• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.100-104
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• 2019

The 'ITO/Ag/ITO' multilayers as a highly conductive and transparent electrode, even with the optimum thickness conditions, the transmittances were much lower than those of a single ITO layer on some ranges of the visible wavelength. In order to improve the transmittance, Ag layer was formed with mesh structure. Where, the thickness of the Ag layer was about 10 nm and the space between the Ag lines was varied from 2.9 ㎛ to 19.6 ㎛ with the fixed Ag width of about 1.2 ㎛ in order to vary an open ratio of the Ag mesh structure. The transmittance and sheet resistance in the ITO/Mesh-Ag/ITO multilayer structure were analyzed depending on the open ratio. As a result, a trade off in the open ratio was necessary in order to obtain the transmittance as high as possible and the sheet resistance as possible low. By the open ratio of about 86%, in the ITO/Mesh-Ag/ITO multilayer structure, the transmittance was nearly same as the single ITO layer and the sheet resistance was about 62.3 Ω/.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.66-66
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• 2008

본 연구에서는 ITO/Ag/ITO 다층 박막을 유기발광소자와 플렉시블 광전소자의 전극으로 적용하기 위하여 선형 대항 타겟 스퍼터(Linear facing target sputter) 시스템을 이용하여 성막하였고, ITO/Ag/ITO 다층박막의 전기적, 광학적, 구조적 특성을 분석하였다. 선형 대항 타겟 스퍼터 시스템은 강한 일방항의 자계와 타겟에 걸린 음극에 의해 전자의 회전, 왕복 운동이 가능해 마주보는 두 ITO 타겟 사이에 고밀도의 플라즈마를 구속 시켜 플라즈마 데미지 없이 산화물 박막을 성막시킬 수 있는 장치이다. 대항 타겟 스퍼터 시스템을 이용하여 성막한 ITO 전극을 DC power, working pressure, Ar/O2 ratio 에 따른 특성을 각각 분석하였다. glass 기판위에 최적화된 ITO 전극을 bottom layer로 두고, bottom ITO layer 위에 thermal evaporation 을 이용하여 Ag 박막을 6~20nm의 조건에 따라 두께를 다르게 성막하고, Ag 박막을 성막한 후에 다시 bottom ITO 전극과 같은 조건으로 ITO 전극을 top layer로 성막 하였다. 두 비정질의 ITO 전극 사이에 매우 앓은 Ag 박막을 성막 함으로 해서 glass 기판위에 ITO/Ag/ITO 다층 박막전극은 매우 낮은 저항과 높은 투과도를 나타낸다. ITO/Ag/ITO 박막의 전기적 광학적 특성을 보기 위해 hall measurement와 UV/visible spectrometer 분석을 각각 진행하였다. ITO/Ag/ITO 다층 박막 전극이 매우 얇은 두께임에도 불구하고 $4\Omega$/sq.의 낮은 면저항과 85%의 높은 투과도를 나타내는 이유는 ITO/Ag/ITO 전극 사이에 있는 Ag층의 표면 플라즈몬 공명 (SPR) 현상으로 설명할 수 있다. ITO/Ag/ITO 전극의 Ag의 거동을 분석 하기위해 FESEM분석과 synchrotron x-ray scattering 분석을 하였다. ITO/Ag/ITO 전극의 Ag층이 islands의 모양에서 연속적으로 연결되는 변화과정 중에 SPR현상이 일어남을 알 수 있다. 여기서, 대항 타겟 스퍼터 시스템을 이용하여 성막한 ITO/Ag/ITO 다층박막을 OLED 또는 inverted OLEDs의 top 전극으로의 적용 가능성을 보이고 있다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.162-169
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• 2017

