• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.310-321
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate types and characteristics of chemical substances used in LCD(Liquid crystal display) panel manufacturing process. Methods: The LCD panel manufacturing process is divided into the fabrication(fab) process and module process. The use of chemical substances by process was investigated at four fab processes and two module processes at two domestic TFT-LCD(Thin film transistor-Liquid crystal display) panel manufacturing sites. Results: LCD panels are manufactured through various unit processes such as sputtering, chemical vapor deposition(CVD), etching, and photolithography, and a range of chemicals are used in each process. Metal target materials including copper, aluminum, and indium tin oxide are used in the sputtering process, and gaseous materials such as phosphine, silane, and chlorine are used in CVD and dry etching processes. Inorganic acids such as hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid and sulfuric acid are used in wet etching process, and photoresist and developer are used in photolithography process. Chemical substances for the alignment of liquid crystal, such as polyimides, liquid crystals, and sealants are used in a liquid crystal process. Adhesives and hardeners for adhesion of driver IC and printed circuit board(PCB) to the LCD panel are used in the module process. Conclusions: LCD panels are produced through dozens of unit processes using various types of chemical substances in clean room facilities. Hazardous substances such as organic solvents, reactive gases, irritants, and toxic substances are used in the manufacturing processes, but periodic workplace monitoring applies only to certain chemical substances by law. Therefore, efforts should be made to minimize worker exposure to chemical substances used in LCD panel manufacturing process.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.55-60
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• 2019

Polymer:nonfullerene solar cells with an inverted-type device structure were fabricated by employing the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) active layers, which are composed of poly[(2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophene-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene))-alt-(5,5-(1',3'-di-2-thienyl-5',7-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1',2'-c:4',5'-c']dithiophene-4,8-dione))] (PBDB-T) and 3,9-bis(6-methyl-2-methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d:2',3-d']-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b']dithiophene (IT-M). The BHJ layers were formed on a pre-patterned indium-tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrate by spin-coating using the blend solutions of PBDB-T and IT-M. The solar cell performances were investigated with respect to the cell position on the ITO-glass substrates. In addition, the short-term shelf lifetime of solar cells was tested by storing the PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells in a glovebox filled with inert gas. The results showed that the performance of solar cells was relatively higher for the cells close to the center of substrates, which was maintained even after storage for 24 h. In particular, the PCE of PBDB-T:IT-M solar cells was marginally decreased after storage for 24 h owing to the slightly reduced fill factor, even though the open circuit voltage was unchanged after 24 h.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2009

Indium tin oxide(ITO) thin films were deposited on the glass substrates by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method. The influence of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment on the optical and electrical properties of the films were investigated for the purpose of fabricating plasma display signboard. Structural properties, surface roughness, sheet resistance and transmittance of the ITO film were analysed by using x-ray diffraction method, atomic force microscopy (AFM), four point prove, and ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, respectively. It was found that the RTA treatment increased the transmittance and decreased the resistivity of the ITO film, respectively. Furthermore, we successfully demonstrated the direct-current plasma signboard by using ITO electrode and phosphors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.151-151
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• 2009

Recently, there has been increasing interest in amorphous oxide semiconductors to find alternative materials for an amorphous silicon or organic semiconductor layer as a channel in thin film transistors(TFTs) for transparent electronic devices owing to their high mobility and low photo-sensitivity. The fabriction of amorphous oxide-based TFTs at room temperature on plastic substrates is a key technology to realize transparent flexible electronics. Amorphous oxides allows for controllable conductivity, which permits it to be used both as a transparent semiconductor or conductor, and so to be used both as active and source/drain layers in TFTs. One of the materials that is being responsible for this revolution in the electronics is indium-zinc-tin oxide(IZTO). Since this is relatively new material, it is important to study the properties of room-temperature deposited IZTO thin films and exploration in a possible integration of the material in flexible TFT devices. In this research, we deposited IZTO thin films on polyethylene naphthalate substrate at room temperature by using magnetron sputtering system and investigated their properties. Furthermore, we revealed the fabrication and characteristics of top-gate-type transparent TFTs with IZTO layers, seen in Fig. 1. The experimental results show that by varying the oxygen flow rate during deposition, it can be prepared the IZTO thin films of two-types; One a conductive film that exhibits a resistivity of $2\times10^{-4}$ ohm${\cdot}$cm; the other, semiconductor film with a resistivity of 9 ohm${\cdot}$cm. The TFT devices with IZTO layers are optically transparent in visible region and operate in enhancement mode. The threshold voltage, field effect mobility, on-off current ratio, and sub-threshold slope of the TFT are -0.5 V, $7.2\;cm^2/Vs$, $\sim10^7$ and 0.2 V/decade, respectively. These results will contribute to applications of select TFT to transparent flexible electronics.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.459-467
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• 2009

