• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.430-430
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• 2012

The surface recombination velocity of the silicon solar cell could be reduced by passivation with insulating layers such as $SiO_2$, SiNx, $Al_2O_3$, a-Si. Especially, the aluminium oxide has advantages over other materials at rear surface, because negative fixed charge via Al vacancy has an additional back surface field effect (BSF). It can increase the lifetime of the hole carrier in p-type silicon. The aluminium oxide thin film layer is usually deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique, which is expensive and has low deposition rate. In this study, ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering technique was adopted to overcome drawbacks of ALD technique. In addition, it has been known that by annealing aluminium oxide layer in nitrogen atmosphere, the negative fixed charge effect could be further improved. By using ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering technique, oxygen to nitrogen ratio could be precisely controlled. Fabricated aluminium oxy-nitride (AlON) layer on silicon wafers were analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to investigate the atomic concentration ratio and chemical states. The electrical properties of Al/($Al_2O_3$ or $SiO_2/Al_2O_3$)/Si (MIS) devices were characterized by the C-V measurement technique using HP 4284A. The detailed characteristics of the AlON passivation layer will be shown and discussed.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2003

Both MgO and $Sc_2O_3$ are shown to provide low interface state densities (in the $10^{11}{\;}eV^{-1}{\;}cm{\;}^{-2}$ range)on n-and p-GaN, making them useful for gate dielectrics for metal-oxide semiconductor(MOS) devices and also as surface passivation layers to mitigate current collapse in GaN/AlGaN high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs).Clear evidence of inversion has been demonstrated in gate-controlled MOS p-GaN diodes using both types of oxide. Charge pumping measurements on diodes undergoing a high temperature implant activation anneal show a total surface state density of $~3{\;}{\times}{\;}10^{12}{\;}cm^{-2}$. On HEMT structures, both oxides provide effective passivation of surface states and these devices show improved output power. The MgO/GaN structures are also found to be quite radiation-resistant, making them attractive for satellite and terrestrial communication systems requiring a high tolerance to high energy(40MeV) protons.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.339-344
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• 2017

Highly corrosion resistance performance of CrAlSiN coatings were obtained by applying ultrathin $Al_2O_3$ thin films using atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. CrAlSiN coatings were prepared on Cr adhesion layer/SUS304 substrates by a hybrid coating system of arc ion plating and high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) method. And, ultrathin $Al_2O_3$ passivation layer was deposited on the CrAlSiN/Cr adhesion layer/SUS304 sample to protect CrAlSiN coatings by encapsulating the whole surface defects of coating using ALD. Here, the high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) analysis revealed that the ALD $Al_2O_3$ thin films uniformly covered the inner and outer surface of CrAlSiN coatings. Also, the potentiodynamic and potentiostatic polarization test revealed that the corrosion protection properties of CrAlSiN coatings/Cr/SUS304 sample was greatly improved by ALD encapsulation with 50 nm-thick $Al_2O_3$ thin films, which implies that ALD-$Al_2O_3$ passivation layer can be used as an effect barrier layer of corrosion.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.51-57
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• 2019

To protect the Cu surface from oxidation in air, a two-step plasma process using Ar and $N_2$ gases was studied to form a copper nitride passivation as an anti-oxidant layer. The Ar plasma removes contaminants on the Cu surface and it activates the surface to facilitate the reaction of copper and nitrogen atoms in the next $N_2$ plasma process. This study investigated the effect of Ar plasma on the formation of copper nitride passivation on Cu surface during the two-step plasma process through the full factorial design of experiment (DOE) method. According to XPS analysis, when using low RF power and pressure in the Ar plasma process, the peak area of copper oxides decreased while the peak area of copper nitrides increased. The main effect of copper nitride formation in Ar plasma process was RF power, and there was little interaction between plasma process parameters.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.82.1-82.1
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• 2010

수소화된 비정질 실리콘 박막을 이용한 반도체는 현재 태양전지, 트랜지스터, 매트릭스 배열 및 이미지 센서 등의 분야에서 이용되고 있다. 자세히 이야기 하면, 여러 가지의 광전효과 물질에 대한 특성이 있으며, 가시광선영역에 대하여 > $10^5cm^{-1}$이상의 매우 높은 광흡수계수와 낮은 온도를 갖는 증착공정 등이 있다. 박막의 밴드갭은 약 1.6~1.8eV로서 태양전지의 흡수층과 passivation층으로 적절하다. 여러 가지 종류의 태양전지 중 비정질 실리콘 박막/결정질 실리콘 기판의 구조로 이루어진 이종접합 태양전지는 저온에서 공정이 가능한 대표적인 것으로서 HIT(Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer)구조로 산요사에 의해 제안된 것이다. 이것은 결정질 실리콘 기판과 도핑된 비정질 실리콘 박막사이에 얇은 진성층 비정질실리콘 박막을 삽입함으로서, 캐리어 전송을 좋게하여 실리콘 기판 표면의 passivation효과를 증대시키는 결과를 가지고 온다. 실험실 규모에서는 약 20%이상의 효율을 보이고 있으며, 모듈에서는 19.5%의 높은 효율을 보이고 있어 실리콘 기판을 이용한 고효율 태양전지로서 각광을 받고 있다. 이러한 이종접합 태양전지의 대부분은 단결정 실리콘을 사용하고 있는데, 점차적으로 다결정 실리콘 기판으로 추세가 바뀌고 있어, 여기에 맞는 표면 passivation 공정 및 분석이 필요하다. 본 발표에서는 다결정 실리콘 기판위에 진성층 비정질 실리콘 박막을 유도결합 플라즈마 화학기상 증착법(ICP-CVD)을 이용하여 제조하여 passivation 효과를 분석한다. 일반적으로 ICP는 CCP(coupled charged plasma)에 비해 약 100배 이상 높은 플라즈마 밀도를 가지고 있으며, 이온 충돌같은 표면으로 작용하는 것들이 기존 방식에 비해서 작다라는 장점이 있다. 먼저, 유리기판을 사용하여 ICP-CVD 챔버내에 이송 한 후 플라즈마 파워, 온도 및 가스비(SiH4/H2)에 따른 진성층 비정질 실리콘 박막을 증착 한 후, 밴드갭, 전도도 및 결합구조 등에 대한 결과를 분석한 후, 최적의 값을 가지고 250um의 두께를 갖는 다결정 실리콘을 기판위에 증착을 한다. 두께(1~20nm)에 따라 표면의 passivation이 되는 정도를 QSSPCD(Quasi steady state Photoconductive Decay)법에 의하여 소수캐리어의 이동거리, 재결합율 및 수명 등에 대한 측정 및 분석을 통하여 다결정 실리콘 기판의 passivation effect를 확인한다. 제시된 데이터를 바탕으로 향후 다결정 HIT셀 제조를 통해 태양전지 효율에 대한 특성을 비교하고자 한다.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.176-186
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• 2017

