• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.785-791
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• 2023

Copper sulfide (Cu_xS) has been extensively utilized as a counter electrode (CE) material for quantum dot solar cells (QDSCs) due to its exceptional catalytic activity for polysulfide electrolytes. The typical fabrication method of Cu₂S CEs based on brass substrate is dangerous, involving the use of a highly concentrated hydrochloric acid solution in a relatively high temperature. In contrast, electroplating presents a safer alternative by employing a less acidic solution at a room temperature. In addition, the electroplating method increases the probability of obtaining CEs of consistent quality compared to the brass method. In this study, the optimized electroplating cycle for CuS CEs in QDSCs has been studied for the highly efficient photovoltaic performances. The QDSCs, featuring electroplated CuS CEs, achieved an impressive efficiency of 7.18%, surpassing the conventional method employing brass CEs, which yielded an efficiency of 6.62%.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.226-235
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• 2024

InP quantum dots (QDs) have attracted researchers' interest due to their applicability in quantum dot light-emitting displays (QLED) or biomarkers for detecting cancers or viruses. The surface or interface control of InP QD core/ shell has substantially increased quantum efficiency, with a quantum yield of 100% reached by introducing HF to inhibit oxide generation. In this study, we focused on the control of bandgap energy of quantum dots by changing the Zn/(In+Zn) ratio in the In(Zn)P core. Zinc incorporation can change the photoluminescent light colors of green, yellow, orange, and red. Diluting a solution of as-synthesized QDs by more than 100 times did not show any quenching effects by the Förster resonance energy transfer phenomenon between neighboring QDs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.196.2-196.2
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• 2013

본 연구에서는 분자선 에피택시 (MBE)법으로 성장된 InAs submonolayer quantum dot (SML-QD)을 태양전지에 응용하여 광학 및 전기적 특성을 평가하였다. 본 연구에서 사용된 양자점 태양전지(quantum dot solar cell, QDSC)의 구조는 n+-GaAs 기판 위에 n+-GaAs buffer와 n-GaAs base layer를 차례로 성장 한 후, 활성영역에 InAs/InGaAs SML-QD와 n-GaAs spacer layer를 8주기 형성하였다. 그 위에 p+-GaAs emitter, p+-AlGaAs window layer를 성장하고 ohmic contact을 위하여 p+-GaAs 를 성장하였다. SML-QD 구조의 두께는 0.3 ML 이며, 이때 SML-QD의 적층수를 4 stacks 으로 고정하였다. SML-QD 와의 비교를 위하여 2.0 ML크기의 InAs자발 형성 양자점 태양전지(SK-QDSC)과 GaAs 단일 접합 태양전지 (reference-SC)를 동일한 성장조건에서 제작하였다. PL 측정 결과, 300 K에서 SML-QD의 발광 피크는 SK-QD 보다 고에너지에서 나타나는데(1.349 eV), 이것은 SML-QD가 SK-QD보다 작은 크기를 가지기 때문으로 사료된다. SML-QD는 single peak를 보이는 반면, SK-QD는 dual peaks (1.112 / 1.056 eV)을 확인하였다. SML-QD의 반치폭(full width at half maximum, FWHM)이 SK-QD에 비하여 작은 것으로 보아 SML-QD가 SK-QD보다 양자점 크기 분포의 균일도가 높은 것으로 해석된다. Illumination I-V 측정 결과, SML-QDSC의 개방 전압(VOC) 과 단락전류밀도(JSC)는 SK-QDSC의 값과 비교해 보면, 각각 47 mV와 0.88 mA/cm2만큼 증가하였다. 이는 SK-QD보다 상대적으로 작은 크기를 가진 SML-QD로 인해 VOC가 증가되었으며, SML-QD가 SK-QD 보다 태양광을 흡수할 수 있는 영역이 비교적 적지만, QD내에 존재하는 energy level에서 탈출 할 수 있는 확률이 더 높음으로써 JSC가 증가한 것으로 분석 된다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.393-398
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• 2019

A poly[bis(4-butypheny)-bis(phenyl)benzidine] (poly-TPD) and poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) bilayer was employed as a hole transport layer (HTL) in solution-processed CdSe/ZnS quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs). The thickness of the PVK layer spin-coated onto the poly-TPD layer, whose thickness was fixed to 40 nm, was varied, with PVK layer thicknesses of 0 nm, 35 nm, 45 nm, and 55 nm. Because the thickness of the PVK can determine the hole transport properties of the HTL, a PVK thickness that maximizes the performance of the HTL for the QLEDs was investigated. By employing the optimized PVK thickness of 45 nm, the current efficiency of the QLED exhibited a 1.74 times improvement when compared with that of the QLED with poly-TPD based HTL without PVK. This was mainly attributed to the decrease in the energy barrier between the HTL and the quantum dot (QD) emitting layer (EML).

