• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.63.1-63.1
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• 2012

In recent years, the functional inks for printed electronics that can be combined with a variety of printing techniques have attracted increasingly significant interest for use in low cost, large area, high performance integrated electronics and microelectronics. In particular, the development of solution-processable conductor, semiconductor and insulator materials is of great importance as such materials have decisive impacts on the electrical performance of various electronic devices, and, therefore, need to meet various requirements including solution processability, high electrical performance, and environmental stability. Semiconductor inks such as IGO, CIGS are synthesized by chemical solution method and microwave reaction method for TFT and solar cell application. Fine circuit pattern with high conductivity, which is valuable for flexible electrode for PCB and TSP devices, can be printed with highly concentrated and stabilized conductor inks such as silver and copper. Solution processed insulator such as polyimide derivatives can be use to all printed TFT device. Our research results of functional inks for printed electronics provide a recent trends and issues on this area.

• Applied Chemistry
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.105-108
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• 2011

Organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) have attracted considerable attention due to their low cost, light-weight and flexible characteristics. Small molecules have advantages of well-defined structure and easy synthesis. In this work, new tetrazine, DPP, and furan-based oligomers for organic solar cell were synthesized by Suzuki coupling reaction. The structures were confirmed by NMR and optical and electronic properties were investigated by UV-vis absorption.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.66-72
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• 2010

In this paper, AZO thin film was deposited on polyethylene terephthalate(PET) substrate by r. f. magnetron sputtering method from a ZnO target mixed with 2[wt%] Al2O3. The flexible film-typed dye sensitized solar cell(F-DSC) was fabricated and photo-electric conversion efficiency was investigated. The results showed that the minimum resistivity and the maximum deposition rate of AZO conducting film were recorded as $1.8{\times}10^{-3}[{\Omega}{\cdot}cm]$ and 25.5[nm/min], respectively at r.f. power of 220[W]. From the analysis of XPS data an improvement of electrical resistivity or an increase in carrier concentration with increasing sputtering power may be related to the generation of lattice imperfections as a result of increasing component ratio of O1s/Zn2p, which generates donor carriers or active growth of crystalline grain. The photo-electric conversion efficiency of F-DSC with AZO conducting electrode was over 2.79[%], which was comparable as that with commercially available ITO electrode.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.515-520
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• 2008

We fabricated 10 nm-$TiO_2$ thin films for DSSC (dye sensitized solar cell) electrode application using ALD (atomic layer deposition) method at the low temperatures of $150^{\circ}\;and\;250^{\circ}$. We characterized the crosssectional microstructure, phase, chemical binding energy, and absorption of the $TiO_2$ using TEM, HRXRD, XPS, and UV-VIS-NIR, respectively. TEM analysis showed a 10 nm-thick flat and uniform $TiO_2$ thin film regardless of the deposition temperatures. Through XPS analysis, it was found that the stoichiometric $TiO_2$ phase was formed and confirmed by measuring main characteristic peaks of Ti $2p^1$, Ti $2p^3$, and O 1s indicating the binding energy status. Through UV-VIS-NIR analysis, ALD-$TiO_2$ thin films were found to have a band gap of 3.4 eV resulting in the absorption edges at 360 nm, while the conventional $TiO_2$ films had a band gap of 3.0 eV (rutile)${\sim}$3.2 eV (anatase) with the absorption edges at 380 nm and 410 nm. Our results implied that the newly proposed nano-thick $TiO_2$ film using an ALD process at $150^{\circ}$ had almost the same properties as thsose of film at $250^{\circ}$. Therefore, we confirmed that the ALD-processed $TiO_2$ thin film with nano-thickness formed at low temperatures might be suitable for the electrode process of flexible devices.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.133-137
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• 2011

