• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.88-88
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• 2009

실리콘 이종접합 태양전지 제작을 위한 주요 요소기술 중 TCO/a-Si:H 간의 계면 특성은 태양전지 효율을 결정하는 주요 인자이다. 일반적으로 투명전도 산화막으로는 ZnO:Al 또는 ITO 가 사용되고 있으며 Zn, In, Sn, O 등의 확산과 Si원소의 확산으로 TCO/a-Si:H 계면에서 $SiO_x$가 생성되어 태양전지 충진률을 감소시키는 영향을 미친다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 TCO/a-Si 계면에서 확산을 방지 하면서 패시베이션 역할을 하는 완충층을 삽입하여 실리콘 이종접합 태양전지의 효율을 높이는 연구를 수행하였다. 완충층으로 사용된 ZnO:Al의 수소화와 Zn 박막, $TiO_2$ 박막의 전기 광학적 특성을 분석하였고 AES 분석을 통해 $SiO_x$의 생성과 각 원소의 확산정도를 분석하고, CTLM을 이용하여 TCO/완충층/a-Si 간의 접촉저항을 측정하였다. 결과적으로 완충층으로 사용된 $TiO_2$(5nm)는 광특성에 큰 감소요인 없이 전기적 특성과 접촉저항 특성이 우수하였으며, 원소들간의 확산방지층으로도 우수한 특성을 보였다. ZnO:Al의 수소화는 SIMS 분석 결과 수소원소들이 계면쪽에 위치하지 않고 표면쪽에 다수 존재함으로써 패시베이션 특성을 크게 보이지 않았으나 AZO 박막의 전기적 특성은 크게 향상 시켰다. 그밖에 완충층으로 사용된 Zn 박막은 두께가 두꺼원 질수록 접촉저항의 감소를 가져왔으나 광학적 특성이 크게 감소하면서 효율적인 광포획 특성을 가지지 못하였다. 본 연구를 통하여 TCO/a-Si:H 간의 완충층 삽입을 통해 접촉저항을 낮추고 원소간의 확산을 억제하여 계면 패시베이션 특성을 향상 시킬수 있었다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.525-529
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• 2017

Molybdenum oxide ($MoO_3$) offers pivotal advantages for high optical transparency and low light reflection. Considering device fabrication, n-type $MoO_3$ semiconductor can spontaneously establish a junction with p-type Si. Since the energy bandgap of Si is 1.12 eV, a maximum photon wavelength of around 1,100 nm is required to initiate effective photoelectric reaction. However, the utilization of infrared photons is very limited for Si photonics. Hence, to enhance the Si photoelectric devices, we applied the wide energy bandgap $MoO_3$ (3.7 eV) top-layer onto Si. Using a large-scale production method, a wafer-scale $MoO_3$ device was fabricated with a highly crystalline structure. The $MoO_3/p-Si$ heterojunction device provides distinct photoresponses for long wavelength photons at 900 nm and 1,100 nm with extremely fast response times: rise time of 65.69 ms and fall time of 71.82 ms. We demonstrate the high-performing $MoO_3/p-Si$ infrared photodetector and provide a design scheme for the extension of Si for the utilization of long-wavelength light.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.138-143
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• 2022

We analyzed the influence of post-annealing on Ga₂O₃/n-type 4H-SiC heterojunction diode. Gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃) thin films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) sputtering. Post-deposition annealing at 950℃ in an Oxygen atmosphere was performed. The material properties of Ga₂O₃ and the electrical properties of the diodes were investigated. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), X-Ray Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images show a significant increase in the roughness and crystallinity of the O₂-annealed films. After Oxygen annealing X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) shows that the atomic ratio of oxygen increases which is related to a decrease in oxygen vacancy within the Ga₂O₃ film. The O₂-annealed diodes exhibited higher on-current and lower leakage current. Moreover, the ideality factor, barrier height, and thermal activation energy were derived from the current-voltage curve by increasing the temperature from 298 - 434K.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.37-40
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• 2024

