• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.267-272
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• 2007

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were grown on glass substrates by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The effects of oxygen flow ratio, which was used for a sputtering gas, on the AZO thin films were investigated by using the X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and Hall effects measurement. The AZO thin film, deposited with oxygen flow ratio of 0% at the growth temperature of $400^{\circ}C$, showed a strongly c-axis preferred orientation and the lowest resistivity of $6.9{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}cm$. The ZnO (002) diffraction peak indicated a tendency to decrease substantially with increasing the oxygen flow ratio. Furthermore, as the oxygen flow ratio was decreased, the carrier concentration and the hall mobility were increased, but the electrical resistivity was decreased.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.46.2-46.2
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• 2010

For use of superstrate thin-film solar cells, surface texture of the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) has been used to enhance short-circuit currents by increasing light trapping into the cell. ZnO:Al films were deposited by using DC magnetron sputtering on glass substrates with ceramic (ZnO:$Al_2O_3$) target. The as-deposited TCO before texturing exhibited high transparencies (T > 85% for visible light including all reflection losses) and excellent electrical properties ($r=3-6{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}.cm$). The optical and electrical properties of the TCO are influenced by the texturing conditions such as not only etchant dilutions but also etching time. We obtained the haze value of 14-16 resulting in increase in light trapping and short-circuit currents also.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.377-383
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• 2009

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were deposited on sapphire substrate by using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering and were performed in the temperature range of $600-900^{\circ}C$ by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The crystallographic structure and the surface morphology were investigated by using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The crystallinity of the films was improved with increasing the annealing temperature and the average size of crystalline grains was found to be 50 nm. All the thin films showed an average transmittance of 92% in the wavelength range of 400-1100 nm. As the annealing temperature was increased, the bandgap energy was decreased and the violet photoluminescence (PL) signal at 400 nm replaced the ultraviolet PL signal. The electrical properties of the thin films showed a significant dependence on the annealing temperature.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.66 no.8
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• pp.1236-1241
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• 2017

We deposited Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) thin films on glass substrates ($200mm{\times}200mm$) by using in-line magnetron sputtering system. Effects of various deposition parameters such as working pressure, deposition power and substrate temperature on optoelectronic characteristics including surface-texture etching profiles were carefully investigated in this study. We found that relatively low working pressure and high deposition power offered to obtain enhanced conductivity and optical transmittance. Haze properties showed similar trend with the transmittance. Furthermore, surface-texture etching study exhibited good morphologies when the films were deposited at $200-300^{\circ}C$. On the basis of these optimizations, we could find the deposition region that produces highly transparent and conductive properties including efficient light scattering capability.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.129-133
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• 2008

Nitrogen and aluminum codoped ZnO(NAZO) thin films were grown on glass substrates with changing the nitrogen flow ratio by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of the NAZO films were investigated. The surface morphologies and the structural properties of the thin films were analyzed by using the X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The NAZO thin film, deposited at nitrogen flow ratio of 0%, showed a strongly c-axis preferred orientation and the lowest resistivity of $3.2{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$. The intensity of ZnO(002) diffraction peak was decreased gradually with increasing the nitrogen flow ratio. The optical properties of the films were measured by UV-VIS spectrophotometer and the optical transmittances for all the samples were found to be an average 90% in the visible range. Based on the transmittance value, the optical bandgap energy for the NAZO thin film deposited at nitrogen flow ratio of 0% was determined to be 3.46 eV. As for the electrical properties, the carrier concentration and the hall mobility were decreased, but the electrical resistivity was increased as the nitrogen flow ratio was increased.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.108.2-108.2
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• 2012

