• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.369-376
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• 2023

The quick-charging performance of SiO electrodes is evaluated with a focus on solid electrolyte interphase (SEI)-reinforcing effects. The study reveals that the incorporation of fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) into the SiO electrode significantly reduced the electrode fatigue, which is from the the viscoelastic properties of the FEC-derived SEI film. The impact of FEC is attributed to its ability to minimize the mechanical failure of the electrode caused by additional electrolyte decomposition. This beneficial outcome arises from volumetric stain-tolerant characteristics of the FEC-derived SEI film, which limited exposure of the bare SiO surface during 0.5 C-rate cycling. Notably, FEC greatly improves Li deposition during quick-charge cycles following aging at 0.5 C-rate cycling due to its ability to maintain a strong electrical connection between active materials and the current collector, even after extended cycling. Given these findings, we assert that mitigating SEI layer deterioration, which compromises the electrode structure, is vital. Hence, enhancing the interfacial attributes of the SiO electrode becomes crucial for maintaining kinetic efficiency of battery system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.417-417
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• 2016

Global environmental deterioration has become more serious year by year and thus scientific interests in the renewable energy as environmental technology and replacement of fossil fuels have grown exponentially. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell consisting of semiconductor photoelectrodes that can harvest light and use this energy directly to split water, also known as photoelectrolysis or solar water splitting, is a promising renewable energy technology to produce hydrogen for uses in the future hydrogen economy. A major advantage of PEC systems is that they involve relatively simple processes steps as compared to many other H2 production systems. Until now, a number of materials including TiO2, WO3, Fe2O3, and BiVO4 were exploited as the photoelectrode. However, the PEC performance of these single absorber materials is limited due to their large charge recombinations in bulk, interface and surface, leading low charge separation/transport efficiencies. Recently, coupling of two materials, e.g., BiVO4/WO3, Fe2O3/WO3 and CuWO4/WO3, to form a type II heterojunction has been demonstrated to be a viable means to improve the PEC performance by enhancing the charge separation and transport efficiencies. In this study, we have prepared a triple-layer heterojunction BiVO4/WO3/SnO2 photoelectrode that shows a comparable PEC performance with previously reported best-performing nanostructured BiVO4/WO3 heterojunction photoelectrode via a facile solution method. Interestingly, we found that the incorporation of SnO2 nanoparticles layer in between WO3 and FTO largely promotes electron transport and thus minimizes interfacial recombination. The impact of the SnO2 interfacial layer was investigated in detail by TEM, hall measurement and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. In addition, our planar-structured triple-layer photoelectrode shows a relatively high transmittance due to its low thickness (~300 nm), which benefits to couple with a solar cell to form a tandem PEC device. The overall PEC performance, especially the photocurrent onset potential (Vonset), were further improved by a reactive-ion etching (RIE) surface etching and electrocatalyst (CoOx) deposition.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.202-208
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• 2001

In Recent results suggested that doping $Ta_2O_5$ with a small amount of $TiO_2$ using standard ceramic processing techniques can increase the dielectric constant of $Ta_2O_5$ significantly. In this paper, this concept is studied using RTCVD (Rapid Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition). Ti-doped $Ta_2O_5$ films are deposited using $TaC_{12}H_{30}O_5N$, $C_8H_{24}N_4Ti$, and $O_2$ on both Si and $NH_3$-nitrided Si substrates. An $NH_3$-based interface layer at the Si surface is used to prevent interfacial oxidation during the CVD process and post deposition annealing is performed in $H_2/O_2$ ambient to improve film quality and reduce leakage current. A sputtered TiN layer is used as a diffusion barrier between the Al gate electrode and the $TaTi_xO_y$ dielectric. XPS analyses confirm the formation of a ($Ta_2O_5)_{1-x}(TiO_2)_x$ composite oxide. A high quality $TaTi_xO_y$ gate stack with EOT (Equivalent Oxide Thickness) of $7{\AA}$ and leakage current $Jg=O.5A/textrm{cm}^2$ @ Vg=-1.0V has been achieved. We have also succeeded in forming a $TaTi_x/O_y$ composite oxide by rapid thermal oxidation of the as-deposited CVD TaTi films. The electrical properties and Jg-EOT characteristics of these composite oxides are remarkably similar to that of RTCVD $Ta_2O_5, suggesting that the dielectric constant of $Ta_2O_5$ is not affected by the addition of $TiO_2$.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.106-110
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• 2014