Gold have been used as an electrode materials having a good mechanical flexibility as well as electrical conductivity, however the stretchability of the gold on a flexible substrate is poor because of its small elastic modulus. To overcome this mechanical inferiority, the reinforcing gold is necessary for the stretchable electronics. Among the reinforcing materials having a large elastic modulus, carbon nanotube (CNT) is the best candidate due to its good electrical conductivity and nanoscale diameter. Therefore, similarly to ferroconcrete technology, here we demonstrated gold electrodes mechanically reinforced by inserting fabrics of CNTs into their bodies. Flexibility and stretchability of the electrodes were determined for various densities of CNT fabrics. The roles of CNTs in resisting electrical disconnection of gold electrodes from the mechanical stress were confirmed using field emission scanning electron microscope and optical microscope. The best mechanical stability was achieved at a density of CNT fabrics manufactured by 1.5 ml spraying. The concept of the mechanical reinforced metal electrode by CNT is the first trial for the high stretchable conductive materials, and can be applied as electrodes materials in various flexible and stretchable electronic devices such as transistor, diode, sensor and solar cell and so on.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.201.1-201.1
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• 2014

본 연구에서는 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 Poly (3-4 ethylenedioxythiophene): Poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) 박막과 비정질 ITO 박막의 전기적, 광학적, 기계적 특성을 비교 평가하여 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 박막의 유기태양전지의 전극으로서의 적용가능성을 확인하였다. 상업용 PEDOT:PSS 박막은 보통 280 Ohm/sq.의 면저항과 가시광 영역에서 약 80%의 광투과도를 나타내며, 비정질 ITO 박막과 유사한 전기적, 광학적 특성을 나타내었다. Slot die coating 공법을 통해 제작된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극과 비정질 ITO 투명 전극의 기판 휘어짐에 따른 전기적 안정성을 비교 평가하기 위해 25 mm에서 1 mm까지 radius 변화에 따른 저항의 변화를 측정하였다. 그 결과, 비정질 ITO 투명 전극 대비 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극이 더 우수한 전기적 안정성을 나타냄을 확인하였다. 또한, 다양한 Bending test (Inner/Outer bending, Rolling, Stretching, Twisting) 를 통해 비정질 ITO 투명 전극 보다 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극의 우수한 기계적 특성을 확인하였다. 이를 바탕으로 Flexible 유기태양전지에의 적용 가능성을 알아보기 위해 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극과 비정질 ITO 투명 전극을 유기태양전지의 anode 층에 적용하여 각각 제작하고 그 특성을 평가하였다. 비정질 ITO 투명 박막을 적용한 유기태양전지 대비 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 박막으로 제작한 유기태양전지에서 더 높은 효율이 나타났으며, 이로써 Slot die coating 공법으로 코팅된 PEDOT:PSS 투명 전극의 Flexible 유기태양전지로써의 적용 가능성을 확인하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.343-343
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• 2014

We reported on the electrical, optical, structural and morphological properties fabricated by co-sputtering for use as an anode for organic solar cells (OSCs). By adjusting RF and DC power of $MoO_3$ and IZO targets during co-sputtering, we fabricated the $MoO_3$-IZO electrode with graded content of the $MoO_3$ on the IZO films. At optimized $MoO_3$ thickness of 20 nm, the $MoO_3$ graded IZO electrode showed a higher mobility ($33cm^2/V-Sec$) than directly deposited $MoO_3$ on IZO film ($26cm^2/V-Sec$). At visible range (400nm~800nm), optical transmittance of the $MoO_3$ graded IZO electrode is higher than that of directly deposited $MoO_3$ on IZO film. High mobility of $MoO_3$ graded on IZO is attributed to less interface scattering between $MoO_3$ and IZO. To investigate the feasibility of $MoO_3$ graded IZO films, we fabricated conventional P3HT:PCBM based OSCs with $MoO_3$ graded IZO as a function of MoO3 thickness. The OSC fabricated on the $MoO_3$ graded IZO anode showed a fill factor of 66.53%, a short circuit current of $8.121mA/cm^2$, an open circuit voltage of 0.592 V, and a power conversion efficiency of 3.2% comparable to OSC fabricated on ITO anode and higher than directly deposited $MoO_3$ on IZO film. We suggested possible mechanism to explain the high performance of OSCs with a $MoO_3$ graded IZO.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.573-579
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• 2011

