• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.486-491
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• 2017

Silver nanowire (AgNW) transparent electrode is one of next generations of flexible and transparent electrode. The electrode shows high conductivity and high transparency comparable to ITO. However, the electrode is weak against heat. The wires are separated into nanodots at temperature above $200^{\circ}C$. It causes the electrical resistance increase. Moreover, it is vulnerable to oxygen and moisture in the atmosphere. The improvement of thermal and moisture resistance of silver nanowire transparent electrode is the most important for commercializing. We proposed silver nanowires transparent electrode which is capped with very thin nickel oxide layer. The nickel oxide layer is five nanometers of thickness, but the heat and moisture resistance of the transparent electrode is effectively improved. The AgNW/NiO electrode can endure at $300^{\circ}C$ of temperature for 30 minutes, and resistance is not increased for 180 hours at $85^{\circ}C$ of temperature and 85% of relative humidity. We showed an applications of transparent and flexible heater using the electrode, the heater is operated more than $180^{\circ}C$ of temperature.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.242-248
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• 2014

Flexibility of a transparent device has been required in accordance with miniaturization and mobilization needs in recent industry. The most representative material used as a transparent electrode is indium tin oxide (ITO). However, a couple of disadvantages of ITO are the exhaustion of natural resource of indium and its inflexibility due to inorganic substance. To overcome the limit of ITO, a variety of alternative materials have been researched on development of transparent electrodes and its properties through composite materials. In this review, we classify some of emerged materials with their general studies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.299-299
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• 2013

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) has widely been used as a transparent conductive oxide (TCE) for photovoltaic devices. Lately, flexibility of ITO becomes an issue as demand of flexible device increases. Several scientists have tried to substitute ITO to different materials such as conductive polymer, graphene, CNT, and metal nanowire because of ITO brittleness. Among the substitute materials, PEDOT:PSS has mostly paid attention because PEDOT:PSS has excellent flexibility and good conductivity. The conductivity of PEDOT:PSS increases up to 1000 S/cm with additives such as DMSO, EG, sorbitol, and so on. In our research group, we introduce a conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS as a buffer layer to improve not only flexibility but also conductivity. As PEDOT:PSS layer forms beneath ITO thin film (20 nm), sheet resistance decreases from $230{\Omega}$/${\Box}$ to $85{\Omega}$/${\Box}$ and crack initiation decreases from 4.5 mm to 3.5 mm as well. We have fabricated organic photovoltaic device and power conversion efficiencies using conventional ITO electrode and ITO/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode. The photovoltaic property such as power conversion efficiency for ITO/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode is comparable to the value obtained using conventional ITO electrode on glass substrate.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.547-547
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• 2012

As displays become larger and solar cells become cheaper, there is an increasing need for low-cost transparent electrodes. Intensive effort has been made to replace ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) based transparent electrode with cheap and flexible ones. Among those, silver nanowires have got limelight because of its great conductivity and flexibility. Even though the electric property of the Ag nanowire based transparent electrode surpassed ITO, the optical property needs to be improved (lower transmittance, higher haze). Here, we reported transparent electrode based on Ag nanowires and conducting polymer to improve optical properties. The Ag nanowires are coated onto PET films and the resulting transparent electrode film shows $200ohm/{\Box}$ resistance and > 90% optical transmittance.

• Ceramist
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.12-23
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• 2018

As the flexible displays have been considered as a breakthrough to make a new electronics category, transparent electrodes have also confronted with an emerging issue, i.e., they also need to be mechanically flexible. For this to be made possible, a transparent electrode capable of withstanding large amounts of strain must be developed. Indium tin oxide (ITO) has been one of the most widely adopted transparent electrodes for displays and other transparent electronics, mainly supported by its high electrical conductivity and optical transparency. However, its brittle nature has forced the display industry to search for other alternatives. Recently, advances in nano-material researches have opened the door for various transparent conductive materials, which include carbon nanotube, graphene, Ag and Cu nanowire, and printable metal grids. Here we reviewed recently-published research works introducing flexible displays, all of which are employing the novel candidates for a conducting material.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.182.2-182.2
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• 2015

