• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.189-189
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• 2012

Lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs) are promising materials for various optoelectronic devices, especially solar cells, because of their tunability of the optical band-gap controlled by adjusting the diameter of NQDs. PbS is a IV-VI semiconductor enabling infrared-absorption and it can be synthesized using solution process methods. A wide choice of the diameter of PbS NQDs is also a benefit to achieve the quantum confinement regime due to its large Bohr exciton radius (20 nm). To exploit these desirable properties, many research groups have intensively studied to apply for the photovoltaic devices. There are several essential requirements to fabricate the efficient NQDs-based solar cell. First of all, highly confined PbS QDs should be synthesized resulting in a narrow peak with a small full width-half maximum value at the first exciton transition observed in UV-Vis absorbance and photoluminescence spectra. In other words, the size-uniformity of NQDs ought to secure under 5%. Second, PbS NQDs should be assembled carefully in order to enhance the electronic coupling between adjacent NQDs by controlling the inter-QDs distance. Finally, appropriate structure for the photovoltaic device is the key issue to extract the photo-generated carriers from light-absorbing layer in solar cell. In this step, workfunction and Fermi energy difference could be precisely considered for Schottky and hetero junction device, respectively. In this presentation, we introduce the strategy to obtain high performance solar cell fabricated using PbS NQDs below the size of the Bohr radius. The PbS NQDs with various diameters were synthesized using methods established by Hines with a few modifications. PbS NQDs solids were assembled using layer-by-layer spin-coating method. Subsequent ligand-exchange was carried out using 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT) to reduce inter-NQDs distance. Finally, Schottky junction solar cells were fabricated on ITO-coated glass and 150 nm-thick Al was deposited on the top of PbS NQDs solids as a top electrode using thermal evaporation technique. To evaluate the solar cell performance, current-voltage (I-V) measurement were performed under AM 1.5G solar spectrum at 1 sun intensity. As a result, we could achieve the power conversion efficiency of 3.33% at Schottky junction solar cell. This result indicates that high performance solar cell is successfully fabricated by optimizing the all steps as mentioned above in this work.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.130.2-130.2
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• 2013

Today, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of hydrocarbon gases has been demonstrated as an attractive method to synthesize large-area graphene layers. However, special care should be taken to precisely control the resulting graphene layers in CVD due to its sensitivity to various process parameters. Therefore, a facile synthesis to grow graphene layers with high controllability will have great advantages for scalable practical applications. In order to simplify and create efficiency in graphene synthesis, the graphene growth by thermal annealing process has been discussed by several groups. However, the study on growth mechanism and the detailed structural and optoelectronic properties in the resulting graphene films have not been reported yet, which will be of particular interest to explore for the practical application of graphene. In this study, we report the growth of few-layer, large-area graphene films using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) without the use of intentional carbon-containing precursor. The instability of nickel films in air facilitates the spontaneous formation of ultrathin (<2~3 nm) carbon- and oxygen-containing compounds on a nickel surface and high-temperature annealing of the nickel samples results in the formation of few-layer graphene films with high crystallinity. From annealing temperature and ambient studies during RTA, it was found that the evaporation of oxygen atoms from the surface is the dominant factor affecting the formation of graphene films. The thickness of the graphene layers is strongly dependent on the RTA temperature and time and the resulting films have a limited thickness less than 2 nm even for an extended RTA time. The transferred films have a low sheet resistance of ~380 ${\Omega}/sq$, with ~93% optical transparency. This simple and potentially inexpensive method of synthesizing novel 2-dimensional carbon films offers a wide choice of graphene films for various potential applications.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.60-64
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• 2011

