• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.61 no.1
• /
• pp.12-15
• /
• 2017

We presented a mapping the work function of the vanadium pentoxide ($V_2O_5$) nanonet structures by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM). In this measurement, the $V_2O_5$ nanonet was self-assembled via dropping the solution of $V_2O_5$ nanowires (NWs) onto the $SiO_2$ substrate and drying the solvent, resulting in the networks of $V_2O_5$ NWs. We found that the SKPM signal as a surface potential of $V_2O_5$ nanonet is attributed to the contact potential difference (CPD) between the work functions of the metal tip and the $V_2O_5$ nanonet. We generated the histograms of the CPD signals obtained from the SKPM mapping of the $V_2O_5$ nanonet as well as the highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) which is used as a reference for the calibration of the SKPM tip. By using the histogram peaks of the CPD signals, we successfully estimated the work function of ~5.1 eV for the $V_2O_5$ nanonet structures. This work provides a possibility of a nanometer-scale imaging of the work function of the various nanostructures and helps to understand the electrical characteristics of the future electronic devices.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.266-270
• /
• 2011

We report on the formation mechanism of large Schottky barrier height (SBH) of nonalloyed Cr Schottky contacts on strained Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN. Based on the current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) data, the SBHs are determined to be 1.98 (${\pm}0.02$) and 2.07 (${\pm}0.02$) eV from the thermionic field emission and two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) calculations, respectively. Possible formation mechanism of large SBH will be described in terms of the formation of Cr-O chemical bonding at the interface between Cr and AlGaN/GaN, low binding-energy shift to surface Fermi level, and the reduction of 2DEG electrons.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.33 no.7
• /
• pp.2200-2206
• /
• 2012

One-dimensional $TiO_2$ array grown on optically transparent electrode holds a promise as a photoelectrode for photoelectrochemical water splitting; however, its crystal structure is rutile, imposing constraints on the potent use of this nanostructure. To address this issue, a heterojunction with type-II band alignment was fabricated using atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. One-dimensional core/shell structured $TiO_2$/ZnO heterojunction was superior to $TiO_2$ in the photoelectrochemical water splitting because of better charge separation and more favorable Fermi level. The heterojunction also possesses better light scattering property, which turned out to be beneficial even for improving the photoelectrochemical performance of semiconductor-sensitized solar cell.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.33 no.7
• /
• pp.2255-2259
• /
• 2012

Aggregation of titania nanotubes (TNTs) fabricated by hydrothermal method were calcined in air and dry nitrogen; Changes in morphology and crystallinity of the nanotubes were studied by means of TEM, EDX, and XPS. EDX patterns and XPS spectra proved that there were a certain densities of oxygen vacancies in TNTs annealed in $N_2$. The photocatalysis experiments revealed TNTs/$N_2$ possesses significantly higher photocatalytic efficiency than TNTs annealed in dry air to degrade methylene blue. The correlation between oxygen vacancies and photocatalytic property may be attributed to: 1) oxygen vacancies might have affected results on water molecules adsorption and increase of the hydroxyl concentration; and 2) oxygen vacancies resulted in some changes in electronic structure of TNTs/$N_2$ aggregation and Fermi level extends into the conducting band.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2010.02a
• /
• pp.340-340
• /
• 2010

Various structures of vacancy defects in graphene layers and carbon nanotubes have been reported by high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM) and those arouse an interest of reconstruction processes of vacancy defects. In this talk, we present reconstruction processes of vacancy defects in a graphene and a carbon nanotube by tight-binding molecular dynamics (TBMD) simulations and by first principles total energy calculations. We found that a structure of a dislocation defect with two pentagon-heptagon (5-7) pairs in graphene becomes more stable than other structures when the number of vacancy units is ten and over. The simulation study of scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that the pentagon-heptagon pair defects perturb the wavefunction of electrons near Fermi level to produce the $\sqrt{3}\;{\times}\;\sqrt{3}$ superlattice pattern, which is in excellent agreement with experiment. It is also observed in our tight-binding molecular dynamics simulation that 5-7 pair defects play a very important role in vacancy reconstruction in a graphene layer and carbon nanotubes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2010.02a
• /
• pp.390-390
• /
• 2010

