• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 1998.06a
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• pp.391-394
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• 1998

The effect of the heat treatment of the AZO transparent conductive film prepared by rf magnetron sputtering was investigated. The variations of the electrical and optical properties with heat treatment ambient and temperature were studied. After the heat treatment in air above 300.deg. C, the resistivity of AZO films increased by 1 to 8 orders of magnitude. However, no significant change in the AZO films after th eheat treatment in vacuum was not observed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.285-285
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• 2014

새로운 플라즈마 소스를 이용하여 Al doped ZnO (AZO) 박막을 증착하였다. 이 실험에서 박막의 증착두께를 200nm로 고정하였다. 인가전력, 공정압력 그리고 기판거리를 변수로 하였을 경우 AZO 박막의 방향성과 결정성을 XRD로 측정하고 분석하였고 박막의 전기적 특성을 Hall measurment로 측정하였다. 그 결과 인가파워가 2W/cm2, 공정압력이 2mTorr이고 기판거리가 2cm 일 때 박막의 전기적 특성이 가장 좋게 나타났다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.345.2-345.2
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• 2016

Alumina (Al2O3) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) films (AZO) have been prepared from 2 wt.% Al2O3 doped ZnO target by DC magnetron sputtering at a 2 mTorr (0.27 Pa) chamber pressure in (15 sccm) argon ambient. We obtained films of various opto-electronic properties by variation of target angle from 32.5o to 72.5o. At lower target angle deposited films show higher values in optical gap, mobility of charge carrier, carrier concentration, crystallite grain size, transmission range of wavelength, which are favorable characteristics of AZO as a transparent conducting oxide (TCO). At higher target angle the sheet resistance, work function, surface roughness for the AZO films increases. Measured haze ratio of the films changed lower to higher and size of characteristic surface structure of as deposited film ranges from ~40 nm to ~300 nm. By a combination of low and high target angle we obtained a textured TCO film with high conductivity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.106-106
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• 2009

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were grown on glass substrates by co-sputtering at room temperature. We made ZnO and Al target and ZnO:Al film is deposited with sputter which has two RF gun source. The Al content was controlled by varying Al RF power and effect of Al contents on the properties of ZnO:Al film was investigated. Crystallinity and orientation of the ZnO:Al films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface morphology of the ZnO:Al films was observed by atomic force microscope. Electrical properties of the ZnO:Al films were measured at room temperature by van der Pauw method and hall measurement. Optrical properties of ZnO:Al films were measured by UV-vis-NIR spectrometer.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.889-894
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• 2001

2wt% $Al_2O_3-doped$ ZnO (AZO) thin films were deposited on sapphire (0001) single crystal substrate by parellel type rf magnetron sputtering at 55$0^{\circ}C$. The as-grown AZO thin films was polycrystalline and showed only broad deep defect-level photoluminescence (PL). In order to examine the change of PL property, AZO thin films were annealed in $N_2$ (N-AZO) and $H_2$ (H-AZO) at the temperature of $600^{\circ}C$~$1000^{\circ}C$ through rapid thermal annealing. After annealed at $800^{\circ}C$, N-AZO shows near band edge emission (NBE) with very small deep-level emission, and then N-AZO annealed at $900^{\circ}C$ shows only sharp NBE with 219 meV FWHM. In Comparison with N-AZO, H-AZO exhibits very interesting PL features. After $600^{\circ}C$ annealing, deep defect-level emission was quire quenched and NBE around 382 nm (3.2 eV) was observed, which can be explained by the $H_2$passivation effect. At elevated temperature, two interesting peaks corresponding to violet (406 nm, 3.05 eV) and blue (436 nm, 2.84 eV) emission was firstly observed in AZO thin films. Moreover, peculiar PL peak around 694 nm (1.78 eV) is also firstly observed in all the H-AZO thin films and this is believed good evidence of hydrogenation of AZO. Based on defect-level scheme calculated by using the full potential linear muffin-tin orbital (FP-LMTO), the emission 3.2 eV, 3.05 eV, 3.84 eV and 1.78 eV of H-AZO are substantially deginated as exciton emission, transition from conduction band maximum to $V_{ Zn},$ from $Zn_i$, to valence band maximum $(V_{BM})$ and from $V_{o} to V_BM}$, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.341-346
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• 2011

In this study, we inserted a Zn buffer layer into a AZO/p-type a-si:H layer interface in order to lower the contact resistance of the interface. For the Zn layer, the deposition was conducted at 5 nm, 7 nm and 10 nm using the rf-magnetron sputtering method. The results were compared to that of the AZO film to discuss the possibility of the Zn layer being used as a transparent conductive oxide thin film for application in the silicon heterojunction solar cell. We used the rf-magnetron sputtering method to fabricate Al 2 wt.% of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) film as a transparent conductive oxide (TCO). We analyzed the electro-optical properties of the ZnO as well as the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer. After inserting a buffer layer into the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layers to enhance the interface properties, we measured the contact resistance of the layers using a CTLM (circular transmission line model) pattern, the depth profile of the layers using AES (auger electron spectroscopy), and the changes in the properties of the AZO thin film through heat treatment. We investigated the effects of the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer on the characteristics of silicon heterojunction solar cells and the way to improve the interface properties. When depositing AZO thin film on a-Si layer, oxygen atoms are diffused from the AZO thin film towards the a-Si layer. Thus, the characteristics of the solar cells deteriorate due to the created oxide film. While a diffusion of Zn occurs toward the a-Si in the case of AZO used as TCO, the diffusion of In occurs toward a-Si in the case of ITO used as TCO.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.189-194
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• 1999

