• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.214-225
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• 2022

Background: The conventional cerium-doped Gd₂Al₂Ga₃O₁₂ (GAGG(Ce)) scintillator-based gamma-ray imager has a bulky detector, which can lead to incorrect positioning of the gammaray source if the shielding against background radiation is not appropriately designed. In addition, portability is important in complex environments such as inside nuclear power plants, yet existing gamma-ray imager based on a tungsten mask tends to be weighty and therefore difficult to handle. Motivated by the need to develop a system that is not sensitive to background radiation and is portable, we changed the material of the scintillator and the coded aperture. Materials and Methods: The existing GAGG(Ce) was replaced with Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ (BGO), a scintillator with high gamma-ray detection efficiency but low energy resolution, and replaced the tungsten (W) used in the existing coded aperture with lead (Pb). Each BGO scintillator is pixelated with 144 elements (12 × 12), and each pixel has an area of 4 mm × 4 mm and the scintillator thickness ranges from 5 to 20 mm (5, 10, and 20 mm). A coded aperture consisting of Pb with a thickness of 20 mm was applied to the BGO scintillators of all thicknesses. Results and Discussion: Spectroscopic characterization, imaging performance, and image quality evaluation revealed the 10 mm-thick BGO scintillators enabled the portable gamma-ray imager to deliver optimal performance. Although its performance is slightly inferior to that of existing GAGG(Ce)-based gamma-ray imager, the results confirmed that the manufacturing cost and the system's overall weight can be reduced. Conclusion: Despite the spectral characteristics, imaging system performance, and image quality is slightly lower than that of GAGG(Ce), the results show that BGO scintillators are preferable for gamma-ray imaging systems in terms of cost and ease of deployment, and the proposed design is well worth applying to systems intended for use in areas that do not require high precision.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.221-226
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• 1998

Ternary heavy metal oxide glasses in the $PbO-Bi_2O_3-Ga_2O_3$ system doped with $Er_2O_3$ were prepared and their spectroscopic properties, such as radiative transition probability, calculated and measured radiative lifetimes and cross-sections of 1.5 $\mu\textrm{m}$ and 2.7 $\mu\textrm{m}$ emissions were analyzed. Enhanced quantum efficiencies of some electronic transitions were evident mainly because of the low vibrational phonon energy ($~500cm^{-1}$) inherent in the host glasses. This seems to be the main reason for obtaining the 2.7 $\mu\textrm{m}$ luminescence which is normally quenched in the conventional oxide glasses. In addition, green and red fluorescence emissions were observed through the frequency upconversion processes of the 798 nm excitation. Non-radiative transition due to the multiphonon relaxation is a dominant lifetime-shortening mechanism in the 4f-4f transitions in $Er^{3+}$ ion except for the $^4S_{3/2}{\rightarrow}^4I_{15/2}$ transition where a non-radiative transfer to band-gap excitation of the host glasses is dominant. Melting of glasses under an inert gas atmosphere and (or) addition of the typical glass-network former into glasses is necessary in order to enhance the quantum efficiency of the transition.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.195-201
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• 2012

$Ce^{3+}$-doped yttrium aluminum gallium garnet (YAGG:$Ce^{3+}$), which is a green-emitting phosphor, was synthesized by solid state reaction using ${\alpha}$-phase or ${\gamma}$-phase of nano-sized $Al_2O_3$ as the Al source. The processing conditions and the chemical composition of phosphor for the maximum emission intensity were optimized on the basis of emission intensity under vacuum UV excitation. The optimum heating temperature for phosphor preparation was $1550^{\circ}C$. Photoluminescence properties of the synthesized phosphor were investigated in detail. From the excitation and emission spectra, it was confirmed that the YAGG:$Ce^{3+}$ phosphors effectively absorb the vacuum UV of 120-200 nm and emit green light positioned around 530 nm. The crystalline phase of the alumina nanoparticles affected the particle size and the luminescence property of the synthesized phosphors. Nano-sized ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ was more effective for the achievement of higher emission intensity than was nano-sized ${\alpha}-Al_2O_3$. This discrepancy is considered to be because the diffusion of $Al^{3+}$ into $Y_2O_3$ lattice is dependent on the crystalline phase of $Al_2O_3$, which affects the phase transformation of YAGG:$Ce^{3+}$ phosphors. The optimum chemical composition, having the maximum emission intensity, was $(Y_{2.98}Ce_{0.02})(Al_{2.8}Ga_{1.8})O_{11.4}$ prepared with ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$. On the other hand, the decay time of the YAGG:$Ce^{3+}$ phosphors, irrespective of the crystalline phase of the nano-sized alumina source, was below 1 ms due to the allowed $5d{\rightarrow}4f$ transition of the $Ce^{3+}$ activator.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.405-406
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• 2013