최근 학계나 산업계에서 투명 전자 소자에 대하여 활발한 연구가 진행되면서, 투명 전 도성 산화물(TCO: transparent conductive oxide)에 대한 관심이 높아지고 있다. 대표적인 TCO 물질인 Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)는 가시 광 영역에서의 높은 투과 및 높은 도전성을 가져 전압을 인가하면 발열이 가능하므로 이를 투명 면상 발열체에 적용시키는 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 하지만, ITO는 발열 테스트 결과 온도가 상승함에 따라 발열이 일부분에 집중되는 현상이 있으며, 전도성을 높이기 위하여 추가공정이 필요하다. 또한, 글라스의 곡면 부분에서 ITO를 사용하면 유연성이 부족하므로 크랙이 발생한다는 단점이 있다. 따라서, 최근 Silver nanowire (AgNW), Single-walled Carbon nanotube (SWCNT), ITO를 기반으로 한 AgNW에 ITO를 증착 하거나 SWCNT를 코팅하여 우수한 전기적, 광학적 특성을 지닌 하이브리드 전극이 투명 면상 발열체 재료로서 사용되고 있다. 하지만 대체된 재료들도 다양한 문제점을 가지고 있다. 예를 들어 고온에서 발열을 유지하지 못하고 끊어지거나 가시광영역의 투과율이 낮은 점 등이 있다. 이런 다양한 문제점들을 보완 할 수 있는 새로운 투명 면상 발열체에 적용한 연구가 요구되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 GZO/Ag/GZO 하이브리드 구조의 투명 면상 발열체를 제작하여 전기적, 광학적 특성을 비교하고 발열량, 온도 균일 성, 발열 유지 안정도를 확인하였다. 본 연구에서는 $50{\times}50mm$ 크기의 Non-alkali glass (삼성코닝 E2000) 기판 상에 DC마그네트론 스퍼터링 공정을 이용하여 상온에서 GZO, Ag, GZO 박막을 연속적으로 증착 하여 다층구조의 하이브리드형 투명 면상 발열체를 제조하였다. 박막 증착 파워는 DC (Ag) power 50 W, RF (GZO) power 200 W로 하였으며 GZO박막두께는 45 nm로 고정 시키고 Ag박막 두께는 5~20 nm로 변화를 주었다. 증착원은 3인치 GZO 세라믹 타깃 (2.27 wt. % Ga2O3) 과 Ag 금속 타깃 (순도 99.99%)을 사용하였으며, Ar을 40 sccm 주입 후 Working pressure는 고 순도 Ar을 사용하여 1.0 Pa로 고정하며 10분간 Pre-sputtering을하고 증착을 진행하였다. 앞선 실험을 통해 증착한 박막의 전기적, 광학적 특성은 각각 Hall-effect measurements system (ECOPIA, HMS3000), UV-Vis spectrophotometer (UV-1800, Shimadzu)를 사용해 측정 되었으며, 하이브리드 표면의 구조 및 형상은 FESEM으로 관찰하였다. 또한 표면온도 측정기infrared camera (IR camera)를 이용하여 4~12 V/cm의 전압을 인가 시 시간에 따른 투명 면상 발열체의 표면 온도변화를 관찰하였다.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2014

Flexible transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) have recently attracted a great deal of attention owing to rapid advances in flexible electronic devices, such as flexible displays, flexible photovoltanics, and e-papers. As the performance and reliability of flexible electronics are critically affected by the quality of TCE films, it is imperative to develop TCE films with low resistivity and high transparency as well as high flexibility. Indium tin oxide (ITO) has been the most dominant transparent conducting material due to its high optical transparency and electrical conductivity. However, ITO is susceptible to cracking and delamination when it is bent or deformed. Therefore, various types of flexible TCEs, such as carbon nanotube, conducting polymers, graphene, metal mesh, Ag nanowires (NWs), and metal mesh have been extensively investigated. Among several options to replace ITO film, Ag NWs and metal mesh have been suggested as the promising candidate for flexible TCEs. In this paper, we focused on Ag NWs and metal mesh, and summarized the current development status of Ag NWs and metal mesh. The several critical issues such as high contact resistance and haze are discussed, and newly developed technologies to resolve these issues are also presented. In particular, the flexibility and durability of Ag NWs and metal mesh was compared with ITO electrode.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.182-189
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• 2020

