• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.688-688
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• 2013

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films have attracted a lot of attention as a cheap transparent conducting oxide (TCO) material that can replace the expensive Sn-doped In2O3. In particular, AZO thin films are widely used as a window layer of chalcogenide-based thin film solar cells such as Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS). Mostly important requirements for the window layer material of the thin film solar cells are the high transparency and the low sheet resistance, because they influence the light absorption by the activelayer and the electron collection from the active layer, respectively. In this study, we prepared the AZO thin films by RF magnetron sputtering using a ZnO/Al2O3 (98：2wt%) ceramic target, and the effect of the sputtering condition such as the working pressure, RF power, and the working distance on the optical, electrical, and crystallographic properties of the AZO thin films was investigated. The AZO thin films with optimized properties were used as a window layer of CZTS thin film solar cells. The CZTS active layers were prepared by the electrochemical deposition and the subsequent sulfurization process, which is also one of the cost-effective synthetic approaches. In addition, the solar cell properties of the CZTS thin film solar cells, such as the photocurrent density-voltage (J-V) characteristics and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) were investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.487-492
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• 1998

Ultrafine particles of $SnO_2$ or $(Sn,Ti)O_2$ and thin films of $SnO_2$ were synthesized by introducing aqueous tin chloride solution into a high temperature argon inductively coupled plasma (ICP) generated under ambient pressure (the spray-ICP technique). As-deposited $SnO_2$ particles from each concentration of solution were all tetragonal $SnO_2$ crystallline phase and their mean size decreased in proportion to the increase of solution concentration. The mean size of $SnO_2$ particles was in the 10~40 nm range.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.177-182
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• 2015

Sb-doped $SnO_2$(ATO) thin films were prepared using electrospinning. To investigate the optimum properties of the electrospun ATO thin films, the deposition numbers of the ATO nanofibers(NFs) were controlled to levels of 1, 2, 4, and 6. Together with the different levels of deposition number, the structural, chemical, morphological, electrical, and optical properties of the nanofibers were investigated. As the deposition number of the ATO NFs increased, the thickness of the ATO thin films increased and the film surfaces were gradually densified, which affected the electrical properties of the ATO thin films. 6 levels of the ATO thin film exhibited superior electrical properties due to the improved carrier concentration and Hall mobility resulting from the increased thickness and surface densification. Also, the thickness of the samples had an effect on the optical properties of the ATO thin films. The ATO thin films with 6 deposited levels displayed the lowest transmittance and highest haze. Therefore, the figure of merit(FOM) considering the electrical and optical properties showed the best value for ATO thin films with 4 deposited levels.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.334-334
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• 2012

Transparent oxide semiconductors have recently attracted much attention as channel layer materials due to advantageous electrical and optical characteristics such as high mobility, high stability, and good transparency. In addition, transparent oxide semiconductor can be fabricated at low temperature with a low production cost and it permits highly uniform devices such as large area displays. A variety of thin film transistors (TFTs) have been studied including ZnO, InZnO, and InGaZnO as the channel layer. Recently, there are many studies for substitution of Ga in InGaZnO TFTs due to their problem, such as stability of devices. In this work, new quaternary compound materials, tantalum-indium-tin oxide (TaInSnO) thin films were fabricated by using co-sputtering and used for the active channel layer in thin film transistors (TFTs). We deposited TaInSnO films in a mixed gas (O2+Ar) atmosphere by co-sputtering from Ta and ITO targets, respectively. The electric characteristics of TaInSnO TFTs and thin films were investigated according to the RF power applied to the $Ta_2O_5$ target. The addition of Ta elements could suppress the formation of oxygen vacancies because of the stronger oxidation tendency of Ta relative to that of In or Sn. Therefore the free carrier density decreased with increasing RF power of $Ta_2O_5$ in TaInSnO thin film. The optimized characteristics of TaInSnO TFT showed an on/off current ratio of $1.4{\times}108$, a threshold voltage of 2.91 V, a field-effect mobility of 2.37 cm2/Vs, and a subthreshold swing of 0.48 V/dec.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.309-312
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• 2003

