• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.473.1-473.1
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• 2014

We report on the characteristics of Zr-doped $In_2O_3$ (IZrO) films prepared by DC-RF magnetron cosputtering of $In_2O_3$ and $ZrO_2$ targets for use as a transparent electrode for high efficient organic solar cells (OSCs). The effect of $ZrO_2$ doping power on electrical, optical, structural, and surface morphology of the IZrO film was investigated in detail. At optimized $ZrO_2$ RF power of 50 W, the IZrO film exhibited a low sheet resistance of 20.71 Ohm/square, and a high optical transmittance of 83.9 %. Furthermore, the OSC with the IZrO anode showed a good cell-performance: fill factor of 61.71 %, short circuit current (Jsc) of $8.484mA/cm^2$, open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.593 V, and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.106 %. In particular, the overall OSC characteristics of the cell with the IZrO anode were comparable to those of the OSC with the conventional Sn-doped $In_2O_3$ (FF of 65.03 %, Jsc of $8.833mA/cm^2$, Voc of 0.608 V, PCE of 3.495 %), demonstrating that the IZrO anode is a promising alternative to ITO anode in OSCs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.341-341
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• 2012

Recently, oxide semi-conductor materials have been investigated as promising candidates replacing a-Si:H and poly-Si semiconductor because they have some advantages of a room-temperature process, low-cost, high performance and various applications in flexible and transparent electronics. Particularly, amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) is an interesting semiconductor material for use in flexible thin film transistor (TFT) fabrication due to the high carrier mobility and low deposition temperatures. In this work, we demonstrated improvement of flexibility in IGZO TFTs, which were fabricated on polyimide (PI) substrate. At first, a thin poly-4vinyl phenol (PVP) layer was spin coated on PI substrate for making a smooth surface up to 0.3 nm, which was required to form high quality active layer. Then, Ni gate electrode of 100 nm was deposited on the bare PVP layer by e-beam evaporator using a shadow mask. The PVP and $Al_2O_3$ layers with different thicknesses were used for organic/inorganic multi gate dielectric, which were formed by spin coater and atomic layer deposition (ALD), respectively, at $200^{\circ}C$. 70 nm IGZO semiconductor layer and 70 nm Al source/drain electrodes were respectively deposited by RF magnetron sputter and thermal evaporator using shadow masks. Then, IGZO layer was annealed on a hotplate at $200^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour. Standard electrical characteristics of transistors were measured by a semiconductor parameter analyzer at room temperature in the dark and performance of devices then was also evaluated under static and dynamic mechanical deformation. The IGZO TFTs incorporating hybrid gate dielectrics showed a high flexibility compared to the device with single structural gate dielectrics. The effects of mechanical deformation on the TFT characteristics will be discussed in detail.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.411-412
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• 2008

We have studied a property change of organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) due to an indium tin oxide (ITO) surface reformation. The characteristics of OLED were improved by oxygen plasma processing of an ITO in this work. ITO is widely used as a transparent electrode in light-emitting devices, and the OLED device performance is sensitive to the surface properties of the ITO. The OLED devices with the structure of ITO/TPD(50nm)/$Alq_3$(70nm)/LiF(0.5nm)/Al(100nm) were fabricated, and the surface properties of ITO were investigated by using various characterization techniques. The oxygen plasma process of an ITO was processed by using RF power of 125W and oxygen partial pressure of $2\times10^{-2}$ Torr. The oxygen plasma processing of an ITO processed for 0/1/2/3/4min. Current-voltage-luminance characteristics of the devices show that turn-on voltage is 4V for 2min device and the luminance reaches about 27,000cd/$m^2$ for 4min device. The current efficiency shows that 3min device becomes saturated to be about 8cd/ A. They show that emission was from the $Alq_3$ layer, because the peak wavelength is about 525nm. View angle-dependent emission spectra show that the emission intensity decreases as the angle increases.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.78-84
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• 2009

