• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.342-349
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• 2009

This study investigated the growth characteristics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by changing a period of annealing time and a $C_{2}H_{2}/H_2$ flow ratio at temperature as low as $450^{\circ}C$ with inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition. The 1-nm-thick Fe-Ni-Co alloy thin film served as a catalyst layer for the growth of CNTs, which was thermally evaporated on the 15-nm-thick Al underlayer deposited on the 50-nm-thick Ti diffusion barrier. The annealing at low temperature of $450^{\circ}C$ brought about almost no granulation of the catalyst layer, and the CNT growth was not affected by a period of annealing time. A study of changing the flow rate of $C_{2}H_{2}$ and $H_2$ showed that as the ratio of the $C_{2}H_{2}$ flow rate to the $H_2$ flow rate was lowered, the CNTs were grown to be longer With further decreasing the flow ratio, the length of CNTs reached the maximum and then became shorter. Under the optimized gas flow rates, we successfully synthesized CNTs with a uniform length over a 4-inch Si wafer at $450^{\circ}C$.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.23-56
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• 2014

The significant growth of the Si photovoltaic industry has been so far limited due to the high cost of the Si photovoltaic system. In this regard, the most expensive factors are the intrinsic cost of silicon material and the Si solar cell fabrication processes. Conventional Si solar cells have p-n junctions inside for an efficient extraction of light-generated charge carriers. However, the p-n junction is normally formed through very expensive processes requiring very high temperature (${\sim}1000^{\circ}C$). Therefore, several systems are currently under study to form heterojunctions at low temperatures. Among them, carbon nanotube (CNT)/Si hybrid solar cells are very promising, with power conversion efficiency up to 15%. In these cells, the p-type Si layer is replaced by a semitransparent CNT film deposited at room temperature on the n-doped Si wafer, thus giving rise to an overall reduction of the total Si thickness and to the fabrication of a device with cheaper methods at low temperatures. In particular, the CNT film coating the Si wafer acts as a conductive electrode for charge carrier collection and establishes a built-in voltage for separating photocarriers. Moreover, due to the CNT film optical semitransparency, most of the incoming light is absorbed in Si; thus the efficiency of the CNT/Si device is in principle comparable to that of a conventional Si one. In this paper an overview of several factors at the basis of this device operation and of the suggested improvements to its architecture is given. In addition, still open physical/technological issues are also addressed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.418-418
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• 2009

Vertically aligned arrays of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on layered Si substrates have been synthesized by water-assisted thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD). We studied changes in growth by parameters of growth temperature, growth time, rates of gas and annealing time of catalyst. Also, We grew CNTs by adding a little amount of water vapor to enhance the growth of CNTs. $H_2$, Ar, and $C_2H_2$ were used as carrier gas and feedstock, respectively. Before growth, Fe served as catalyst, underneath which AI were coated as an underlayer and a diffusion barrier, respectively, on the Si substrate. The water vapor had a greater effect on the growth of CNTs on a smaller thickness of catalyst. When the water vapor was introduced, the growth of CNTs was enhanced than without water. CNTs grew 1.29 mm for 10 min long by adding the water vapor, while CNTs were 0.73 mm long without water vapor for the same period of time. CNTs grew up to 1.97 mm for 30 min prior to growth termination under adding water vapor. As-grown CNTs were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and Raman spectroscopy.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.325-329
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• 2013

Carbon nanotubes(CNT) have excellent electrical, chemical stability and mechanical properties. These can be used in a variety of fields. MWCNT are extremely sensitive for minute changes in the ambient gas, namely, their sensing properties varies greatly with the absorption of gas such as NOx and $H_2$. We investigate the electrical properties of CNTs and make a NOx gas sensor based on Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) materials. We obtained the NOx gas sensor of MWCNT based on P-type Si wafer that has the resistivity of $1.667{\times}10^{-1}[{\Omega}{\cdot}cm]$. We knew that the sensitivity of sensor decreased with increasing of NOx gas concentration. And the sensitivity of sensor shows the largest value at $20^{\circ}C$. The sensitivity of sensor decrease with increasing the temperature. Also absorption energy of NOx gas molecule on the MWCNT surface decreases with increasing concentration of NOx gas.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.515-518
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• 2011

We investigated how temperature influences the structural and energetic dynamics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) undergoing a high-speed impact with a Si (110) surface. By performing molecular dynamics simulations in the temperature range of 100 - 300 K, we found that a low temperature CNT ends up with a higher vibrational energy after collision than a high temperature CNT. The vibrational temperature of CNT increases by increasing the surface temperature. Overall, the structural and energy relaxation of low temperature CNTs are faster than those of high temperature CNTs.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.113-120
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• 2007

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is one of the various synthesis methods that have been employed for carbon nanotube (CNT) growth. In particular, Ren et al reported that large areas of vertically aligned multi-wall carbon nanotubes could be grown using a direct current (dc) PECVD system. The synthesis of CNT requires a metal catalyst layer, etchant gas, and a carbon source. In this work, the substrates consists of Si wafers with Ni-deposited film. Ammonia $NH_3$) and acetylene ($C_2H_2$) were used as the etchant gases and carbon source, respectively. Pretreated conditions had an influence on vertical growth and density of CNTs. And patterned growth of CNTs could be achieved by lithographical defining the Ni catalyst prior to growth. The length of single CNT was increased as niclel dot size increased, but the growth rate was reduced when nickel dot size was more than 200 nm due to the synthesis of several CNTs on single Ni dot. The morphology of the carbon nanotubes by TEM showed that vertical CNTs were multi-wall and tip-type growth mode structure in which a Ni cap was at the end of the CNT.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.229-235
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• 2009

