• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.313-314
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• 2007

Ga-doped ZnO(GZO) multilayer coatings were prepared on glass by DC sputtering. Optimization of the deposition conditions of both AZO and Au layers were performed for better electrical and optical characteristics. The properties of multilayer were affected by the deposition process of both GZO and Au layers. The best multilayer coating exhibits low resistivity of $2.72{\times}10^{-3}\;{\Omega}-cm$ and transmittance of 77%. From these results, we can confirm a possibility of the application as transparent conductive electrodes.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.73-77
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• 2021

In this study, we report on the effects of argon plasma treatment on Ag nanowires by varying the power and duration. Sheet resistance was found to be significantly reduced to 10 ohm/sq. relative to the value of 21 ohm/sq. for the pristine sample. Such a reduction was found to be associated with welded junctions between Ag nanowires, which results in enhanced current flow. With the optimized plasma treatment conditions, the maximum and average transmittance were 76.8% and 71%, respectively. Finally, we fabricated transparent heating devices based on the methodology, which exhibited superior heating capability.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.109-124
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• 2023

For decades, sputtering as a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method has been a widely used technique for film coating processes. The sputtering enables oxides, metals, alloys, nitrides, etc to be deposited on a wide variety of substrates from silicon wafers to polymer substrates. Meanwhile, transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) have played important roles as electrodes in electrical applications such as displays, sensors, solar cells, and thin-film transistors. TCO films fabricated through a sputtering process have a higher quality leading to an improved device performance than other films prepared with other methods. In this review, we discuss the mechanism of sputtering deposition and detail the TCO materials. Related technologies (processing conditions, materials, and applications) are introduced for electrical applications.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.222-227
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• 2016

Tin oxides have been studied for various applications such as gas detecting materials, transparent electrodes, transparent devices, and solar cells. p-type SnO is a promising transparent oxide semiconductor because of its high optical transparency and excellent electrical properties. In this study, we fabricated p-type SnO thin film using rf magnetron sputtering with an SnO/Sn composite target; we examined the effects of various oxygen flow rates on the SnO thin films. We fundamentally investigated the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the p-type SnO thin films utilizing X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV/Vis spectrometry, and Hall Effect measurement. A p-type SnO thin film of $P_{O2}=3%$ was obtained with > 80% transmittance, carrier concentration of $1.12{\times}10^{18}cm^{-3}$, and mobility of $1.18cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$. With increasing of the oxygen partial pressure, electrical conductivity transition from p-type to n-type was observed in the SnO crystal structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.339-339
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• 2013

We study on the optical and electrical properties of indium-free ZTO(ZnSnO)/Ag/ZTO (ZAZ) multilayer electrodes for the low-cost transparent electrode. In the first step, each single layer was deposited using rf magnetron in-line sputter with various working pressure based on $O_2$/$Ar+O_2$ ratio (0~3%) and power at room temperature. Secondly, we studied the optical and electrical properties by analyzing the refractive index, extinction coefficient, transmittance and resistivity of each layer. Finally, we optimized the thickness of each layer using macleod simulation program based on the analyzed optical properties and fabricated the multilayer electrode. As a result, We achieved a low sheet resistance of $11{\Omega}$/sq and anaverage transmittance of 80% in the visible region of light (380~780 nm). This indicates that indium-free ZAZ multilayer electrode is a promising low-cost and low-temperature processing electrode scheme.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.50-53
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• 2015

