• 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.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.213-221
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• 2011

Using poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as a polymer host, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as a plasticizer, potassium iodide and iodine as sources of $I^-/I_3^-$, polymer electrolyte membranes were prepared. Based on the polymer electrolytes, solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC)s were fabricated. The content of PEG in the electrolyte was controlled to be 95%. The mole number of KI per 1 mole of EO ([KI]/[EO] ratio) in the electrolyte was changed to be 0.022, 0.044, 0.066 and 0.088. The electrolyte membrane showed wax phase in ambient temperature. The ionic conductivity increased with increasing KI content to reach the maximum value at which [KI]/[EO] ratio is 0.066. After the maximum value, the ionic conductivity decreased with increasing KI content. In the case of DSSC, the Voc decreased continuously with increasing KI content in the polymeric electrolyte membrane. The $J_{SC}$ increased with increasing KI content to show maximum value at which [KI]/[EO] ratio is 0.044. In the higher KI content region, $J_{SC}$ value decreased with increasing KI content.

• 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%.

• Proceedings of the Optical Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.28-29
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• 2005

본 논문에서는 MEH-PPV와 DFPP의 폴리머 물질을 이용하여 photovoltaic device가 제작되었고, 그림 1에 두 물질의 분자 구조가 보여진다. Photovoltaic cell의 전기-광학적 특성은 활성층의 폴리머 물질에 의해 결정된다. 이러한 특성을 알아보기 위해서 홉수 스펙트럼이 측정되었다. DFPP는 chloroform, chlorobenzen, THF, acetone에 잘 녹았으며, 본 논문에서는 chloroform이 용매로 사용되었다. 제작 공정은 다음과 같다. 인듐 주석 산화물 (ITO)이 증착된 유리기판은 photolithography 공정을 거친 후, 왕수(HNO$_{3}$ + HCL)로 식각됨으로서 전극의 패턴이 제작되었다. 그리고 ITO 전극 패턴 된 유리기판 위에 PEDOT (CH8000, Baytron)이 코팅된 후 Ar이 주입되는 Convection Oven을 이용하여 120$^{\circ}$C에서 2시간 동안 열처리되어 수분이 제거되었다. 활성층에는 MEH-PPV와 DFPP가 9:1과 2.33:1로 혼합된 폴리머가 사용되었고, 이것은 0.3 %w.t.가 되도록 chloroform에 넣어 5시간 동안 스핀바를 돌려서 용해되었다. 이 용액은 ITO 전극 패턴이 형성된 글라스 위에 3000 rpm으로 45 초간 스핀코팅 되었다. 이 때 얻어진 유기물 박막층은 80$^{\circ}$C의 Ar이 주입되는 convection oven에서 3시간 동안 경화되었다. 경화된 단층 유기물 박막층 위에 Li-Al이 1000 ${\AA}$의 두께로 증착되어 전극이 형성되었고, 이후 질소가 채워진 globe box에서 소자는 encapsulation되어 산소와 수분에 대한 영향으로부터 차단되었다. 상기의 공정으로 제작된 소자의 박막구조는 그림 2에서 보여진다. 그림 3은 MEH-PPV와 DFPP를 혼합했을 때의 흡수 스펙트럼이다. 최대 흡수 파장은 511 nm였다. 그리고 photovoltaic cell의 V-I 특성 결과가 그림 4와 같이 측정되었다. 측정에서는 300${\sim}$700 nm의 파장대를 갖는 태양광 모사계가 사용되었고, 셀의 면적은 10 mm$^{2}$였다. 그림 5의 I-V 특성으로부터 MEH-PPV와 DFPP가 9:1 로 혼합했을 때보다 2.33:1 로 혼합했을 때, photovoltaic device의 효율이 향상됨을 확인할 수 있다. 빛이 75 mW/cm$^{2}$ 의 세기로 조사될 때 9:1과 2.33:1로 혼합된 소자의 open circuit voltage (V$_{oc}$)는 비슷하지만, short circuit current Density (J$_{sc}$)는 각각 -1.39 ${\mu}$A/cm$^{2}$ 와 -3.72${\mu}$A/cm$^{2}$ 로 약 2.7배 정도 증가되었음을 볼 수 있다. 이러한 결과를 통해 electron acceptor인 DFPP의 비율이 높아질수록 photovoltaic cell의 conversion efficiency가 더 크게 됨을 확인할 수 있다. 그러므로 효율이 최대가 되는 두 폴리머의 혼합 비율이 최적화되는 조건을 찾는 것은 매우 중요한 연구가 될 것이다.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.505-512
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• 2014

