 11.2% and 10.4%, respectively. However, the Ru-dyes are facing the problem of manufacturing costs and environmental issues. In order to obtain even cheaper photosensitizers for DSSC, metal-free organic photosensitizers are strongly desired. Metal-free organic dyes offer superior molar extinction coefficients, low cost, and a diversity of molecular structures, compared to conventional Ru-dyes. Recently, novel photosensitizers such as coumarin, merocyanine, cyanine, indoline, hemicyanine, triphenylamine, dialkylaniline, bis(dimethylfluorenyl)-aminophenyl, phenothiazine, tetrahydroquinoline, and carbazole based dyes have achieved solar-to-electrical power conversion efficiencies up to 5-9%. On the other hand, organic dye molecules have large ${\pi}$-conjugated planner structures which would bring out strong molecular stacking in their solid-state and poor solubility in their media. It was well known that the molecular stacking of organic dyes could reduce the electron transfer pathway in opto-electronic devices, significantly. In this paper, we have studied on synthesis and characterization of dendritic organic dyes with different number of electron acceptor/anchoring moieties in the end of dendrimer. The photovoltaic performances and the incident photon-to-current (IPCE) of these dyes were measured to evaluate the effects of the dendritic strucuture on the open-circuit voltage and the short-circuit current.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.4013-4018
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• 2014

A 0.45 $cm^2$ DSSC device with a glass/FTO/blocking layer/$TiO_2$/N719(dye)/electrolyte/50 nm-Pt/50 nm-Au/FTO/glass was prepared to examine the stability of the Au/Pt bilayered counter electrode (CE) with electrolyte and the energy conversion efficiency (ECE) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). For comparison, a 100 nm-thick Pt only CE DSSC was also prepared using the same method. The photovoltaic properties, such as the short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$), open circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$), fill factor (FF), and ECE, were checked using a solar simulator and potentiostat with time after assembling the DSSC. The microstructure of the Au/Pt bilayer was examined by optical microscopy after 0~25 minutes. The ECE of the Pt only CE-employed DSSC was 4.60 %, which did not show time dependence. On the other hand, for the Au/Pt CE DSSC, the ECEs after 0, 5 and 15 minutes were 5.28 %, 3.64 % and 2.09 %, respectively. The corrosion areas of the Au/Pt CE determined by optical microscopy after 0, 5, and 25 minutes were 0, 21.92 and 34.06 %. These results confirmed that the ECE and catalytic activity of Au/Pt CE decreased drastically with time. Therefore, a Au/Pt CE-employed DSSC may be superior to the Pt only CE-employed one immediately after integration of the device, but it would degrade drastically with time.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.963-968
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• 2009

Liquid crystal (LC; E7 and/or ML-0249)-embedded, poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-co-HFP)-based, polymer electrolytes were prepared for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The electrolytes contained 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (PMII), tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI), and iodine ($I_2$), which participate in the $I_3^-/I^-$ redox couple. The incorporation of photochemically stable PVdF-co-HFP in the DSSCs created a stable polymer electrolyte that resisted leakage and volatilization. DSSCs, with liquid crystal(LC)-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolytes between the amphiphilic ruthenium dye N719 absorbed to the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ photoanode and the Pt counter electrode, were fabricated. These DSSCs displayed enhanced redox couple reduction and reduced charge recombination in comparison to that fabricated from the conventional PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte. The behavior of the polymer electrolyte was improved by the addition of optimized amounts of plasticizers, such as ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC). The significantly increased short-circuit current density ($J_{sc}$, $14.60\;mA/cm^2$) and open-circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$, 0.68 V) of these DSSCs led to a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.42% and a fill factor of 0.65 under a standard light intensity of $100\;mW/cm^2$ irradiation of AM 1.5 sunlight. A DSSC fabricated by using E7-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte exhibited a maximum incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 50%.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.39-46
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• 2013

