• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.86-86
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• 2012

The new approaches for silicon solar cell of new concept have been actively conducted. Especially, solar cells with wire array structured radial p-n junctions has attracted considerable attention due to the unique advantages of orthogonalizing the direction of light absorption and charge separation while allowing for improved light scattering and trapping. One-dimenstional semiconductor nano/micro structures should be fabricated for radial p-n junction solar cell. Most of silicon wire and/or pillar arrays have been fabricated by vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) growth because of its simple and cheap process. In the case of the VLS method has some weak points, that is, the incorporation of heavy metal catalysts into the growing silicon wire, the high temperature procedure. We have tried new approaches; one is electrochemical etching, the other is noble metal catalytic etching method to overcome those problems. In this talk, the silicon pillar formation will be characterized by investigating the parameters of the electrochemical etching process such as HF concentration ratio of electrolyte, current density, back contact material, temperature of the solution, and large pre-pattern size and pitch. In the noble metal catalytic etching processes, the effect of solution composition and thickness of metal catalyst on the etching rate and morphologies of silicon was investigated. Finally, radial p-n junction wire arrays were fabricated by spin on doping (phosphor), starting from chemical etched p-Si wire arrays. In/Ga eutectic metal was used for contact metal. The energy conversion efficiency of radial p-n junction solar cell is discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.87-88
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• 2008

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.241-241
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• 2008

Macrofore formation in silicon and other semiconductors using electrochemical etching processes has been, in the last years, a subject of great attention of both theory and practice. Its first reason of concern is new areas of macropore silicone applications arising from microelectromechanical systems processing (MEMS), membrane techniques, solar cells, sensors, photonic crystals, and new technologies like a silicon-on-nothing (SON) technology. Its formation mechanism with a rich variety of controllable microstructures and their many potential applications have been studied extensively recently. Porous silicon is formed by anodic etching of crystalline silicon in hydrofluoric acid. During the etching process holes are required to enable the dissolution of the silicon anode. For p-type silicon, holes are the majority charge carriers, therefore porous silicon can be formed under the action of a positive bias on the silicon anode. For n-type silicon, holes to dissolve silicon is supplied by illuminating n-type silicon with above-band-gap light which allows sufficient generation of holes. To make a desired three-dimensional nano- or micro-structures, pre-structuring the masked surface in KOH solution to form a periodic array of etch pits before electrochemical etching. Due to enhanced electric field, the holes are efficiently collected at the pore tips for etching. The depletion of holes in the space charge region prevents silicon dissolution at the sidewalls, enabling anisotropic etching for the trenches. This is correct theoretical explanation for n-type Si etching. However, there are a few experimental repors in p-type silicon, while a number of theoretical models have been worked out to explain experimental dependence observed. To perform ordered macrofore formaion for p-type silicon, various kinds of mask patterns to make initial KOH etch pits were used. In order to understand the roles played by the kinds of etching solution in the formation of pillar arrays, we have undertaken a systematic study of the solvent effects in mixtures of HF, N-dimethylformamide (DMF), iso-propanol, and mixtures of HF with water on the macrofore structure formation on monocrystalline p-type silicon with a resistivity varying between 10 ~ 0.01 $\Omega$ cm. The etching solution including the iso-propanol produced a best three dimensional pillar structures. The experimental results are discussed on the base of Lehmann's comprehensive model based on SCR width.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.338-339
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• 2005

The wider surface of the aluminum foil, electrochemically very important and it is necessary to increase the surface area. A study has been made of the fabrication condition for etching cube texture of high purity aluminium foil and of electrochemical etching of the aluminium foil. In the present work, it is shown there exists a relation between the influence of the pre-treatment time in the NaOH & HCI solution and $H_2SO_4$ concentration in the conversion solution. Also effect of temperature during AC etching was also studied. Result of the etched aluminum film is shown in the typical SEM images. Its electrochemical characteristics were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. And effects of current density and frequency is also reported. Cyclic voltammogram showed that the protective oxide film was formedon the inner surfaces of etch pit. the frequency influence resistance of oxide film in AC etching.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2011