High sensitivity IR image sensors require materials characteristics with temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and IR range absorption. In this study, the metal-dielectric thermo sensitive films (MDTF) based on $(SiO_2)_x-(Ti)_y$ composition were deposited on substrates of germanium and glass by thermal evaporator. The $SiO_2$ : Ti mixture was made from the ratio of 9 : 1, 8 : 2, 7 : 3, 6 : 4, respectively. $(SiO_2)_x-(Ti)_y$ mixture powder was loaded on tungsten boat in evaporator and was 15.5 cm from the substrate. Resistance of $(SiO_2)_x-(Ti)_y$ in the range of 273~333K were measured as a function of temperature. Temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) was calculated by the resistance variation. Under the various mixture ratios condition, it is possible to obtain $SiO_2$-Ti layers with resistance from units kilo-ohm to hundreds kilo-ohm. Finally, our results showed that Temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of these films varies from -1.4 to $-2.6%K^{-1}$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.292-292
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• 2016

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with a two-dimensional layered structure have been considered highly promising materials for next-generation flexible, wearable, stretchable and transparent devices due to their unique physical, electrical and optical properties. Recent studies on TMD devices have focused on developing a suitable doping technique because precise control of the threshold voltage ($V_{TH}$) and the number of tightly-bound trions are required to achieve high performance electronic and optoelectronic devices, respectively. In particular, it is critical to develop an ultra-low level doping technique for the proper design and optimization of TMD-based devices because high level doping (about $10^{12}cm^{-2}$) causes TMD to act as a near-metallic layer. However, it is difficult to apply an ion implantation technique to TMD materials due to crystal damage that occurs during the implantation process. Although safe doping techniques have recently been developed, most of the previous TMD doping techniques presented very high doping levels of ${\sim}10^{12}cm^{-2}$. Recently, low-level n- and p-doping of TMD materials was achieved using cesium carbonate ($Cs_2CO_3$), octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS), and M-DNA, but further studies are needed to reduce the doping level down to an intrinsic level. Here, we propose a novel DNA-based doping method on $MoS_2$ and $WSe_2$ films, which enables ultra-low n- and p-doping control and allows for proper adjustments in device performance. This is achieved by selecting and/or combining different types of divalent metal and trivalent lanthanide (Ln) ions on DNA nanostructures. The available n-doping range (${\Delta}n$) on the $MoS_2$ by Ln-DNA (DNA functionalized by trivalent Ln ions) is between $6{\times}10^9cm^{-2}$ and $2.6{\times}10^{10}cm^{-2}$, which is even lower than that provided by pristine DNA (${\sim}6.4{\times}10^{10}cm^{-2}$). The p-doping change (${\Delta}p$) on $WSe_2$ by Ln-DNA is adjusted between $-1.0{\times}10^{10}cm^{-2}$ and $-2.4{\times}10^{10}cm^{-2}$. In the case of Co-DNA (DNA functionalized by both divalent metal and trivalent Ln ions) doping where $Eu^{3+}$ or $Gd^{3+}$ ions were incorporated, a light p-doping phenomenon is observed on $MoS_2$ and $WSe_2$ (respectively, negative ${\Delta}n$ below $-9{\times}10^9cm^{-2}$ and positive ${\Delta}p$ above $1.4{\times}10^{10}cm^{-2}$) because the added $Cu^{2+}$ ions probably reduce the strength of negative charges in Ln-DNA. However, a light n-doping phenomenon (positive ${\Delta}n$ above $10^{10}cm^{-2}$ and negative ${\Delta}p$ below $-1.1{\times}10^{10}cm^{-2}$) occurs in the TMD devices doped by Co-DNA with $Tb^{3+}$ or $Er^{3+}$ ions. A significant (factor of ~5) increase in field-effect mobility is also observed on the $MoS_2$ and $WSe_2$ devices, which are, respectively, doped by $Tb^{3+}$-based Co-DNA (n-doping) and $Gd^{3+}$-based Co-DNA (p-doping), due to the reduction of effective electron and hole barrier heights after the doping. In terms of optoelectronic device performance (photoresponsivity and detectivity), the $Tb^{3+}$ or $Er^{3+}$-Co-DNA (n-doping) and the $Eu^{3+}$ or $Gd^{3+}$-Co-DNA (p-doping) improve the $MoS_2$ and $WSe_2$ photodetectors, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.327-327
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• 2009

