• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.193-203
• /
• 2005

Highly c-axis oriented nanocrystalline ZnO thin films on silica glass substrates were prepared by spin coating-pyrolysis process with a zinc naphthenate precursor. Only the XRD intensity peak of (002) phase was observed for all samples. With an increase in heat treatment temperature, the peak intensity of (002) phase increases. No significant aggregation of particle was present. From scanning probe microscopy analyses, three-dimensional grain growth, which was thought to be due to inhomogeneous substrate surface and c-axis oriented grain growth of the ZnO phase, was independent on heal-treatment temperature. Highly homogeneous surface of the highly-oriented ZnO film was observed at $800^{\circ}C$. All the films exhibited a high transmittance (above 80%) in visible region except film heat treated at $1000^{\circ}C$, and showed a sharp fundamental absorption edge at about $0.38{\sim}0.40{\mu}m$. The estimated energy band gap for all the films were within the range previously reported for films and single crystal. ZnO films, consisting of densely packed grains with smooth surface morphology were obtained by heat treatment at $600^{\circ}C{\sim}800^{\circ}C$, expected to be ideal for practical application, such as transparent conductive film and optical device.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2012.05a
• /
• pp.65-65
• /
• 2012

Copper zinc tin sulfide ($Cu_2ZnSnS_4$, CZTS) is a very promising material as a low cost absorber alternative to other chalcopyrite-type semiconductors based on Ga or In because of the abundant and economical elements. In addition, CZTS has a band-gap energy of 1.4~1.5eV and large absorption coefficient over ${\sim}10^4cm^{-1}$, which is similar to those of $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$(CIGS) regarded as one of the most successful absorber materials for high efficient solar cell. Most previous works on the fabrication of CZTS thin films were based on the vacuum deposition such as thermal evaporation and RF magnetron sputtering. Although the vacuum deposition has been widely adopted, it is quite expensive and complicated. In this regard, the solution processes such as sol-gel method, nanocrystal dispersion and hybrid slurry method have been developed for easy and cost-effective fabrication of CZTS film. Among these methods, the hybrid slurry method is favorable to make high crystalline and dense absorber layer. However, this method has the demerit using the toxic and explosive hydrazine solvent, which has severe limitation for common use. With these considerations, it is highly desirable to develop a robust, easily scalable and relatively safe solution-based process for the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer with a thickness of 1.5~2.0 ${\mu}m$ and micrometer-scaled grains using two different non-vacuum approaches. The first solution-processing approach includes air-stable non-toxic solvent-based inks in which the commercially available precursor nanoparticles are dispersed in ethanol. Our readily achievable air-stable precursor ink, without the involvement of complex particle synthesis, high toxic solvents, or organic additives, facilitates a convenient method to fabricate a high quality CZTS absorber layer with uniform surface composition and across the film depth when annealed at $530^{\circ}C$. The conversion efficiency and fill factor for the non-toxic ink based solar cells are 5.14% and 52.8%, respectively. The other method is based on the nanocrystal dispersions that are a key ingredient in the deposition of thermally annealed absorber layers. We report a facile synthetic method to produce phase-pure CZTS nanocrystals capped with less toxic and more easily removable ligands. The resulting CZTS nanoparticle dispersion enables us to fabricate uniform, crack-free absorber layer onto Mo-coated soda-lime glass at $500^{\circ}C$, which exhibits a robust and reproducible photovoltaic response. Our simple and less-toxic approach for the fabrication of CZTS layer, reported here, will be the first step in realizing the low-cost solution-processed CZTS solar cell with high efficiency.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.207-212
• /
• 2009

The precursor polyimide of the photoreactive polyimides(PI-SP6 and PI-SP12) was prepared from a derivative of 2, 2, 2-trifluoroethane dianhydride and 3,3'-dihydroxy-4,4'-diaminobiphenyl. PI-SP6 and PI-SP12 were then prepared by the polymer reactions of the precursor polyimide with photoreactive 2-styrylpyridine alkylene (hexylene and dodecylene) derivatives, respectively. The photoreactive polymers were soluble in organic solvents. The polymers showed the initial decomposition temperatures around $350^{\circ}C$. The glass transition temperatures of PI-SP6 and PI-SP12 were found to be $130^{\circ}C$ and $85^{\circ}C$, respectively. This result means that the latter polymer is more flexible than the former polymer. Their transmittance in the film state was 90% at $250^{\circ}C$, which indicates that the photosensitive polyimides with thermal stability have high optical transparency even at the high temperature. The respective dichroic ratios of PI-SP6 and PI-SP12 were found to be 0.01 and 0.03 at an exposure energy of $1.5\;J/cm^2$. This result suggests that the latter polymer with larger flexibility compared to the former polymer is more effective for the photoalignment.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.199-209
• /
• 1994

