• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.567-577
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• 2019

Aluminum nitride (AlN) has versatile and intriguing properties, such as wide direct bandgap, high thermal conductivity, good thermal and chemical stability, and various functionalities. Due to these properties, AlN thin films have been applied in various fields. However, AlN thin films are usually deposited by high temperature processes like chemical vapor deposition. To further enlarge the application of AlN films, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been studied as a method of AlN thin film deposition at low temperature. In this mini review paper, we summarize the results of recent studies on AlN film grown by thermal and plasma enhanced ALD in terms of processing temperature, precursor type, reactant gas, and plasma source. Thermal ALD can grow AlN thin films at a wafer temperature of $150{\sim}550^{\circ}C$ with alkyl/amine or chloride precursors. Due to the low reactivity with $NH_3$ reactant gas, relatively high growth temperature and narrow window are reported. On the other hand, PEALD has an advantage of low temperature process, while crystallinity and defect level in the film are dependent on the plasma source. Lastly, we also introduce examples of application of ALD-grown AlN films in electronics.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.150-155
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• 2021

Zinc oxide (ZnO) based transparent conducting oxides (TCO) thin films, are used in many applications such as solar cells, flat panel displays, and LEDs due to their wide bandgap nature and excellent electrical properties. In the present work, fluorine and aluminium-doped ZnO targets are prepared and thin films are deposited on soda-lime glass substrate using a RF magnetron sputtering unit. The aluminium concentration is fixed at 2 wt%, and the fluorine concentration is adjusted between 0 to 2.0 wt% with five different concentrations, namely, Al2ZnO98(AZO), F0.5AZO97.5(FAZO1), F1AZO97(FAZO2), F1.5AZO96.5(FAZO3), and F2AZO96(FAZO4). Thin films are deposited with an RF power of 40 W and working pressure of 5 m Torr at 270 ℃. The morphological analysis performed for the thin film reveals that surface roughness decreases in FAZO1 and FAZO2 samples when doped with a small amount of fluorine. Further, optical and electrical properties measured for FAZO1 sample show average optical transmissions of over 89 % in the visible region and 82.5 % in the infrared region, followed by low resistivity and sheet resistance of 3.59 × 10-4 Ωcm and 5.52 Ω/sq, respectively. In future, these thin films with excellent optoelectronic properties can be used for thin-film solar cell and other optoelectronics applications.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2021

SnO2 has the wide bandgap which allows it to be used as the photocatalyst. There are many studies to enhance the photocatalytic properties of SnO2. In this study, 3-dimensional SnO2 aerogel was synthesized using epoxide-initiated sol-gel method for the optimal specific surface area. Also, graphene oxide (GO) was added before the gelation process of the aerogel to maximize the specific surface area. Addition of 0.5 wt% of GO would possibly enhance the specific surface area by 1.7 times compared with the bare tin oxide aerogel. Furthermore, enhanced specific surface area could degrade 67.3% of initial Rhodamine B in 120 minutes. To compare with the bare SnO2 aerogel, 0.5 wt% GO addition to SnO2 could double the reaction rate of the photocatalytic degradation.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.53-64
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• 2021

As the 5G service market is expected to grow rapidly, the development of high-power, high-efficiency power amplifiers for the 5G communication infrastructure is indispensable. Gallium nitride (GaN) is attracting great interest as a key device in power devices and integrated circuits due to its wide bandgap, high carrier concentration, high electron mobility, and high-power saturation characteristics. In this study, we investigate the technology trends of Ka-band GaN radio frequency (RF) power devices and integrated circuits for operation in the millimeter-wave band of recent 5G mobile communication services. We review the characteristics of GaN RF high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) devices to implement power amplifiers operating at frequencies around 28 GHz and compare the technology of foreign companies with the device characteristics currently developed by the Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI). In addition, the characteristics of Ka-band GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers manufactured using various GaN HEMT device technologies are reviewed by comparing characteristics such as frequency band, output power, and output power density of integrated circuits. In addition, by comparing the performance of the power amplifier developed by ETRI, the current status and future direction of domestic GaN power devices and integrated circuit technology will be discussed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.344-351
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• 2023

Cesium lead iodide (CsPbI₃) with a bandgap of ~1.7 eV is an attractive material for use as a wide-gap perovskite in tandem perovskite solar cells due to its single halide component, which is capable of inhibiting halide segregation. However, phase transition into a photo inactive δ-CsPbI₃ at room temperature significantly hinders performance and stability. Thus, maintaining the photo-active phase is a key challenge because it determines the reliability of the tandem device. The dimethylammonium (DMA)-facilitated CsPbI₃, widely used to fabricate CsPbI₃, exhibits different phase transition behaviors than pure CsPbI₃. Here, we experimentally investigated the phase behavior of DMA-facilitated CsPbI₃ when exposed to external factors, such as heat and moisture. In DMA-facilitated CsPbI₃ films, the phase transition involving degradation was observed to begin at a temperature of 150 ℃ and a relative humidity of 65 %, which is presumed to be related to the sublimation of DMA. Forming a closed system to inhibit the sublimation of DMA significantly improved the phase transition under the same conditions. These results indicate that management of DMA is a crucial factor in maintaining the photo-active phase and implies that when employing DMA designs are necessary to ensure phase stability in DMA-facilitated CsPbI₃ devices.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.60-63
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• 2023

