• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.53-53
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• 2011

This paper describes results for surface and bulk characterization of the most promising thin film solar cell material for high performance devices, (Ag,Cu) (In,Ga) Se2 (ACIGS). This material in particular exhibits a range of exotic behaviors. The surface and general materials science of the material also has direct implications for the operation of solar cells based upon it. Some of the techniques and results described will include scanning probe (AFM, STM, KPFM) measurements of epitaxial films of different surface orientations, photoelectron spectroscopy and inverse photoemission, Auger electron spectroscopy, and more. Bulk measurements are included as support for the surface measurements such as cathodoluminescence imaging around grain boundaries and showing surface recombination effects, and transmission electron microscopy to verify the surface growth behaviors to be equilibrium rather than kinetic phenomena. The results show that the polar close packed surface of CIGS is the lowest energy surface by far. This surface is expected to be reconstructed to eliminate the surface charge. However, the AgInSe2 compound has yielded excellent atomic-resolution images of the surface with no evidence of surface reconstruction. Similar imaging of CuInSe2 has proven more difficult and no atomic resolution images have been obtained, although current imaging tunneling spectroscopy images show electronic structure variations on the atomic scale. A discussion of the reasons why this may be the case is given. The surface composition and grain boundary compositions match the bulk chemistry exactly in as-grow films. However, the deposition of the heterojunction forming the device alters this chemistry, leading to a strongly n-type surface. This also directly explains unpinning of the Fermi level and the operation of the resulting devices when heterojunctions are formed with the CIGS. These results are linked to device performance through simulation of the characteristic operating behaviors of the cells using models developed in my laboratory.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.452-456
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• 2009

In high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ solar cells, Na is doped into a Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ light-absorbing layer from sodalime-glass substrate through Mo back-contact layer, resulting in an increase of device performance. However, this supply of sodium is limited when the process temperature is too low or when a substrate does not supply Na. This limitation can be overcome by supplying Na through external doping. For Na doping, an NaF interlayer was deposited on Mo/glass substrate. A Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ absorber layer was deposited on the NaF interlayer by a three-stage co-evaporation process As the thickness of NaF interlayer increased, smaller grain sizes were obtained. The resistivity of the NaF-doped CIGS film was of the order of $10^3{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ indicating that doping was not very effective. However, highest conversion efficiency of 14.2% was obtained when the NaF thickness was 25 nm, suggesting that Na doping using an NaF interlayer is one of the possible methods for external doping.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.233-240
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• 2021

For the production of neodymium-doped zinc sulfide thin films in various amounts, zinc sulfide and neodymium were simultaneously deposited using an RF magnetron sputtering equipment to form a thin films, and rapid thermal annealing was performed at 400℃ for 30 minutes as a post-treatment process. The structure, shape, and optical properties of ZnS thin films having various neodymium doping contents (0.35at.%, 1.31at.%, 1.82at.% and 1.90at.%) were studied. The X-ray diffraction pattern was grown to a (111) cubic structure in all thin films. The surface and structural morphology of the thin films due to the neodymium doping content was explained through SEM and AFM images. Only elements of Zn, S, and Nd that do not contain other impurities were identified through EDAX. The transmittance and band gap of the prepared thin films were confirmed using the UV-vis spectrum.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.197-202
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• 2022

The CZTS solar cell is a thin film solar cell using an absorption layer composed of Cu, Zn, Sn, Se, and S, and is cheaper than a CIGS solar cell using In and Ga and more eco-friendly than a perovskite and CdTe solar cell using Pb and Cd. In this study, we conducted a bending test for flexible CZTS solar cells. Experiments were conducted in the direction of inner benidng with compressive stress and outer bending with tensile stress, and during the number of bending 1,000 times with a radius of curvature of 50 mmR, the efficiency of the solar cell decreased by up to 12.7%, and the biggest cause of efficiency reduction in both directions was a large decrease in parallel resistance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.428-428
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• 2012