ZnO with a large band gap (~3.37 eV) and exciton binding energy (~60 meV), is suitable for optoelectronic applications such as ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs) and detectors. However, the ZnO-based p-n homojunction is not readily available because it is difficult to fabricate reproducible p-type ZnO with high hall concentration and mobility. In order to solve this problem, there have been numerous attempts to develop p-n heterojunction LEDs with ZnO as the n-type layer. The n-ZnO/p-GaN heterostructure is a good candidate for ZnO-based heterojunction LEDs because of their similar physical properties and the reproducible availability of p-type GaN. Especially, the reduced lattice mismatch (~1.8 %) and similar crystal structure result in the advantage of acquiring high performance LED devices. In particular, a number of ZnO films show UV band-edge emission with visible deep-level emission, which is originated from point defects such as oxygen vacancy, oxygen interstitial, zinc interstitial[1]. Thus, defect-related peak positions can be controlled by variation of growth or annealing conditions. In this work, the undoped ZnO film was grown on the p-GaN:Mg film using RF magnetron sputtering method. The undoped ZnO/p-GaN:Mg heterojunctions were annealed in a horizontal tube furnace. The annealing process was performed at $800^{\circ}C$ during 30 to 90 min in air ambient to observe the variation of the defect states in the ZnO film. Photoluminescence measurements were performed in order to confirm the deep-level position of the ZnO film. As a result, the deep-level emission showed orange-red color in the as-deposited film, while the defect-related peak positions of annealed films were shifted to greenish side as increasing annealing time. Furthermore, the electrical resistivity of the ZnO film was decreased after annealing process. The I-V characteristic of the LEDs showed nonlinear and rectifying behavior. The room-temperature electroluminescence (EL) was observed under forward bias. The EL showed a weak white and strong yellowish emission colors (~575 nm) in the undoped ZnO/p-GaN:Mg heterojunctions before and after annealing process, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.148-148
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• 2015

Over the past several years, Colloidal core/shell type quantum dots lighting-emitting diodes (QDLEDs) have been developed for the future of optoelectronic applications. An inverted-type quantum-dot light-emitting-diode (QDLED), employing low work function organic material polyethylenimine ethoxylated(PEIE) (<10 nm)[1] modified ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) as electron injection and transport layer, was fabricated by all solution processing method, instead of electrode in the device. The PEIE surface modifier incorporated on the top of the ZnO NPs film, facilitates the enhancement of both electorn injection into the CdSe-ZnS QD emissive layer by lowering the workfunction of ZnO from 3.58eV to 2.87eV and charge balance on the QD emitter. In this inverted QDLEDs, blend of poly (9,9-di-n-octyl-fluorene-alt-benzothiadiazolo) and poly(N,N'-bis(4-butylphenyl)-N,N'-bis(phenyl)benzidine] are used as hole transporting layer (HTL) to improve hole transporting property. At the operating voltage of 7.5 V, the QDLED device emitted spectrally orange color lights with high luminance up to 11110 cd/m2, and showed current efficiency of 2.27 cd/A.[2]

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.433-433
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• 2009

ZnO-based materials have been extensively studied for optoelectronic applications due to their superiors physical properties such as wide direct bandgap (~3.37 eV), large exciton binding energy (~60 meV), high transparency in the visible region, and low cost. Especially, one-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanostructures have attracted considerable attention owing to quantum confinement effect and high crystalline quality. Additionally, various nanostructures of ZnO such as nanorods, nanowires, nanoflower, and nanotubes have stimulated the interests because of their semiconducting. and piezoelectric properties. Among them, vertically aligned ZnO nanorods can bring the improved performance in various promising photoelectric fields including piezo-nanogenerators, UV lasers, dye sensitized solar cells, and photo-catalysis. In this work, we studied the effect of the annealing temperature of homo seed layers on the formation of ZnO nanorods grown by hydrothermal method. The effect of annealing temperature of seed layer on the length and orientation of the nanorods was investigated scanning electron microscopy investigation. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurement were performed to understand the effect of annealing temperatures of seed layers on the formation of nanorods. Moreover, the optical properties of the seed layers and the nanorods were studied by room temperature photoluminescence.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.116.1-116.1
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• 2011