Millimeter-scale aligned arrays of thin-multiwalled carbon nanotube (t-MWCNT) on layered Si substrates have been synthesized by oxygen-assisted microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). We have succeeded in growth of vertically aligned MWCNTs up to 2.7 mm in height for 150 min. The effect of $O_2$ and water vapour on growth rate was systematically investigated. In the case of $O_2$ gas, the growth rate was ${\sim}22{\mu}m/min$, which is outstanding growth rate comparing with those of conventional thermal CVD (TCVD). Scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and Raman spectroscopy were used to analyze the CNT morphology, composition and growth mechanism. The role of $O_2$ gas during the CNT growth was discussed on.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.17.2-17.2
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• 2011

Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) were grown with vertical alignment on a Si wafer by using catalytic thermal chemical vapor deposition. This study investigated the effect of pre-annealing time of catalyst on the types of CNTs grown on the substrate. The catalyst layer is usually evolved into discretely distributed nanoparticles during the annealing and initial growth of CNTs. The 0.5-nm-thick Fe served as a catalyst, underneath which Al was coated as a catalyst support as well as a diffusion barrier on the Si substrate. Both the catalyst and support layers were coated by using thermal evaporation. CNTs were synthesized for 10 min by flowing 60 sccm of Ar and 60 sccm of H2 as a carrier gas and 20 sccm of C2H2 as a feedstock at 95 torr and $750^{\circ}C$. In this study, the catalyst and support layers were subject to annealing for 0~420 sec. As-grown CNTs were characterized by using field emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The annealing for 90~300 sec caused the growth of DWCNTs as high as ~670 ${\mu}m$ for 10 min while below 90 sec and over 420 sec 300~830 ${\mu}m$-thick triple and multiwalled CNTs occurred, respectively. Several radial breathing mode (RBM) peaks in the Raman spectra were observed at the Raman shifts of 112~191 cm-1, implying the presence of DWCNTs, TWCNTs, MWCNTs with the tube diameters 3.4, 4.0, 6.5 nm, respectively. The maximum ratio of DWCNTs was observed to be ~85% at the annealing time of 180 sec. The Raman spectra of the as-grown DWCNTs showed low G/D peak intensity ratios, indicating their low defect concentrations. As increasing the annealing time, the catalyst layer seemed to be granulated, and then grown to particles with larger sizes but fewer numbers by Ostwald ripening.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.200-200
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• 2012

We investigated a flexible transparent film using the spinning multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Spin-capable MWCNTs on iron catalyzed on a SiO2 wafer was grown by chemical vapor deposition, which was performed at $780^{\circ}C$ using C2H2 and H2 gas. The average diameter and length of MWCNTs grown on the substrate were ~15 nm and $250{\sim}300{\mu}m$, respectively. The MWCNT sheets were produced by continuously pulling out from well-aligned MWCNTs on a substrate. The MWCNT sheet films were produced simply by direct coating on the flexible film or grass. The thickness of sheet film was remarkably decreased by alcohol spraying on the surface of sheet. The alcohol splay increased transmittance and decreased electrical resistance of MWCNT sheet films. Single and double sheets were produced with sheet resistance of ~699 and ${\sim}349{\Omega}/sq$, respectively, transmittance of 81~85 % and 67~72%, respectively. The MWCNT sheet films were heated through the application of direct current power. The flexible transparent heaters showed a rapid thermal response and uniform distribution of temperature. In addition, MWCNT yarns were prepared by spinning a bundle of MWCNTs from vertically super-aligned MWCNTs on a substrate, and field emission from the tip and side of the yarns was induced in a scanning electron microscope. We found that the field emission behavior from the tip of the yarn was better than the field emission from the side. The field emission turn-on voltages from the tip and side of MWCNT yarns were 1.6 and $1.7V/{\mu}m$, respectively, after the yarn was subjected to an aging process. Both the configuration of the tip end and the body of the yarn were changed remarkably during the field emission. We also performed the field emission of the sheet films. The sheet films showed the turn on voltage of ${\sim}1.45V/{\mu}m$ during the field emission.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.27.1-27.1
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• 2011

The recent extensive research of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures such as nanowires (NWs) and nanotubes (NTs) has been the driving force to fabricate new kinds of nanoscale devices in electronics, optics and bioengineering. We attempt to produce silicon oxide nanowires (SiOxNWs) in a simple way without complicate deposition process, gaseous Si containing precursors, or starting material of $SiO_2$. Nickel (Ni) nanoparticles (NPs) were applied on Si wafer and thermally treated in a furnace. The temperature in the furnace was kept in the ranges between 900 and $1,100^{\circ}C$ and a mixture of nitrogen ($N_2$) and hydrogen ($H_2$) flowed through the furnace. The SiOxNWs had widths ranging from 100 to 200 nm with length extending up to ~10 ${\mu}m$ and their structure was amorphous. Ni NPs were acted as catalysts. Since there were no other Si materials introduced into the furnace, the Si wafer was the only Si sources for the growth of SiOxNWs. When the Si wafer with deposition of Ni NPs was heated, the liquid Ni-Si alloy droplets were formed. The droplets as the nucleation sites induce an initiation of the growth of SiOxNWs and absorb oxygen easily. As the droplets became supersaturated, the SiOxNWs were grown, by the reaction between Si and O and continuously dissolving Si and O onto NPs. Photoluminescence (PL) showed that blue emission spectrum was centered at the wavelength of 450 nm (2.76 eV). The details of growth mechanism of SiOxNWs and the effect of Ni NPs on the formation of SiOxNWs will be presented.