The AlGaN/GaN heterostructure has high electron mobility due to the two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG) layer, and has the characteristic of high breakdown voltage at high temperature due to its wide bandgap, making it a promising candidate for high-power and high-frequency electronic devices. Despite these advantages, there are factors that affect the reliability of various device properties such as current collapse. To address this issue, this paper used metal-organic chemical vapor deposition to continuously deposit AlGaN/GaN heterostructure and SiN passivation layer. Material and electrical properties of GaN HEMTs with/without SiN cap layer were analyzed, and based on the results, low-frequency noise characteristics of GaN HEMTs were measured to analyze the conduction mechanism model and the cause of defects within the channel.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.50-55
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• 2022

SiC is a power semiconductor with a wide bandgap, high insulation failure strength, and thermal conductivity, but many deep-level defects. Defects that appear in SiC can be divided into two categories, defects that appear in physical properties and interface traps that appear at interfaces. In this paper, Z_1/2 trap concentration 0 ~ 9×10¹⁴ cm^-3 reported at room temperature (300 K) is applied to SiC substrates and epi layer to investigate turn-on characteristics. As the trap concentration increased, the current density, Shockley-read-Hall (SRH), and Auger recombination decreased, and Ron increased by about 550% from 0.004 to 0.022 mohm.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 2024

Silicon carbide (SiC) has emerged as a promising material for next-generation power semiconductor materials, due to its high thermal conductivity and high critical electric field (~3 MV/cm) with a wide bandgap of 3.3 eV. This permits SiC devices to operate at lower on-resistance and higher breakdown voltage. However, to improve device performance, advanced research is still needed to reduce point defects in the SiC epitaxial layer. This work investigated the electrical characteristics and defect properties using DLTS analysis. Four deep level defects generated by the implantation process and during epitaxial layer growth were detected. Trap parameters such as energy level, capture-cross section, trap density were obtained from an Arrhenius plot. To investigate the impact of defects on the device, a 2D TCAD simulation was conducted using the same device structure, and the extracted defect parameters were added to confirm electrical characteristics. The degradation of device performance such as an increase in on-resistance by adding trap parameters was confirmed.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.275-281
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• 2017

AlN is a promising material for wide band gap and high-frequency electronics device due to its wide bandgap and high thermal conductivity. AlN has advantages as materials for power semiconductors with a larger breakdown field, and a smaller specific on-resistance at high voltage. The growth of a p-type AlN epilayer with high conductivity is important for a manufacturing an AlN-based applications. In this paper, Mg doped AlN epilayers were grown by a mixed-source HVPE. Al and Mg mixture were used as source materials for the growth of Mg-doped AlN epilayers. Mg concentration in the AlN was controlled by modulating the quantity of Mg source in the mixed-source. Surface morphology and crystalline structure of AlN epilayers with different Mg concentrations were characterized by FE-SEM and HR-XRD. XPS spectra of the Mg-doped AlN epilayers demonstrated that Mg was doped successfully into the AlN epilayer by the mixed-source HVPE.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.101-108
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• 1993

$TiO_{2}$/Se : Te heterojunction for color sensor has been fabricated by RF reactive sputtering and thermal evaporation methods onto glass substrate. The optimum deposition condition of $TiO_{2}$ films was such that RF power was 120 W, substrate temperature was $100^{\circ}C$, oxygen concentration was 50%, working pressure was 50 mTorr for the $TiO_{2}$ film thickness of $1000{\AA}$. In this case, the optical transmittance of $TiO_{2}$ film at 550 nm-wavelength was 85%, resistivity was $2{\times}10^9{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, refractive index was 2.3, and optical bandgap was 3.58 eV. The composition ratio of 0 to Ti by AES analysis was 1.7. When $TiO_{2}$ films were annealed at $400^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. in $O_{2}$ ambient, the optical transmittance of $TiO_{2}$ films at the wavelength range of $300{\sim}580$ nm was improved from 0 to 25%. When Se : Te films were annealed at $190^{\circ}C$ for 1 min., photosensitivity under illumination of 1000 lux was 0.75. The optical bandgap of Se : Te films was 1.7 eV. The structures of Se : Te films were the hexagonal with (100) and (110) orientation. The spectral response of a-Se was improved by the addition of Te, especially in the long wavelength region. The $TiO_{2}$/Se : Te heterojunction showed wide spectral response, and more improved one than that of a-Si film in the blue light region.