One of the current innovation trends in the solar industry is the increase in the size of silicon wafers. As the wafer size increases, the series resistance of the module rises, highlighting the need for research on methods for cutting and bonding solar cells. Among these, the Infrared (IR) laser scribing technique has been extensively researched. However, there is still insufficient optimization research regarding the thermal damage caused by lasers on the Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) layer of Heterojunction (HJT) solar cells. Therefore, in this study, we systematically varied conditions such as IR laser scribing speed, frequency, power, and the number of scribes to investigate their impact on the performance of cut cells under each condition. Additionally, we conducted a comparative analysis of thermal damage effects on the TCO layer based on varying scribing depths.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.89-89
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• 2009

높은 소수반송자 수명(life-time)을 가지는 고품위 실리콘 기판은 고효율 실리콘 이종접합 태양전지 제작을 위한 중요 요소 기술 중 하나이다. 본 연구에서는 n-type c-Si 기판을 이용한 고효율 실리콘 이종접합 태양전지제작을 위해 hot water oxidation(HWO) 공정을 이용하여 고품위 실리콘 기판을 제작하였다. 실리콘 기판의 특성 분석은 Qusi-steady state photoconductance (QSSPC)를 이용하여 소수반송자 수명을 측정하였으며, 기판의 면저항 및 wetting angle을 측정하여 공정에 따른 특성변화를 분석하였다. Saw damage etching 된 기판을 웨이퍼 표면으로부터 particle, 금속 불순물, 유기물 등의 오염을 제거하기 위해 $60{\sim}85^{\circ}C$로 가열된 Ammonia수, 과산화수소수($NH_4OH/H_2O_2/H_2O$), 염산 과산화수소수($HCL/H_2O_2/H_2O$) 및 실온 희석불산(DHF) 중에 기판을 각각 10분 정도씩 침적하여, 각각의 약액 처리 후에 매회 10분 정도씩 순수(DI water)에서 rinse하여 RCA 세정을 진행한 후 HWO 공정을 통해 기판 표면에 얇은 산화막 을 형성시켜 패시베이션 해주었다. HF를 이용하여 자연산화막을 제거시 HWO 공정을 거친 기판은 매끄러운 표면과 패시베이션 영향으로 기판의 소수 반송자 수명이 증가하며, 태양전지 제작시 접촉저항을 감소시켜 효율을 증가 시킬수 있다. HWO 공정은 반응조 안의 DI water 온도와 반응 시간에 따라 life-time을 측정하여 진행하였으며, 이후 PE-CVD법으로 증착된 a-Si:H layer 및 투명전도 산화막, 금속전극을 증착하여 실리콘 이종접합 태양전지를 제작하였다.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2020

The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a two-terminal tandem solar cell depends upon the tunnel-recombination junction (TRJ) between the top and bottom sub-cells. An optimized TRJ in a tandem cell helps improve its open-circuit voltage (V_oc), short-circuit current density (J_sc), fill factor (FF), and efficiency (PCE). One of the parameters that affect the TRJ is the buffer layer thickness. Therefore, we investigated various TRJs by varying the thickness of the buffer or intermediate layer (TRJ-buffer) in between the highly doped p-type and n-type layers of the TRJ. The TRJ-buffer layer was p-type nc-Si:H, with a doping of 0.06%, an activation energy (E_a) of 43 meV, an optical gap (E_g) of 2.04 eV, and its thickness was varied from 0 nm to 125 nm. The tandem solar cells we investigated were a combination of a heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) bottom sub-cell and an a-Si:H (amorphous silicon) top sub-cell. The initial cell efficiency without the TRJ buffer was 7.65% while with an optimized buffer layer, its efficiency improved to 11.74%, i.e., an improvement in efficiency by a factor of 1.53.

• Proceedings of the Korea Association of Crystal Growth Conference
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• 1996.06a
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• pp.422-448
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• 1996