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films show a low sheet resistance and high transmittance in the visible range of the spectrum. Therefore, they play an important role as transparent electrodes for flat panel displays. However, their resistivity is rather high for use as a transparent electrode in large displays. One way to improve electrical and optical properties in large displays is to use ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films. ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films have lower sheet resistance than single layer ITO films with the same thickness. Prior to the ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer experiments, optimal condition for thickness change are necessary. Their thicknesses were deposited differently in order to analyze electrical and optical properties. However, when optimal single film characteristics are applied to ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films, other phenomena appeared. After analyzing the electrical and optical properties by changing ITO and Ag film thickness, ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films were optimized. By combining ITO film at $586\;{\AA}$ and Ag film at 10 nm, the ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films showed optimized high optical transmittance of 87.65%, and the low sheet resistance of $5.5{\Omega}/sq$.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2022

In this study, we investigated the optical, electrical and exothermic characteristics of ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer structures prepared with various Ag thicknesses on quartz and PI substrates. The transparent conducting properties of the ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer films depended on the thickness of the mid-layer metal film. The ITO/Ag (14 nm)/ITO showed the highest Haccke's figure of merit (FOM) of approximately 19.3×10^-3 Ω^-1. In addition, the exothermic property depended on the substrate. For an applied voltage of 3.7 V, the ITO/Ag (14 nm)/ITO multilayers on quartz and PI substrates were heated up to 110℃ and 200℃, respectively. The bending tests demonstrated a comparable flexibility of the ITO/Ag/IT multilayer to other transparent electrodes, indicating the potential of ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer as a flexible transparent conducting heater.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.490-496
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• 2006

ITO monolayer and ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films are prepared by D.C. magnetron sputtering method. Ag layer was inserted for applying ITO to a flexible substrate at low temperature. Carrier concentration and carrier mobility of ITO and ITO/Ag/ITO thin films were measured, the transmittance of them also was done. The amorphous phase was confirmed to be combined in addition to (400) and (440) peaks from XRD result of ITO thin film. As the substrate temperature increased, the preferred orientation of (400) appeared. From the result of application of Ag layer at room temperature, the growth of columnar structure was inhibited, and the amorphous phase formed mostly. The ITO/Ag/ITO thin film represented the transmittance of above 80% when the thickness of Ag layer was 50 ${\AA}$, and the concentration of carrier increased up to above 10 times than that of ITO thin film. Finally, since very low resistance of 3.9${\Omega}/{\square}$ was observed, the effective application of low temperature process is expected to be possible for ITO thin film.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.50.2-50.2
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• 2010

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)는 투과도가 높고, 전기 전도도가 뛰어나 TFT, 태양전지 등 여러 가지 산업에서 전극의 재료로 널리 사용되고 있다. 전극의 재료로써 가장 중요하게 고려되어야 할 사항 중의 하나는 전극과 접촉하는 물질과의 접촉 저항이다. 특히, 태양전지에서 높은 접촉 저항은 셀을 직렬저항 요소를 증가시켜 태양전지의 효율 저하를 가져 온다. 본 연구에서는 ITO를 실리콘 태양전지에 적용하기 위하여, ITO - n-type emitter간, ITO - Ag 간의 접촉 특성을 Transfer Length Method(TLM)을 통하여 분석하였다. p-type 실리콘의 전면을 도핑하여 pn접합을 형성한 후, 그 위에 ITO 패턴을 형성하여 ITO-emitter 간의 접촉 특성을 측정하였고, 두껍게 증착한 SiNx 박막 전면에 ITO를 증착한 후, Ag 패턴을 형성하여 ITO-Ag간의 접촉 특성을 측정 하였다. 측정 결과, ITO와 emitter 간의 접촉 비저항은 $0.9{\Omega}-cm^2 $을 나타내었고, ITO와 Ag와의 접촉 비저항은 $0.096{\Omega}-cm^2 $을 나타내었다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.740-744
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• 2017

Herein we studied the electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films for application in transparent conducting electrodes. The ITO and Ag thin films were deposited onto soda lime glass (SLG) using radiofrequency and DC-sputtering methods, respectively. The as-synthesized ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films were analyzed using 4-point probe, UV-Visible spectroscopy, and Hall measurement. We observed a rapid increase in electron concentration with increasing Ag thickness. However, electron mobility decreased with increasing Ag thickness. Finally, ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer thin films showed a characteristic low sheet resistance of $18{\Omega}/sq$ and high optical transmittance value (80%) with variation of Ag thickness (5~10 nm).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.350-350
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• 2012