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.224-229
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• 2024

Quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) are emerging as next-generation displays owing to their high color purity, wide color gamut, and solution processability. Enhancing the efficiency of QD-LEDs involves preventing non-radiative recombination mechanisms, such as Auger and interfacial recombination. Generally, ZnO serves as the electron transport layer, which is known for its higher mobility compared to that of organic semiconductors and can lead to excessive electron injection. Some of the injected electrons pass through the quantum dot emissive layer and undergo non-radiative recombination near or within the organic hole transport layer (HTL), resulting in HTL degradation. Therefore, the implementation of electron blocking layers (EBLs) is essential; however, studies on all-solution-processed inverted InP QD-LEDs are limited. In this study, poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) is introduced as an EBL to mitigate HTL degradation and enhance the emission efficiency of inverted InP QD-LEDs. Using a single-carrier device, PVK was confirmed to effectively inhibit electron overflow into the HTL, even at extremely low thicknesses. The optimization of the PVK thickness also ensured minimal disruption of the hole-injection properties. Consequently, a 1.5-fold increase in the maximum luminance was achieved in the all-solution-processed inverted InP QD-LEDs with the EBL.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.140-144
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• 2012

Compared with bulk material, quantum dots have received increasing attention due to their fascinating physical properties, including optical and electronic properties, which are due to the quantum confinement effect. Especially, Luminescent CdSe quantum dots have been highly investigated due to their tunable size-dependent photoluminescence across the visible spectrum. They are of great interest for technical applications such as light-emitting devices, lasers, and fluorescent labels. In particular, quantum dot-based light-emitting diodes emit high luminance. Quantum dots have very high luminescence properties because of their absorption coefficient and quantum efficiency, which are higher than those of typical dyes. CdSe quantum dots were synthesized as a function of the synthesis time and synthesis temperature. The photoluminescence properties were found strongly to depend on the reaction time and the temperature due to the core size changing. It was also observed that the photoluminescence intensity is decreased with the synthesis time due to the temperature dependence of the band gap. The wavelength of the synthesized quantum dots was about 550-700 nm and the intensity of the photoluminescence increased about 22~70%. After the CdSe quantum dots were synthesized, the particles were found to have grown until reaching a saturated concentration as time increased. Red shift occurred because of the particle growth. The microstructure and phase developments were measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD), respectively.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.606-610
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• 2010

Films consisting of a silicon quantum dot superlattice were fabricated by alternating deposition of silicon rich silicon nitride and $Si_3N_4$ layers using an rf magnetron co-sputtering system. In order to use the silicon quantum dot super lattice structure for third generation multi junction solar cell applications, it is important to control the dot size. Moreover, silicon quantum dots have to be in a regularly spaced array in the dielectric matrix material for in order to allow for effective carrier transport. In this study, therefore, we fabricated silicon quantum dot superlattice films under various conditions and investigated crystallization behavior of the silicon quantum dot super lattice structure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra showed an increased intensity of the $840\;cm^{-1}$ peak with increasing annealing temperature due to the increase in the number of Si-N bonds. A more conspicuous characteristic of this process is the increased intensity of the $1100\;cm^{-1}$ peak. This peak was attributed to annealing induced reordering in the films that led to increased Si-$N_4$ bonding. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that peak position was shifted to higher bonding energy as silicon 2p bonding energy changed. This transition is related to the formation of silicon quantum dots. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis also confirmed the formation of silicon quantum dots. This study revealed that post annealing at $1100^{\circ}C$ for at least one hour is necessary to precipitate the silicon quantum dots in the $SiN_x$ matrix.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.251-251
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• 2006

A real time bio-imaging of HA degradation was successfully carried out using HA-quantum dot conjugates. HA-ADH with ADH content of ca. 70 mol% was synthesized and conjugated with quantum dots containing carboxyl terminal ligands which were activated by the addition of HOBt and EDC in DMSO. When the concentration of HA-ADH solution was higher than 4 wt%, HA-ADH hydrogels incorporating quantum dots could be synthesized in 30 minutes. These novel HA-quantum dot conjugates and the precursor solution of HA hydrogels incorporating quantum dots were injected to the nude mouse and investigated to elucidate the biological roles of HA in the body for various future tissue engineering applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.197-197
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• 2016

Quantum dot nanocrystals(QDs) have been emerged as next generation materials in the field of energy harvesting, sensor, and light emitting because of their compatibility with solution process and controllable energy band gap. Especially, characteristics of color tuning and color purity make it possible for QDs to be used photoluminescence materials. Photoluminescence devices with QDs have been researched for a long time. Photoluminescence quantum yield(PL QY) is important factor that defines the performance of Photoluminescence devices. One of the ways to achieve better PL QY is ligand modification. If ligands are changed to proper electron donating group, electrons can be confined in the core which results in enhancement of PL QY. Because of the reason, short ligands are preferred for enhancing PL QY. Thiophenol-based ligands are shorter than typical alkyl chain ligands. In this study, the effect of thiophenol-based ligands with different functional groups are investigated. Four different types of thiophenol-based organic materials are used as organic capping ligand. QDs with bare thiophenol and fluorothiophenol show better quantum yield compared to oleic acid.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.457-465
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• 2014

Size-controlled lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots were synthesized by the typical hot injection method using oleic acid (OA) as the stabilizing agent. Subsequently, the ligand exchange reaction between OA and thioacetic acid (TAA) was employed to obtain TAA-capped PbS quantum dots (PbS-TAA QDs). The condensation reaction of the TAA ligands on the surfaces of the QDs enhanced the conductivity of the PbS-TAA QDs thin films by about 2-4 orders of magnitude, as compared with that of the PbS-OA QDs thin films. The electron transport mechanism of the PbS-TAA QDs thin films was investigated by current-voltage (I-V) measurements at different temperatures in the range of 293 K-473 K. We found that the charge transport was due to sequential tunneling of charge carriers via the QDs, resulting in the thermally activated hopping process of Arrhenius behavior.