Materials with a combination of high electrical conductivity and optical transparency are important components of many electronic and optoelectronic devices such as liquid crystal displays, solar cells, and light emitting diodes. In this study, to fabricate a low-resistance and high optical transparent electrode film for organic photovoltaic, the following steps were performed: the design and manufacture of an electroforming stamp mold, the fabrication of thermal roll imprinted (TRI) poly-carbonate (PC) patterned films, the manufacture of high-conductivity and low-resistance Ag paste which was filled into patterned PC film using a doctor blade process and then coated with a thin film layer of conductive polymer by a spin coating process. As a result of these imprinting processes the PC films obtained a line width of $10{\pm}0.5{\mu}m$, a channel length of $500{\pm}2{\mu}m$, and a pattern depth of $7.34{\pm}0.5{\mu}m$. After the Ag paste was used to fill part of the patterned film with conductive polymer coating, the following parameters were obtained: a sheet resistance of $9.65{\Omega}$/sq, optical transparency values were 83.69 % at a wavelength of 550 nm.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.259-277
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• 2017

Adsorption is a widely used technique for the removal of dyes from wastewaters by variety of adsorbents. In this work, the main focus is on the potential assessment of anion exchange membrane for the removal of different dyes using batch system and investigation of experimental data by applying various kinetic and thermodynamic models. The removal of anionic dyes i.e., Eosin-B, Eriochrome Black-T and Congo Red by anion exchange membrane BII from aqueous solution was carried out and effect of various parameters such as contact time, membrane dosage, temperature and ionic strength on the percentage removal of anionic dyes was studied. The experimental data was assessed by kinetic models namely pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich liquid film diffusion, Bangham and the modified Freundlich models equation have been used to analyze the experimental data. These results indicate that the adsorption of these anionic dyes on BII follows pseudo-second-order kinetics with maximum values of regression coefficient (0.992-0.998) for all the systems. The adsorption of dyes was more suitable to be controlled by a liquid film diffusion mechanism. The adsorptive removal of dye Eosin-B and Eriochrome Black-T were decreased with temperature and thermodynamic parameters such as free energy (${\Delta}G^o$), enthalpy (${\Delta}H^o$) and entropy (${\Delta}S^o$) for adsorption of dyes on membrane BII were calculated at 298 K, 308 K and 318 K. The values of enthalpy and entropy were negative for EB and EBT representing that the adsorption of these dyes on BII is physiosorptive and exothermic in nature. Whereas the positive values of enthalpy and entropy for CR adsorption on BII, indicating that its adsorption is endothermic and spontaneous in nature. It is evident from this study that anion exchange membrane has shown good potential for the removal of dyes from aqueous solution and it can be used as adsorbent for dues removal on commercial levels.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.207.1-207.1
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• 2014

High-mobility and two dimensional conduction at the interface between two band insulators, LaAlO3 (LAO) and SrTiO3 (STO), have attracted considerable research interest for both applications and fundamental understanding. Several groups have reported the photoconductivity of LAO/STO, which give us lots of potential development of optoelectronic applications using the oxide interface. Recently, a giant photo response of Pd nano particles/LAO/STO is observed in UV illumination compared with LAO/STO sample. These phenomena have been suggested that the correlation between the interface and the surface states significantly affect local charge modification and resulting electrical transport. Water and gas adsorption/desorption can alter the band alignment and surface workfunction. Therefore, characterizing and manipulating the electric charges in these materials (electrons and ions) are crucial for investigating the physics of metal oxide. Proposed mechanism do not well explain the experimental data in various ambient and there has been no quantitative work to confirm these mechanism. Here, we have investigated UV photo response in various ambient by performing transport and Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements simultaneously. We found that Pd nano particles on LAO can form Schottky contact, it cause interface carrier density and characteristics of persistence photo conductance depending on gas environment. Our studies will help to improve our understanding on the intriguing physical properties providing an important role in many enhanced light sensing and gas sensing applications as a catalytic material in different kinds of metal oxide systems.