Superconducting proximity effects of Nb/Si(111) were investigated with scanning tunneling microscopy(STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy(STS). A highly-doped($0.002\;{\omega}{\diamondsuit}cm$) Si wafer pieces were used as substrate and Nb source was thermally evaporated onto the atomically clean silicon substrate. The temperature of the silicon sample was held at $600^{\circ}C$ during the niobium deposition. And the sample was annealed at $600^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes additionally. Volmer-Weber growth mode is preferred in Nb/Si(111) at the sample temperature of $600^{\circ}C$. With proper temperature and annealing time, we can obtain Nb islands of lateral size larger than Nb coherence length(~38nm). And outside of the islands, bare Si($7{\times}7$) reconstructed surface is exposed due to the Volmer-Weber Growth mode. STS measurement at 5.6K showed that Nb island have BCS-like superconducting gap of about 2mV around the Fermi level and the critical temperature is calculated to be as low as 6.1K, which is lower than that of bulk niobium, 9.5K. This reduced value of superconducting energy gap indicates suppression of superconductivity in nanostructures. Moreover, the superconducting state is extended out of the Nb island, over to bare Si surface, due to the superconducting proximity effect. Spatially-resolved scanning tunneling spectroscopy(SR-STS) data taken over the inside and outside of the niobium island shows gradually reduced superconducting gap.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.08a
• /
• pp.129.2-129.2
• /
• 2013

Electron injection enhancement at OLED (organic light-emitting diodes) cathode side has mostly been achieved by insertion of a low work function layer between metal electrode and emissive layer. We investigated the interfacial chemical reactions and electronic structures of alkaline-earth metal (Ca, Ba)/Alq3 [tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminium] and Ca/BaF2/Alq3 using in-situ X-ray & ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The alkaline-earth metal deposited on Alq3 generates two energetically separated gap states in sequential manner. This phenomenon is explained by step-by-step charge transfer from alkali-earth metal to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) states of Alq3, forming new occupied states below Fermi level. The BaF2 interlayer initially prevents from direct contact between Alq3 and reactive Ca metal, but it is dissociated into Ba and CaF2. However, as the Ca thickness increases, the Ca penetrates the interlayer to directly participate in the reaction with underlying Alq3. The influence of the multiple gap state formation by the interfacial chemical reaction on the OLED performance will be discussed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.161-166
• /
• 2010

The ac, dc conductivity and dielectric properties of $DyCoO_3$ were reported in the temperature range of 77 - 300K and in the frequency range of 20 Hz - 100 kHz. It was observed that at low temperature, ac conductivity is much higher than dc conductivity and the hopping carrier between localized states near the Fermi level was the dominant loss mechanism. A comparison of the measured ac conductivity $\sigma(\omega)$ was made with some of the models of hopping conductivity of the proposed earlier in the literature. It was observed that in $DyCoO_3$ the measured ac conductivity, over the entire frequency and temperature region, can be explained reasonably well by assuming two contributions $\sigma_1(\omega)$ and $\sigma_2(\omega)$ to the measured $\sigma(\omega)$. The first, $\sigma_1(\omega)$, which dominates at low temperature, may be due to impurity conduction in a small polaron; the second, $\sigma_2(\omega)$, which dominates at higher temperatures, depending on the frequency of measurements, may be due to the hopping of a small polaron and is reasonable for the dielectric relaxation peak.

• Advances in materials Research
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.119-131
• /
• 2013

Impedance and electrical conduction studies of $Ba(Nd_{1/2}Nb_{1/2})O_3$ ceramic prepared using conventional high temperature solid-state reaction technique are presented. The crystal symmetry, space group and unit cell dimensions were estimated using Rietveld analysis. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated the formation of a single-phase cubic structure with space group $Pm\bar{3}m$. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis and scanning electron microscopy studies were carried to study the quality and purity of compound. The circuit model fittings were carried out using the impedance data to find the correlation between the response of real system and idealized model electrical circuit. Complex impedance analyses suggested the dielectric relaxation to be of non-Debye type and negative temperature coefficient of resistance character. The correlated barrier hopping model was employed to successfully explain the mechanism of charge transport in $Ba(Nd_{1/2}Nb_{1/2})O_3$. The ac conductivity data were used to evaluate the density of states at Fermi level, minimum hopping length and apparent activation energy.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.125-129
• /
• 2021

We investigated the electronic property and atomic structure for chalcopyrite (CH) Al_xGa_1-xAs semiconductor by using first-principles FPLMTO method. The CH-Al_xGa_1-xAs exhibits a p-type semiconductor with a direct band-gap. For low Al concentration unoccupied hole-carriers are induced, but for high Al concentration it is formed a localized bonding or anti-bonding state below Fermi level. The hybridization of Al(3s)-Ga(4s, or 4p) is larger than that of Al(3s)-As(4s, or 4p). And the Al film on As-terminated surface, Al/AsGa(001), is more energetically favorable one than that on Ga-terminated (001) surface. Consequently, the band-gap of CH-Al_xGa_1-xAs system increases exponentially with increasing Al concentration. The change of lattice parameter is shown two different configurations with increasing Al concentration. The calculated lattice parameters for CH-Al_xGa_1-xAs system are compared to the experimental ones of zinc-blend GaAs and AlAs.