Ga-doped ZnO (GZO)는 $300^{\circ}C$ 이상의 온도에서는 전기적으로 불안정하기 때문에 CIGS, CdTe, DSC와 같은 태양전지의 높은 공정온도 때문에 사용이 제한적이다. ZTO thin film은 Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, ZnO tihin film과 비교하여 산소 및 수분에 대하여 투과성이 상대적으로 낮은 것으로 알려져 있다. 따라서 GZO single layer에 비하여 ZTO-GZO multi-layer를 구성하여 TCO를 제작하면, 높은 공정온도에서도 사용 가능하다. 실제 제작된 GZO single layer (300 nm)에서 비저항이 $7.69{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$에서 $500^{\circ}C$에서 열처리 후 $7.76{\times}10^{-2}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$으로 급격하게 상승한다. ZTO single layer (420 nm)는 as-grown에서는 측정 불가했지만, $400^{\circ}C$에서 열처리 후 $3.52{\times}10^{-1}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ $500^{\circ}C$에서 열처리 후 $4.10{\times}10^{-1}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$으로 열처리에 따른 큰 변화가 없다. 또한 ZTO-GZO multi-layer (720 nm)의 경우 비저항이 $2.11{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$에서 $500^{\circ}C$에서 열처리 후 $3.67{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$으로 GZO에 비하여 상대적으로 변화폭이 작다. 또한 ZTO의 두께에 따른 영향을 확인하기 위하여 ZTO를 2 scan, 4 scan, 6 scan 공정 진행 및 $500^{\circ}C$에서 열처리 후 ZTO, ZTO-GZO thin film의 비저항을 측정하였다. ZTO의 경우 $3.34{\times}10^{-1}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ (2 scan), $3.62{\times}10^{-1}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ (4 scan), $4.1{\times}10^{-1}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ (6 scan)으로 큰 차이가 없으며, ZTO-GZO에서도 $3.73{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ (2 scan), $3.42{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ (4 scan), $3.67{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ (6 scan)으로 큰 차이가 없음을 확인하였다. 염료감응 태양전지에 적용하여 기존에 사용되는 FTO대신에 ZTO-GZO를 사용하며, 가격적 측면, 성능적 측면에서 개선 가능할 것으로 생각된다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.177-177
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• 2007

ZnO는 3.36eV의 넓은 밴드캡을 가지는 II-IV족 반도체로써 태양전지, LED와 같은 광학적 소자로 이용이 기대가 되는 물질이다. 더욱이, 상온에서의 60meV에 해당하는 큰 엑시톤 에너지와 밴드캡 에지니어링이 가능하다는 장점 때문에 광학적 소자로 널리 이용되고 있는 GaN을 대체할 수 있는 물질로 주목을 받고 있다. 하지만, p-type ZnO는 형성이 어렵고 낮은 이동도와 케리어 농도의 특성을 보이고, 대기 중에 장시간 노출할 경우 n-type ZnO의 특성으로 돌아가는 불안정성을 보이고 있다. 최근에 몇몇의 연구자들에 의해 V족의 원소인 P(phosphorous), N(nitrogen), As(arsenic))를 도핑하여 p-type ZnO의 형성에 대한 논문이 발표되고 있다. 또한, V족 원소 중에 P는 p-type ZnO 형성에 효과적인 도핑 물질로 보고되 고 있다. 본 연구는 마그네트론 스퍼터링을 이용하여 다양한 온도에서 성장된 P도핑 ZnO 박막의 특성에 대해 연구하였다. P도핑된 ZnO 박막은 사파이어 기판에 buffer층을 사용한 Insulator 특성의 ZnO박막위에 400, 500, 600, $700^{\circ}C$에서 성장되 었다. 박막의 특성 분석에는 325nm의 파장을 가지는 He-Cd의 레이져 광원을 사용하여 10K의 저온 PL과 0.5T의 자기장을 사용한 van der Pauw configuration에 의한 Hall effect측정, 그리고 결정성 분석에는 XRD와 TEM을 이용하였다. 상온 Hall-effect 측정 결과, $400{\sim}600^{\circ}C$ 에서 성장된 박막은 n-type의 특성을 보였고, $700^{\circ}C$에서 성장된 Phosphorous 도핑 ZnO박막은 $1.19{\times}10^{17}$의 캐리어 농도를 가지는 p-type의 특성을 보였다. 그리고 XRD분석과 TEM분석을 통하여 박막의 성장온도가 증가 할수록 P도핑된 ZnO박막의 결정성이 향상되는 것을 알 수 있었다. 또한 10K의 저온 PL분석을 통해 p도핑에 의한 액셉터에 관련된 피크들을 관찰할 수 있었다.