Indium tin oxide (ITO) used a transparent electrode of a photoelectric device has a low sheet resistance and a high transmittance. However, ITO is disadvantageous in that the process cost is expensive, and the process time is long. Silver nanowires (AgNWs) transparent electrodes are based on a low cost solution process. In addition, it has attracted attention as a next-generation transparent electrode material that replaces ITO because it has similar electrical and optical characteristic to ITO, it is noted as a. AgNW thin films are mainly produced by spin-coating. However, the spin-coating process has a disadvantage of high material loss. In this study, the material loss was reduced by using about 2~10 ㎕ of AgNW solution on a (25 × 25) ㎟ substrate using the shear-coating method. It was also possible to align AgNWs in the drag direction by dragging the meniscus of the solution. The electro-optical properties of the AgNW thin film were adjusted by changing the experimental parameters that the amount of AgNWs suspension, the gap between the substrate and the blade, and the coating speed. As a result, AgNW thin films with a transmittance of 90.7 % at a wavelength of 550 nm and a sheet resistance of 15 Ω/□ was deposited and exhibited similar properties to similar AgNW transparent electrodes studied by other researchers.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.189-194
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• 2023

Recently, various studies on flexible electronic devices have been performed. In this study, the potential of Ag nanowires was evaluated as a material to replace the ITO transparent conductive film. Ag nanomaterials were formed on the glass by a novel brush coating method and an argon plasma evaporation method based on atmospheric pressure plasma. First, the Ag solution is coated on the glass with a brush, and the remaining solvent is removed with atmospheric plasma. During this process of solvent evaporation, a sound is generated by the reaction between the atmospheric plasma and the solvent. Therefore, the remaining amount of the solvent can be confirmed. In order to observe optical properties and electrical results such as reflectance, transmittance, and absorbance according to the number of coatings of the film, the results were analyzed by coating up to 5 times. For the purpose of investigating the interaction of light with Ag nanowires, reflectance and transmittance were measured while changing the wavelength of light from 200 nm to 800 nm. In the case of absorbance, the trend of increasing light absorption of the Ag nanowires according to the coating was clearly confirmed. The electrical properties showed a great change from the time of coating more than 4 times, and in particular, the resistance value was lower than kΩ/cm2 when the coating was applied 5 times. Based on these optical and electrical results, we plan to verify the possibility of a transparent conductive film by applying it to electronic devices in the future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.378-379
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• 2012

ITO 만큼 높은 전도성과 광학적 투과성을 갖는 Al-doped ZnO (AZO) 박막을 DC-Pulse magnetron sputtering을 이용하여 40 nm 두께로 증착 후 리소그라피 공정을 통해 $30{\mu}m$ 간격으로 패터닝 하였다. 간격 30 ${\mu}m$로 배열된 AZO를 촉매층으로 하는 수열합성법을 리사이클 공정을 반복하여 수행하여 ZnO 나노선을 성장시켰다. 이와 같이 AZO 전극 사이에 길이 $30{\mu}m$의 ZnO 나노선이 래터럴 구조로 연결된 소자의 $NH_3$ 가스감지 특성을 조사하였다. 합성된 나노선의 전기적, 광학적, 구조적인 특성을 분석하여 높은 가스 감지도를 예상할 수 있는 특성을 확인하였다. 제작된 가스센서를 진공 챔버에 설치 후 양 전극간에 동작전압(Operating voltage)을 1 V로 인가하여 고정한 후에 $NH_3$를 주입(Injection)과 퍼지(Purge)를 반복하며 그 주입량(10 ppm, 20 ppm, 40 ppm, 60 ppm)에 변화를 주었고, 그에 따른 전류변화를 관찰하여 $NH_3$ 가스감지특성을 평가하였다.