The passivation property of $Al_2O_3$ thin film formed using atomic layer deposition (ALD) for the application of crystalline Si solar cells was investigated using microwave photoconductance decay (${\mu}$-PCD). After post-annealing at $400^{\circ}C$ for 5 min, $Al_2O_3$ thin film exhibited the structural stability having amorphous nature without the interfacial reaction between $Al_2O_3$ and Si. The post-annealing at $400^{\circ}C$ for 5 min led to an increase in the relative effective lifetime of $Al_2O_3$ thin film. This could be associated with the field effective passivation combined with surface passivation of textured Si. The capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) with $Al_2O_3$ thin film post-annealed at $400^{\circ}C$ for 5 min was carried out to evaluate the negative fixed charge of $Al_2O_3$ thin film. From the relationship between flatband voltage ($V_{FB}$) and equivalent oxide thickness (EOT), which were extracted from C-V characteristics, the negative fixed charge of $Al_2O_3$ thin film was calculated to be $2.5{\times}10^{12}cm^{-2}$, of which value was applicable to the passivation layer of n-type crystalline Si solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.162-162
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• 2010

InSb has received great attentions as a promising candidate for the active layer of infrared photodetectors due to the well matched band gap for the detection of $3{\sim}5\;{\mu}m$ infrared (IR) wavelength and high electron mobility (106 cm2/Vs at 77 K). In the fabrication of InSb photodetectors, passivation step to suppress dark currents is the key process and intensive studies were conducted to deposit the high quality passivation layers on InSb. Silicon dioxide (SiO2), silicon nitride (Si3N4) and anodic oxide have been investigated as passivation layers and SiO2 is generally used in recent InSb detector fabrication technology due to its better interface properties than other candidates. However, even in SiO2, indium oxide and antimony oxide formation at SiO2/InSb interface has been a critical problem and these oxides prevent the further improvement of interface properties. Also, the mechanisms for the formation of interface phases are still not fully understood. In this study, we report the quantitative analysis of indium and antimony oxide formation at SiO2/InSb interface during plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition at various growth temperatures and subsequent heat treatments. 30 nm-thick SiO2 layers were deposited on InSb at 120, 160, 200, 240 and $300^{\circ}C$, and analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). With increasing deposition temperature, contents of indium and antimony oxides were also increased due to the enhanced diffusion. In addition, the sample deposited at $120^{\circ}C$ was annealed at $300^{\circ}C$ for 10 and 30 min and the contents of interfacial oxides were analyzed. Compared to as-grown samples, annealed sample showed lower contents of antimony oxide. This result implies that reduction process of antimony oxide to elemental antimony occurred at the interface more actively than as-grown samples.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.37 no.12
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• pp.11-17
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• 2000

We investigated the growth of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) structures which emit blue light. The samples were grown in a low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition system. We examined InGaN/GaN MQWs by varying growth temperatures and thicknesses of InGaN well and GaN barrier layers in MQWs. Especially, the thickness of GaN barrier in InGaN/GaN MQWs was found to severely affect the interfacial abruptness between InGaN well and GaN barrier layers. The higher order satellite peaks in the high resolution x-ray diffraction spectra and the high resolution cross sectional transmission electron microscope image of MQW structrues revealed that the interface between InGaN and GaN layers was very abrupt. Room-temperature photoluminescence spectra also showed a blue emission from InGaN/GaN MQWs at the wavelength of 463.5nm with a narrow full width at half maximum of 72.6meV.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.299-299
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• 2016

SiC는 넓은 에너지갭 (Eg=~3.4 eV)을 갖는 반도체로써, 고전압, 고온에서 동작이 가능하여 기존의 Si기반의 파워디바이스를 대체하기 위한 물질로 많은 연구가 이루어지고 있다. 파워 디바이스의 성능 향상을 위해서는 기판과 절연체 사이의 계면에 생성되는 계면 결함을 감소시켜야 한다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 SiC 기판에 high-k 물질인 HfO2를 증착하여 HfO2/SiC 계면에 유도된 결함을 분석하고 이를 감소시킬 수 있는 방법에 대한 연구를 수행하였다. HfO2 박막은 atomic-layer-deposition (ALD) 방법을 이용하여 SiC 기판 위에 $200^{\circ}C$에서 증착하였다. HfO2 박막 증착 후 NH3 분위기에서 rapid thermal annealing 방법을 이용하여 $600^{\circ}C$에서 1분 동안 열처리 진행하였다. Current-voltage (I-V) 측정을 통해 열처리 전 HfO2/SiC의 절연파괴 전압이 약 8.3 V 임을 확인하였다. NH3 열처리 후 HfO2/SiC의 절연파괴 전압이 10 V로 증가하였으며 누설 전류가 크게 감소하는 것을 확인하였다. 또한 capacitance-voltage (C-V) 측정을 통해 열처리 후 flat band voltage가 negative 방향에서 positive 방향으로 이동함을 확인하였고, 이를 통해 NH3 열처리 방법이 HfO2/SiC 계면에 존재하는 결함을 감소시킬 수 있음을 확인하였다. 전자 구조상의 conduction band edge에 존재하는 결함 준위를 분석하기 위해 x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) 분석을 실시하였고, 열처리 전 HfO2/SiC 계면에 많은 결함 준위가 존재함을 확인하였으며, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) 분석을 통해 이 결함 준위가 oxygen deficiency state과 관련됨을 알 수 있었다. NH3 열처리 후 결과와 비교해보면, oxygen deficiency state가 감소함을 확인하였으며 이로 인해 conduction band edge에 존재하는 결함 준위가 감소함을 알 수 있었다. 따라서, NH3 열처리 방법을 이용하여 HfO2/SiC 계면에 존재하는 결함을 감소시킬 수 있으며, HfO2/SiC의 물리적, 전기적 특성을 향상시킬 수 있다는 결과를 도출하였다.

