• 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.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.54-60
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• 2015

ZnSnO thin films were deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) process using diethyl zinc ($Zn(C_2H_5)_2$) and tetrakis (dimethylamino) tin ($Sn(C_2H_6N)_4$) as metal precursors and water vapor as a reactant. ALD process has several advantages over other deposition methods such as precise thickness control, good conformality, and good uniformity for large area. The composition of ZnSnO thin films was controlled by varying the ratio of ZnO and $SnO_2$ ALD cycles. The ALD ZnSnO film was an amorphous state. The band gap of ZnSnO thin films increased as the Sn content increased. The CIGS solar cell using ZnSnO buffer layer showed about 18% energy conversion efficiency. With such a high efficiency with the ALD ZnSnO buffer and no light soaking effect, AlD ZnSnO buffer mighty be a good candidate to replace Zn(S,O) buffer in CIGSsolar cells.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.93-98
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• 2017

This experiment investigated characteristic changes in a $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$(CZTS) solar cell by applying a $Zn(O_x,S_{1-x})$ butter layer with various compositions on the upper side of the absorber layer. Among the four single layers such as $Zn(O_{0.76},S_{0.24})$, $Zn(O_{0.56},S_{0.44})$, $Zn(O_{0.33},S_{0.67})$, and $Zn(O_{0.17},S_{0.83})$, the $Zn(O_{0.76},S_{0.24})$ buffer layer was applied to the device due to its bandgap structure for suppressing electron-hole recombination. In the application of the $Zn(O_{0.76},S_{0.24})$ buffer layer to the device, the buffer layer in the device showed the composition of $Zn(O_{0.7},S_{0.3})$ because S diffused into the buffer layer from the absorber layer. The $Zn(O_{0.7},S_{0.3})$ buffer layer, having a lower energy level ($E_V$) than a CdS buffer layer, improved the $J_{SC}$ and $V_{OC}$ characteristics of the CZTS solar cell because the $Zn(O_{0.7},S_{0.3})$ buffer layer effectively suppressed electron-hole recombination. A substitution of the CdS buffer layer by the $Zn(O_{0.7},S_{0.3})$ buffer layer improved the efficiency of the CZTS solar cell from 2.75% to 4.86%.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.289-292
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• 2019

Transparent and conducting titanium doped indium oxide (TIO) thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on zinc oxide (ZnO)-coated glass substrates to investigate the effect of the ZnO buffer layer on optical and electrical properties of TIO/ZnO bi-layered films. TIO 90 nm / ZnO 10 nm films having a lower resistivity (3.09×10^-3 Ωcm) and a higher visible transmittance (80.3%) than other TIO/ZnO films were prepared in this study. Figure of merit results indicate that a 10 nm thick ZnO thin film is an effective buffer layer that enhances optical transmittance and electrical conductivity of TIO films without intentional substrate heating or post-deposition annealing.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1994.07b
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• pp.1277-1279
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• 1994

In the structure of ZnO/nip-SiC: H/metal substrate amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells, the effects of inserting a rear textured ZnO in the p-SiC:H/metal interface and a graded bandgap buffer layer in the i/p-SiC:H have been analysed by computer simulation. The incident light was taken to have an intensity of $100mW/cm^2$(AM-1). The thickness of the a-Si:H n, ${\delta}$-doped a-SiC:H p, and buffer layers was assumed to be $200{\AA},\;66{\AA}$, and $80{\AA}$, respectively. The scattering coefficients of the front and back ZnO were taken to be 0.2 and 0.7, respectively. Inserting the rear buffer layer significantly increases the open circuit voltage($V_{oc}$) due to reduction of the i/p interface recombination rate. The use of textured ZnO markedly improves collection efficiency in the long wavelengths( above ${\sim}550nm$ ) by back scattering and light confinement effects, resulting in dramatic enhancement of the short circuit current density($J_{sc}$). By using the rear buffer and textured ZnO, the i-layer thickness of the ceil for obtaining the maximum efficiency becomes thinner(${\sim}2500{\AA}$). From these results, it is concluded that the use of textured ZnO and buffer layer at the backside of the ceil is very effective for enhancing the conversion efficiency and reducing the degradation of a-Si:H pin-type solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.115-115
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• 2009

Epitaxial ZnO film was grown on Si(111) substrate with oxidazed CrN buffer by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The growth and structural properties are investigated. The single crystalline growth was revealed by in-situ RHEED analysis. Crystalline quality of ZnO film grown on oxidized CrN buffer was investigated by the X-ray rocking curves. The FWHMs of (0002) XRCs was $1.379^{\circ}$. This value was smaller than the ZnO film grown directly on (111) Si substrate.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.203.1-203.1
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• 2013

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystalline thin films on various growth temperatures for active layer and different buffer layer thickness were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE) on Si substrates. The ZnO active layer were grown with various growth temperature from 500 to $800^{\circ}C$ and the ZnO buffer layer were grown for different time from 5 to 40 minutes. To investigate the structural and optical properties of the ZnO thin films, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy were used, respectively. In the SEM images, the ZnO thin films have high densification of grains and good roughness and uniformity at $800^{\circ}C$ for active layer growth temperature and 20 minutes for buffer layer growth time, respectively. The PL spectra of ZnO buffer layers and active layers display sharp near band edge (NBE) emissions in UV range and broad deep level emissions (DLE) in visible range. The intensity of NBE peaks for the ZnO thin films significantly increase with increase in the active layer growth temperature. In addition, the NBE peak at 20 minutes for buffer layer growth time has the largest emission intensity and the intensity of DLE peaks decrease with increase in the growth time.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.51 no.9
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• pp.417-422
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• 2002

ZnO thin films were deposited on various substrates, such as Si-(111), SiO$_2$(5000 $\AA$ by thermal CVD)/Si-(100), and SiO$_2$(2000 $\AA$ by RF sputtering)/Si-(100). The (002)-orientation, surface morphology and roughness, and electrical resistivity of deposited films were measured and compared in terms of substrate. Surface acoustic wave(SAW) filters with a multilayered configuration of IDT/ZnO/SiO$_2$/Si were also fabricated and the IDT was obtained using a lift-off method. From the frequency-response characteristics of fabricated devices, the insertion loss and side-lobe rejection were estimated. The experimental results showed that the (002)-oriented growth nature of ZnO films, which played a crucial role of determining the characteristic of SAW device, was strong1y dependent upon the SiO$_2$buffer.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.198-200
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• 2014

100 nm thick Ga doped ZnO (GZO) thin films were deposited with RF magnetron sputtering on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and ZnO coated PET substrate and then the effect of the ZnO thickness on the optical and electrical properties of the GZO films was investigated. GZO single layer films had an optical transmittance of 83.7% in the visible wavelength region and a sheet resistance of $2.41{\Omega}/{\square}$, while the optical and electrical properties of the GZO/ZnO bi-layered films were influenced by the thickness of the ZnO buffer layer. GZO films with a 20 nm thick ZnO buffer layer showed a lower sheet resistance of $1.45{\Omega}/{\square}$ and an optical transmittance of 85.9%. As the thickness of ZnO buffer layer in GZO/ZnO bi-layered films increased, both the conductivity and optical transmittance in the visible wavelength region were increased. Based on the figure of merit (FOM), it can be concluded that the ZnO buffer layer effectively increases the optical and electrical performance of GZO films as a transparent and conducting electrode without intentional substrate heating or a post deposition annealing process.