• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.192-195
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• 2005

The silicon thin film solar cells were fabricated by 13.56 MHz PECVD (Plasma-Enhanced Chemical-Vapor Deposition) and 60 MHz VHF PECVD (Very High-Frequency Plasma-Enhanced Chemical-Vapor Deposition). We focus on textured ZnO:Al films prepared by RF sputtering and post deposition wet chemical etching and studied the surface morphology and optical properties. These films were optimized the light scattering properties of the textured ZnO:Al after wet chemical etching. Finally, the textured ZnO:Al films were successfully applied as substrates for silicon thin films solar cells. The efficiency of tandem solar cells with $0.25 cm^2$ area was $11.8\%$ under $100mW/cm^2$ light intensity. The electrical properties of tandem solar cells were measured with solar simulator (AM 1.5, $100 mW/cm^2)$ and spectral response measurements.

• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.28-31
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• 2011

In this paper, a new set of structural and sacrificial material that is diamond like carbon (DLC)/photoresist for high performance piezoelectric RF-MEMS switches which are actuated in d33 mode is suggested. To avoid curing problem of photoresist sacrificial layer, DLC structure layer is deposited at room temperature by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) method. And lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric layer is deposited on structure layer directly at room temperature by rf magnetron sputtering system and crystallized by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) equipment. Particular attention is paid to the annealing of PZT film in order to crystallize into perovskite and the variation of mechanical properties of DLC layer as a function of annealing temperature. The DLC layer shows good performance for structure layer in aspect to Young's modulus and hardness. The fabrication becomes much simpler and cheaper with use of a photoresist.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.148-148
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• 2011

Recently, there have been many research activities to develop the large-area plasma source, which is able to generate the high-density plasma with relatively good uniformity, for the plasma processing in the thin-film solar cell and display panel industries. The large-area CCP sources have been applied to the PECVD process as well as the etching. Especially, the PECVD processes for the depositions of various films such as a-Si:H, ${\mu}c$-Si:H, Si3N4, and SiO2 take a significant portion of processes. In order to achieve higher deposition rate (DR), good uniformity in large-area reactor, and good film quality (low defect density, high film strength, etc.), the application of VHF (>40 MHz) CCP is indispensible. However, the electromagnetic wave effect in the VHF CCP becomes an issue to resolve for the achievement of good uniformity of plasma and film. Here, we propose a new electrode as part of a method to resolve the standing wave effect in the large-area VHF CCP. The electrode is split up a series of strip-type electrodes and the strip-type electrodes and the ground ones are arranged by turns. The standing wave effect in the longitudinal direction of the strip-type electrode is reduced by using the multi-feeding method of VHF power and the uniformity in the transverse direction of the electrodes is achieved by controlling the gas flow and the gap length between the powered electrodes and the substrate. Also, we provide the process results for the growths of the a-Si:H and the ${\mu}c$-Si:H films. The high DR (2.4 nm/s for a-Si:H film and 1.5 nm/s for the ${\mu}c$-Si:H film), the controllable crystallinity (~70%) for the ${\mu}c$-Si:H film, and the relatively good uniformity (1% for a-Si:H film and 7% for the ${\mu}c$-Si:H film) can be obtained at the high frequency of 40 MHz in the large-area discharge (280 mm${\times}$540 mm). Finally, we will discuss the issues in expanding the multi-electrode to the 8G class large-area plasma processing (2.2 m${\times}$2.4 m) and in improving the process efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.310-311
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• 2011

Dual-frequency (DF) capacitively coupled plasmas (CCP) are used to separately control the mean ion energy and flux at the electrodes [1]. This separate control in capacitively coupled radio frequency discharges is one of the most important issues for various applications of plasma processing. For instance, in the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition processes such as used for solar cell manufacturing, this separate control is most relevant. It principally allows to increase the ion flux for high deposition rates, while the mean ion energy is kept constant at low values to prevent highly energetic ion bombardment of the substrate to avoid unwanted damage of the surface structure. DF CCP can be analyzed in a fashion similar to single-frequency (SF) driven with effective parameters [2]. It means that DF CCP can be converted into SF CCP with effective parameters such as effective frequency and effective current density. In this study, comparison of DF CCP and its converted effective SF CCP is carried out through particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo (PIC-MCC) simulations. The PIC-MCC simulation shows that DF CCP and its converted effective SF CCP have almost the same plasma characteristics. In DF CCP, the negative resistance arises from the competition of the effective current and the effective frequency [2]. As the high-frequency current increases, the square of the effective frequency increases more than the effective current does. As a result, the effective voltage decreases with the effective current and it leads to an increase of the ion flux and a decrease of the mean ion energy. Because of that, the negative resistance regime can be called the preferable regime for solar cell manufacturing. In this preferable regime, comparison of DF (13.56+100 or 200 MHz) CCP and SF (60 MHz) CCP with the same effective current density is carried out. At the lower effective current density (or at the lower plasma density), the mean ion energy of SF CCP is lower than that of DF CCP. At the higher effective current density (or at the higher plasma density), however, the mean ion energy is lower than that of SF CCP. In this case, using DF CCP is better than SF CCP for solar cell manufacturing processes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.341-341
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• 2016