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been studied widely owing to their outstanding properties since monolayer graphene was isolated in 2004. Especially, among 2D materials, phosphorene, a single atomic layer of black phosphorus (BP), has been highlighted for its electrical properties. This material can serve as a substitute for graphene, which has been revealed as a "semi-metal", in next-generation semiconductors. However, few-layer BP is prone to degradation under ambient conditions owing to its reactivity with oxygen and water, which results in the condensation of water droplets on the surface of the BP flakes. This causes charge transfer from the phosphorus atom to oxygen, resulting in the formation of phosphoric acid (oxide) and degrades the various properties of BP. Therefore, it is necessary to find passivation methods to prevent BP flakes from being degraded under ambient conditions. This review article deals with recent studies on passivation methods for BP and their performance against oxygen and water, effects on the electrical properties of BP, and the extent to how they protect BP.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.07b
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• pp.964-967
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• 2002

The effectiveness of silicon nitride SiNx surface passivation is investigated and quantified. This study adopted single-layer antireflection (SLAR) coating of SiNx for efficiency improvement of solar cell. The silicon nitride films were deposited by means of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) in planar coil reactor. The process gases used were pure ammonia and a mixture of silane and helium. The thickness and the refractive index on the films were measured by ellipsometry and chemical bonds were determined by using an FT-IR equipment. This films obtained were analyzed in term of hydrogen content, refractive index for gas flow ratio $(NH_3/SiH_4)$, and efficiency of solar cell. The polycrystalline silicon solar cells passivated by silicon nitride shows efficiency above 12.8%.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.115-120
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• 2007

Reliability between passivated and unpassivated process with the base-exposed InGaP/GaAs HBTs was studied. A passivation of HBT was attempted by $SiO_2$ thin film deposition at $300^{\circ}C$ by means of PECVD. Base-exposed InGaP/GaAs HBTs before and after passivation were investigated and compared in terms of DC and RF performance. Over a total period of 30 days, passivated HBTs show only 2% degradation of DC current gain for the high current density of $40KA/cm^2$. The measured thermal resistance of $2{\times}30{\mu}m^2$ single emitter InGaP/GaAs HBT passivated with PECVD $SiO_2$ devices can be extracted and was founded to be 1430 K/W. The estimated MTTF was $2{\times}10^7hr\;at\;T_j=125^{\circ}C$ with an activation energy $(E_a)$ of 1.37 eV.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4693-4697
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• 2022

Parylene coating was adopted on CdZnTe (CZT) detector as a mechanical protection layer after wet passivation with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and ammonium fluoride (NH₄F). Wet chemical passivant lose their effectiveness when exposed to the ambient conditions for a long time. Parylene coating could protect the effectiveness of passivation, by mechanically blocking the exposure to the ambient conditions. Stability of CZT detector was tested with the measurement of leakage current density and response to radio-isotopes. When the enough thickness of parylene (>100 ㎛) is adopted, parylene is a promising protection layer thereby ensuring the performance and long-term stability of CZT detectors.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2016

Silicon nitride ($SiN_x:H$) films made by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) are generally used as antireflection layers and passivation layers on solar cells. In this study, we investigated the properties of silicon nitride ($SiN_x:H$) films made by PECVD. The passivation properties of $SiN_x:H$ are focused on by making the antireflection properties identical. To make equivalent optical properties of silicon nitride films, the refractive index and thickness of the films are fixed at 2.0 and 90 nm, respectively. This limit makes it easier to evaluate silicon nitride film as a passivation layer in realistic application situations. Next, the effects of the mixture ratio of the process gases with silane ($SiH_4$) and ammonia ($NH_3$) on the passivation qualities of silicon nitride film are evaluated. The absorption coefficient of each film was evaluated by spectrometric ellipsometry, the minority carrier lifetimes were evaluated by quasi-steady-state photo-conductance (QSSPC) measurement. The optical properties were obtained using a UV-visible spectrophotometer. The interface properties were determined by capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurement and the film components were identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy detection (RBS) - elastic recoil detection (ERD). In hydrogen passivation, gas ratios of 1:1 and 1:3 show the best surface passivation property among the samples.