• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.24.1-24.1
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• 2009

The zinc oxide (ZnO) material as the II-VI compound semiconductor is useful in various fields of device applications such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), solar cells and gas sensors due to its wide direct band gap of 3.37eV and high exciton binding energy of 60meV at room temperature. In this study, the ZnO nanorods were deposited onto homogenous buffer layer/Si(100) substrates by a hydrothermal synthesis. The Effects of the buffer layer annealing and post annealing temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO nanorods grown by a hydrothermal synthesis were investigated. For the buffer layer annealing case, the annealed buffer layer surface became rougher with increasing of annealing temperature up to $750^{\circ}C$, while it was smoothed with more increasing of annealing temperature due to the evaporation of buffer layer. It was found that the roughest surface of buffer layer improved the structural and optical properties of ZnO nanorods. For the post annealing case, the hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods were annealed with various temperatures ranging from 450 to $900^{\circ}C$. Similarly in the buffer layer annealing case, the post annealing enhanced the properties of ZnO nanorods with increasing of annealing temperature up to $750^{\circ}C$. However, it was degraded with further increasing of annealing temperature due to the violent movement of atoms and evaporation. Finally, the buffer layer annealing and post annealing treatment could efficiently improve the properties of hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods. The morphology and structural properties of ZnO nanorods grown by the hydrothermal synthesis were measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical properties were also analyzed by photoluminescence (PL) measurement.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.50-56
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• 2011

In this study, the effects of ZnO buffer layer thickness and annealing temperature on the heterojunction diode, ZnO/b-ZnO/p-Si(111), were reported. The effects of those on the structural and electrical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) films on ZnO buffered p-Si (111) substrate were also studied. Structural properties of ZnO thin films were studied by X-ray diffraction and I-V characteristics were measured by a semiconductor parameter analyzer. ZnO thin films with 70 nm thick buffer layer and annealing temperature of $700^{\circ}C$ showed the best c-axis preferred orientation. The best electrical property was found at the condition of buffer layer annealing temperature of $700^{\circ}C$ and 50nm thick ZnO buffer layer (resistivity: $2.58{\times}10^{-4}[{\Omega}-cm]$, carrier concentration: $1.16{\times}1020[cm^{-3}]$). The I-V characteristics for ZnO/b-ZnO/p-Si(111) heterojunction diode were improved with increasing buffer layer thickness at buffer layer annealing temperature of $700^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.34-38
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• 2011

In this study, the effects of an annealed buffer layer with different thickness on heterojunction diodes based on the ZnO/ZnO/p-Si(111) systems were reported. The effects of an annealed buffer layer with different thickness on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) films on p-Si(111) were also studied. Before zinc oxide (ZnO) deposition, different thicknesses of ZnO buffer layer, 10 nm, 30 nm, 50 nm and 70 nm, were grown on p-Si(111) substrates using a radio-frequency sputtering system; samples were subsequently annealed at $700^{\circ}C$ for 10 minutes in $N_2$ in a horizontal thermal furnace. Zinc oxide (ZnO) films with a width of 280nm were also deposited using a radio-frequency sputtering system on the annealed ZnO/p-Si (111) substrates at room temperature; samples were subsequently annealed at $700^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes in $N_2$. In this experiment, the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films were studied by XRD (X-ray diffraction), and room temperature PL (photoluminescence) measurements, respectively. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics were measured with a semiconductor parameter analyzer. The thermal tensile stress was found to decrease with increasing buffer layer thickness. Among the ZnO/ZnO/p-Si(111) diodes fabricated in this study, the sample that was formed with the condition of a 50 nm thick ZnO buffer layer showed a strong c-axis preferred orientation and I-V characteristics suitable for a heterojunction diode.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.84-89
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• 2006

Highly concentrated p-type ZnO thin films can be obtained by doping of N, P and As elements. In this study, undoped ZnO buffer layers were prepared on a (0001) sapphire substrate by a ultra high vaccum pulsed laser deposition(UHV-PLD) method. ZnO buffer layers were deposited with various deposition temperature($400{\sim}700^{\circ}C$) at 350 mtorr of oxygen working pressure. Arsenic doped(1 wt%) ZnO thin films were deposited on the ZnO buffer layers by UHV-PLD. Crystallinity of the samples were evaluated by X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscopy. Optical, electrical properties of the ZnO thin films were estimated by photoluminescence(PL) and Hall measurements. The optimal condition of the undoped ZnO buffer layer for the deposition of As-doped ZnO thin films was at $600^{\circ}C$ of deposition temperature.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.102-105
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• 2011

This work describes the characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films formed on a polycrystalline (poly) 3C-SiC buffer layer using a sol-gel process. The deposited ZnO films were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. ZnO thin films grown on the poly 3C-SiC buffer layer had a nanoparticle structure and porous film. The effects of post-annealing on ZnO film were also studied. The PL spectra at room temperature confirmed the crystal quality and optical properties of ZnO thin films formed on the 3C-SiC buffer layer were improved due to close lattice mismatch in the ZnO/3C-SiC interface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.257.1-257.1
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• 2015

