• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.379-379
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• 2007

The characteristics of indium-zinc-tin-oxide (IZTO)-Ag-IZTO multilayer grown on a PET substrate were investigated for flexible organic light-emitting diodes. The IZTO-Ag-IZTO (IAI) multilayer anode exhibited a remarkably reduced sheet resistance of 4 ohm/sq and a high transmittance of 84%, despite the very thin thickness of the IZTO (30 nm) layer. In addition, it was shown that electrical and optical properties of IAI anodes are critically dependent on the thickness of the Ag layer, due to the transition of Ag atoms from distinct islands to continuous films at a critical thickness (14 nm). Moreover, the IAI/PET sample showed more stable mechanical properties than an amorphous ITO/PET sample during the bending test due to the existence of a ductile Ag layer. The current density voltage-luminance characteristics of flexible OLEDs fabricated on an IAI/PET substrate was better than those of flexible OLEDs fabricated on an ITO/PET substrate. This indicates that IAI multilayer anodes are promising flexible and transparent electrodes for flexible OLEDs.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.228-232
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• 2019

Copper electroplating and electrode patterning using a screen printer are applied instead of lithography for heterostructure with intrinsic thin layer(HIT) silicon solar cells. Samples are patterned on an indium tin oxide(ITO) layer using polymer resist printing. After polymer resist patterning, a Ni seed layer is deposited by sputtering. A Cu electrode is electroplated in a Cu bath consisting of $Cu_2SO_4$ and $H_2SO_4$ at a current density of $10mA/cm^2$. Copper electroplating electrodes using a screen printer are successfully implemented to a line width of about $80{\mu}m$. The contact resistance of the copper electrode is $0.89m{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$, measured using the transmission line method(TLM), and the sheet resistance of the copper electrode and ITO are $1{\Omega}/{\square}$ and $40{\Omega}/{\square}$, respectively. In this paper, a screen printer is used to form a solar cell electrode pattern, and a copper electrode is formed by electroplating instead of using a silver electrode to fabricate an efficient solar cell electrode at low cost.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.51
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• pp.3.1-3.6
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• 2021

We examined the morphology of fertilized egg and ultrastructures of fertilized egg envelopes of dwarf rainbowfish (Melanotaenia praecox) belong to Melanotaeniidae using light and electron microscopes. The fertilized eggs were spherical with adhesive filament, transparent, demersal, and had a narrow perivitelline space and small oil droplets. The size of fertilized egg was 1.02 ± 0.18 mm (n = 30), and there were two kinds of adhesive filament on the fertilized eggs. The long and thick (diameter 12.22 ± 0.52 ㎛, n = 20) adhesive filaments were only at the area of animal pole, and short and thin (diameter 1.99 ± 0.23 ㎛, n = 20) adhesive filaments were around the long filaments. A micropyle was conical shaped with adhesive filament and located near the animal pole of egg. The outer surface of fertilized egg was rough side. Also, the total thickness of the fertilized egg envelope was about 7.46 ± 0.41 ㎛ (n = 20), the fertilized egg envelope consisted of two layers, an inner lamellae layer and an outer layer with high electron-density. And the inner layer was 8 layers. Collectively, these morphological characteristics and adhesive property of fertilized egg with adhesive filaments, and ultrastructures of micropyle, outer surface, and section of fertilized egg envelope are showed species specificity.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.103-107
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• 2023

A Nickel oxide (NiO_x) thin films were prepared via sol-gel process on a transparent conductive oxide glass substrate. The NiO_x thin films were spin-coated in ambient air and subsequently annealed for 30 minutes at temperatures ranging from 150℃ to 450℃. The structural and optical characteristics of the NiO_x thin films annealed at various temperatures were measured using X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. After optimizing the NiO_x coating conditions, perovskite solar cells were fabricated with p-i-n inverted structure, and its photovoltaic performance was evaluated. NiO_x thin films annealed at 350℃ exhibited the most favorable characteristics as a hole transport layer, resulting in the highest power conversion efficiency of 17.88 % when fabricating inverted perovskite solar cells using this film.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.259-259
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• 2011