Tin dioxide($_SnO2$) thin films were deposited on alumina substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) as a function of temperature and time. Thin films were fabricated from di-n-butyltin diacetate as a precursor and oxygen as an oxidation. The microstructure of deposited films was characterized by X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM). The thickness was linearly increased with deposition time and $SnO_2$structure was found from $375^{\circ}C$ for the deposition time of 32 min. The maximum sensitivity to 500ppm CO gas was observed for the specimens deposited at $375^{\circ}C$ for 2 min at the operating temperature of $350^{\circ}C$. Gas sensitivity to CO increased with decreasing the film thickness. The sensing properties of response time, recovery and sensitivity of CO were changed with variations of substrate temperature and time.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.840-845
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• 2004

Tin dioxide ($SnO_2$) thin films were prepared on Si(100) substrate by PE-ALD using the $DBDTA((CH_{3}CO_2)_{2}Sn[(CH_2)_{3}CH_3]_2)$ Precursor. The properties were studied as a function of source temperature, substrate temperature, and purging time. Scanning probe microscopic images at the source temperature $50^{\circ}C$ and the substrate temperature $300^{\circ}C$ shows lower roughness than those $40/60^{\circ}C$ source and $200/400^{\circ}C$ substrate temperature samples. The purging time for optimum process was 8sec and the deposition rate was about 1 nm per 10 cycles. The conductance of $SnO_2$ thin film showed a constant region in the range of $200^{\circ}C\;to\;500^{\circ}C$. The thin films deposited for 200 cycle show a better sensitivity to CO gas.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1096-1100
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• 2008

This report examines the variations on structural properties of $SnO_2$ thin films deposited by using thermal chemical vapor deposition techniques with different oxygen flow gas. TEM showed some of the interface to be atomically rough. The aspects of the boundary shape and growth behavior agree well with the theory of interface growth. The electron diffraction showed that the roughness was changed as the different oxygen flow gas increased. These measurement results suggested that the number of interface facet and abnormal grain growth were related oxygen flow gas.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.360-360
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• 2012

Zn-Sn-O (Zinc-Tin-Oxide; ZTO) thin films have been gaining extensive academic and industrial attentions owing to a semiconducting channel materials applicable to large-sized flat-panel displays. Due to the constituent oxides i.e., ZnO and SnO2, the resultant Zn-Sn-O thin films possess artificially controllable bandgaps and transmittances especially effective in the visible regime. The current approach employed RF sputtering in depositing the Zn-Sn-O thin films onto glass substrates at ambient conditions. This work places its main emphases on the electrical/optical features which are closely related to the combinations of processing variables. The electrical characterizations are performed using dc-based current-voltage characteristics and ac-based impedance spectroscopy. The optical constants, i.e., refractive index and extinction coefficient, are calculated through spectroscopic ellipsometry along with the estimation of bandgaps. The charge transport of the deposited ZTO thin films is based on electrons characteristic of n-type conduction. In addition to the basic electrical/optical information, the delicate manipulation of n-type conduction is indispensible in diversifying the industrial applications of the ZTO thin films as active devices in information and energy products. Ultimately, the electrical properties are correlated to the processing variables along with the underlying mechanism which largely determines the electrical and optical properties.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.356-357
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• 2006

Tin oxide thin films have been prepared on display glass from mixtures of dibutyl tin diacetate as a tin source, oxygen as an oxidant by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) method. The relationships between the properties of tin oxide thin films and various reaction parameters such as the deposition temperature, deposition time and the oxygen gas flow rate were studied. As the deposition temperature increased, the texture plane of $SnO_2$ changed from (200) plane to denser (211) and (110) planes. Lower deposition temperature and thinner thickness of deposited film led to decreasing grain size, surface roughness and electrical resistivity of the formed thin films at $325{\sim}425^{\circ}C$. The properties of fabricated $SnO_2$ films are highly changed with variations of substrate temperature and deposition time.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 1996

Long term stability, sensitization in air, and gas sensing behaviors of tin oxide films were investigated with doping of antimony and palladium. The tin oxide films were prepared on a Corning glass by reactive rf sputtering method and tested for detection of hydrogen gas. Sb-doping improved a long-term stability in the base resistance of $SnO_2$ film sensor. A small amount of Pd doping caused the optimum sensor operating temperature to reduce and also enhanced the gas sensitivity, compared with the undoped $SnO_2$ film. Gas sensitivity depended largely on the film thickness. The important sensitization reactions for sensor operating were $(O_{2ads})+e^-\;{\rightarrow}\;2(O_{ads})^-$ on the surface of $SnO_2$ film at elevated temperature in air and a followed reaction of hydrogen atoms with $(O_{ads})^-$ ions.