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) 박막 태양 전지에서 buffer layer는 CIGS 흡수층과 TCO 사이의 밴드갭 차이에 대한 문제점과 lattice mismatch를 해결하기 위해 필수적이다. 흔히 buffer layer 물질로는 CdS가 가장 많이 사용되고 있으나 Cd의 독성에 관한 문제가 야기되고 있다. 따라서 ZnS(O, OH) buffer layer가 친환경 물질로 기존의 CdS 버퍼 층의 대체 물질로 각광 받고 있으며, 단파장 범위에서 높은 투과율로 인해 wide band gap의 Chalcopyrite 태양 전지에 응용되는 buffer layer로 많은 연구가 이루어지고 있다. 또한 buffer layer를 최적화 하여 carrier lifetime과 양자 효율이 증가시킬 수 있는 특성을 가지고 있다. 이 연구에서는 Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) 박막에 화학습식공정 (CBD) 방법을 이용하여 최적화된 ZnS(O, OH)의 증착 조건을 찾고, 고품질의 buffer layer를 제조하기 위한 실험에 초점을 맞췄다. 또한, buffer layer의 막질을 개선하고 균일한 막을 제조하기 위해 processing parameters인 시약의 농도, 제조 시간 및 온도 등의 다양한 변화를 통해 실험을 진행하였다. 그 후 최적화된 ZnS(O, OH) buffer layer의 특성 분석을 위해 X-ray diffraction(XRD), photoluminescence (PL), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and GD-OES을 이용하였고, 이를 통해 제조된 CIGS 박막 태양전지는 light induced current-voltage (LIV) and external quantum efficiency (EQE)를 통해 특성 분석을 실시 하였다. 결과적으로, 제조된 ZnS(O, OH) buffer layer의 $ZnSO4{\cdot}7H2O$의 농도는 0.16 M, Thiourea는 0.5 M, NH4OH는 7.5 M, 그리고 반응 온도는 77.5 oC의 조건 하에 CIGS 기판 위에 균일하고 균열이 없는 ZnS(O, OH) 박막을 제조하였으며 이때 제조된 태양전지의 소자 특성은 Voc = 0.478 V, Jsc = 35.79 mA/cm2, FF = 47.77%, ${\eta}=8,18 %$이다.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.216-221
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• 2006

ZnO thin films prepared by PLD method exhibit an excellent optical property, but may have some problems such as incomplete surface roughness and crystallinity. In this study, undoped ZnO buffer layers were deposited on (0001) sapphire substrates by ultra high vacuum pulse laser deposition (UHV-PLD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) methods, respectively. After post annealing of ZnO buffer layer, undoped ZnO thin films were deposited under different oxygen pressure ($35{\sim}350$ mtorr) conditions. The Arsenic-doped (1, 3 wt%) ZnO thin layers were deposited on the buffer layer of undoped ZnO by UHV-PLD method. The optical property of the ZnO thin films was analyzed by photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The ${\theta}-2{\theta}$ XRD analysis exhibited a strong (002)-peak, which indicates c-axis preferred orientation. Field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) revealed that microstructures of the ZnO thin films were varied by oxygen partial pressure, Arsenic doping concentration, and deposition method of the undoped ZnO buffer layer. The denser and smoother films were obtained when employing MBE-buffer layer under lower oxygen partial pressure. It was also found that higher Arsenic concentration gave the enhanced growing of columnar structure of the ZnO thin films.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.138-138
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• 2009

Recently, thin-film solar cells of Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$(CIGS) have reached a high level of performance, which has resulted in a 19.9%-efficient device. These conventional devices were typically fabricated using chemical bath deposited CdS buffer layer between the CIGS absorber layer and ZnO window layer. However, the short wavelength response of CIGS solar cell is limited by narrow CdS band gap of about 2.42 eV. Taking into consideration the environmental aspect, the toxic Cd element should be replaced by a different material. It is why during last decades many efforts have been provided to achieve high efficiency Cd-free CIGS solar cells. In order to alternate CdS buffer layer, ZnS buffer layer is grown by using chemical bath deposition(CBD) technique. The thickness and chemical composition of ZnS buffer layer can be conveniently by varying the CBD processing parameters. The processing parameters were optimized to match band gap of ZnS films to the solar spectrum and exclude the creation of morphology defects. Optimized ZnS buffer layer showed higher optical transmittance than conventional thick-CdS buffer layer at the short wavelength below ~520 nm. Then, chemically deposited ZnS buffer layer was applied to CIGS solar cell as a alternative for the standard CdS/CIGS device configuration. This CIGS solar cells were characterized by current-voltage and quantum efficiency measurement.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.07a
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• pp.574-577
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• 2001

GaN thin films on sapphire were grown by rf magnetron sputtering with ZnO buffer layer. The dependence of GaN film quality on ZnO buffer layer was investigated by X-ray diffraction(XRD). The improved film quality has been obtained by using thin ZnO buffer layer. Using Auger electron spectroscopy(AES), it was observed that the annealing process improved the GaN film quality. The surface roughness according to the annealing temperatures(700, 900, 1100$^{\circ}C$) were investigated by AFM(atomic force microscopy) and it was confirmed that the crystallization was improved by increasing the annealing temperature. Photoluminescence at 8K shows a near-band-edge peak at 3.2eV with no deep level emission.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.656-661
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• 2005

The effects of gas atmosphere and in-situ thermal annealing in buffet layers on the characteristic of the ZnO grown by RF magnetron sputtering have been investigated. It was shown that the introduction of buffer layers grown at the gas atmospheres of the mixed $Ar/O_2$ and the in-situ thermal treatment of the ZnO buffer layer improved the structural and optical properties. In addition, the ZnO films on the buffer layer thermal-annealed at $N_2$ gas ambience showed the strong emission of the near band gap exciton with narrow linewidth by combining the high-temperature growth of the ZnO film.