$Cd_2GeSe_4$ and $Cd_2GeSe_4:Co^{2+}$ films were prepared on indium-tin-oxide(ITO)-coated glass substrates by using thermal evaporation. The crystallization was achieved by annealing the as-deposited films in flowing nitrogen. X-ray diffraction spectra showed that the $Cd_2GeSe_4$ and the $Cd_2GeSe_4:Co^{2+}$ films were preferentially grown along the (113) orientation. The crystal structure was rhomohedral(hexagonal) with lattice constants of $a=7.405\;{\AA}$ and $c=36.240\;{\AA}$ for $Cd_2GeSe_4$ and $a=7.43\;{\AA}$ and $c=36.81\;{\AA}$ for $Cd_2GeSe_4:Co^{2+}$ films. From the scanning electron microscope images, the $Cd_2GeSe_4$ and $Cd_2GeSe_4:Co^{2+}$ films were plated, and the grain size increased with increasing annealing temperature. The optical energy band gap, measured at room temperature, of the as-deposited $Cd_2GeSe_4$ films was 1.70 eV and increased to about 1.74 eV and of the as-deposited $Cd_2GeSe_4:Co^{2+}$ films was 1.79 eV and decreased to about 1.74 eV upon annealing in flowing nitrogen at temperatures from $200^{\circ}C$ to $500^{\circ}C$. The dynamical behavior of the charge carriers in the $Cd_2GeSe_4$ and $Cd_2GeSe_4:Co^{2+}$ films were investigated by using the photoinduced discharge characteristics technique.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.93-96
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• 2011

Currently, the development of direct conversion radiation detector using photoconductor materials is progressing in widely. Among of theses photoconductor materials, mercuric iodide compound than amorphous selenium has excellent absorption and sensitivity of high energy radiation. Also, the detection efficiency of signal generated in photoconductor film varies by electric filed and geometric distribution according to top-bottom electrode size. Therefore, in this work, the x-ray detection characteristics are investigated about the size of top electrode in $HgI_2$ photoconductor film. For sample fabrication, to solve the problem that is difficult to make a large area film, we used the spatial paste screen-print method. And the sample thickness is $150{\mu}m$ and an film area size is $3cm{\times}3cm$ on ITO-coated glass substrate. ITO(Indium-Tin-Oxide) electrode was used as top electrode using a magnetron sputtering system and each area is $3cm{\times}3cm$, $2cm{\times}2cm$ and $1cm{\times}1cm$. From experimental measurement, the dark current, sensitivity and SNR of the $HgI_2$ film are obtained from I-V test. From the experimental results, it shows that the sensitivity increases in accordance with the area of the electrode but the SNR is decreased because of the high dark current. Therefore, the optimized size of electrode is importance for the development of photoconductor based x-ray imaging detector.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.463-463
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• 2014

