• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.84-95
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• 2021

The power conversion efficiency of Cu₂ZnSnSe₄ (CZTSe) solar cells depends on the absorber layer thickness; however, changes in the characteristics of the cells with varying absorber layer thickness are unclear. In this study, we investigated the changes in the characteristics of CZTSe solar cells for varying absorber layer thickness. Five absorber thicknesses were employed: CZTSe1 2.78 ㎛, CZTSe2 1.01 ㎛, CZTSe3 0.55 ㎛, CZTSe4 0.29 ㎛, and CZTSe5 0.15-0.23 ㎛. The efficiency of the CZTSe solar cells decreased as the absorber thickness decreased, resulting in power conversion efficiencies of 10.45% (CZTSe1), 8.67% (CZTSe2), 7.14% (CZTSe3), 3.44% (CZTSe4), and 1.54% (CZTSe5). As the thickness of the CZTSe absorber layer decreased, the electron-hole recombination at the grain boundaries and the absorber-back-contact interface increased. This caused an increase in the current loss, owing to light loss in the long-wavelength region. In addition, as the thickness of the CZTSe absorber layer decreased, more ZnSe was produced, and the resulting defects and defect clusters led to an open-circuit voltage loss.

• 한국군사과학기술학회지
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.502-506
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• 2012

In order to find the structural characteristics of the thin films of group II-VI semiconductor compounds compared with those of powder materials, films were made of 4 powders of ZnS, CdS, CdSe, and CdTe(Aldrich), each with 99.99 % purity. For the ZnS/CdS multi-layers, the ZnS layer was coated over the CdS layer on an $AlO_x$ membrane, which served as a protective layer within a vacuum at the average speed of 1 ${\AA}$/sec. After studying the structures of the group II-VI semiconductor thin films by using X-ray spectroscopy, we found that the ZnS, ZnS/CdS, CdS, and CdSe films were hexagonal and exhibited some degree of preferred orientation. Also, the particles of the thin films of II-VI semiconductor compounds proved to be more homogeneous in size compared to those of the powder materials. These results were further verified through scanning electron microscopy(SEM), EDX analysis, and powder and thin film X-ray diffraction.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2010년도 하계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.357-357
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• 2010

The electrical characteristics of ZnO thin film transistor (TFT) were investigated. ZnO thin layer was deposited by DC sputtering method and TFTs with ZnO channel layer were fabricated. On/off current ratio and saturated drain current of fabricated devices were improved by annealing in nitrogen ambient at various temperatures. As a result, the electrical characteristics of ZnO TFT were improved by post annealing in nitrogen ambient and it is important to optimize the annealing conditions for ZnO TFT fabrication.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.204-210
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• 2020

ZnO thin films are of considerable interest because they can be customized by various coating technologies to have high electrical conductivity and high visible light transmittance. Therefore, ZnO thin films can be applied to various optoelectronic device applications such as transparent conducting thin films, solar cells and displays. In this study, ZnO rod and thin films are fabricated using aqueous chemical bath deposition (CBD), which is a low-cost method at low temperatures, and environmentally friendly. To investigate the structural, electrical and optical properties of ZnO for the presence of citrate ion, which can significantly affect crystal form of ZnO, various amounts of the citrate ion are added to the aqueous CBD ZnO reaction bath. As a result, ZnO crystals show a nanorod form without citrate, but a continuous thin film when citrate is above a certain concentration. In addition, as the citrate concentration increases, the electrical conductivity of the ZnO thin films increases, and is almost unchanged above a certain citrate concentration. Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cell substrates are used to evaluate whether aqueous CBD ZnO thin films can be applicable to real devices. The performance of aqueous CBD ZnO thin films shows performance similar to that of a sputter-deposited ZnO:Al thin film as top transparent electrodes of CIGS solar cells.

• 한국표면공학회지
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• 제44권5호
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• pp.185-189
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• 2011

$Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ thin films for solar absorber application were prepared by pulsed laser deposition of a synthesized $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ compound target. The film's composition revealed that the deposited films possess an identical composition with the target material. Further film compositional control toward a stoichiometric composition was performed by optimizing substrate temperature, deposition time and target rotational speed. At the optimum condition, X-ray diffraction patterns of films showed that the films demonstrated polycrystalline stannite single phase with a high degree of (112) preferred orientation. The absorption coefficient of $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ thin films were above 104 cm.1 with a band gap of 1.45 eV. At an optimum condition, films were identified as a p type semiconductor characteristic with a resistivity as low as $10^{-1}{\Omega}cm$ and a carrier concentration in the order of $10^{17}cm^{-3}$.