염료감응형 태양전지(Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells:DSSC)는 환경 친화적이며, 저가의 공정에 대한 가능성으로 기존의 고가의 결정질 실리콘 태양전지의 경제적인 대안으로 각광을 받고 있다. 최근 염료감응형 태양전지는 투명 전도성 산화막(Transparent Conducting Oxide : TCO)으로 사용되는 Fluorine Tin Oxide (FTO)가 증착된 유리기판 위에 주로 제작된다. FTO는 낮은 비저항과 가시광선 영역에서 높은 투과도를 가지는 우수한 전기-광학적 특성을 갖지만, 비교적 공정이 까다로운 Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)법으로 제조하며, 전체 공정비용의 60%를 차지하는 높은 생산단가로 인해 현재 FTO를 대체할 재료개발 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 그 중 ZnO (Zinc Oxide)는 우수한 전기-광학적 특성과 비교적 저렴한 가격으로 새로운 TCO로써 주목받고 있다. ZnO는 넓은 energy band gap (3.4 [eV])의 육방정계 울자이트(hexagonal wurtzite) 결정 구조를 가지는II-VI족 n형 반도체 물질이며, III족 금속원소인 Al, Ga 및 In 등의 불순물을 첨가하면 TCO로서 우수한 전기-광학적 특성과 안정성을 나타낸다. 이들 물질중 $Zn^{2+}$ (0.060 nm)의 이온반경과 유사한 $Ga^{2+}$0.062 nm) 이온이 ZnO의 격자반경을 최소화 시킬 수 있다는 장점으로 최근 주목 받고 있다. 하지만 Ga-doped ZnO (GZO)의 경우 DSC에 사용되는 루테늄 계열의 산성 염료 하에 장시간 두면 표면이 파괴되는 문제가 발생하며, $TiO_2$ paste를 Printing 후 열처리하는 과정에서도 박막의 파괴가 발생할 수 있다. 이를 방지하기 위해 $TiO_2$ Blocking Layer를 GZO 투명전극 위에 증착하였다. 또한, $TiO_2$ Blocking Layer를 적용한 GZO 박막을 전면전극으로 이용하여 DSC를 제작하여 효율을 확인하였다. 2wt%의 $Ga_2O_3$가 도핑된 ZnO 박막은 20mTorr 400$^{\circ}C$에서 Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD)에 의해 성장되었고, $TiO_2$박막은 Ti 금속을 타겟으로 이용하여 30mTorr 400$^{\circ}C$에서 증착되었다. Scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM)을 이용한 박막 분석 결과 $TiO_2$가 증착된 GZO 박막의 경우 표면 파괴가 일어나지 않았다. Solar Simulator을 이용하여 I-V특성 측정결과 상용 FTO를 사용한 DSC 수준의 효율을 나타내었다. 이에 따라 Pulsed Laser Deposition을 이용해 제작된 GZO 기판은 $TiO_2$ Blocking Layer를 이용하여 표면 파괴를 방지할 수 있었으며, 이는 향후 염료감응형 태양전지의 투명전극에 적용 가능 할 것으로 판단된다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.291-294
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• 2015

Recently, ZnO based oxide TFTs used in the flexible and transparent display devices are widely studied. To apply to OLED display switching devices, electrical performance and stability are important issues. In this study, to improve these electrical properties, we fabricated TFTs having Al doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) layer inserted between the gate insulator and ZnO layer. The AZO and ZnO layers are deposited by Atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. I-V transfer characteristics and stability of the suggested devices are investigated under the positive gate bias condition while the channel defects are also analyzed by the photoluminescence spectrum. The TFTs with AZO layer show lower threshold voltage ($V_{th}$) and superior sub-threshold slop. In the case of $V_{th}$ shift after positive gate bias stress, the stability is also better than that of ZnO channel TFTs. This improvement is thought to be caused by the reduced defect density in AZO/ZnO stack devices, which can be confirmed by the photoluminescence spectrum analysis results where the defect related deep level emission of AZO is lower than that of ZnO layer.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.260-264
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• 2007

We have studied stability in organic light-emitting diode depending on buffer layer and cathode. A transparent electrode of indium-tin-oxide(ITO) was used as an anode. An electron injection energy barrier into organic material is different depending on a work function of cathodes. Theoretically, the energy barriers for the electron injection are 1.2 eV, -0.1 eV, and 0.0 eV for Al, LiAl, and LiF/Al at 300 K, respectively. We considered the cases that holes are injected to organic light-emitting diode. The hole injection energy barrier is about 0.7 eV between ITO and TPD without buffer layer. For hole-injection buffer layers of CuPc and PEDOT:PSS, the hole injection energy barriers are 0.4 eV and 0.5 eV, respectively. When the buffer layer of CuPc and PEDOT:PSS is existed, we observed the effects of hole injection energy barrier, and a reduction of operating-voltage. However, in case of PVK buffer layer, the hole injection energy barrier becomes high(1.0 eV). Even though the operating voltage becomes high, the efficiency is improved. A device structure for optimal lifetime condition is ITO/PEDOT:PSS/TPD/$Alq_3$/LiAl at an initial luminance of $300cd/m^2$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.341-341
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• 2012