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have generated a strong interest in the development of solid-state devices owing to their low cost and simple preparation procedures. Effort has been devoted to the study of electrolytes that allow light-to-electrical power conversion for DSSC applications. Several attempts have been made to substitute the liquid electrolyte in the original solar cells by using (2,2',7,7'-tetrakis (N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9-9'-spirobi-fluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) that act as hole conductor [1]. Although efficiencies above 3% have been reached by several groups, here the major challenging is limited photoelectrode thickness ($2{\mu}m$), which is very low due to electron diffusion length (Ln) for spiro-OMeTAD ($4.4{\mu}m$) [2]. In principle, the $TiO_2$ layer can be thicker than had been thought previously. This has important implications for the design of high-efficiency solid-state DSSCs. In the present study, we have fabricated 3-D Transparent Conducting Oxide (TCO) by growing tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) nanowire (NWs) arrays via a vapor transport method [3] and mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanoparticle (NP)-based photoelectrodes were prepared using doctor blade method. Finally optimized light-harvesting solid-state DSSCs is made using 3-D TCO where electron life time is controlled the recombination rate through fast charge collection and also ITO NWs length can be controlled in the range of over $2{\mu}m$ and has been characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Structural analyses by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) results reveal that the ITO NWs formed single crystal oriented [100] direction. Also to compare the charge collection properties of conventional NPs based solid-state DSSCs with ITO NWs based solid-state DSSCs, we have studied intensity modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMVS), intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS) and transient open circuit voltages. As a result, above $4{\mu}m$ thick ITO NWs based photoelectrodes with Z907 dye shown the best performing device, exhibiting a short-circuit current density of 7.21 mA cm-2 under simulated solar emission of 100 mW cm-2 associated with an overall power conversion efficiency of 2.80 %. Finally, we achieved the efficiency of 7.5% by applying a CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite sensitizer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.383-383
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• 2014

최근 디스플레이, 태양전지 그리고 touch screen panels 등 optoelectronic 장치의 시장이 성장함에 따라 투명전극의 수요가 증가하고 있다. Indium tin oxide (ITO)의 좋은 특성 때문에 주로 투명전극에 많이 사용되고 있다. 그러나 화학적 안정성이 떨어지고, 휘어질 때 특성저하가 심하여 금속나노와이어, 탄소나노튜브, 전도성폴리머, 그리고 그래핀 등의 다른 투명전극의 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 그 중에서 그래핀은 높은 전자 이동도(200000 cm2v-1s-1)와 휘어져도 전기적 크게 변하지 않는 특성 때문에 유망한 투명 전도성 전극 (Transparent Conductive Electrodes, TCEs)으로 연구되어왔다. 또한 다양한 속성 가운데, 높은 광 투과성은 그래핀의 가장 큰 장점이다 [1]. 최근, 화학 기상 증착 (Chemical Vapor Deposition, CVD) 등 다양한 제조 방법이 대량 생산을 위해 개발되었다. 그러나 이 방법은 비용이 많이 들며, 과정이 상당히 복잡하고 높은 온도 (${\sim}1000^{\circ}C$)를 필요로 한다. 따라서 용매 기반의 환원된 그래핀 산화물(Reduced Graphene Oxides, RGOs)이 최근 주목 받고 있다. 그러나 RGOs의 면저항이 높아 전극으로서 사용이 제한된다. 따라서 전기적 특성을 향상시키는 방법으로 단일 벽 탄소 나노튜브 (Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes, SWNTs)를 혼합하거나 화학적 도핑을 통하여 면저항을 크게 향상시키는 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 그러나 이런 화학적 도핑의 경우 박막이 공기 중에 직접 산소나 습기와 반응하여 전기적 특성이 저하되는 문제점을 가지고 있다 [2]. 이러한 문제를 해결하기 위해 AuCl3을 도핑한 박막에 내열성 및 내광성 등의 화학적 안정성이 뛰어난 PEDOT:PSS를 코팅하여 필름의 공기중의 노출을 막아 줌으로써 도핑의 안전성 및 전기적 특성을 최적화하였다. 본 연구에서는 간단한 dip-coating방법을 사용하여 4개의 RGO/SWNTs 박막을 흡착하였다. 다음으로 AuCl3를 도핑하여 면저항 $4.909K{\Omega}$, $4.381K{\Omega}$인 두 개의 샘플의 시간과 온도에 따른 면저항의 변화를 확인하였다. 그리고 필름의 도핑 안전성을 향상 시키기 위해 AuCl3를 도핑한 필름 위에 전도성 폴리머 PEDOT:PSS 코팅하여 면저항 $886.1{\Omega}$, $837.5{\Omega}$인 두 개의 샘플의 시간과 온도에 따른 면저항의 변화를 확인하였다. AuCl3 도핑된 필름의 경우 공기 중에 150시간 노출 시 72%의 면저항 증가가 발생하였지만 PEDOT:PSS가 코팅된 필름의 경우 5%의 면저항 증가가 나타나 확연한 차이를 보였다. 또한 AuCl3 도핑한 필름의 경우 $150^{\circ}C$에서 60시간동안 공기중에 노출되었을 때 525%의 면저항 증가가 발생하였지만 PEDOT:PSS가 코팅된 필름의 경우 58%의 면저항 증가를 나타내었다. 이것은 PEDOT:PSS가 passivation역할을 하여 필름이 공기에 노출된 부분을 막아주어 도핑된 필름의 면저항의 변화를 줄여 주었음을 알 수 있다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.288-289
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• 2011