• 통합자연과학논문집
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.54-59
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• 2010

A stoichiometric mixture of evaporating materials for $ZnIn_2Se_4$ single crystal thin films was prepared from horizontal electric furnace. To obtain the single crystal thin films, $ZnIn_2Se_4$ mixed crystal was deposited on thoroughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by the Hot Wall Epitaxy (HWE) system. The source and substrate temperatures were $630^{\circ}C$ and $400^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of the single crystal thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXD). The carrier density and mobility of $ZnIn_2Se_4$ single crystal thin films measured from Hall effect by van der Pauw method are $9.41{\times}10^{16}cm^{-3}$ and $292cm^2/v{\cdot}s$ at 293 K, respectively. The temperature dependence of the energy band gap of the $ZnIn_2Se_4$ obtained from the absorption spectra was well described by the Varshni's relation, $Eg(T)=1.8622eV-(5.23{\times}10^{-4}eV/K)T^2/(T+775.5K)$.

• 대한전자공학회논문지
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.5-11
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• 1978

Flash증착법으로 Si단결정 (111)면위 에 ZnSe박막을 성장시켜 Si-ZnSe n-n heterojunction을 만들었다. 이 heterojunction의 광기전력 특성을 규명하여 가시광 영역에 감도를 갖는 frequency meter로 사용할 수 있음을 제시했다.

• 전기화학회지
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.145-151
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• 2011

ZnSe는 가시광선 영역에서 넓은 밴드갭을 가지고 있는 II-VI족 화합물 반도체 소자로서 레이저 다이오드, 디스플레이 그리고 태양전지와 같은 다양한 응용분야에 적용되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 전기화학적 전착방법을 이용하여 ITO 전극상에 ZnSe 박막을 합성하여, XRD와 SEM으로 ZnSe 결정의 합성과 zinc blende 구조의 형태를 관측하였고, UV 분광기를 활용하여 밴드갭을 측정한 결과 2.76 eV이었다. 또한, 분자동역학에서 활용되는 밀도범함수 이론 (DFT, Density Functional Theory)을 도입하여 ZnSe 결정에 대한 밴드 구조의 해석을 수행하였다. Zinc blende구조를 갖는 ZnSe 결정에 대하여 LDA (Local Density Approximation), PBE (Perdew Burke Ernzerhof), 그리고 B3LYP (Becke, 3-parameter, Lee-Yang-Parr) 범함수를 이용하여 밴드구조와 상태밀도 (Density of State)를 모사하였다. 각각의 경우에 대해 에너지 밴드갭을 구한 결과, B3LYP 범함수로 해석한 경우에 실험치와 근사치인 2.65 eV의 밴드갭을 보여주었다.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2011년도 춘계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.106.1-106.1
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• 2011

The Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells have been achieved until almost 20% efficiency by NREL. These solar cells include chemically deposited CdS as buffer layer between CIGS absorber layer and ZnO window layer. Although CIGS solar cells with CdS buffer layer show excellent performance, 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. Among Cd-free candidate materials, the CIGS thin film solar cells with ZnS buffer layer seem to be promising with 17.2%(module by showa shell K.K.), 18.6%(small area by NREL). However, ZnS/CIGS solar cells still show lower performance than CdS/CIGS solar cells. There are several reported reasons to reduce the efficiency of ZnS/CIGS solar cells. Nakada reported ZnS thin film had many defects such as stacking faults, pin-holes, so that crytallinity of ZnS thin film is poor, compared to CdS thin film. Additionally, it was known that the hetero-interface between ZnS and CIGS layer made unfavorable band alignment. The unfavorable band alignment hinders electron transport at the heteo-interface. In this study, we focused on growing defect-free ZnS thin film and for favorable band alignment of ZnS/CIGS, bandgap of ZnS and CIGS, valece band structure of ZnS/CIGS were modified. Finally, we verified the photovoltaic properties of ZnS/CIGS solar cells.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.259-273
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• 2012

Chalcogenide-based semiconductors, such as $CuInSe_2$, $CuGaSe_2$, Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ (CIGS), and CdTe have attracted considerable interest as efficient materials in thin film solar cells (TFSCs). Currently, CIGS and CdTe TFSCs have demonstrated the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 11% in module production. However, commercialized CIGS and CdTe TFSCs have some limitations due to the scarcity of In, Ga, and Te and the environmental issues associated with Cd and Se. Recently, kesterite CZTS, which is one of the In- and Ga- free absorber materials, has been attracted considerable attention as a new candidate for use as an absorber material in thin film solar cells. The CZTS-based absorber material has outstanding characteristics such as band gap energy of 1.0 eV to 1.5 eV, high absorption coefficient on the order of $10^4cm^{-1}$, and high theoretical conversion efficiency of 32.2% in thin film solar cells. Despite these promising characteristics, research into CZTS-based thin film solar cells is still incomprehensive and related reports are quite few compared to those for CIGS thin film solar cells, which show high efficiency of over 20%. The recent development of kesterite-based CZTS thin film solar cells is summarized in this work. The new challenges for enhanced performance in CZTS thin films are examined and prospective issues are addressed as well.