• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.344-348
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• 2011

A layer of $TiO_2$ thin film less than ~200nm in thickness, as a blocking layer, was deposited by 13.56 MHz radio frequency magnetron sputtering method directly onto the anode electrode to be isolated from the electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). This is to prevent the electrons from back-transferring from the electrode to the electrolyte ($I^-/{I_3}^-$). The presented DSCs were fabricated with working electrode of F:$SnO_2$(FTO) glass coated with blocking $TiO_2$ layer, dye-attached nanoporous $TiO_2$ layer, gel electrolyte and counter electrode of Pt-deposited FTO glass. The effects of blocking layer were studied with respect to impedance and conversion efficiency of the cells. The, electrochemical impedances of DSCs using this electrode were $R_1$: 13.9, $R_2$: 15.0, $R_3$: 10.9 and $R_h$: $82{\Omega}$. The $R_2$ impedance related by electron movement from nanoporous $TiO_2$ to TCO showed lower than that of normal DSCs. The photo-conversion efficiency of prepared DSCs was 5.97% ($V_{oc}$: 0.75V, $J_{sc}$: 10.5 mA/$cm^2$, ff: 0.75) and approximately 1% higher than general DSCs sample.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.12-16
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• 2012

Although silver is used for T-OLED (Top emitting organic Light-Emitting Diode) as reflective anode, it is not an ideal material due to its low work function. Thus, we study the effect of annealing and atmospheric pressure plasma treatment on Ag film that increases its work function by forming the thin silver oxide layer on its surface. In this study, we deposited silver on glass substrate using RF sputtering. Then we treated the Ag samples annealing at $300^{\circ}C$ for 30 minutes in atmosphere or treating the atmospheric plasma treatment for 30, 60, 90, 120s, respectively. We measured the change of the mechanical properties and the potential value of surface with each one at a different treatment type and time. We used nano-indenter system and KPFM (Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy). KPFM method can be measured the change of surface potential. The nanoindenter results showed that the plasma treatment samples for 30s, 120s had very low elastic modulus, hardness and Weibull modulus. However, annealed sample and plasma treated samples for 60s and 90s had better mechanical properties. Therefore, plasma treatment increases the uniformity thin film and the surface potential that is very effective for the performace of T-OLED.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.224-224
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• 2011

OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) 디스플레이에서는 반사율이 가장 높은 silver (Ag)가 쓰이고 있지만, 소자에서 요구되는 일함수의 불일치 때문에 전극과 유기물간에 에너지 장벽이 발생하여 발광효율을 낮추는 요인이 되고 있다. 본 논문에서는 Ag 전극의 work function을 조절하기 위한 연구를 진행하였다. Ag를 rf magnetron sputter를 이용해 glass위에 증착한 후 furnace에서 300$^{\circ}C$, 30분간 공기중에서 열처리 하였고. 또 다른 샘플은 산소분위기에서 표면에 상압플라즈마로 처리 시간(30, 60, 90, 120 sec)을 각기 다르게 하여 샘플을 제조하였다. Ag전극은 Nanoindentation을 통해 국부 영역에 대한 물리적 특성의 변화를 측정하였고 Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM)을 이용해 샘플의 포텐셜을 측정했다. 그 결과 열처리한 샘플은 포텐셜값은 가장 커졌지만 균일도가 낮아졌다. 30 sec, 120 sec 플라즈마 처리한 샘플은 탄성계수, 경도값, 및 Weibull modulus를 극히 낮게 만들었지만 60s, 90s 플라즈마 처리는 샘플의 경도값 균일도를 증가시켰다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.50-54
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• 2013

In this work, the effects of blocking layer and optimally fabricated electrolyte were investigated with respect to impedance and conversion efficiency of the cells.A layer of $TiO_2$ less than ~200nm in thickness, as a blocking layer, was deposited by rf sputtering onto the F:$SnO_2$ (FTO) glass to be isolated from the electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Also, optimum condition of electrolytes preparation for DSCs was investigated. 3-methoxyppropionitrie and redox pairs with LiI and $I_2$ were used as solvents for fabrication of electrolyte. The electrochemical impedances of DSCs using this photo-anode were $R_1$: 13.8, $R_2$: 15.1, $R_3$: 11.9 and $R_h$: $8.3{\Omega}$, respectively. The $R_2$ impedance related by electron transportation from porous $TiO_2$ to FTO showed lower than that of normal DSCs. The photo-conversion efficiency of prepared DSCs was 6.4% and approximately 1.3% higher than general one.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.172-175
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• 2001