In this paper, ZnO:Al thin film was deposited on polyethylene terephthalate(PET) substrate by capacitively coupled r. f. magnetron sputtering method from a ZnO target mixed with 2wt[%] Al2O3 to investigate the possible application of ZnO:Al film as a transparent conducting electrode for film typed DSCs. The effect of substrate bias on the electrical properties and film structure were studied. The results showed that a positive bias applied to the substrate during sputtering contributed to an improvement of electrical properties of the film by attracting electrons in the plasma to bombard the growing films. These bombardments provided additional energy to the growing ZnO:Al film on the substrate, resulting in significant variations in film structure and electrical properties. Electrical resistivity of the film decreases significantly as the positive bias increases up to +30[V] However, as the positive bias increases over +30[V], the resistivity decreases. The transmittance varies little as the substrate bias is increased from 0 to +60[V], and as r. f. powers increases from 160[W] to 240[W]. The film with electrical resistivity as low as $1.8{\times}10^{-3}[{\Omega}-cm]$ and optical transmittance of about 87.8[%] were obtained for 1,012[nm] thick film deposited with a substrate bias of +30[V].

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.87-87
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• 2010

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems are promising methods of producing H2 gas using solar energy in an aqueous solution. The photoelectrochemical properties of numerous metal oxides have been studied. Among them, the PEC systems based on TiO2 have been extensively studied. However, the drawback of a PEC system with TiO2 is that only ultraviolet (UV) light can be absorbed because of its large band gap (3.2 - 3.4 eV). Two approaches have been introduced in order to use PEC cells in the visible light region. The first method includes doping impurities, such as nitrogen, into TiO2, and this technique has been extensively studied in an attempt to narrow the band gap. In comparison, research on the second method, which includes visible light water splitting in molecular photosystems, has been slow. Mallouk et al. recently developed electrochemical water-splitting cells using the Ru(II) complex as the visible light photosensitizer. the dye-sensitized PEC cell consisted of a dye-sensitized TiO2 layer, a Pt counter electrode, and an aqueous solution between them. Under a visible light (< 3 eV) illumination, only the dye molecule absorbed the light and became excited because TiO2 had the wide band gap. The light absorption of the dye was followed by the transfer of an electron from the excited state (S*) of the dye to the conduction band (CB) of TiO2 and its subsequent transfer to the transparent conducting oxide (TCO). The electrons moved through the wire to the Pt, where the water reduction (or H2 evolution) occurred. The oxidized dye molecules caused the water oxidation because their HOMO level was below the H2O/O2 level. Organic dyes have been developed as metal-free alternatives to the Ru(II) complexes because of their tunable optical and electronic properties and low-cost manufacturing. Recently, organic dye molecules containing multi-branched, multi-anchoring groups have received a great deal of interest. In this work, tri-branched tri-anchoring organic dyes (Dye 2) were designed and applied to visible light water-splitting cells based on dye-sensitized TiO2 electrodes. Dye 2 had a molecular structure containing one donor (D) and three acceptor (A) groups, and each ended with an anchoring functionality. In comparison, mono-anchoring dyes (Dye 1) were also synthesized. The PEC response of the Dye 2-sensitized TiO2 film was much better than the Dye 1-sensitized or unsensitized TiO2 films.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2014

Recently, the buffer layers consisting of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT-PSS) are extensively used to improve power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells. However, PEDOT-PSS is not suitable for mass production of organic solar cells due to its intrinsic acid and hygroscopic properties. Moreover, because of chemical reactions between indium tin oxide (ITO) layer and PEDOT-PSS layer, the interface is not stable. For these reasons, alternative materials such as $V_2O_5$ have been developed to be an effective buffer layer. In this work, we used $V_2O_5$/Ag/ITO multilayer structure for the anode buffer layer. With variation of thickness of Ag layer, we investigated the optical and electrical properties of $V_2O_5$/Ag/ITO multi-layer films. As a result, we found that the electrical properties were improved with increasing Ag thickness while optical transmittance decreases in visible wavelength region. From the calculation of figure of merit (FOM) which is used to evaluate proper structure for transparent of optoelectronic, $V_2O_5$/Ag/ITO multilayer electrode was optimized with 4 nm thick Ag layer in optical (88% in transmittance) and electrical ($4{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}cm$) properties. This indicates that $V_2O_5$/Ag/ITO multilayer electrode could be a candidate for the anode of optoelectronic devices.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.447-454
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• 2014