A new donor-accepter-donor-accepter-donor (D-A-D-A-D) type 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-thiophene-based acceptor unit 2,5-di(4-(5-bromo-4-octylthiophen-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-7-yl)thiophene ($DTBTTBr_2$) was synthesized. Copolymerized with fluorene and indeno[1,2-b]fluorene electron-rich moieties, two alternating narrow band gap (NBG) copolymers PF-DTBTT and PIF-DTBTT were prepared. And two copolymers exhibit broad and strong absorption in the range of 300-700 nm with optical band gap of about 1.75 eV. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels vary between -5.43 and -5.52 eV and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels range from -3.64 to -3.77 eV. Potential applications of the copolymers as electron donor material and $PC_{71}BM$ ([6,6]-phenyl-$C_{71}$ butyric acid methyl ester) as electron acceptors were investigated for photovoltaic solar cells (PSCs). Photovoltaic performances based on the blend of PF-DTBTT/$PC_{71}BM$ (w:w; 1:2) and PIF-DTBTT/$PC_{71}BM$ (w:w; 1:2) with devices configuration as ITO/PEDOT: PSS/blend/Ca/Al, show an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 2.34% and 2.56% with the open circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$) of 0.87 V and 0.90 V, short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$) of $6.02mA/cm^2$ and $6.12mA/cm^2$ under an AM1.5 simulator ($100mA/cm^2$). The photocurrent responses exhibit the onset wavelength extending up to 720 nm. These results indicate that the resulted narrow band gap copolymers are viable electron donor materials for polymer solar cells.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2013

In this study, the influence on the surface passivation properties of crystalline silicon according to silicon wafer thickness, and the correlation with a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cell performances were investigated. The wafers passivated by p(n)-doped a-Si:H layers show poor passivation properties because of the doping elements, such as boron(B) and phosphorous(P), which result in a low minority carrier lifetime (MCLT). A decrease in open circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$) was observed when the wafer thickness was thinned from $170{\mu}m$ to $50{\mu}m$. On the other hand, wafers incorporating intrinsic (i) a-Si:H as a passivation layer showed high quality passivation of a-Si:H/c-Si. The implied $V_{oc}$ of the ITO/p a-Si:H/i a-Si:H/n c-Si wafer/i a-Si:H/n a-Si:H/ITO stacked layers was 0.715 V for $50{\mu}m$ c-Si substrate, and 0.704 V for $170{\mu}m$ c-Si. The $V_{oc}$ in the heterojunction solar cells increased with decreases in the substrate thickness. The high quality passivation property on the c-Si led to an increasing of $V_{oc}$ in the thinner wafer. Short circuit current decreased as the substrate became thinner because of the low optical absorption for long wavelength light. In this paper, we show that high quality passivation of c-Si plays a role in heterojunction solar cells and is important in the development of thinner wafer technology.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.191-197
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• 2009

We have investigated the effect of strong p-type organic semiconductor $F_4$-TCNQ-doped CuPc hole transport layer on the performance of p-i-n type bulk heterojunction photovoltaic device with ITO/PEDOT:PSS/CuPc: $F_4$-TCNQ(5 wt%)/CuPc:C60(blending ratio l:l)/C60/BCP/LiF/Al, architecture fabricated via vacuum deposition process, and have evaluated the J-V characteristics, short-circuit current ($J_{sc}$), open-circuit voltage($V_{oc}$), fill factor(FF), and power conversion efficiency(${\eta}_e$) of the device. By doping $F_4$-TCNQ into CuPc hole transport layer, increased absorption intensity in absorption spectra, uniform dispersion of organic molecules in the layer, surface uniformity of the layer, and enhanced injection currents improved the current photovoltaic device with power conversion efficiency(${\eta}_e$) of 0.16%, which is still low value compared to silicone solar cell indicating that many efforts should be made to improve organic photovoltaic devices.