Highly textured Ag, Al and Al:Si back reflectors for flexible n-i-p silicon thin-film solar cells were prepared on 100-${\mu}m$-thick stainless steel substrates by DC magnetron sputtering and the influence of their surface textures on the light-scattering properties were investigated. The surface texture of the metal back reflectors was influenced by the increased grain size and by the bimodal distribution that arose due to the abnormal grain growth at elevated deposition temperatures. This can be explained by the structure zone model (SZM). With an increase in the deposition temperatures from room temperature to $500^{\circ}C$, the surface roughness of the Al:Si films increased from 11 nm to 95 nm, whereas that of the pure Ag films increased from 6 nm to 47 nm at the same deposition temperature. Although Al:Si back reflectors with larger surface feature dimensions than pure Ag can be fabricated at lower deposition temperatures due to the lower melting point and the Si impurity drag effect, they show poor total and diffuse reflectance, resulting from the low reflectivity and reflection loss on the textured surface. For a further improvement of the light-trapping efficiency in solar cells, a new type of back reflector consisting of Ag/Al:Si bilayer is suggested. The surface morphology and reflectance of this reflector are closely dependent on the Al:Si bottom layer and the Ag top layer. The relationship between the surface topography and the light-scattering properties of the bilayer back reflectors is also reported in this paper.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.566-572
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• 2020

In the recent years, thin film solar cells (TFSCs) have emerged as a viable replacement for crystalline silicon solar cells and offer a variety of choices, particularly in terms of synthesis processes and substrates (rigid or flexible, metal or insulator). Among the thin-film absorber materials, SnS has great potential for the manufacturing of low-cost TFSCs due to its suitable optical and electrical properties, non-toxic nature, and earth abundancy. However, the efficiency of SnS-based solar cells is found to be in the range of 1 ~ 4 % and remains far below those of CdTe-, CIGS-, and CZTSSe-based TFSCs. Aside from the improvement in the physical properties of absorber layer, enormous efforts have been focused on the development of suitable buffer layer for SnS-based solar cells. Herein, we investigate the device performance of SnS-based TFSCs by introducing double buffer layers, in which CdS is applied as first buffer layer and ZnMgO films is employed as second buffer layer. The effect of the composition ratio (Mg/(Mg+Zn)) of RF sputtered ZnMgO films on the device performance is studied. The structural and optical properties of ZnMgO films with various Mg/(Mg+Zn) ratios are also analyzed systemically. The fabricated SnS-based TFSCs with device structure of SLG/Mo/SnS/CdS/ZnMgO/AZO/Al exhibit a highest cell efficiency of 1.84 % along with open-circuit voltage of 0.302 V, short-circuit current density of 13.55 mA cm^-2, and fill factor of 0.45 with an optimum Mg/(Mg + Zn) ratio of 0.02.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.1096_1097
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• 2009

Aluminium doped zinc oxide(ZnO:Al) thin film, which is mainly used as a transparent conducting electrode in electronic devices, has many advantages compared with conventional indium tin oxide(ITO). In this paper in order to investigate the possible application of ZnO:Al thin films as a transparent conducting electrode for flexible film-typed dye sensitized solar cell (FT-DSCs), ZnO:Al and ITO thin films were prepared on the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate by r. f. magnetron sputtering method. Specially one-inched FT-DSCs using either a ZnO:Al or ITO electrode were also fabricated separately under the same manufacturing conditions. Some properties of both the FT-DSCs with ZnO:Al and ITO transparent electrodes, such as conversion efficiency, fill factor, and photocurrent were measured and compared with each other. The results showed that by doping the ZnO target with 2 wt% of $Al_2O_3$, the film deposited at discharge power of 200W resulted in the minimum resistivity of $2.2\times10^{-3}\Omega/cm$ and at ransmittance of 91.7%, which are comparable with those of commercially available ITO. Two types of FT-DSCs showed nearly the same tendency of I-V characteristics and the same value of conversion efficiencies. Efficiency of FT-DSCs using ZnO:Al electrode was around 2.6% and that of fabricated FT-DSCs using ITO was 2.5%. This means that ZnO:Al thin film can be used in FT-DSCs as a transparent conducting layer.