The heat treatment effects of the undoped ZnO and Al doped ZnO(AZO) transparent conductive films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering were investigated. The variations of the electrical and optical properties with heat treatment temperature and ambient were studied. The resistivity of the un doped ZnO films heat treated in air and $H_z$ plasma for 1 hour increased rapidly above $200^{\circ}C$ and $300^{\circ}C$, respectively. And that of the ZnO:Al films heat treated in air also increased rapidly above $300^{\circ}C$. On the other hand that of the ZnO:Al films heat treated in $H_z$ plasma was constant regardless of heat treatment temperature. The optical transmittance above 550nm is about 90% for all thin films regardless of impurity doping, the heat treatment temperature and ambient.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.135-139
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• 2017

We fabricated two different transparent conducting oxide thin films of ZnO doped with Ga ($Ga_2O_3$ 0.9 wt%) as well as Al ($Al_2O_3$ 2.1 wt%) (GAZO) and ZnO doped only with Al ($Al_2O_3$ 3 wt%) (AZO). It was investigated how it affects the moisture resistance of the transparent electrode. In addition, $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ thin film solar cells with two transparent oxides as front electrodes were fabricated, and the correlation between humidity resistance of transparent electrodes and device performance of solar cells was examined. When both transparent electrodes were exposed to high temperature distilled water, they showed a rapid increase in sheet resistance and a decrease in the fill factor of the solar cell. However, AZO showed a drastic decrease in efficiency at the beginning of exposure, while GAZO showed that the deterioration of efficiency occurred over a long period of time and that the long term moisture resistance of GAZO was better.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.337-337
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• 2014

투명 전도성 산화물(transparent conductive oxide: TCO) 박막은 높은 투과율과 낮은 비저항 덕분에 LCD (liquid crystal display), PDP (plasma display panel), OLED (organic light emitting display) 등 평판 디스플레이에 널리 사용되고 있다. 현재 양산되고 있는 ITO (indium tin oxide)는 90% 이상의 높은 투과율과 우수한 전도성으로 인해 TCO 박막 가운데서 디스플레이 산업에서 가장 널리 쓰이고 있다. 그런데, ITO의 인듐산화물에 의한 간질성 폐렴(interstitial pneumonia)의 유발 위험이 있다든가, 인듐의 매장량이 적어 원자재 가격이 비싼 단점도 가지고 있다. 이에 최근 ITO를 대체할 수 있는 TCO물질로 많은 연구가 이루어지고 있는데, 특히 AZO (aluminum-doped zinc oxide)는 그 중 대표적인 대체물질로서 독성이 없고 가격도 저렴하여 많은 관심이 증폭되고 있다. 현재 AZO는 sol-gel 방법이나 CVD (chemical vapor deposition) 또는 스퍼터링 방법 등으로 증착되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 두 개의 이종타겟(hetero target)을 장착한 대향 타겟 스퍼터링(facing target sputtering: FTS) 장치를 사용하여 AZO 박막을 제작한다. 기존의 여러 증착법과 달리, FTS 장치는 두 타겟 사이에 형성되는 플라즈마 내의 ${\gamma}$-전자를 구속하게 되며, 낮은 가스 압력에서 고밀도 플라즈마가 생성되어 빠른 증착 속도와 안정적인 방전을 유지한 상태에서 박막을 증착할 수가 있다. 또한 기판과 플라즈마가 이격되어 있어 높은 에너지를 갖는 입자들의 기판 충돌을 억제할 수 있는 장점들을 갖는다. 이종 타겟인 ZnO와 Al2O3를 사용하고 각 타겟에 인가되는 파워 변화를 통해 AZO 박막 내 Al2O3의 성분비를 조절하였다. ZnO 타겟의 증착 파워를 100 W로 고정할 경우, Al2O3 타겟의 증착 파워가 (50~90) W으로 실험을 하였으며, Al2O3 타겟의 증착 파워가 70 W일 때 AZO 박막의 Al2O3 성분비는 2.02 wt.%이며 박막의 비저항 값은 $5{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$로 최소값을 보였다. 이러한 비저항의 변화는 파워에 따른 AZO 박막의 캐리어 이동도(Hall mobility)와 캐리어의 농도(Carrier Concentration)의 변화와 밀접한 관계가 있음을 보여주며, 특히 AZO 박막의 캐리어 농도와 캐리어 이동도는 AZO 박막을 형성하고 있는 결정립의 크기에 의존하는 것이 X-선 회절 패턴과 SEM으로부터 확인되었다. 특히, 본 연구에서는 두 개의 이종 타겟(hetero target) Al2O3와 ZnO를 장착하고 각각의 파워를 변화시켜 도핑 량을 조절할 수는 대향 타겟 스퍼터링(FTS: facing-target sputtering) 방법을 이용하여 제작된 AZO 박막에 대해 전기적, 광학적 및 구조적 특성을 분석하고 ITO의 대체물로서의 가능성을 검토하고자 한다.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2008.07a
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• pp.1254-1255
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• 2008

Low cost TCO(Transparent Conductive oxide) thin films were prepared by 6" DC/RF magnetron sputtering systems. For the AZO preparation processes a 99.99% AZO target (Zn: 98 wt.%, $Al_2O_3$: 2 wt.%) was used. In order to verify the optical properties of the AZO thin films, the transparency was tested with sputtering conditions using UV-visible spectroscopy. As a result, we got the transmittance properties over 80% and low resistivity in the sputtering conditions of DC 200[W], Ar 30 [sccm], 1 [mtorr], 20 [min].