• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.175-180
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• 2010

Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films are widely used for optoelectronic applications. Among TCO materials, zinc oxide (ZnO) has been studied extensively for its high optical transmission and electrical conduction. In this study, the effects of $O_2$ plasma pretreatment on the properties of Ga-doped ZnO films (GZO) on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate were studied. The $O_2$ plasma pretreatment process was used instead of conventional oxide buffer layers. The $O_2$ plasma treatment process has several merits compared with the oxide buffer layer treatment, especially on a mass production scale. In this process, an additional sputtering system for oxide composition is not needed and the plasma treatment process is easily adopted as an in-line process. GZO films were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering process. To improve surface energy and adhesion between the PEN substrate and the GZO film, the $O_2$ plasma pre-treatment process was used prior to GZO sputtering. As the RF power and the treatment time increased, the contact angle decreased and the RMS surface roughness increased significantly. It is believed that the surface energy and adhesive force of the polymer surfaces increased with the $O_2$ plasma treatment and that the crystallinity and grain size of the GZO films increased. When the RF power was 100W and the treatment time was 120 sec in the $O_2$ plasma pretreatment process, the resistivity of the GZO films on the PEN substrate was $1.05\;{\times}\;10^{-3}{\Omega}-cm$, which is an appropriate range for most optoelectronic applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.123-123
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• 2015

Al doped ZnO(AZO) films as a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) electrode were deposited on glass, polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at room temperature by a conventional rf-magneton sputtering (CMS) and a facing target sputtering (FTS) using Al2O3 and ZnO targets. In order to investigation of AZO properties, the structural, surface morphology, electrical, and optical characteristics of AZO films were respectively analyzed. The resistivities of AZO films using FTS system were $6.50{\times}10-4{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ on glass, $7.0{\times}10-4{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ on PEN, and $7.4{\times}10-4{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ on PET substrates, while the values of AZO films using CMS system were $7.6{\times}10-4{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ on glass, $1.20{\times}10-3{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ on PEN, and $1.58{\times}10-3{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ on PET substrates. The AZO-films deposited by FTS system showed uniform surface compared to those of the films by CMS system. We thought that the films deposited by FTS system had low stress due to bombardment of high energetic particles during CMS process, resulted in enhanced electrical conductivity and crystalline quality by highly c-axis preferred orientation and closely packed nano-crystalline of AZO films using FTS system.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.224-227
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• 2015

In this work, the properties of Indium-Zinc-Tin-Oxide (IZTO) thin films, deposited on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) with a $SiO_2$ buffer layer, were analyzed with different working pressures. After depositing the $SiO_2$ buffer layer on PEN substrates by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), the IZTO thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering with 1 to 7-mTorr working pressure. All the IZTO thin films show an amorphous structure, regardless of the working pressure. The best morphological, electrical, and optical properties are obtained at 3-mTorr working pressure, with a surface roughness of 2.112-nm, a sheet resistance of $8.87-{\Omega}/sq$, and a transmittance at 550-nm of 88.44%. These results indicate that IZTO thin films deposited on PEN have outstanding electrical and optical properties, and the PEN plastic substrate is a suitable material for display devices.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.837-843
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• 2009

$TiO_2$(2 wt.%)-doped ZnO(TZO) films with thickness from 100 nm to 500 nm were prepared on polyethylene naphthalate(PEN) substrate under various rf-power range from 40 W to 80 W. Their electrical and optical properties were investigated as a function of rf-power. We think that these properties were closely related with the crystallization and the film density of TZO films. It was also presumed that the vaporization of the water vapor and other adsorbed particles such as an organic solvents can affect the electrical properties of the conventional transparent conductive oxide(TCO) films. On the other hand, since the TZO film deposited on glass substrate at room temperature with rf-power of 80 W shows a very low resistivity of $7.5\times10^{-4}\;\Omega{\cdot}cm$ and a very excellent transmittance over an average 85% in the visible range, that is comparable to that of ITO films. Therefore, we expect that the TZO films can be used as transparent electrode for optoelectronic devices such as touch-panels, flat-panel displays, and thin-film solar cells.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.140-145
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• 2016

In this paper, we fabricate arrayed-type flexible capacitive touch sensor using liquid metal (LM) droplets (4 mm spatial resolution). Poly-4-vinylphenol (PVP) layer is used as a dielectric layer on the electrode patterned Polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) film. Bonding tests between hydroxyl group (-OH) on the PVP film and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) are conducted in a various $O_2$ plasma treatment conditions. Through the tests, we can confirm that non-$O_2$ plasma treated PVP layer and $O_2$ plasma treated PDMS can make a chemical bond. To measure dynamic range of the device, one-cell experiments are conducted and we confirmed that the fabricated device has a large dynamic range (~60 pF).