Indium (In) is widely used for transparent electrodes of photovoltaics as a form of indium tin oxide (ITO) due to its superior characteristics of environmental stability, relatively low electrical resistivity and high transparency to visible light. However, In has been worn off in proportion to growth the In related market, and it leads to raise of price. Although In is obtained from ITO target scarps, much harmful elements are used for the recycling process. To decrease of harmful elements, ITO swarf particles obtained from target scraps was characterized whether it is feasible to transparent conductive oxide (TCO). The ITO swarf was crushed with milling process, and it was mixed with new ITO nanoparticles. The mixed particles were well dispersed into ink solvent to make-up an ink, and it was well coated onto glass substrate. After heat-treatment at $400^{\circ}C$ under $N_2$ rich environments, optical transmittance at 550 nm and sheet resistance of the ITO ink coated layer was 71.6% and $524.67{\Omega}/{\square}$, respectively. Therefore, it was concluded that the ITO swarf was feasible to TCO of touch screen panel.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.165-168
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• 2009

Transparent and conducting ITO/Cu/ITO multilayered films were deposited by magnetron sputtering on unheated polycarbonate (PC) substrates. The thickness of the Cu intermediate film was varied from 5 to 20 nm. Changes in the microstructure and optoelectrical properties of ITO/Cu/ITO films were investigated with respect to the thickness of the Cu intermediated layer. The optoelectrical properties of the films were significantly influenced by the thickness of the Cu interlayer. The sandwich structure of ITO 50 nm/Cu 5 nm/ITO 45 nm films had a sheet resistance of $36{\Omega}$/Sq. and an optical transmittance of 67% (contain substrate) at a wavelength of 550 nm, while the ITO 50 nm/Cu 20 nm/ITO 30 nm films had a sheet resistance of $70{\Omega}$/Sq. and an optical transmittance of 36%. The electrical and optical properties of ITO/Cu/ITO films were determined mainly by the Cu film properties. From the figure of merit, it is concluded that the ITO/Cu/ITO films with a 5 nm Cu interlayer showed the better performance in transparent conducting electrode applications than the conventional ITO films.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.48-49
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• 2006

Highly conductive and transparent films of Ga-doped ZnO have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition using a ZnO target with 3 wt% ${Ga_2}{O_3}$ dopant. Films with the resistivity as low as $3.3{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}cm$ and the transmittance above 80 % at the wavelength of 400 to 800 nm can be fabricated on glass substrate at room temperature. It is shown that a stable resistivity for the use in oxidation ambient at high temperature can be obtained for the films. Heat treatments were performed to examine the thermal stability of ZnO and GZO films at ptemperature range from $100^{\circ}C$ to $400^{\circ}C$ in $O_2$ ambient for 30 minutes. The resistivity of ZnO film annealed at $400^{\circ}C$ increased by two orders of magnitude, in case of GZO film was relatively stable up to at $400^{\circ}C$. For practical applications at high temperatures the thermal stability of resistivity of GZO thin films might become an advantage for transparent electrodes.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1044-1048
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• 2007

With development of electronic products the demands for miniaturization and weight-lightening have increased until a recent date. Accordingly, The effort to substitute glass substrates was widely made. However, polymer substrates have weak point that substrates were damaged at high temperature. In this paper, we deposited transparent conductive film at low temperature. And we inserted Au thin film between oxide to compensate for deteriorated electrical characteristics. Ga-doped ZnO(GZO) multilayer coatings were deposited on glass substrate by DC sputtering. The optimization of deposition conditions of both AZO and Au layers were performed to obtain better electrical and optical characteristics in advance. We presumed that the properties of multilayer were affected by the deposition process of both GZO and Au layers. The best multilayer coating exhibited the resistivity of $2.72{\times}10^{-3}\;{\Omega}-cm$ and transmittance of 77 %. From these results, we can confirm a possibility of the application as transparent conductive electrodes.

• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.42-47
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• 2013

In this study, we have experimentally analyzed how the surface properties of transparent electrode layer influence the photovoltaic performance of bulk heterojunction organic solar cell by the contact angle measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) observation. As a result, the power conversion efficiency of test devices improved from 0.64% to 1.83% and 2.15% by UV-ozone exposure and $O_2$ plasma treatment, respectively. Thus, we conclude that the surface activation process is very important for better performance and stability in addition to the cleaning process of carbonate residue on the surface.