Nanophase catalyst layer for direct methanol fuel cell has been fabricated by magnetron sputtering method. Catalyst metal targets and carbon were sputtered simultaneously on the Nafion membrane surface at abnormally higher gas (Ar/He mixture) pressure than that of normal thin film processing. They could be coated as a novel structure of catalyst layer containing porous PtRu or Pt and carbon particles both in nanometer range. Membrane electrode assembly made with this layer led to a reduction of the catalyst loading. At the catalyst loading of 1.5mg $PtRu/cm^2$ for anode and 1mg $Pt/cm^2$ for cathode, it could provide $45 mW/cm^2$ in the operation at 2 M methanol, 1 Bar Air at 80"C. It is more than $30\%$ increase of the power density performance at the same level of catalyst loading by conventional method. This was realized due to the ultra fine particle sizes and a large fraction of the atoms lie on the grain boundaries of nanophase catalyst layer and they played an important role of fast catalyst reaction kinetics and more efficient fuel path. Commercialization of direct methanol fuel cell for portable electronic devices is anticipated by the further development of such design.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.328-332
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• 2012

The work function of Ag (silver) is too low (~4.3 eV) to be used as an electrode of T-OLED (Top Emission Organic Light Emitting Diode). To solve this weakness, researches used plasma-, UV-, or thermal treatment on Ag films in order to increase the work function (~5.0 eV). So, most of studies have focused only on the work function of various treated Ag films, but studies focusing on nanomechanical properties were very important to investigate the efficiency and life time of T-OLED etc. In this paper, we focused on the mechanical properties of the Ag and $AgO_x$ film. The Ag was deposited on a glass substrate with the thickness of 150 nm by using rf-magnetron sputter with the power was fixed at 100 W and working pressure was 3 mTorr. The deposited Ag film was UV treated by UV lamp for several minutes (0~9 min). We measured the sheet resistance and mechanical property of the deposited film. From the experimental result, there were some differences of the sheet resistance and surface hardness of Ag thin film between short time (0~3 min) and long time UV treatment. These result presumed that the induced stress was taken place by the surface oxidation after UV treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.478.1-478.1
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• 2014

We investigated $MoO_3$ graded ITO electrodes for organic solar cells (OSCs) without PEDOT:PSS buffer layer. The effect of $MoO_3$ thickness on the electrical, optical, and structural properties of $MoO_3$ graded ITO anodes prepared by RF/DC magnetron co-sputtering system using $MoO_3$ and ITO targets was investigated. At optimized conditions, we obtained $MoO_3$ graded ITO electrodes with a low sheet resistance of 13 Ohm/square, a high optical transmittance of 83% and a work function of 4.92 eV, comparable to conventional ITO films. Due to the existence of $MoO_3$ on the ITO electrodes, OSCs fabricated on $MoO_3$ graded ITO electrode without buffer layer successfully operated. Although OSCs fabricated on ITO anode without buffer layer showed a low power conversion efficiency of 1.249%, OSCs fabricated on $MoO_3$ graded ITO electrode without buffer layer showed a outstanding cell performance of 2.545%. OSCs fabricated on the $MoO_3$ graded ITO electrodes exhibited a fill factor of 61.275%, a short circuit current of 7.439 mA/cm2, an open circuit voltage of 0.554 V, and a power conversion efficiency of 2.545%. Therefore, $MoO_3$ graded ITO electrodes can be considered a promising transparent electrode for cost efficient and reliable OSCs because it could eliminate the use of acidic PEDOT:PSS buffer layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.69-69
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• 2017

