• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.115-120
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• 2007

Reliability between passivated and unpassivated process with the base-exposed InGaP/GaAs HBTs was studied. A passivation of HBT was attempted by $SiO_2$ thin film deposition at $300^{\circ}C$ by means of PECVD. Base-exposed InGaP/GaAs HBTs before and after passivation were investigated and compared in terms of DC and RF performance. Over a total period of 30 days, passivated HBTs show only 2% degradation of DC current gain for the high current density of $40KA/cm^2$. The measured thermal resistance of $2{\times}30{\mu}m^2$ single emitter InGaP/GaAs HBT passivated with PECVD $SiO_2$ devices can be extracted and was founded to be 1430 K/W. The estimated MTTF was $2{\times}10^7hr\;at\;T_j=125^{\circ}C$ with an activation energy $(E_a)$ of 1.37 eV.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2015

In this study, an n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode with embedded Ag nanoparticles was fabricated to investigate the possible improvement of light trapping via the surface plasmon resonance effect for solar cell applications. The Ag nanoparticles were fabricated by the physical sputtering method. The acquired current-voltage curves and optical absorption spectra demonstrated that the application of Ag nanoparticles in the n-ZnO/p-Si interface increased the photo current, particularly in specific wavelength regions. The results indicate that the enhancement of the photo current was caused by the surface plasmon resonance effect generated by the Ag nanoparticles. In addition, minority carrier lifetime measurements showed that the recombination losses caused by the Ag nanoparticles were negligible. These results suggest that the embedding of Ag nanoparticles is a powerful method to improve the performance of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction solar cells.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.81-84
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• 2010

In dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the back transfer of photo-generated electrons from FTO glass to triiodide ions in an electrolyte is an important loss mechanism, which leads to low cell efficiency. Recently, this back electron transfer was greatly suppressed by the introduction of a compact $TiO_2$ blocking layer, which was prepared by the treatment of $TiCl_4$ solution. In the present work, more detailed $TiCl_4$ treated surface conditions on FTO substrate were investigated and DSSC performances were correlated with the surface morphology as well as dark current behavior.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.31-41
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• 2016

n-type PERT (passivated emitter, rear totally diffused) bifacial solar cells with boron and phosphorus diffusion as p+ emitter and n+ BSF (back surface field) have attracted significant research interest recently. In this work, the influences of wafer thickness, bulk lifetime, emitter, BSF on the photovoltaic characteristics of solar cells are discussed. The performance of the solar cell is determined by using one-dimensional solar cell simulation software PC1D. The simulation results show that the key role of the BSF is to decrease the surface doping concentration reducing the recombination and thus, increasing the cell efficiency. A lightly phosphorus doped BSF (LD BSF) was experimentally optimized to get low surface dopant concentration for n type bifacial solar cells. Pre-oxidation combined with a multi-plateau drive-in, using limited source diffusion was carried out before pre-deposition. It could reduce the surface dopant concentration with minimal impact on the sheet resistance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.273-273
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• 2014

Quantum-dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) are an emerging class of solar cells owing to their easy fabrication, low cost and material diversity. Despite of the fact that the maximum conversion efficiency of QDSCs is still far less than that of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (>12 %), their unique characteristics like Multiple Exciton Generation (MEG), energy band tune-ability and tendency to incorporate multiple co-sensitizers concurrently has made QDs a suitable alternative to expensive dyes for solar cell application. Lead Sulfide (PbS) Quantum dot sensitized solar cells are theoretically proficient enough to have a photo-current density ($J_{sc}$) of $36mA/cm^2$, but practically there are very few reports on photocurrent enhancement in PbS QDSCs. Recently, $Hg^{2+}$ incorporated PbS quantumdots and Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) co-sensitized PbS solarcells are reported to show an improvement in photo-current density ($J_{sc}$). In this study, we explored the efficacy of $In_2S_3$ as an interfacial layer deposited through SILAR process for PbS QDSCs. $In_2S_3$ was chosen as the interfacial layer in order to avoid the usage of hazardous CdS or Mercury (Hg). Herein, the deposition of $In_2S_3$ interfacial layer on $TiO_2$ prior to PbS QDs exhibited a direct enhancement in the photo-current (Isc). Improved photo-absorption as well as interfacial recombination barrier caused by $In_2S_3$ deposition increased the photo-current density ($J_{sc}$) from $13mA/cm^2$ to $15.5mA/cm^2$ for single cycle of $In_2S_3$ deposition. Increase in the number of cycles of $In_2S_3$ deposition was found to deteriorate the photocurrent, however it increased $V_{oc}$ of the device which reached to an optimum value of 2.25% Photo-conversion Efficiency (PCE) for 2 cycles of $In_2S_3$ deposition. Effect of Heat Treatment, Normalized Current Stability, Open Circuit Voltage Decay and Dark IV Characteristics were further measured to reveal the characteristics of device.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.53-53
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• 2011