• Solar Energy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 1993

[ $CdS_{0.46}Se_{0.54}$ ] single crystal was grown by a sublimation method. The crystal structure and the temperature dependence of carrier density and mobility of $CdS_{0.46}Se_{0.54}$ single crystal were studied. Heterojunction solar cells of $n-CdS_{0.46}Se_{0.54}/p-Cu_{2-X}S_{0.46}Se_{0.54}$ were fabricated by the substitution reaction. The spectral response, the J-V characteristics and the conversion efficiency of the $n-CdS_{0.46}Se_{0.54}/p-Cu_{2-X}S_{0.46}Se_{0.54}$ heterojunction solar cells were studied. The open-circuit voltage, short-circuit density, fill factor and conversion efficiency of $n-CdS_{0.46}Se_{0.54}/p-Cu_{2-X}S_{0.46}Se_{0.54}$ heterojunction solar cells under $80mW/cm^2$ illumination were found to be 0.48V, $21mA/cm^2$, 0.75 and 9.5%, respectively.

• Solar Energy
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.74-83
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• 1991

In this study, the (p)ZnTe/(n)Si solar cell and (n)CdS-(p)ZnTe/(n)Si poly-junction thin film are fabricated by vaccum deposition method at the substrate temperature of $200{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ and then their electrical properties are investigated and compared each other. The test results from the (p)ZnTe/(n)Si solar cell the (n)CdS-(p)ZnTe/(n)Si poly-junction thin fiim under the irradiation of solar energy $100[mW/cm^2]$ are as follows; Short circuit current$[mA/cm^2]$ (p)ZnTe/(n)Si:28 (n)CdS-(p)ZnTe/(n)Si:6.5 Open circuit voltage[mV] (p)ZnTe/(n)Si:450 (n)CdS-(p)ZnTe/(n)Si:250 Fill factor (p)ZnTe/(n)Si:0.65 (n)CdS-(p)ZnTe/(n)Si:0.27 Efficiency[%] (p)ZnTe/(n)Si:8.19 (n)CdS-(p)ZnTe/(n)Si:2.3 The thin film characteristics can be improved by annealing. But the (p)ZnTe/(n)Si solar cell are deteriorated at temperatures above $470^{\circ}C$ for annealing time longer than 15[min] and the (n)CdS-(p)ZnTe/(n)Si thin film are deteriorated at temperature about $580^{\circ}C$ for longer than 15[min]. It is found that the sheet resistance decreases with the increase of annealing temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.219-224
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• 2012

We study for long-term performance of amorphous silicon solar cells under light exposure. The performance is predicted with a kinetic model in which the carrier lifetimes are determined by the defect density. In particular, the kinetic model is described by the stretched-exponential relaxation of defects to reach equilibrium. In this report, we simulate the light-induced degradation of the amorphous silicon solar cells with the kinetic model and AMPS-1D computer program. And data measured for outdoor performances of various solar cells are compared with the simulated results. This study focuses on examining the light-induced degradation for the following amorphous silicon pin solar cells: thickness${\approx}$300 nm, built-in potential${\approx}$1.05 V, defect density (at t=0)${\approx}5{\times}10^{15}cm^{-3}$, short-circuit current density (at t=0)${\approx}15.8mA/cm^2$, fill factor (at t=0)${\approx}0.691$, open-circuit voltage (at t=0)${\approx}0.865V$, conversion efficiency (at t=0)${\approx}9.50%$.