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.428-432
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• 2013

This research presents a flexible reflective thermochromic display (TCD) comprised of thermochromic pigments and a patterned indium tin oxide (ITO) film coated on a polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate, and the display's thermo-optical characteristics. The display showed maximum red, green, and blue reflectances of 30%, 38%, and 29%, respectively. Furthermore, the display exhibited a continuous grey color when the temperature was changed continuously. As a flexible display, the display showed reliable thermo-optical performance without image damage even when highly bent. We expect the proposed TCD will be used in outdoor information display applications where low cost is a key factor.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.79-84
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• 2017

The solar cells should be protected from the moisture and oxygen in order to sustain the properties and reliability of the devices. In this research, we prepared the protection films on the flexible plastic substrates by spray coating method using organic-inorganic hybrid solutions. The protection characteristics were studied depending on the various process conditions (nozzle distance, thicknesses of the coatings, film structures). The organic-inorganic solutions for the protection film layer were synthesized by addition of $Al_2O_3$ ($P.S+Al_2O_3$) and $SiO_2$ ($P.S+SiO_2$) nano-powders into PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) and SA (sodium alginate) (P.S) organic solution. The optical transmittances of the protection film with the thicknesses of $5{\mu}m$ showed 91%. The optical transmittance decreased from 81.6% to 73.6% with the film thickness increased from $78{\mu}m$ to $178{\mu}m$. In addition, the protective films were prepared on the PEN (polyethylene naphthalate), PC (polycarbonate) single plastic substrates as well as the Acrylate film coated on PC substrate (Acrylate film/PC double layer), and $Al_2O_3$ film coated on PEN substrate ($Al_2O_3$ film/PEN double layer) using the $P.S+Al_2O_3$ organic-inorganic hybrid solutions. The optimum protection film structure was studied by means of the measurements of water vapor transmittance rate (WVTR) and surface morphology. The protective film on PEN/$Al_2O_3$ double layer substrate showed the best water protective property, indicating the WVTR value of $0.004gm/m^2-day$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.249-249
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• 2012

최근 주목받고 있는 Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display에서는 Flexible 특성이 요구된다. 이는 현재 쓰이는 유리기판 대신 플라스틱기판으로 만들어야 가능하다. 하지만 플라스틱기판은 구성물질로 유기물을 사용하므로 수분과 산소의 투과에 매우 취약하다. 이는 장시간 사용 시 기판 위에 제작된 소자성능저하를 야기하는 등의 소자 신뢰도에 치명적 결함을 갖게 하는 원인이 된다. 따라서 기판 위의 소자를 보호할 수 있는 봉지기술 개발이 필요한데 가장 잘 알려진 플라스틱 기판에 적합한 Barrier기술로 유기물과 무기물을 교대로 적층하는 기술[1] 등이 있다. 본 연구에서는 PE-CVD 공정기술을 이용한 Flowable Oxide 박막과 ALD 공정기술을 이용한 Al2O3 무기물 박막을 적층하여 봉지박막을 구성하려 한다. Flowable Oxide는 저온공정이 가능하며 높은 증착속도와 뛰어난 Gap fill 특성을 가지고 있는데 이는 플라스틱기판의 엉성한 분자구조를 치밀하게 만들 것으로 예상되며 표면의 Pin-hole 또한 쉽게 채우는 특성이 있다. 실험은 Polyethylene Naphthalate (PEN) film 위에 PE-CVD 공정을 이용하여 Flowable Oxide를 증착하고, 그 후에 ALD 공정을 이용하여 Al2O3을 적층한 것을 하나의 샘플로 하였다. 샘플의 분석은 Ca test를 이용한 Water Vapor Transmission rate(WVTR)과 FT-IR, FE-SEM을 이용하여 분석하였다. FT-IR로 박막의 구성요소를 확인 하고 FE-SEM으로 박막의 Cross section image를 얻을 수 있었으며 또한 $4.85{\times}10^{-5}g/m^2$ day의 초기 WVTR 값을 얻을 수 있었다.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2011.07a
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• pp.1485-1486
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• 2011

A layer of $TiO_2$ thin film less than ~500nm in thickness, as a blocking layer, was coated by sol-gel method directly onto the anode electrode to be isolated from the electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). This is to prevent the electrons from back-transferring from the electrode to the electrolyte (I-/I3-). The effects of heat treatment conditions of the gel and as-coated film on the thickness and consolidation to substrate were studied. The flexible DSCs were fabricated with working electrode of Ti thin foil coated with blocking $TiO_2$ layer, dye-attached mesoporous $TiO_2$ film, gel electrolyte and counter electrode of Pt-deposited indium doped tin oxide/polyethylene naphthalate (ITO/PEN). The photo-current conversion efficiency of the cell was 5.3% ($V_{oc}=0.678V$, $J_{sc}=12.181mA/cm^2$, ff=0.634) under AM1.5, 100 mW/$cm^2$ illumination.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.342-349
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• 2019

Titanium nitride(TiN) thin films have been deposited on PEN(Polyethylene naphthalate) substrate by reactive RF(13.56 MHz) magnetron sputtering in a 25% N₂/Ar mixed gas atmosphere. The pulsed DC bias voltage of -50V on substrates was applied with a frequency of 350 kHz, and duty ratio of 40%(1.1 ㎲). The effects of pulsed DC substrate bias voltage on the crystallinity, color, electrical properties of TiN_x films have been investigated using XRD, SEM, XPS and measurement of the electrical properties such as electrical conductivity, carrier concentration, mobility. The deposition rates of TiN_x films was decreased with application of the pulsed DC substrate bias voltage. The TiN_x films deposited without and with pulsed bias of -50V to substrate exhibits gray and gold colors, respectively. XPS depth profiling revealed that the introduction of the substrate bias voltage resulted in decreasing oxygen concentration in TiN_x films, and increasing the electrical conductivities, carrier concentration, and mobility to about 10 times, 5 times, and 2 times degree, respectively.