The discovery of light emission in nanostructured silicon has opened up new avenues of research in nano-silicon based devices. One such pathway is the application of silicon quantum dots in advanced photovoltaic and light emitting devices. Recently, there is increasing interest on the silicon quantum dots (c-Si QDs) films embedded in amorphous hydrogenated silicon-nitride dielectric matrix (a-SiNx: H), which are familiar as c-Si/a-SiNx:H QDs thin films. However, due to the limitation of the requirement of a very high deposition temperature along with post annealing and a low growth rate, extensive research are being undertaken to elevate these issues, for the point of view of applications, using plasma assisted deposition methods by using different plasma concepts. This work addresses about rapid growth and single step development of c-Si/a-SiNx:H QDs thin films deposited by RF (13.56 MHz) and ultra-high frequency (UHF ~ 320 MHz) low-pressure plasma processing of a mixture of silane (SiH4) and ammonia (NH3) gases diluted in hydrogen (H2) at a low growth temperature ($230^{\circ}C$). In the films the c-Si QDs of varying size, with an overall crystallinity of 60-80 %, are embedded in an a-SiNx: H matrix. The important result includes the formation of the tunable QD size of ~ 5-20 nm, having a thermodynamically favorable <220> crystallographic orientation, along with distinct signatures of the growth of ${\alpha}$-Si3N4 and ${\beta}$-Si3N4 components. Also, the roles of different plasma characteristics on the film properties are investigated using various plasma diagnostics and film analysis tools.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.35 no.11A
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• pp.1091-1096
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• 2010

Stiction in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has been a major failure mechanism. Especially, in RF MEMS switches, moving parts often suffered in-use and release related stiction problems. Some materials and methods have been used to prevent this problem. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) has not only been used as a protective material owing to its good mechanical properties but also has been used as a hydrophobic material. Its properties could be controlled by post annealing treatment in various conditions. We synthesized DLC films using a radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF PECVD) method on silicon substrates using methane ($CH_4$) and hydrogen ($H_2$) gas. Then, the change of the hydrophobic property of the films was investigated undervarious annealing temperatures in nitrogen and in oxygen ambient. The films, that were annealed above $700^{\circ}C$ in nitrogen ambient, showed a high contact angle of water (> $90^{\circ}$) even though their mechanical property was sacrificed to some degree. The structural variation and the changes of the hydrophobic and mechanical properties of the DLC films were analyzed by Raman spectrum, contact angle measurement, surface profiler, and a nanoindentation test.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.7
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• pp.1211-1217
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• 2016

Discharge characteristics of inductively coupled plasma were investigated by using electrostatic probe and fluid simulation. The Inductively Coupled Plasma source driven by 13.56 Mhz was prepared. The signal attenuation ratios of the electrostatic probe at first and second harmonic frequency was tuned in 13.56Mhz and 27.12Mhz respectively. Electron temperature, electron density, plasma potential, electron energy distribution function and electron energy probability function were investigated by using the electrostatic probe. Experiment results were compared with the fluid simulation results. Ar plasma fluid simulations including Navier-Stokes equations were calculated under the same experiment conditions, and the dependencies of plasma parameters on process parameters were well agreed with simulation results. Because of the reason that the more collision happens in high pressure condition, plasma potential and electron temperature got lower as the pressure was higher and the input power was higher, but Electron density was higher under the same condition. Due to the same reason, the electron energy distribution was widening as the pressure was lower. And the electron density was higher, as close to the gas inlet place. It was found that gas flow field significantly affect to spatial distribution of electron density and temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.478-478
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• 2012