Aluminum was electrochemically etched in acid solution and the surface area was magnified by the formation of etch pits. Etched aluminum was covered with a compact and dense dielectric oxide film by anodization and applied to the aluminum electrolytic capacitor electrode. Capacitance of aluminum electrolytic capacitor is closely related with surface area, which depends on size and number of etch pits. Size of etch pits need to be controlled because inside of the pits can be buried by the formation of dielectric oxide film. In this work, the effect of ultrasound pretreatment on the aluminum etch pit formation and capacitance were investigated. Additionally, the relationship between the second etching effect on pit size and capacitance was studied.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.235-235
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• 2010

The Anti-reflection coating(ARC) properties can be formed on silicon substrate using a simple electrochemical etching technique. This etching step can be improve solar cell efficiency for a solar cell manufacturing process. This paper is based on the removal of silicon atoms from the surface a layer of porous silicon(PSi). Porous silicon is form by anodization and can be obtained in an electrolyte with hydrofluoric. It have demonstrated the feasibility of a very efficient porous Si layer, prepared by a simple, cost effective, electrochemical etching method. We expect our research can results approaching to lower than 10% of reflectance by optimization of process parametaer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.561-564
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• 2000

Silicon capacitive pressure sensor has been fabricated by using electrochemical etching stop and silicon-to-glass electrostatic bonding technique. A diaphragm structure is designed to compensate the nonlinear response. A cavity is etched into the silicon to the depth of 2$\mu\textrm{m}$ by anisotropic etching in 20wt.% TMAH solution at 80$^{\circ}C$. A fabricated sensor showed 3.3 pF zero-pressure capacitance, 297 pp.m/mmHg sensitivity, and a 7.4 7%F.S. nonlinear response in a 0-1 kgf/cm$^2$pressure range.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.212-217
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• 2005

Desorption/ionization on silicon mass spectrometry (DIOS-MS) is a relatively new laser desorption/ionization technique for mass spectrometry without employing an organic matrix. This present study was carried to survey the experimental factors to improve the efficiency of DIOS-MS through electrochemical etching condition in structure and morphological properties of the porous silicon. The porous structure of silicon structure and its properties are crucial for the better performance of DIOS-MS and they can be controlled by the suitable selection of electrochemical conditions. The fabrication of porous silicon and ion signals on DIOS-MS were examined as a function of silicon orientation, etching time, etchant, current flux, irradiation, pore size, and pore depth. We have also examined the effect of pre- and post-etching conditions for their effect on DIOS-MS. Finally, we could optimize the electrochemical conditions for the efficient performance of DIOS-MS in the analysis of small molecule such as amino acid, drug and peptides without any unknown noise or fragmentation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1089-1095
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• 2012

Laser beam machining (LBM) using nanosecond pulsed laser is widely known to be rapid and non-wear process for micromachining. However, the quality itself cannot meet the precision standard due to the recast layer and heat affected zone. In this paper, a fabrication method for machining micro features in stainless steel using a hybrid process of LBM using nanosecond pulsed laser and electrochemical etching (ECE) is reported. ECE uses non-contacting method for precise surface machining and selectively removes the recast layer and heat affected zone produced by laser beam in an effective way. Compared to the single LBM process, the hybrid process of LBM and ECE enhanced the quality of the micro features.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.295-298
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• 2007

Reduction of optical losses in crystalline silicon solar cells by surface modification is one of the most important issues of silicon photovoltaics. Porous Si layers on the front surface of textured Si substrates have been investigated with the aim of improving the optical losses of the solar cells, because an anti-reflection coating(ARC) and a surface passivation can be obtained simultaneously in one process. We have demonstrated the feasibility of a very efficient porous Si ARC layer, prepared by a simple, cost effective, electrochemical etching method. Silicon p-type CZ (100) oriented wafers were textured by anisotropic etching in sodium carbonate solution. Then, the porous Si layers were formed by electrochemical etching in HF solutions. After that, the properties of porous Si in terms of morphology, structure and reflectance are summarized. The structure of porous Si layers was investigated with SEM. The formation of a nanoporous Si layer about 100nm thick on the textured silicon wafer result in a reflectance lower than 5% in the wavelength region from 500 to 900nm. Such a surface modification allows improving the Si solar cell characteristics. An efficiency of 13.4% is achieved on a monocrystalline silicon solar cell using the electrochemical technique.