• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.111-119
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• 2018

We report the post-annealing effect of Sn doped ZnO (ZnO:Sn) thin film grown on sapphire (001) substrate using radio-frequency powder sputtering method. During thermal annealing in a vacuum atmosphere, the ZnO:Sn thin film is transformed into a porous thin film. Based on X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analyses, a possible mechanism for the production of pores is presented. Sn atoms segregate to form clusters that act as catalysts to dissociate Zn-O bonds. The Zn and O atoms subsequently vaporize, leading to the formation of pores in the ZnO:Sn thin film. We also found that Sn clusters were oxidized to form SnO or $SnO_2$ phases.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.304-308
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• 2012

Transparent thin film transistors (TTFT) were fabricated using the rf magnetron sputtered ZnO-$SnO_2$ films as active layers. A ceramic target whose Zn atomic ratio to Sn is 2:1 was employed for the deposition of ZnO-$SnO_2$ films. To study the post-annealing effects on the properties of TTFT, ZnO-$SnO_2$ films were annealed at $200^{\circ}C$ or $400^{\circ}C$ for 5 min before In deposition for source and drain electrodes. Oxygen was added into chamber during sputtering to raise the resistivity of ZnO-$SnO_2$ films. The effects of oxygen addition on the properties of TTFT were also investigated. 100 nm $Si_3N_4$ film grown on 100 nm $SiO_2$ film was used as gate dielectrics. The mobility, $I_{on}/I_{off}$, interface state density etc. were obtained from the transfer characteristics of ZnO-$SnO_2$ TTFTs.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.1135-1142
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• 2015

Multilayered ZnO-$SnO_2$ heterostructure thin films consisting of ZnO and $SnO_2$ layers are produced by alternating the pulsed laser ablation of ZnO and $SnO_2$ targets, and their structural and field-effect electronic transport properties are investigated as a function of the thickness of the ZnO and $SnO_2$ layers. The performance parameters of amorphous multilayered ZnO-$SnO_2$ heterostructure thin-film transistors (TFTs) are highly dependent on the thickness of the ZnO and $SnO_2$ layers. A highest electron mobility of $43cm^2/V{\cdot}s$, a low subthreshold swing of a 0.22 V/dec, a threshold voltage of 1 V, and a high drain current on-to-off ratio of $10^{10}$ are obtained for the amorphous multilayered ZnO(1.5nm)-$SnO_2$(1.5 nm) heterostructure TFTs, which is adequate for the operation of next-generation microelectronic devices. These results are presumed to be due to the unique electronic structure of amorphous multilayered ZnO-$SnO_2$ heterostructure film consisting of ZnO, $SnO_2$, and ZnO-$SnO_2$ interface layers.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.305-309
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• 2012

In this study, ZnO nanorods and $SnO_2$-CuO heterogeneous oxide were grown on membrane-type gas sensor platforms and the sensing characteristics for carbon monoxide (CO) were studied. Diaphragm-type gas sensor platforms with built-in Pt micro-heaters were made using a conventional bulk micromachining method. ZnO nanorods were grown from ZnO seed layers using the hydrothermal method, and the average diameter and length of the nanorods were adjusted by changing the concentration of the precursor. Thereafter, $SnO_2$-CuO heterogeneous oxide thin films were grown from evaporated Sn and Cu thin films. The average diameters of the ZnO nanorods obtained by changing the concentration of the precursor were between 30 and 200 nm and the ZnO nanorods showed a sensitivity value of 21% at a working temperature of $350^{\circ}C$ and a carbon monoxide concentration of 100 ppm. The $SnO_2$-CuO heterogeneous oxide thin films showed a sensitivity value of 18% at a working temperature of $200^{\circ}C$ and a carbon monoxide concentration of 100 ppm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.688-688
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• 2013

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films have attracted a lot of attention as a cheap transparent conducting oxide (TCO) material that can replace the expensive Sn-doped In2O3. In particular, AZO thin films are widely used as a window layer of chalcogenide-based thin film solar cells such as Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS). Mostly important requirements for the window layer material of the thin film solar cells are the high transparency and the low sheet resistance, because they influence the light absorption by the activelayer and the electron collection from the active layer, respectively. In this study, we prepared the AZO thin films by RF magnetron sputtering using a ZnO/Al2O3 (98：2wt%) ceramic target, and the effect of the sputtering condition such as the working pressure, RF power, and the working distance on the optical, electrical, and crystallographic properties of the AZO thin films was investigated. The AZO thin films with optimized properties were used as a window layer of CZTS thin film solar cells. The CZTS active layers were prepared by the electrochemical deposition and the subsequent sulfurization process, which is also one of the cost-effective synthetic approaches. In addition, the solar cell properties of the CZTS thin film solar cells, such as the photocurrent density-voltage (J-V) characteristics and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) were investigated.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.375-379
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• 2019