$PbTiO_3$ thin films were prepared on soda-lime-silica slide glasses, Si-wafer and sapphire substrate by the dip-coating of precursor solution. As starting materials, titanium tetra iso-propoxide and lead acetate trihydrate were used. Then acetylacetone was added to prepare stable sol. The effect of the parameters such as viscosity and composition of sol were investigated. The optical transmittance at visible range, refractive index, IR spectra were measured in varying compositions, thickness and heat treatment temperature. The crystallization of $PbTiO_3$ films were measured by using XRD and SEM. Diffusion of compositions from slide glass to thin film were investigated by using EDX, too. These sols not precipitated for 20 days. Transmittance of $PbTiO_3$ films at visible range were decreased with the increase of thickness and heat treatment temperatures, and were exhibited flat spectra. Pyrochlore type appeared in the films on slide glass and perovskite type appeared in the films on Si-wafer or sapphire at $600^{\circ}C$. Perovskite crystals transformed to $PbTi_3O_7$ phase at $800^{\circ}C$.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.568-574
• /
• 2007

Crack-free dried gel monoliths of the composition $Li_2O1{\cdot}7Al_2O_3{\cdot}8.6SiO_2$ have been prepared as a precursor of transparent glass-ceramic by the hydrolysis and polycondensation of mixed metal alkoxides in solutions containing N,N-dimethylformamide as the drying control chemical additive, alcohols, and water. It was investigated that activation energy for gelation according to the variation of water concentration ranged from 13 to 14 kcal/mol. Only when the amount of water for gelation was 3 times higher than the stoichiometric amount, monolithic dry gels were successfully prepared after drying at $70{\sim}75^{\circ}C$ and at a rate of 0.1~0.3%/h. The specific surface area, the pore volume, the average pore diameters of dried gel at $180^{\circ}C$ were about $239.40m^2/g$, 0.001~0.03 mL/g, and $145.62{\AA}$, respectively. It showed that the dried monolithic gel had a porous body. The DTA curve had the first exothermic peak around $800^{\circ}C$ and the 2nd peak around $980^{\circ}C$, which may correspond to crystallization of the gel.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.190-194
• /
• 2012

The formation of high-quality polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) on relatively low cost substrate has been an important issue in the development of thin film solar cells. Poly-Si seed layers were fabricated by an inverse aluminum-induced crystallization (I-AIC) process and the properties of the resulting layer were characterized. The I-AIC process has an advantage of being able to continue the epitaxial growth without an Al layer removing process. An amorphous Si precursor layer was deposited on Corning glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering system with Ar plasma. Then, Al thin film was deposited by thermal evaporation. An $SiO_2$ diffusion barrier layer was formed between Si and Al layers to control the surface orientation of seed layer. The crystallinity of the poly-Si seed layer was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The grain size and orientation of the poly-Si seed layer were determined by electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) method. The prepared poly-Si seed layer showed high volume fraction of crystalline Si and <100> orientation. The diffusion barrier layer and processing temperature significantly affected the grain size and orientation of the poly Si seed layer. The shorter oxidation time and lower processing temperature led to a better orientation of the poly-Si seed layer. This study presents the formation mechanism of a poly seed layer by inverse aluminum-induced crystallization.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.371.1-371.1
• /
• 2016