Low-temperature epitaxial growth of Si and SiGe layers of Si is one of the important processes for the fabrication of the high-speed Si-based heterostructure devices such as heterojunction bipolar transistors. Low-temperature growth ensures the abrupt compositional and doping concentration profiles for future novel devices. Especially in SiGe epitaxy, low-temperature growth is a prerequisite for two-dimensional growth mode for the growth of thin, uniform layers. UHV-ECRCVD is a new growth technique for Si and SiGe epilayers and it is possible to grow epilayers at even lower temperatures than conventional CVD's. SiH and GeH and dopant gases are dissociated by an ECR plasma in an ultrahigh vacuum growth chamber. In situ hydrogen plasma cleaning of the Si native oxide before the epitaxial growth is successfully developed in UHV-ECRCVD. Structural quality of the epilayers are examined by reflection high energy electron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Nomarski microscope and atomic force microscope. Device-quality Si and SiGe epilayers are successfully grown at temperatures lower than 600℃ after proper optimization of process parameters such as temperature, total pressure, partial pressures of input gases, plasma power, and substrate dc bias. Dopant incorporation and activation for B in Si and SiGe are studied by secondary ion mass spectrometry and spreading resistance profilometry. Silicon p-n homojunction diodes are fabricated from in situ doped Si layers. I-V characteristics of the diodes shows that the ideality factor is 1.2, implying that the low-temperature silicon epilayers grown by UHV-ECRCVD is truly of device-quality.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.295-295
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• 2016

Recently, TCO films with low carrier concentration, high mobility and high work function are proposed beneficial as front electrode in HIT solar cell due to free-carrier absorption in NIR wavelength region and low Schottky barrier height in the front TCO/a-Si:H(p) interface. We report high transmittance and work function zirconium-doped indium tin oxide (ITO:Zr) films with various plasma (Ar/O2 and Ar) conditions. The role of (Ar/O2) plasma was to enhance the work function of the ITO:Zr films whereas the pure Ar plasma based ITO:Zr showed good electrical properties. The RF magnetron sputtered ITO:Zr films with low resistivity and high transmittance were employed as front electrode in HIT solar cells, yield the best performance of 18.15% with an open-circuit voltage of 710 eV and current density of 34.63 mA/cm2. The high work function ITO:Zr films can be used to modify the front barrier height of HIT solar cell.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.107-107
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• 2011

오늘 날 transparent conductive oxide는 다양한 분야에서 활용되고 있다. 최근에는 태양전지 분야에서도 많이 활용되고 있으며, 초기에는 transmittance 및 낮은 sheet resistance 특성을 가지는 ITO가 많이 활용되었지만 thin film solar cell와 같이 hydrogenation 공정에 약한 ITO보다는 Al-doped ZnO가 사용되기 시작하면서 많은 연구가 진행되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 thin film solar cell 및 silicon heterojunction solar cell에 적용 가능한 Al-doped ZnO에 관한 연구로써 a-Si:H의 Si-H bonds에 영향을 주지 않는 낮은 영역의 substrate temperature와 power로 Al-doped ZnO를 형성하고 상기 parameter에 따른 Al-doped ZnO의 특성 변화에 대해서 분석하였다. 특히 substrate temperature가 변화할수록 carrier concentration 및 sheet resistance가 많은 변화를 보였으며 이로 인하여 transmittance 특성이 온도에 따라 좋아지다가 너무 높은 온도에서는 오히려 좋지 않게 되었다. 이는 너무 높은 carrier concentration은 free carrier absorption에 의해 transmittance 특성을 오히려 좋지 않게 한다. 우리는 본 연구를 통해 92.677% (450 nm), 90.309% (545 nm), 94.333% (800 nm)의 transmittance를 얻을 수 있었다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.251-255
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• 2021

a-Si is commonly considered as a primary candidate for the formation of passivation layer in heterojunction (HIT) solar cells. However, there are some problems when using this material such as significant losses due to recombination and parasitic absorption. To reduce these problems, a wide bandgap material is needed. A wide bandgap has a positive influence on effective transmittance, reduction of the parasitic absorption, and prevention of unnecessary epitaxial growth. In this paper, the adoption of a-SiO_x:H as the intrinsic layer was discussed. To increase lifetime and conductivity, oxygen concentration control is crucial because it is correlated with the thickness, bonding defect, interface density (D_it), and band offset. A thick oxygen-rich layer causes the lifetime and the implied open-circuit voltage to drop. Furthermore the thicker the layer gets, the more free hydrogen atoms are etched in thin films, which worsens the passivation quality and the efficiency of solar cells. Previous studies revealed that the lifetime and the implied voltage decreased when the a-SiOx thickness went beyond around 9 nm. In addition to this, oxygen acted as a defect in the intrinsic layer. The D_it increased up to an oxygen rate on the order of 8%. Beyond 8%, the D_it was constant. By controlling the oxygen concentration properly and achieving a thin layer, high-efficiency HIT solar cells can be fabricated.