This paper describes results for surface and bulk characterization of the most promising thin film solar cell material for high performance devices, (Ag,Cu) (In,Ga) Se2 (ACIGS). This material in particular exhibits a range of exotic behaviors. The surface and general materials science of the material also has direct implications for the operation of solar cells based upon it. Some of the techniques and results described will include scanning probe (AFM, STM, KPFM) measurements of epitaxial films of different surface orientations, photoelectron spectroscopy and inverse photoemission, Auger electron spectroscopy, and more. Bulk measurements are included as support for the surface measurements such as cathodoluminescence imaging around grain boundaries and showing surface recombination effects, and transmission electron microscopy to verify the surface growth behaviors to be equilibrium rather than kinetic phenomena. The results show that the polar close packed surface of CIGS is the lowest energy surface by far. This surface is expected to be reconstructed to eliminate the surface charge. However, the AgInSe2 compound has yielded excellent atomic-resolution images of the surface with no evidence of surface reconstruction. Similar imaging of CuInSe2 has proven more difficult and no atomic resolution images have been obtained, although current imaging tunneling spectroscopy images show electronic structure variations on the atomic scale. A discussion of the reasons why this may be the case is given. The surface composition and grain boundary compositions match the bulk chemistry exactly in as-grow films. However, the deposition of the heterojunction forming the device alters this chemistry, leading to a strongly n-type surface. This also directly explains unpinning of the Fermi level and the operation of the resulting devices when heterojunctions are formed with the CIGS. These results are linked to device performance through simulation of the characteristic operating behaviors of the cells using models developed in my laboratory.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.12-15
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• 2016

Screen printing technique followed by firing has commonly been used as metallization for both laboratory and industrial based solar cells. In the solar cell industry, the firing process is usually conducted in a belt furnace and needs to be optimized for fabricating high efficiency solar cells. The printed-Al layer on the silicon is rapidly heated at over $800^{\circ}C$ which forms a layer of back surface field (BSF) between Si-Al interfaces. The BSF layer forms $p-p^+$ structure on the rear side of cells and lower rear surface recombination velocity (SRV). To have low SRV, deep $p^+$ layer and uniform junction formation are required. In this experiment, firing process was carried out by using conventional tube furnace with $N_2$ gas atmosphere to optimize $V_{oc}$ of laboratory cells. To measure the thickness of BSF layer, selective etching was conducted by using a solution composed of hydrogen fluoride, nitric acid and acetic acid. The $V_{oc}$ and pseudo efficiency were measured by Suns-$V_{oc}$ to compare cell properties with varied firing condition.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.816-823
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• 1996

Chlorine containing high density plasmas are widely used to etch various materials in the microelectronic device fabrication. In this study, the characteristics of inductively coupled $Cl_2(O_2/N_2$) plasmas and their effects on the formation of silicon etching have been investigated using a Langmuir probe, quadrupole mass spectrometry(QMS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), and Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM). The addition of oxygen for chlorine plasmas reduced ion current densities and chlorine radical densities compared to the nitrogen addition by the recombination of oxygen with chlorine. Also, when silicon is etched in $Cl_2/O_2$ plasmas, etch products recombined with oxygen such as $SiCl_xO_y$ emerged. However, when nitrogen is added to chlorine, etch products recombined with nitrogen or Si-N bondings on the etched silicon surface were not found. All the silicon etch characteristics were dependent on the plasma conditions such as ion density, radical density, etc. As a result sub micron vertical silicon trench etch profiles could be effectively formed using optimized etch conditions for $Cl_2/O_2\; and \;Cl_2/N_2$ gas combinations.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.769-773
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• 2000

The dependence of photoluminescence (PL) and photoluminescence itation (PLE) on preparation condi-tions and the aging of porous silicon carbide (PSC) have been investigatted. The fiber size of the material pre-pared under dark-current mode, labele d DCM, was larger than that of the photoassisted (PA)process.The intensity of the PL spectrum for the PA condition was higher than that of the DCM condition. The PA condition giving small fiber size exhibited amore prominent high-energy component but the emission bands of both con-ditionsobserved were rather similar. The origin of the PL may have played an importantrole in the surface defect center introduced by the reaction conditions ofHFatthe surface of the silicon carbide. Selective excita-tion of the PL bandsusingdifferent excitation wavelengths has been used to identify distinct componentswith-in the PL bandwidth. Two main PL bands with peak wavelength of494 and534 nm were clearly resolved. On the other hand, selectivc emission of the PLEbands using different emission wavelengths has been used to identify distinct components within the PLE bandwidth. The higher energy band with peak wavelength of 338 nm and the lower energy bands involving 390,451 and 500 nm were clearly resolved. According to the pro-ionged aging in air, PL spectra appearedasone band, This emission probably originated from states localized to the band-to-band recombination due to the oxidation on the crystallite surface.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.265-272
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• 2023

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is one of the promising methods for hydrogen production by solar energy. Iron oxide has been effectively investigated as a photoelectrode material for PEC water splitting due to its intrinsic property such as short minority carrier diffusion length. However, iron oxide has a low PEC efficiency owing to a high recombination rate between photoexcited electrons and holes. In this study, we synthesized nanoporous structured iron oxide by anodization to overcome the drawbacks and to increase surface area. The anodized iron oxide was annealed in Ar atmosphere with different purging times. In conclusion, the highest current density of 0.032 mA/cm² at 1.23 V vs. RHE was obtained with 60 s of pursing for iron oxide(Fe-60), which was 3 times higher in photocurrent density compared to iron oxide annealed with 600 s of pursing(Fe-600). The resistances and donor densities were also evaluated for all the anodized iron oxide by electrochemical impedance spectra and Mott-Schottky plot analysis.