In this paper, organic solar cells(OSCs) based on bulk-heterojunction structures were fabricated by spin coating method using polymer P3HT and fullerene PCBM as a photoactive layer. The fabricated OSCs had a simple glass/ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM/Al structures. The photoactive layer of mixed P3HT:PCBM was formed with 1:1 weight ratio. The hole transport layer(HTL) was used conducting polymer PEDOT:PSS concentration with gold nanoparticles. The annealing temperature and concentration of nanoparticles in HTL were verified to improve the OSC characterization. The percentage of gold nanoparticles in HTL were 0.5 wt% and 1.0 wt%, and the surface morphology, electrical properties and absorption intensities were investigated. The devices were 0.5 wt%, and the highest 3.1% of the powder conversion efficiency(PCE), 10.2 $mA/cm^2$ of the maximum short circuit current density($J_{SC}$), 0.535V of the open circuit voltage($V_{OC}$) and 55.8% of the fill factor(F.F) could be obtained when the nanoparticle concertration was 0.5 wt%. The annealing temperature of HTL was $110^{\circ}C$, $130^{\circ}C$, $150^{\circ}C$ in vacuum oven and measured the absorption intensities, surface morphology, crystallinity and electrical properties were investigated. The best property was obtained in HTL annealed at $130^{\circ}C$ for gold nanoparticles of 0.5 wt%, showing that $J_{SC}$, $V_{OC}$, F.F and PCE were about 12.0 $mA/cm^2$, 0.525V, 64.2% and 4.0%, respectively.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.63-67
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• 2010

The organic solar cells with Glass/ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM/Al structure were fabricated using regioregular poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) polymer:(6,6)- phenyl $C_{61}$-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) fullerene polymer as the bulk hetero-junction layer. The P3HT and PCBM as the electron donor and acceptor materials were spin casted on the indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates. The optimum mixing concentration ratio of photovoltaic layer was found to be P3HT:PCBM = 4:4 in wt%, indicating that the short circuit current density ($J_{SC}$), open circuit voltage ($V_{OC}$), fill factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) values were about 4.7 $mA/cm^2$, 0.48 V, 43.1% and 0.97%, respectively. To investigate the effects of the post annealing treatment, as prepared organic solar cells were post annealed at the treatment time range from 5min to 20min at $150^{\circ}C$. $J_{SC}$ and $V_{OC}$ increased with increasing the post annealing time from 5min to 15min, which may be originated from the improvement of the light absorption coefficient of P3HT and improved ohmic contact between photo voltaic layer and Al electrode. The maximum $J_{SC},\;V_{OC}$, FF and PCE values of organic solar cell, which was post annealed for 15min at $150^{\circ}C$, were found to be about 7.8 $mA/cm^2$, 0.55 V, 47% and 2.0%, respectively.

• Composites Research
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.301-306
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• 2019

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is one of the energy harvesting methods in spotlight that can convert mechanical energy into electricity. As TENGs produce high electrical output, previous studies have shown TENGs that can power small electronics independently. However, recent studies have reported limitations of TENG due to air breakdown and field emission. In this study, we developed a triboelectric nanogenerator that utilizes the metal-to-metal surface contact to induce ion-enhanced field emission and electron avalanche for electrons to flow directly between two electrodes. The average peak open-circuit voltage of this TENG was measured as 340 V, and average peak closed-circuit current was measured as 10 mA. The electrical output of this TENG has shown different value depending on the surface charge of surface charge generation layer. The TENG developed in this study have produced RMS power of 0.9 mW, which is 2.4 times higher compared to conventional TENGs. The TENG developed in this study can be utilized in charging batteries and capacitors to power portable electronics and sensors independently.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.396-401
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• 2013

Alternating copolymers, poly[9-(2-octyl-dodecyl)-9H-carbazole-alt-4,7-di-thiophen-2-yl-benzo[1,2,5]thiadiazole] (PCD20TBT) and poly[9,10-bis-(2-octyl-dodecyloxy)-phenanthrene-alt-4,7-di-thiophen-2-yl-benzo[1,2,5]thiadiazole] (PN40TBT), were synthesized by the Suzuki coupling reaction. The copolymers were soluble in common organic solvents such as chloroform, chlorobenzene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, tetrahydrofuran and toluene. The maximum absorption wavelength and the band gap of PCD20TBT were 535 nm and 1.75 eV, respectively. The maximum absorption wavelength and the band gap of PN40TBT were 560 nm and 1.97 eV, respectively. The HOMO and the LUMO energy level of PCD20TBT were -5.11 eV and -3.36 eV, respectively. As for PN40TBT, the HOMO and the LUMO energy level of PCD20TBT were -5.31 eV and -3.34 eV, respectively. The polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on the blend of copolymer and PCBM (1 : 2 by weight ratio) were fabricated. The power conversion efficiencies of PSCs based on PCD20TBT and PN40TBT were 0.52% and 0.60%, respectively. The short circuit current density ($J_{SC}$), fill factor (FF) and open circuit voltage ($V_{OC}$) of the device with PCD20TBT were $-1.97mA/cm^2$, 38.2% and 0.69 V. For PN40TBT, the $J_{SC}$, FF, and $V_{OC}$ were $-1.77mA/cm^2$, 42.9%, and 0.79 V, respectively.