디스플레이는 유리 기판이나 폴리머 기판에 진공장비를 통한 투명전극(TCO)를 증착시키고, 그 위에 발광체와 유전체를 쌓는 방식으로 공정을 진행한다. 특히 투명전극(TCO)의 경우 진공장비를 이용하여 증착을 진행하는데, 이러한 생산 공정은 고가의 생산 장비 및 재료와 공정의 복잡화에 따른 생산단가 상승등으로 인한 경쟁력 저하 문제가 야기되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 투명전극(TCO)의 주재료인 인듐 주석 산화물(ITO)를 배제하고, 아연 산화물(ZnO)에 알루미늄을 도핑한 투명전극을 습식방식으로 형성하는 기술에 관한 것이다. Sol-gel법을 이용한 용액 제조와 ZnO에 Al을 도핑하여, 후 열처리하여 유리 기판에 $1{\mu}m$두께를 갖는 투명전극 기판을 제작하였다. 각 공정에 있어서 조성변화가 투명전극 층에 미치는 영향에 대해서 조사 하였다. 이와 같은 제조 공정에는 Sol-gel 용액 제조, 박막형성에 이은 후처리로 이루어지는 단순공정이 적용되어, 기존 투명전도 산화막 공정에 대비하여 단순 공정으로 이뤄지며, 진공 설비를 배제함으로써 기존공정 대비 경쟁력을 갖게 된다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.314-315
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• 2012

최근들어 반도체 및 디스플레이 소자의 구조가 복잡해짐에 따라 다층 박막 증착에 대한 중요성이 날로 증가하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 다층 박막을 효율적으로 증착하기 위해 회전이 가능한 육각건을 개발하였고, 이를 이용하여 에너지 절약형 단열 유리 증착 공정을 구현 하였다. 개발된 회전형 육각건은 기존 플래너형 스퍼터링 건의 확장형으로서 최대 6개의 물질을 하나의 챔버에서 증착이 가능하도록 구성되었다. 기존 공정의 경우 서로 다른 물질 증착을 위해서는 각각의 챔버가 필요한 반면, 회전형 육각건을 이용할 경우 하나의 챔버에서 공정을 진행할 수 있어 원가 절감이 가능하다. Fig. 1은 개발된 회전형 육각건의 모식도로서, 스퍼터링 타겟이 장착 가능한 건과, 회전부로 구성되어 있다. 이를 이용하여 투명전극-금속-투명전극-금속-절연체로 구성되어 있는 에너지 절약형 단열 유리용 다층 박막 증착 공정을 개발하였다. 이때 알루미늄이 도핑된 ZnO (AZO)는 RF 마그네트론 스퍼터로, 금속 박막은 DC 스퍼터, $SiO_2$ 및 SiN과 같은 절연 박막은 $O_2$와 $N_2$ 분위기에서 반응성 RF 스퍼터로 각각 증착하였다. Base pressure는 $10^{-7}$ torr였으며, 증착 시 공정 압력은 1~3 mTorr로 조정하였다. 증착 균일도 향상을 위해 20 rpm의 속도로 기판을 회전시켰다. Fig. 2(a)는 ZnO-Ag-ZnO 구조로 이루어진 다층 박막의 단면을 관찰한 투과전자 현미경 사진으로 각 층간의 계면이 뚜렷하게 나타남을 확인할 수 있으며, 각 층간의 intermixing 현상이 발생하지 않음을 확인 가능하다. 이를 보완하기 위해 Fig. 2(b)에서 보는 바와 같이 XPS를 이용하여 depth profile을 측정하였다. 각 층에서 서로 다른 물질이 발견되는 현상, 즉 교차 오염이 발생함에 따라 나타나는 intermixing 없이 거의 순수한 형태의 ZnO, Ag 박막 성분이 검출되었다. 이는 6개의 서로 다른 물질이 장착된 회전형 육각건을 이용하여 고 품질의 다층 박막 증착이 가능함을 제시하는 결과이다. 증착된 다층 박막의 균일도는 3.8%, 가시광선 영역에서 80% 이상의 투과도, 면저항 값은 3 ${\Omega}/{\Box}$ 이하를 보임으로서 에너지 절약형 단열 유리로서의 사양을 만족시키는 결과를 제시하였다.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.191-196
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• 2010

Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) films have been prepared on Coming 7059 glass substrates by r.f. magnetron sputtering method. A powder target instead of a conventional sintered ceramic target was used in order to improve the utilization efficiency of the target and reduce the cost of the film deposition process. The influence of sputter pressure on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of AZO films were studied. The AZO films had hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferred c-axis orientation, regardless of sputter pressure and target types. The crystallinity and degree of orientation was increased by increasing the sputter pressure. For higher sputtering pressures, a reduction of the resistivity was observed due to a increase on the mobility and the carrier concentration. The lowest resistivity of $6.5{\times}10^{-3}\;{\Omega}-cm$ and the average transmittance of 80% can be obtained for films deposited at 15 mTorr.