• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.187-192
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• 2011

Photoelectrochemical performances of ZnO electrodes are enhanced by coupling with cobalt-based catalyst (CoPi) in phosphate electrolyte (pH 7). For this study, hexagonal pillar-shaped ZnO nanorods are grown on ZnO electrodes through a chemical bath deposition, onto which CoPi is deposited with different photodeposition times (10-30 min). A scanning electron microscopic study indicates that CoPi deposition does not induce any change of ZnO morphology and an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic analysis shows that inorganic phosphate ions (Pi) exist on ZnO surface. Bare ZnO electrodes generate the current of ca. $0.36mA/cm^2$ at a bias potential of 0.5 V vs. SCE, whereas ZnO/CoPi (deposited for 10 min) has ca. 50%-enhanced current ($0.54mW/cm^2$) under irradiation of AM 1.5G-light ($400mW/cm^2$). The excess loading of CoPi on ZnO results in decrease of photocurrents as compared to bare ZnO likely due to limited electrolyte access to ZnO and/or CoPi-mediated recombination of photogenerated charge carriers. The primary role of CoPi is speculated to trap the photogenerated holes and thereby oxidize water into molecular oxygen via an intervalency cycle among Co(II), Co(III), and Co(IV).

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.64-70
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• 2012

We analyzed the changes in electrical and optical characteristics of 1 $mm^2$ multiple-quantum-well (MQW) blue LEDs grown on a c-plane sapphire substrate after a stress test. Experiments were performed by injecting 50 mA current for 200 hours to TO-CAN packaged sample chips. We selected the value of injection current for stress through the junction-temperature measurement by using the forward-voltage characteristics of a diode to maintain a sufficiently low junction temperature during the test. The junction temperature at the selected injection current of 50 mA was 308 K. Experiments were performed under the assumption that the average junction temperature of 308 K did not affect the characteristics of the ohmic contact and the GaN-based materials. Before and after the stress test, we measured and analyzed current-voltage, light-current, light distribution on the LED surface, wavelength spectrum and relative external quantum efficiency (EQE). After the stress test, it was observed experimentally that the optical power and the relative EQE decreased. We theoretically investigated and experimentally proved that these phenomena are due to the increased nonradiative recombination rate caused by the increased defect density.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.404-404
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• 2016

태양전지 제작 시 표면에 피라미드 구조를 형성하면 입사되는 광의 흡수를 높여 광 생성 전류의 향상에 기여한다. 일반적인 KOH를 이용한 습식 표면조직화 공정은 평균 10%의 반사율을 보였으며, 유도 결합 플라즈마를 이용한 RIE 공정은 평균 5.4%의 더 낮은 반사율을 보였다. 그러나 RIE 공정을 이용한 표면조직화는 낮은 반사율과 서브 마이크론 크기의 표면 구조를 만들 수 있지만 플라즈마 조사에 의한 표면 손상이 많이 발생하게 된다. 이러한 표면 손상은 태양전지 제작 시 표면에서 높은 재결합 영역으로 작용하게 되어 포화 전류(saturation currents, $J_0$)를 증가시키고 캐리어 수명(carrier lifetime, ${\tau}$)을 낮추는 결함 요소로 작용한다. 이러한 플라즈마에 의한 표면 손상을 제거하기 위해 HF, HNO3, DI-water를 이용하여 DRE(Damage Remove Etching) 공정을 진행하였다. DRE 공정은 HF : DI-water 솔루션과 HNO3 : HF : DI-water 솔루션의 두 가지 공정을 이용하여 공정 시간을 가변하며 진행하였다. 포화전류($J_0$), 캐리어 수명(${\tau}$), 벌크 캐리어 수명(Bulk ${\tau}$)을 비교를 하기위해 KOH, RIE, RIE + DRE 공정을 진행한 세 가지 샘플로 실험을 진행하였다. DRE 공정을 적용할 경우 공정 시간이 지날수록 반사도가 높아지는 경향을 보였지만, 두 번째의 최적화된 솔루션 공정에서 $2.36E-13A/cm^2$, $42{\mu}s$의 $J_0$, Bulk ${\tau}$값과 가장 높은 $26.4{\mu}s$의 ${\tau}$를 얻을 수 있었다. 이러한 결과는 오제 재결합(auger recombination)이 가장 많이 발생하는 지역인 표면과 불균일한 도핑 영역에서 DRE 공정을 통해 나아진 표면 특성과 균일한 도핑 프로파일을 형성하게 되어 재결합 영역과 $J_0$가 감소 된 것으로 판단된다. 높아진 반사도의 경우 $SiN_x$를 이용한 반사방지막을 통해 표면 반사율을 1% 이내로 내릴 수 있어 보완이 가능하였다. 본 연구에서는 RIE 공정 중 플라즈마에 의해 발생하는 표면 손상 제거를 통하여 캐리어 라이프 타임의 향상된 조건을 찾기 위한 연구를 진행하였으며, 기존 RIE 공정에 비해 반사도의 상승은 있지만 플라즈마로 인한 표면 손상을 제거하여 오제 재결합에 의한 발생하는 $J_0$를 낮출 수 있었고 높은 ${\tau}$값인 $26.4{\mu}s$의 결과를 얻어 추후 태양전지 제작에 향상된 효율을 기대할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.447-452
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• 2018