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) is a typical highly Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) currently used as a transparent electrode material. Most widely used deposition method is the sputtering process for ITO film deposition because it has a high deposition rate, allows accurate control of the film thickness and easy deposition process and high electrical/optical properties. However, to apply high quality ITO thin film in a flexible microelectronic device using a plastic substrate, conventional DC magnetron sputtering (DMS) processed ITO thin film is not suitable because it needs a high temperature thermal annealing process to obtain high optical transmittance and low resistivity, while the generally plastic substrates has low glass transition temperatures. In the room temperature sputtering process, the electrical property degradation of ITO thin film is caused by negative oxygen ions effect. This high energy negative oxygen ions(about over 100eV) can be critical physical bombardment damages against the formation of the ITO thin film, and this damage does not recover in the room temperature process that does not offer thermal annealing. Hence new ITO deposition process that can provide the high electrical/optical properties of the ITO film at room temperature is needed. To solve these limitations we develop the Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) system. The MFSS is based on DMS and it has the plasma limiter, which compose the permanent magnet array (Fig.1). During the ITO thin film deposition in the MFSS process, the electrons in the plasma are trapped by the magnetic field at the plasma limiters. The plasma limiter, which has a negative potential in the MFSS process, prevents to the damage by negative oxygen ions bombardment, and increases the heat(-) up effect by the Ar ions in the bulk plasma. Fig. 2. shows the electrical properties of the MFSS ITO thin film and DMS ITO thin film at room temperature. With the increase of the sputtering pressure, the resistivity of DMS ITO increases. On the other hand, the resistivity of the MFSS ITO slightly increases and becomes lower than that of the DMS ITO at all sputtering pressures. The lowest resistivity of the DMS ITO is $1.0{\times}10-3{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ and that of the MFSS ITO is $4.5{\times}10-4{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$. This resistivity difference is caused by the carrier mobility. The carrier mobility of the MFSS ITO is 40 $cm^2/V{\cdot}s$, which is significantly higher than that of the DMS ITO (10 $cm^2/V{\cdot}s$). The low resistivity and high carrier mobility of the MFSS ITO are due to the magnetic field shielded effect. In addition, although not shown in this paper, the roughness of the MFSS ITO thin film is lower than that of the DMS ITO thin film, and TEM, XRD and XPS analysis of the MFSS ITO show the nano-crystalline structure. As a result, the MFSS process can effectively prevent to the high energy negative oxygen ions bombardment and supply activation energies by accelerating Ar ions in the plasma; therefore, high quality ITO can be deposited at room temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.6-13
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• 2006

Tin doped indium oxide(ITO) and Al doped zinc oxide(ZnO:Al) films, which are widely used as a transparent conductor in optoelectronic devices, were prepared by using the capacitively coupled DC magnetron sputtering method. ITO and ZnO:Al films with the optimum growth conditions showed each resistivity of $1.67{\times}10^{-3}[{\Omega}-cm],\;2.2{\times}10^{-3}[{\Omega}-cm]$ and transmittance of 89.61[%], 90.88[%] in the wavelength range of the visible spectrum. The two types of 5 inch-PDP cells with ZnO:Al and ITO transparent electrodes were made under the same manufacturing conditions. The PDP cell with ZnO:Al film was optimally operated in the mixing gas rate of Ne(base)-Xe(8[%]), and at gas pressure of 400[Torr]. It also shows the average measured brightness of $836[cd/m^2]$ at voltage range of $200{\sim}300$[V]. Luminous efficiency, one of the key parameter for high brightness and low power consumption, ranges from 1.2 to 1.6[lm/W] with increasing frequency of ac power supplier from 10 to 50[Khz]. The brightness and luminous efficiency are lower than those with ITO electrode by about 10[%]. However, these values are considered to be enough for the normal operation of PDP TV.