Recently, oxide semi-conductor materials have been investigated as promising candidates replacing a-Si:H and poly-Si semiconductor because they have some advantages of a room-temperature process, low-cost, high performance and various applications in flexible and transparent electronics. Particularly, amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) is an interesting semiconductor material for use in flexible thin film transistor (TFT) fabrication due to the high carrier mobility and low deposition temperatures. In this work, we demonstrated improvement of flexibility in IGZO TFTs, which were fabricated on polyimide (PI) substrate. At first, a thin poly-4vinyl phenol (PVP) layer was spin coated on PI substrate for making a smooth surface up to 0.3 nm, which was required to form high quality active layer. Then, Ni gate electrode of 100 nm was deposited on the bare PVP layer by e-beam evaporator using a shadow mask. The PVP and $Al_2O_3$ layers with different thicknesses were used for organic/inorganic multi gate dielectric, which were formed by spin coater and atomic layer deposition (ALD), respectively, at $200^{\circ}C$. 70 nm IGZO semiconductor layer and 70 nm Al source/drain electrodes were respectively deposited by RF magnetron sputter and thermal evaporator using shadow masks. Then, IGZO layer was annealed on a hotplate at $200^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour. Standard electrical characteristics of transistors were measured by a semiconductor parameter analyzer at room temperature in the dark and performance of devices then was also evaluated under static and dynamic mechanical deformation. The IGZO TFTs incorporating hybrid gate dielectrics showed a high flexibility compared to the device with single structural gate dielectrics. The effects of mechanical deformation on the TFT characteristics will be discussed in detail.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.458-458
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• 2013

We investigated a study on the thermal degradation of boron doped zinc-oxide (BZO) layer which used as a transparent conducting layer on the Cu (In1-xGax) Se2 (CIGS) based thin film solar cells. Devices were annealed under the temperature of $100^{\circ}C$ or 100 hours and then Hall measurement was carried out to characterize the parameters of mobility (${\mu}Hall$), resistivity (${\rho}$), conductivity (${\sigma}$) and sheet resistance (Rsh). The initial values of ${\mu}Hall$, ${\rho}$, ${\sigma}$ and Rsh were $29.3cm^2$/$V{\cdot}s$, $2.1{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, $476.4{\Omega}^{-1}{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ and $19.1{\Omega}$/${\Box}$ respectively. After the annealing process, the values were $4.5cm^2$/$V{\cdot}s$, $12.8{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, $77.9{\Omega}^{-1}{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ and $116.6{\Omega}$/${\Box}$ respectively. We observed that ${\mu}Hall$ and ${\sigma}$ were decreased, and ${\rho}$ and Rsh were increased. In this study, BZO layer plays an important role of conducting path for electrons generated by incident light onthe CIGS absorption layer. Therefore, the degradation of BZO layer characterized by the parameters of ${\mu}Hall$, ${\rho}$, ${\sigma}$ and Rsh, affect to the cell efficiency.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 1993

This study was done to elucidate the electron microscopic characteristics of certain pathogenic fungi. Four Candida species, (C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis and C. glabrate) and Cryptococcus neoformans were cultured for 3 days at $30^{\circ}C$ in the Sabouraud dextrose medium. After incubation, they were stored at $4^{\circ}C$ for 24hours. Fine structures were analyzed by morphometry, and Tukey's HSD test was used for statistics. On scanning electron microscopy C. albicans and C. neoformans were similar in size but different in shape, showing sphero-shape or ovalo-shape in C. neoformans. Surface of C. neoformans was coarse and spiny, but Candida species examined were uniformly smooth. In size, C. glabrata was the smallest among them. Budding scar as seen on the surface of Candida species by the number ranging from 1 to 7. Cryptococcus neoformans showed one or two budding scar. On transmission electron microscopy the cytoplasm of most yeast cells showed plentiful glycogen particles, mitochondria, peroxisomes and vacuoles. However, cell walls were different among four Candida species and Cryptococcus neoformans. The cell wall of Candida species consisted of fibrous layer, that was electron dense layer and transparent layer, in contrast to Cryptococcus neoformans consisted of electron dense layer with lamellar structure. This layer was two times thicker than that of Candida species. The outer layer of cell wall was of radiating pattern.