Recently, there are many researches in order to increase the deposition rate (D/R) and improve film uniformity and quality in the deposition of microcrystalline silicon thin film. These two factors are the most important issues in the fabrication of the thin film solar cell, and for the purpose of that, several process conditions, including the large area electrode (more than 1.1 X 1.3 (m2)), higher pressure (1 ~ 10 (Torr)), and very high frequency regime (VHF, 40 ~ 100 (MHz)), have been needed. But, in the case of large-area capacitively coupled discharges (CCP) driven at frequencies higher than the usual RF (13.56 (MHz)) frequency, the standing wave and skin effects should be the critical problems for obtaining the good plasma uniformity, and the ion damage on the thin film layer due to the high voltage between the substrate and the bulk plasma might cause the defects which degrade the film quality. In this study, we will propose the new concept of the large-area multi-electrode (a new multi-electrode concept for the large-area plasma source), which consists of a series of electrodes and grounds arranged by turns. The experimental results with this new electrode showed the processing performances of high D/R (1 ~ 2 (nm/sec)), controllable crystallinity (~70% and controllable), and good uniformity (less than 10%) at the conditions of the relatively high frequency of 40 MHz in the large-area electrode of 280 X 540 mm2. And, we also observed the SEM images of the deposited thin film at the conditions of peeling, normal microcrystalline, and powder formation, and discussed the mechanisms of the crystal formation and voids generation in the film in order to try the enhancement of the film quality compared to the cases of normal VHF capacitive discharges. Also, we will discuss the relation between the processing parameters (including gap length between electrode and substrate, operating pressure) and the processing results (D/R and crystallinity) with the process condition map for ${\mu}c$-Si:H formation at a fixed input power and gas flow rate. Finally, we will discuss the potential of the multi-electrode of the 3.5G-class large-area plasma processing (650 X 550 (mm2) to the possibility of the expansion of the new electrode concept to 8G class large-area plasma processing and the additional issues in order to improve the process efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2016.11a
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• pp.181-181
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• 2016

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (${\mu}c-Si:H$) films have attracted much attention as materials of the bottom-cells in Si thin film tandem photovoltaics due to their low bandgap and excellent stability against light soaking. However, in PECVD, the source gas $SiH_4$ must be highly diluted by $H_2$, which eventually results in low deposition rate. Moreover, it is known that high-rate ${\mu}c-Si:H$ growth is usually accompanied by a large number of dangling-bond (DB) defects in the resulting films, which act as recombination centers for photoexcited carriers, leading to a deterioration in the device performance. During film deposition, Si nanoparticles generated in $SiH_4$ discharges can be incorporated into films, and such incorporation may have effects on film properties depending on the size, structure, and volume fraction of nanoparticles incorporated into films. Here we report experimental results on the effects of nonoparticles incorporation at the different substrate temperature studied using a multi-hollow discharge plasma CVD method in which such incorporation can be significantly suppressed in upstream region by setting the gas flow velocity high enough to drive nanoparticles toward the downstream region. All experiments were performed with the multi-hollow discharge plasma CVD reactor at RT, 100, and $250^{\circ}C$, respectively. The gas flow rate ratio of $SiH_4$ to $H_2$ was 0.997. The total gas pressure P was kept at 2 Torr. The discharge frequency and power were 60 MHz, 180 W, respectively. Crystallinity Xc of resulting films was evaluated using Raman spectra. The defect densities of the films were measured with electron spin resonance (ESR). The defect density of fims deposited in the downstream region (with nonoparticles) is higher defect density than that in the upstream region (without nanoparticles) at low substrate temperature of RT and $100^{\circ}C$. This result indicates that nanoparticle incorporation can change considerably their film properties depending on the substrate temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.320-320
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• 2011

We describe fabrication of superhydrophobic surface on non-woven fabric (NWF) having nano-hairy structures and a hydrophobic surface coating. Oxygen plasma was irradiated on NWF for nano-texuring and a precursor of HMDSO (Hexamethydisiloxane) was introduced as a surface chemical modification for obtaining superhydrophobicity using 13.56 MHz radio frequency-Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (rf-PECVD). O2 plasma treatment time was varied from 1 min to 60 min at a bias voltage of 400V, which fabricated pillar-like structures with diameter of 30 nm and height of 150 nm on NWF. Subsequently, hydrophobic coating using hexamethyldisiloxane vapor was deposited with 10 nm thickness on NWF substrate at a bias voltage of 400 V. We evaluate superhydrophobicity of the modified NWF with sessile drop using goniometer and high speed camera, in which aspect ratio of nanohairy structures, contact angle and contact angle hysteresis of the surfaces were measured. With the increase of aspect ratio, the wetting angle increased from $103^{\circ}$ to $163^{\circ}$, and the contact angle hysteresis decreased dramatically below $5^{\circ}$. In addition, we had conducted experiment for nucleation and condensation of water via E-SEM. During increasing vapor pressure inside E-SEM from 3.7 Torr to over 6 Torr which is beyond saturation point at $2^{\circ}C$, we observed condensation of water droplet on the superhydropobic NWF. While the condensation of water on oxygen plasma treated NWF (superhydrophilic) occurred easily and rapidly, superhydrophobic NWF which was fabricated by oxygen and HMDSO was hardly wet even under supersaturation condition. From the result of wetting experiment and water condensation via E-SEM, it is confirmed that superhydrophobic NWF shows the grate water repellent abilities.