Titanium nanotubes (TNT) of various lengths ranging from $0.34^{\circ}C$ to a maximum of $8.9^{\circ}C$ were prepared by anodizing a titanium metal sheet in an electrolyte containing fluorine ion ($F^-$) of HF, NaF and $NH_4F$. When TNT prepared by anodizing was calcined at $450^{\circ}C$, anatase crystals with photo activity were formed. The TNT-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) showed a maximum conversion efficiency of 4.71% when the TNT length was $2.5{\mu}m$. This value was about 18% higher than photo conversion efficiency of the FTO-based DSSC coated with titania paste. And the short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$) of the TNT-DSSC was $9.74mA/cm^2$, which was about 35% higher than the $7.19mA/cm^2$ of FTO-DSSC. The reason for the higher conversion efficiency of TNT-DSSC solar cells is that photoelectrons generated from dyes are rapidly transferred to the electrode surface through TNT, and the recombination of photoelectrons and dyes is suppressed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.116-117
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• 2006

We investigated selective emitter effect of Porous Silicon (PSI) as antireflection coatings (ARC). The thin PSi layer, less than 100nm, was electrochemically formed by electrochemical method in about $3{\mu}m$ thick $n^+$ emitter on single crystalline silicon wafer (sc-Si). The appropriate PSi formations for selective emitter effect were carried out a two steps. A first set of samples allowed to be etched after metal-contact processing and a second one to evaporate Ag front-side metallization on PSi layer, by evaluating the I-V features The PSi has reflectance less than 20% in wavelength for 450-1000nm and porosity is about 60%. The cell made after front-contact has improved cell efficiency of about in comparison with the one made after PSi. The observed increase of efficiency for samples with PSi coating could be explained not only by the reduction of the reflection loss and surface recombination but also by the increased short-circuit current (Isc) within selective emitter. The assumption was confirmed by numerical modeling. The obtained results point out that it would be possible to prepare a solar cell over 15% efficiency by the proposed simple technology.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.2743-2750
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• 2011

Lanthanide(III)-cored complex as a wavelength conversion material has been successfully designed and synthesized for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells, for the first time, since light with a short wavelength has not been effectively used for generating electric power owing to the limited absorption of these DSSCs in the UV region. A black dye (BD) was chosen and used as a sensitizer, because BD has a relatively weak light absorption at shorter wavelengths. The overall conversion efficiency of the BD/WCM device was remarkably increased, even with the relatively small amount of WCM added to the device. The enhancement in $V_{oc}$ by WCM, like DCA, could be correlated with the suppression of electron recombination between the injected electrons and $I_3{^-}$ ions. Furthermore, the short-circuit current density was significantly increased by WCM with a strong UV light-harvesting effect. The energy transfer from the Eu(III)-cored complex to the $TiO_2$ film occurred via the dye, so the number of electrons injected into the $TiO_2$ surface increased, i.e., the short-circuit current density was increased. As a result, BD/WCM-sensitized solar cells exhibit superior device performance with the enhanced conversion efficiency by a factor of 1.22 under AM 1.5 sunlight: The photovoltaic performance of the BD/WCM-based DSSC exhibited remarkably high values, $J_{sc}$ of 17.72 mA/$cm^2$, $V_{oc}$ of 720 mV, and a conversion efficiency of 9.28% at 100 mW $cm^{-2}$, compared to a standard DSSC with $J_{sc}$ of 15.53 mA/$cm^2$, $V_{oc}$ of 689 mV, and a conversion efficiency of 7.58% at 100 mW $cm^{-2}$. Therefore, the Eu(III)-cored complex is a promising candidate as a new wavelength conversion coadsorbent for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells to improve UV light harvesting through energy transfer processes. The abstract should be a single paragraph which summaries the content of the article.