다양한 물질계의 2차원 나노구조는 그래핀과 함께 그 고유특성으로 최근 광전소자, 전자소자, 센서, 에너지 생성 및 저장과 수소에너지 생성 등의 응용으로 매우 많은 관심을 받고 있다. 특히 층상이중수산화물 (layered-double hydroxide; LDH) 2차원 나노구조는 생성의 용이성과 층상 내 금속 이온의 교환을 통한 특성의 자유로운 제어가 가능하므로 많은 관심을 받고 있다. 층상이중수산화물 화합물은 [Zn(1-x) MIII(x)(OH)2][$An-x/n{\cdot}mH2O$] (MIII = Al, Cr, Ga; An- = CO32-, Cl-, NO3-, CH3COO-) 구조로써, Brucite-type 구조 내에서 3가 양이온의 상태에 따라서 다양한 특성을 제어할 수 있는 장점이 있다. 이러한 장점으로 인해 층상이중수산화물 화합물은 촉매나, 에너지 저장, 음이온 교환 및 흡착, 화학적 촉매, 바이오 소자 등에 응용이 연구되고 있으며, 다양한 금속 산화물을 제조하기 위한 중간자 precursor로써도 연구되고 있다. 하지만, 이러한 대부분의 연구들을 통한 결과물들이 분말 및 수용액 상태로 남게 되며, 이러한 화합물의 특성을 제어하기 어려운 문제점이 있다. 더욱이 이러한 나노구조물들을 다양한 소자로 응용하기 위해서는 상용의 실리콘이나 glass 등의 기판형태의 물질상에 성장시킬 수 있어야 하며, 그러한 기판 위에서의 형상 및 특성 제어가 용이해야 한다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 실리콘 기판을 적용한 Zn기반의 층상이중 수산화물 화합물을 성장하고, 하부물질의 조성제어를 통한 층상이중수산화물 화합물의 형상제어가 가능한 기술에 관한 연구를 보고하고자 한다. 이를 위한 하부물질의 조성은 Zn와 Al을 통해 이루어지며, 기형성된 Al2O3박막을 핵형성층으로 활용한다. 이러한 방법으로 형성된 층상이중수산화물 화합물에 대해 이차전자주사현미경, 투과전자현미경 및 X-ray회절기법을 통해 구조분석을 하고, Raman 및 광발광스펙트럼 분석을 통해 광학적 분석을 시행함으로써, 층상이중수산화물이 기판상에서 형성되는 메커니즘에 관한 규명을 시행하였다. 이러한 분석연구를 통해 핵형성층의 에칭 따라 실리콘 기판상에서 성장하는 층상이 중수산화물 화합물의 형상 및 조성이 제어되는 메커니즘을 구명하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2015.08a
• /
• pp.86.2-86.2
• /
• 2015

Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin film solar cells have been fabricated using sputtered Cu/Sn/Zn metallic precursors on Mo coated sodalime glass substrate without using a toxic H2Se and H2S atmosphere. Cu/Sn/Zn metallic precursors with various thicknesses were prepared using DC magnetron sputtering process at room temperature. As-deposited metallic precursors were sulfo-selenized inside a graphite box containing S and Se pellets using rapid thermal processing furnace at various sulfur to selenium (S/Se) compositional ratio. Thin film solar cells were fabricated after sulfo-selenization process using a 65 nm CdS buffer, a 40 nm intrinsic ZnO, a 400 nm Al doped ZnO, and Al/Ni top metal contact. Effects of sulfur to selenium (S/Se) compositional ratio on the microstructure, crystallinity, electrical properties, and cell efficiencies have been studied using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope, I-V measurement system, solar simulator, quantum efficiency measurement system, and time resolved photoluminescence spectrometer. Our fabricated Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin film solar cell shows the best conversion efficiency of 9.24 % (Voc : 454.6 mV, Jsc : 32.14 mA/cm2, FF : 63.29 %, and active area : 0.433 cm2), which is the highest efficiency among Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin film solar cells prepared using sputter deposited metallic precursors and without using a toxic H2Se gas. Details about other experimental results will be discussed during the presentation.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.11-14
• /
• 2000

Transparent conducting ITO thin films have been studied and developed for the solar cell substrate or LCD substrate. ITO thin film has been mostly fabricated by high cost sputtering method. In this research, sol-gel method is applied to fabricate ITO thin film at lower cost. The research is focused on the establishment of process condition and development of precursor. Organic sol was made of indium tri-isopropoxide dissolved in ethylene glycol monoethyl ether. The hydrolysis was controled by addition of acetyl acetone. Tin(IV) chloride was added as dopant. Inorganic sol was made of indium acetate dissolve din normal propanol. Spin coating technique was applied to coat ITO on borosilicate glass. The resistivity of ITO thin film was approximately $0.01\Omega{\cdot}cm$ and the transmittance is higher than $90\%$ in a visible range.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.340-347
• /
• 1991

Siloxane containing copolyimide (SPI) was synthesized from 3, 3', 4, 4'-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride(BTDA), 4, 4'-methylene dianiline(MDA), 4, 4'-oxydianiline(ODA) and amine-terminated polydimethyl-siloxane(PDMS). Homopolyamic acid(HPAA) in tetrahydrofuran(THF) was reacted with PDMS to obtain siloxane containing polyamic acid(SPAA) followed by the thermal curing to manufacture SPI. SPAA and HPAA exhibited inherent viscosity value of 0.35~0.48dl/g. Glass transition temperature of SPI ranged in $258^{\circ}C{\sim}264^{\circ}C$. SPI had a lower $T_g$ than that of HPI. ODA based HPI and SPI showed slightly higher $T_g$ values, thermal stability, and water content.