$ZnO-SnO_2(ZTO)$ was deposited by RF magnetron sputtering using a ceramic target whose Zn atomic ratio to Sn is 2:1 as a target, and the crystal structure variation with thermal treats was investigated. Transparent thin film transistors (TTFT) were fabricated using the ZTO films as active layers. About 100 nm-thick $Si_3N_4$ film grown on 100 nm-thick $SiO_2$ film was adopted as gate dielectrics. The mobility, threshold voltage, $I_{on}/I_{off}$, and interface trap density were obtained from the transfer characteristics of ZTO TTFTs. The effects of substrate temperature, and post-annealing on the property variation of ZTO TTFT were analyzed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.304.1-304.1
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• 2014

Flat-panel displays have been growing as an essential everyday product in the current information/communication ages in the unprecedented speed. The forward-coming applications require light-weightness, higher speed, higher resolution, and lower power consumption, along with the relevant cost. Such specifications demand for a new concept-based materials and applications, unlike Si-based technologies, such as amorphous Si and polycrystalline Si thin film transistors. Since the introduction of the first concept on the oxide-based thin film transistors by Hosono et al., amorphous oxide thin film transistors have been gaining academic/industrial interest, owing to the facile synthesis and reproducible processing despite of a couple of shortcomings. The current work places its main emphasis on the binary oxides composed of ZnO and SnO2. RF sputtering was applied to the fabrication of amorphous oxide thin film devices, in the form of bottom-gated structures involving highly-doped Si wafers as gate materials and thermal oxide (SiO2) as gate dielectrics. The physical/chemical features were characterized using atomic force microscopy for surface morphology, spectroscopic ellipsometry for optical parameters, X-ray diffraction for crystallinity, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for identification of chemical states. The combined characterizations on Zn-Sn-O thin films are discussed in comparison with the device performance based on thin film transistors involving Zn-Sn-O thin films as channel materials, with the aim to optimizing high-performance thin film transistors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.334-334
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• 2012

Transparent oxide semiconductors have recently attracted much attention as channel layer materials due to advantageous electrical and optical characteristics such as high mobility, high stability, and good transparency. In addition, transparent oxide semiconductor can be fabricated at low temperature with a low production cost and it permits highly uniform devices such as large area displays. A variety of thin film transistors (TFTs) have been studied including ZnO, InZnO, and InGaZnO as the channel layer. Recently, there are many studies for substitution of Ga in InGaZnO TFTs due to their problem, such as stability of devices. In this work, new quaternary compound materials, tantalum-indium-tin oxide (TaInSnO) thin films were fabricated by using co-sputtering and used for the active channel layer in thin film transistors (TFTs). We deposited TaInSnO films in a mixed gas (O2+Ar) atmosphere by co-sputtering from Ta and ITO targets, respectively. The electric characteristics of TaInSnO TFTs and thin films were investigated according to the RF power applied to the $Ta_2O_5$ target. The addition of Ta elements could suppress the formation of oxygen vacancies because of the stronger oxidation tendency of Ta relative to that of In or Sn. Therefore the free carrier density decreased with increasing RF power of $Ta_2O_5$ in TaInSnO thin film. The optimized characteristics of TaInSnO TFT showed an on/off current ratio of $1.4{\times}108$, a threshold voltage of 2.91 V, a field-effect mobility of 2.37 cm2/Vs, and a subthreshold swing of 0.48 V/dec.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.74-78
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• 2019

$Zn_2SnO_4$ thin films were deposited on quartzs substrates by using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering system. Thermal treatments at various temperatures were performed to evaluate the effect of annealing temperatures on the properties of $Zn_2SnO_4$ thin films. Surface morphologies were examined by using field emission-scanning electron microscopy and showed that sizes of grains were slightly increased and grain boundaries were clear with increasing annealing temperatures. The deposited $Zn_2SnO_4$ thin films on quartzs substrates were amorphous structures and no distinguishable crystallographic changes were observed with variations of annealing temperatures. The optical transmittance was improved with increasing annealing temperatures and was over 90% in the wavelength region between 350 and 1100 nm at the annealing temperature of $600^{\circ}C$. The optical energy bandgaps, which derived from the absorbance of $Zn_2SnO_4$ thin films, were increased from 3.34 eV to 3.43 eV at the annealing temperatures of $450^{\circ}C$ and $600^{\circ}C$, respectively. As the annealing temperature was increased, the electron concentrations were decreased. The electron mobility was decreased and resistivity was increased with increasing annealing temperatures with exception of $450^{\circ}C$. These results indicate that heat treatments at higher annealing temperatures improve the optical and electrical properties of rf-sputtered $Zn_2SnO_4$ thin films.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2016

In this study, the effects of soft baking temperature on the solution derived ZTO (Zn-Sn-O) TFTs (thin-film transistors) as a In-free oxide semiconductor were investigated. In spite of the same hard baking at high temperature($600^{\circ}C$), the electrical properties of ZTO TFT was greatly changed by a small difference in soft baking temperature($180{\sim}250^{\circ}C$). The performance of TFT was deteriorated as the soft baking temperature increased. Therefore, it is important to remove the water-related defects well as organic impurities from the ZTO films during soft baking for fabrication of solution-derived high performance of TFTs.