CIGS 또는 CIS 태양전지는 높은 흡광계수와 조절가능한 밴드갭 특성으로 인해 높은 광전변환효율을 나타내므로 실리콘 태양전지를 대체할 차세대 태양전지로 주목받고 있다. 그러나 태양전지의 저가화를 위해서는 기존의 동시증발법 또는 스퍼터링을 대신할 수 있는 비진공 방식의 박막제조방법이 요구된다. 다양한 비진공 코팅방법 중에서 용액 또는 콜로이드 전구체를 프린팅하는 방법은 batch 조성이 박막의 조성으로 전사되므로, 전착법에 비해 조성 조절이 용이하다는 장점이 있다. 한편, 콜로이드 공정에 속하는 Cu-In 합금 나노 분말법은 셀렌화 또는 황화 과정 중에 부피가 팽창하는 장점을 활용 가능한 반면, 전구체 박막의 충진밀도가 낮을 경우 열처리를 통한 치밀화에 한계가 생길 수 있는 단점이 있다. 본 연구에서는 합성한 Cu-In합금 분말을 이용하여 전구체 박막을 형성한 후 반응기구가 다른 황 및 셀레늄 분위기에서의 열처리를 통해 소결된 박막의 결정상, 미세구조 및 표면 형상의 차이를 비교하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.305.2-305.2
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• 2016

Tin monosulfide (SnS) is one promising candidate absorber material which replace the current technology based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium gallium sulfide selenide (CIGS) for its suitable optical band gap, high absorption coefficient, earth-abundant, non-toxic and cost-effective. During past years work, thin film solar cells based on SnS films had been improved to 4.36% certified efficiency. In this study, Tin monosul fide was obtained by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using the reaction of Tetrakis (dimethylamino) tin (TDMASn, [(CH3)2N]4Sn) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) at low temperatures (100 to 200 oC). The direct optical band gap and strong optical absorption of SnS films were observed throughout the Ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV VIS), and the properties of SnS films were analyzed by sanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD).

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.95-115
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• 2012

Although indium (In) is not an abundant element, the use of indium is expected to grow, especially as applied to copper-indium-(gallium)-selenide (CI(G)S) solar cells. In future when CIGS solar cells will be used extensively, the available amount of indium could be a limiting factor, unless a synthetic technique of efficiently utilizing the element is developed. Current vacuum techniques inherently produce a significant loss of In during the synthetic process, while electrodeposition exploits nearly 100% of the In, with little loss of the material. Thus, an electrochemical process will be the method of choice to produce alloys of In once the proper conditions are designed. In this review, we examine the electrochemical processes of electrodeposition in the synthesis of indium alloys. We focus on the conditions under which alloys are electrodeposited and on the factors that can affect the composition or properties of alloys. The knowledge is to facilitate the development of electrochemical means of efficiently using this relatively rare element to synthesize valuable materials, for applications such as solar cells and light-emitting devices.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.96-98
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• 2009

This report summarizes our recent efforts to produce large-grained CIGS materials from porous nanoparticle thin films. In our approach, a $Cu_xSe$ nanoparticle colloid were first prepared by reacting a mixture of CuI in pyridine with $Na_2Se$ in methanol at reduced temperature. purified colloid was sprayed onto heated molybdenum-coated sodalime glass substrates to form thin film. After thermal processing of the thin film under a selenium ambient. $Cu_xSe$ colloid and thin film were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction. The optical(direct) band gap energy of $Cu_xSe$ thin films is 1.5 eV.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.38-50
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• 2012

박막 태양전지 기술은 현재 가장 큰 시장점유율을 보이고 있는 결정질 Si 태양전지와 비교되는 차세대 태양전지 기술로서 큰 관심을 받고 있다. 결정질 Si 태양전지의 효율보다 높은 효율로서, 훨씬 저가로 생산할 수 있는 수준을 목표로 하여 다양한 종류의 박막 태양전지들이 개발되고 있는데, 본고에서는 그 중에서 가장 많이 연구개발되고 있는 세 종류의 박막 태양전지, 즉, 화합물 반도체 박막 태양전지 중 가장 대표적인 CIGS(Cu(InGa)Se2) 태양전지, 지구상에 가장 풍부한 무기 소재인 Si를 기반으로 하는 비정질 Si 박막 태양전지, 그리고 유기물 기반 태양전지 중 가장 높은 효율을 나타내는 DSSC에 대해서 중점적으로 기술하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.237-237
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• 2010

We investigated physical properties of CuIn1-xGaxSe2 thin films grown by co-evaporator under various Cu environments. To study the effect of the Cu environments on absorber layer properties, thin films were fabricated under various reaction periods for different Cu flux on 2 stage process. We find the structural and electrical characteristics were affected by the reaction period on 2 stage process. The correlation between Cu flux variation on 2 stage process and solar cell performance was studied. The structural and electrical properties for various Cu flux were discussed.