For several decades, industrial processes consume a huge amount of raw water for various objects that consequently results in the generation of large amounts of wastewater. There effluents are mainly treated by conventional technologies such are aerobic, anaerobic treatment and chemical coagulation. But, there processes are not suitable for eliminating all hazardous chemical compounds form wastewater and generate a large amount of toxic sludge. Therefore, other processes have been studied and applied together with these techniques to enhance purification results. These techniques include photocatalysis, absorption, advanced oxidation processes, and ozonation, but also have their own drawbacks. In recent years, electrochemical techniques have received attention as wastewater treatment process that show higher purification results and low toxic sludge. There are many kinds of electrode materials for electrochemical process, among them, boron doped diamond (BDD) attracts attention due to good chemical and electrochemical stability, long lifetime and wide potential window that necessary properties for anode electrode. So, there are many researches about high quality BDD, among them, researches are focused BDD on Si substrate. But, Si substrate is hard to apply electrode application due to the brittleness and low life time. And other substrates are also not suitable for wastewater treatment electrode due to high cost. To solve these problems, Ti has been candidate as substrate in consideration of cost and properties. But there are critical issues about adhesion that must be overcome to apply Ti as substrate. In this study, to overcome this problem, TiN interlayer is introduced between BDD and Ti substrate. TiN has higher electrical and thermal conductivity, melting point, and similar crystalline structure with diamond. The TiN interlayer was deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering (DCMS) with thickness of 50 nm, $1{\mu}m$. The microstructure of BDD films with TiN interlayer were estimated by FE-SEM and XRD. There are no significant differences in surface grain size despite of various interlayer. In wastewater treatment results, the BDD electrode with TiN (50nm) showed the highest electrolysis speed at livestock wastewater treatment experiments. It is thought to be that TiN with thickness of 50 nm successfully suppressed formation of TiC that harmful to adhesion. And TiN with thickness of $1{\mu}m$ cannot suppress TiC formation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.437-443
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• 2019

All-solid-state thin-film lithium-ion batteries are important in the development of next-generation energy storage devices with high energy density. However, thin-film batteries have many challenges in their manufacturing procedure. This is because there are many factors, such as substrate selection, to consider when producing the thin film multilayer structure. In this study, we compare the fabrication and performance of all-solid-state thin-film lithium-ion batteries with a $LiNi_{0.5}Mn_{1.5}O_4$ cathode/LiPON solid electrolyte/$Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ anode structure using stainless steel and Si substrates with different surface roughness. We demonstrate that the smoother the surface of the substrate, the thinner the thickness of the all-solid-state thin-film lithium-ion battery that can be made, and as a result, the corresponding electrochemical characteristics can be improved.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.251-251
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• 2016

For several decades, industrial processes consume a huge amount of raw water for various objects that consequently results in the generation of large amounts of wastewater. Wastewaters are consisting of complex mixture of different inorganic and organic compounds and some of them can be toxic, hazardous and hard to degrade. These effluents are mainly treated by conventional technologies such are aerobic and anaerobic treatment and chemical coagulation. But, these processes are not suitable for eliminating all hazardous chemical compounds form wastewater and generate a large amount of toxic sludge. Therefore, other processes have been studied and applied together with these techniques to enhance purification results. These include photocatalysis, absorption, advanced oxidation processes, and ozonation, but also have their own drawbacks. In recent years, electrochemical techniques have received attention as wastewater treatment process that could be show higher purification results. Among them, boron doped diamond (BDD) attract attention as electrochemical electrode due to good chemical and electrochemical stability, long lifetime and wide potential window that necessary properties for anode electrode. So, there are many researches about high quality BDD on Nb, Ta, W and Si substrates, but, their application in effluents treatment is not suitable due to high cost of metal and low conductivity of Si. To solve these problems, Ti has been candidate as substrate in consideration of cost and property. But there are adhesion issues that must be overcome to apply Ti as BDD substrate. Al, Cu, Ti and Nb thin films were deposited on Ti substrate to improve adhesion between substrate and BDD thin film. In this paper, BDD films were deposited by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HF-CVD) method. Prior to deposition, cleaning processes were conducted in acetone, ethanol, and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) using sonification machine for 7 min, respectively. And metal layer with the thickness of 200 nm were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering (DCMS). To analyze microstructure X-ray diffraction (XRD, Bruker gads) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM, Hitachi) were used. It is confirmed that metal layer was effective to adhesion property and improved electrode property. Electrochemical measurements were carried out in a three electrode electrochemical cell containing a 0.5 % H2SO4 in deionized water. As a result, it is confirmed that metal inter layer heavily effect on BDD property by improving adhesion property due to suppressing formation of titanium carbide.