TCO 물질로 널리 사용되는 ITO 박막은 우수한 특성에도 불구하고 투과도와 전기적 특성 사이에 trade-off 현상이 존재하여 상온에서 증착시 두 가지 특성을 향상시키는데 큰 어려움이 있다 [1]. 본 실험에서는 ITO와 Ag embedded ITO (ITO-Ag) 샘플의 Ag의 증착 시간과 열처리에 따른 전기적 및 광학적 특성 변화를 연구하였다. 열처리 전에는 ITO-Ag 샘플들의 비저항이 ITO 보다 향상 되는 것을 확인 하였다. 하지만 ITO-Ag 샘플의 Ag 증착 시간이 증가 할수록 투과도는 예상한 바와 같이 계속 저하됨을 확인하였다. 열처리 이후에는 Figure 1에서와 같이 ITO와 ITO-Ag 샘플 모두 비저항과 투과도가 향상 되는 것을 알 수 있는데, 비저항의 경우 ITO-Ag 샘플 보다 ITO 샘플이 더욱 큰 향상을 나타내었다. 이러한 결과는 열처리 과정에서 일어나는 ITO의 결정화, 산소공공의 형성 등을 Ag가 방해하기 때문으로 사료된다. 하지만 투과도의 경우 Ag가 금속임에도 불구하고 박막을 형성하지 않을 정도로 매우 얇게 증착 되었기 때문에 열처리 이후 투과도가 향상되어 ITO와 ITO-Ag 샘플 모두 비슷한 향상을 나타내었다고 사료된다. 즉, embedded된 Ag는 열처리에 의해 전기적으로는 나쁜 영향을 주지만, as-deposit 상태에서는 순수 ITO 보다 좋은 전기적 특성을 나타냄을 알 수 있었으며, 이러한 결과는 유기물 반도체 소자에 적용 가능 할 것으로 사료된다.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.28-32
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• 2022

We investigated the optical and electrical characteristics of ITO/Ag/ITO (IAI) 3-layer thin films prepared by using RF/DC sputtering. To measure the thickness of all thin film samples, we used scanning electron microscopy. As a function of Ag thickness we characterized the optical transmittance and sheet resistance of the IAI samples by using UV-Visible spectroscopy and Hall measurement system, respectively. While the thickness of both ITO thin films in the 3-layered IAI samples were fixed at 50 nm, we varied Ag layer thickness in the range of 0 nm to 11 nm. The optical transmittance and sheet resistance of the 3-layered IAI thin films were found to vary strongly with the thickness of Ag film in the ITO (50 nm)/Ag(t₀)/ITO (50 nm) thin film. For the best transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrode, we obtained a 3-layered ITO (50 nm)/Ag (t₀ = 8.5 nm)/ITO (50 nm) that showed an avrage optical transmittance, AVT = 90.12% in the visible light region of 380 nm to 780 nm and the sheet resistance, R_□ = 7.24 Ω/□.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.244.1-244.1
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• 2015

The Ag Nanowire is one of the materials that are widely studied as alternatives to ITO and is available for large area, low cost process and the flexible transparent electrode. However, Ag nanowire can have the problem of a lack of stability at high temperatures, making this impossible to form a film. Using a structure of ITO/AgNW/ITO in photodetector device, we improved the properties of the ITO in the IR region and improved the thermal stability of the AgNW. The structure of ITO/AgNW/ITO has a high transmittance value of 89% at a wavelength of 900 nm and provide a good electrical property. The AgNWs embedded ITO film has a high transmittance, this is because of the light scattering from the AgNW. The thermal stability of the developed ITO/AgNWs/ITO films were investigated and found AgNWs embedded ITO films posses considerable high stability compared to the solo AgNWs on the Si surface. The ITO/AgNWs/ITO device showed a improved photo-response ratio compared to those of the conventional TC device in IR region. This is attributed to the high transmittance and low sheet resistance. We suggest an effective design scheme for IR-sensitive photodetection by using an AgNW embedded ITO.