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have intensively studied in recent years due to their advantages such as cost effectiveness and possibility of applications in flexible devices. In spite of the high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10 %, the OSCs still have a draw back of their low environmental stability due to the oxidization of aluminum cathode and etching of transparent conducting oxide as electrode. To solve these problems, the inverted structured OSCs (I-OSCs) having greatest potential for achieving an improvement of device performances are suggested. Therefore, there are a lot of studies to develope of interface layer based on organic/inorganic materials for the electron transport layer (ETL) and passivation layer, significant advancements in I-OSCs have driven the development of interface functional materials including electron transport layer. Recent efforts to employing 2D/3D zinc oxide (ZnO) based ETL into I-OSCs have produced OSCs with a power conversion efficiency level that matches the efficiency of ~9 %. In this review, the technical issues and recent progress of ZnO based ETL in I-OSCs to enhancement of device efficiency and stability in terms of materials, process and characterization have summarized.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.284-284
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• 2009

We have fabricated semiconductor nanocrystals using phase separation on flexible substrates for future application in QD-LEDs. The phase separation between the CdSe semiconductor nanocrystals and TPD organic underlayer can occur during the solvent drying, and the CdSe may rise towards the surface of the coated films, which is arranged into close packed array called self-assembly process. In this work, the polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) films of $200{\mu}m$ thickness was used as a flexible substrate, which was coated with indium tin oxide(ITO) as a transparent electrode of <$15{\Omega}/cm^2$. A number of solvents such as chloroform, toluene, and hexane was used and their coating properties were investigated using the spin coating process. The dispersion of both QD and TPD was rather poor in toluene and hexane and resulted in rougher surface and some aggregates. Meanwhile, the surface roughness of templates can be a very critical issue in the fabrication of QD-LED devices. Some experiments was performed to reduce the ~4nm surface roughness of the PEN films and It can be decreased to the minimum of ~0.7nm. Also discussed are the optical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals used in this phase separation and possible large area and continuous coating process for future application.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.201.1-201.1
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• 2014

본 연구에서는 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 Poly (3-4 ethylenedioxythiophene): Poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) 박막과 비정질 ITO 박막의 전기적, 광학적, 기계적 특성을 비교 평가하여 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 박막의 유기태양전지의 전극으로서의 적용가능성을 확인하였다. 상업용 PEDOT:PSS 박막은 보통 280 Ohm/sq.의 면저항과 가시광 영역에서 약 80%의 광투과도를 나타내며, 비정질 ITO 박막과 유사한 전기적, 광학적 특성을 나타내었다. Slot die coating 공법을 통해 제작된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극과 비정질 ITO 투명 전극의 기판 휘어짐에 따른 전기적 안정성을 비교 평가하기 위해 25 mm에서 1 mm까지 radius 변화에 따른 저항의 변화를 측정하였다. 그 결과, 비정질 ITO 투명 전극 대비 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극이 더 우수한 전기적 안정성을 나타냄을 확인하였다. 또한, 다양한 Bending test (Inner/Outer bending, Rolling, Stretching, Twisting) 를 통해 비정질 ITO 투명 전극 보다 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극의 우수한 기계적 특성을 확인하였다. 이를 바탕으로 Flexible 유기태양전지에의 적용 가능성을 알아보기 위해 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극과 비정질 ITO 투명 전극을 유기태양전지의 anode 층에 적용하여 각각 제작하고 그 특성을 평가하였다. 비정질 ITO 투명 박막을 적용한 유기태양전지 대비 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 박막으로 제작한 유기태양전지에서 더 높은 효율이 나타났으며, 이로써 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극의 Flexible 유기태양전지로써의 적용 가능성을 확인하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.380-381
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• 2007

This paper reports on the deposition conditions and properties of ITO films used as electrode layer in a organic light emitting diodes on a PET substrate. The deposition technique employed was specially designed roll-to-roll sputtering. The oxide was deposited at room temperature in an argon and oxygen plasma on a transparent conducting ITO layer on a PET film. The influence of deposition parameters such as DC power, working pressure and oxygen partial pressure has been investigated, in order to obtain the best compromise between a high deposition rate and adequate electro-optical properties. Electrical and optical properties of ITO films were analyzed by Hall measurement examinations with van der pauw geometry at room temperature and UV/Vis spectrometer analysis, respectively. In addition, the structural properties and surface smoothness were measured by x-ray diffraction and scaning electron microscopy, respectively. From optimized ITO films grown by roll-to-roll sputter system, good electrical$(6.44{\times}10^{-4}\;{\Omega}-cm)$ and optical(above 86 % at 550 nm) properties were obtained. Also, the ITO films exhibited amorphous structure and very flat surface beacause of low deposition temperature.