• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.169-173
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• 2023

With the increasing concern of global warming caused by greenhouse gases owing to the recent industrial development, there is a growing need for advanced technology to control these emissions. Among the various greenhouse gases, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is a major contributor to global warming and is mainly released from sources, such as automobile exhaust and factories. Although semiconductor-type NO₂ gas sensors, such as SnO₂, have been extensively studied, they often require high operating temperatures and complicated manufacturing processes, while lacking selectivity, resulting in inaccurate measurements of NO₂ gas levels. To address these limitations, a novel sensor using PbS quantum dots (QDs) was developed, which operates at low temperatures and exhibits high selectivity toward NO₂ gas owing to its strong oxidation reaction. Furthermore, the use of P3HT conductive polymer improved the thin film quality, reactivity, and reaction rate of the sensor. The sensor demonstrated the ability to accurately measure NO₂ gas concentrations ranging from 500 to 100 ppm, with a 5.1 times higher sensitivity, 1.5 times higher response rate, and 1.15 times higher recovery rate compared with sensors without P3HT.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.285-289
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• 2023

Recently, the demand for lidar systems for autonomous driving is increasing, and research on Shortwave Infrared(SWIR) photodetectors for this purpose is being actively conducted. Most SWIR photodetectors currently being developed are based on InGaAs, and have the disadvantages of complex processes, high prices, and limitations in research due to monopoly. In addition, current SWIR photodetectors use lasers in the 905 nm wavelength band, which can pass through the pupil and cause damage to the retina. Therefore, it is required to develop a SWIR photodetector using a wavelength band of 1400 nm or more to be safe for human eyes, and to develop a material that can replace the proprietary InGaAs. PbS QDs are group 4-6 compound semiconductors whose absorption wavelength band can be adjusted from 1000 to 2700 nm, and have the advantage of being simple to process. Therefore, in this study, PbS QDs having an absorption wavelength peak of 1415 nm were synthesized, and a SWIR photodetector was fabricated using this. In addition, the photodetector's responsivity was improved by applying P3HT and ZnO NPs to improve electron hole mobility. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the synthesized PbS QDs had excellent FWHM characteristics compared to commercial PbS QDs, and it was confirmed that the photodetector had a maximum current change of about 1.6 times.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.125-130
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• 2022

We describe the importance of zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO NP) concentration in the enhancement of electrical properties in a lead sulfide quantum dot (PbS QD)-based shortwave infrared (SWIR) photodetector. ZnO NPs were synthesized using the sol-gel method. The concentration of the ZnO NPs was controlled as 20, 30 and 40 mg/mL in this study. Note that the ZnO NPs layer is commonly used as an electron transport layer in PbS QDs SWIR photodetectors. The photo-to-dark ratio, which is an important parameter of a photodetector, was intensively examined to evaluate the electrical performance. The 20 mg/mL condition of ZnO NPs exhibited the highest photo-to-dark ratio value of 5 at -1 V, compared with 1.8 and 0.4 for 30 mg/mL and 40 mg/mL, respectively. This resulted because the electron mobility decreased when the concentration of ZnO NPs was higher than the optimized value. Based on our results, the concentration of ZnO NPs was observed to play an important role in the electrical performance of the PbS QDs SWIR photodetector.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.189-189
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• 2012

Lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs) are promising materials for various optoelectronic devices, especially solar cells, because of their tunability of the optical band-gap controlled by adjusting the diameter of NQDs. PbS is a IV-VI semiconductor enabling infrared-absorption and it can be synthesized using solution process methods. A wide choice of the diameter of PbS NQDs is also a benefit to achieve the quantum confinement regime due to its large Bohr exciton radius (20 nm). To exploit these desirable properties, many research groups have intensively studied to apply for the photovoltaic devices. There are several essential requirements to fabricate the efficient NQDs-based solar cell. First of all, highly confined PbS QDs should be synthesized resulting in a narrow peak with a small full width-half maximum value at the first exciton transition observed in UV-Vis absorbance and photoluminescence spectra. In other words, the size-uniformity of NQDs ought to secure under 5%. Second, PbS NQDs should be assembled carefully in order to enhance the electronic coupling between adjacent NQDs by controlling the inter-QDs distance. Finally, appropriate structure for the photovoltaic device is the key issue to extract the photo-generated carriers from light-absorbing layer in solar cell. In this step, workfunction and Fermi energy difference could be precisely considered for Schottky and hetero junction device, respectively. In this presentation, we introduce the strategy to obtain high performance solar cell fabricated using PbS NQDs below the size of the Bohr radius. The PbS NQDs with various diameters were synthesized using methods established by Hines with a few modifications. PbS NQDs solids were assembled using layer-by-layer spin-coating method. Subsequent ligand-exchange was carried out using 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT) to reduce inter-NQDs distance. Finally, Schottky junction solar cells were fabricated on ITO-coated glass and 150 nm-thick Al was deposited on the top of PbS NQDs solids as a top electrode using thermal evaporation technique. To evaluate the solar cell performance, current-voltage (I-V) measurement were performed under AM 1.5G solar spectrum at 1 sun intensity. As a result, we could achieve the power conversion efficiency of 3.33% at Schottky junction solar cell. This result indicates that high performance solar cell is successfully fabricated by optimizing the all steps as mentioned above in this work.