• Composites Research
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.145-148
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• 2017

Wood powders were surface-modified by plasma-treating propylene to make them compatible with PP matrix in WPC(wood powder composite). The plasma treatment of propylene resulted in the deposition of an ultrathin hydrophobic film which had the chemical structure similar to that of polypropylene. Wood powder and polypropylene were mixed to pellets by twin screw extruder and then 50 wt% wood powder/PP composites were produced by an injection machine. Tensile strength and flexural strength were improved by 7.59% and 12.43% at the maximum respectively. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) observation on the fracture surface revealed that the treatment improved the interfacial bonding and the mechanical properties of the composites.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.160-160
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• 2015

InGaZnO (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) are very promising due to their potential use in high performance display backplane [1]. However, the stability of IGZO TFTs under the various stresses has been issued for the practical IGZO applications [2]. Up to now, many researchers have studied to understand the sub-gap density of states (DOS) as the root cause of instability [3]. Nomura et al. reported that these deep defects are located in the surface layer of the IGZO channel [4]. Also, Kim et al. reported that the interfacial traps can be affected by different RF-power during RF magnetron sputtering process [5]. It is well known that these trap states can influence on the performances and stabilities of IGZO TFTs. Nevertheless, it has not been reported how these defect states are created during conventional RF magnetron sputtering. In general, during conventional RF magnetron sputtering process, negative oxygen ions (NOI) can be generated by electron attachment in oxygen atom near target surface and accelerated up to few hundreds eV by self-bias of RF magnetron sputter; the high energy bombardment of NOIs generates bulk defects in oxide thin films [6-10] and can change the defect states of IGZO thin film. In this study, we have confirmed that the NOIs accelerated by the self-bias were one of the dominant causes of instability in IGZO TFTs when the channel layer was deposited by conventional RF magnetron sputtering system. Finally, we will introduce our novel technology named as Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process [9-10] to eliminate the NOI bombardment effects and present how much to be improved the instability of IGZO TFTs by this new deposition method.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2001

Hafnium oxide thin films for gate dielectric were deposited at $300^{\circ}C$ on p-type Si (100) substrates by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and annealed in $O_2$ and $N_2$ ambient at various temperatures. The effect of hydrogen treatment in 4% $H_2$ at $350^{\circ}C$ for 30 min on the electrical properties of $HfO_2$for gate dielectric was investigated. The flat-band voltage shifts of $HfO_2$capacitors annealed in $O_2$ambient are larger than those in $N_2$ambient because samples annealed in high oxygen partial pressure produces the effective negative charges in films. The oxygen loss in $HfO_2$films was expected in forming gas annealed samples and decreased the excessive oxygen contents in films as-deposited and annealed in $O_2$ or $N_2$ambient. The CET of films after hydrogen forming gas anneal almost did not vary compared with that before hydrogen gas anneal. Hysteresis of $HfO_2$films abruptly decreased by hydrogen forming gas anneal because hysteresis in C-V characteristics depends on the bulk effect rather than $HfO_2$/Si interface. The lower trap densities of films annealed in $O_2$ambient than those in $N_2$were due to the composition of interfacial layer becoming closer to $SiO_2$with increasing oxygen partial pressure. Hydrogen forming gas anneal at $350^{\circ}C$ for samples annealed at various temperatures in $O_2$and $N_2$ambient plays critical role in decreasing interface trap densities at the Si/$SiO_2$ interface. However, effect of forming gas anneal was almost disappeared for samples annealed at high temperature (about $800^{\circ}C$) in $O_2$ or $N_2$ambient.