• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2009

Indium tin oxide(ITO) thin films were deposited on the glass substrates by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method. The influence of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment on the optical and electrical properties of the films were investigated for the purpose of fabricating plasma display signboard. Structural properties, surface roughness, sheet resistance and transmittance of the ITO film were analysed by using x-ray diffraction method, atomic force microscopy (AFM), four point prove, and ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, respectively. It was found that the RTA treatment increased the transmittance and decreased the resistivity of the ITO film, respectively. Furthermore, we successfully demonstrated the direct-current plasma signboard by using ITO electrode and phosphors.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.614-618
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• 2021

As the size of market for electric vehicles and energy storage systems grows, the demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is increasing. Currently, commercial LIBs are fabricated with liquid electrolytes, which have some safety issues such as low chemical stability, which can cause ignition of fire. As a substitute for liquid electrolytes, solid electrolytes are now being extensively studied. However, solid electrolytes have disadvantages of low ionic conductivity and high resistance at interface between electrode and electrolyte. In this study, Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO), one of the best ion conducting materials among oxide based solid electrolytes, is fabricated through RF-sputtering and various electrochemical properties are analyzed. Moreover, the electrochemical properties of LLZO are found to significantly improve with co-sputtered Li₂O. An all-solid thin film battery is fabricated by introducing a thin film solid electrolyte and an Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (LTO) cathode; resulting electrochemical properties are also analyzed. The LLZO/Li₂O (60W) sample shows a very good performance in ionic conductivity of 7.3×10^-8 S/cm, with improvement in c-rate and stable cycle performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.193-193
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• 2012

In thin film silicon solar cells, p-i-n structure is adopted instead of p/n junction structure as in wafer-based Si solar cells. PECVD is the most widely used thin film deposition process for a-Si:H or ${\mu}c$-Si:H solar cells. Single-chamber PECVD system for a-Si:H solar cell manufacturing has the advantage of lower initial investment and maintenance cost for the equipment. However, in single-chamber PECVD system, doped and intrinsic layers are deposited in one plasma chamber, which inevitably impedes sharp dopant profiles at the interfaces due to the contamination from previous deposition process. The cross-contamination between layers is a serious drawback of single-chamber PECVD system. In this study, a new plasma process to solve the cross-contamination problem in a single-chamber PECVD system was suggested. In order to remove the deposited B inside of the plasma chamber during p-layer deposition, a high RF power was applied right after p-layer deposition with SiH4 gas off, which is then followed by i-layer, n-layer, and Ag top-electrode deposition without vacuum break. In addition to the p-i interface control, various interface control techniques such as FTO-glass pre-annealing in O2 environment to further reduce sheet resistance of FTO-glass, thin layer of TiO2 deposition to prevent H2 plasma reduction of FTO layer, and hydrogen plasma treatment prior to n-layer deposition, etc. were developed. The best initial solar cell efficiency using single-chamber PECVD system of 10.5% for test cell area of 0.2 $cm^2$ could be achieved by adopting various interface control methods.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.477-483
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• 2018

A transparent antenna designed on the front glass of an automobile operating in the FM broadcast band(88~108 MHz) is proposed. A transparent antenna designed on the front glass of the automobile to avoid space limitation is typically positioned as a roof-mounted shark-fin antenna. An antenna designed on the front glass can reasonably solve the problems of low reception sensitivity and radiated interference from antennas for other service bands. The front glass has a unique closed-line structure, and this structure causes the surface current to flow to the front glass's surroundings; thus, the first resonance is caused before the broadcast band. Through the use of this closed-line structure, the surface current distribution is controlled, and an antenna for which the first resonance is operating in the frequency-modulated(FM) band can be designed. Moreover, the use of a micro-metal-mesh film that is a transparent electrode, suitable for designing a radio frequency device, enables the antenna to minimize visual perception through its transparency. The measured reflection coefficient($S_{11}$) of the antenna is less than -6 dB, and the average peak gain is -0.9 dB in the FM band. Experiments show that the transparent antenna on the front glass offers both the space and design freedom required to develop future automotive antennas.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.681-682
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• 2013

전기는 우리 주변의 에너지 형태 중에서 가장 편리하고 광범위하게 사용되고 있다. 이러한 전기는 전자제품, 전기자동차, 에너지 저장 플랜트 등 매우 많은 분야에서 저장되고 사용되고 있다. 특히 에너지 저장 용량의 확대는 휴대폰, 노트북 PC 등 휴대용 IT 기기의 성장에 결정적인 역할을 하였다. 가볍고 작으면서도 고용량의 전기 에너지 저장 장치가 없었다면, 통신이나 인터넷 그리고 오락 등 다양한 기능을 작은 휴대용 기기에 구현할 수 없었을 것이다. 그러나 시간이 흐를수록 기기의 요구 성능이 높아지고 소비자의 니즈가 더욱더 다양해지고 고도화될수록 단일 부품으로 가장 큰 부피를 차지하는 에너지 저장 장치의 용량과 디자인은 점점 중요해지고 있다. 이러한 에너지 저장 장치에서 가장 친숙한 형태는 2차 전지 계열이다. 납 축전지를 비롯하여, 니켈수소, 니켈카드뮴, electrochemical capacitor와 Li ion 계열 등이 대표적이다. 특히 Li ion 배터리는 모바일, 자동차 및 에너지 저장 그리드 등과 같은 다양한 분야에 가장 많이 적용되고있다. Li ion 배터리에 대하여 현재의 핵심적인 연구분야는 전극 재료(cathode, anode)와 electrolyte에 대한 것이다. Anode 전극 재료 중에서 가장 많이 사용되는 재료는 카본을 기반으로 하는 재료로 안정성에 대한 장점이 있지만 에너지 밀도가 낮다는 단점이 있다. 에너지 저장 용량 증가에 대한 필요성이 증가하기 때문에 현재 많이 사용되고 있는 에너지 밀도가 낮은 카본 재료를 대체하기 위해서 이론 용량이 높다고 알려진 실리콘과 같은 메탈이나 주석 산화물과 같은 천이 금속 산화물에 대하여 많은 연구가 진행되고 있다. 특히 현재까지 알려진 많은 재료 중에서 가장 큰 capacity (~4,000 mAh/g)를 가지고 있다고 알려진 실리콘이 카본의 대체 재료로 많은 연구가 진행되고 있다. 그러나, Li 과 반응을 하며 약 300~400%에 달하는 부피팽창이 발생하고, 이러한 부피 팽창 때문에 충 방전이 진행됨에 따라 current collector로부터 박리되는 현상을 보여 빠른 용량 감소를 보여주고 있다. 본 연구에서는 adhesion layer를 current collector와 실리콘 전극 재료 사이에 삽입하여 충 방전 시 부피팽창에 의한 미세구조의 변화와 electrochemical 특성에 대한 영향을 알아보았다. 실험에 사용한 anode 전극은 상용 Cu foil current collector에 RF/DC magnetron 스퍼터링을 통해 다양한 종류(Ti, Ta 등)의 adhesion layer과 200 nm 두께의 Si 박막을 증착하였다. 또한 Bio-logic Potentiostat/ Galvanostat VMP3 와 WanAtech automatic battery cycler 장비를 사용하여 0.2 C-rate로 half-cell 타입의 코인 셀로 조립한 전극에 대한 충 방전 실험을 진행하였다. Adhesion layer의 사용으로 인해 실리콘 박막과 Cu current collector 사이의 박리 현상을 줄여줄 수 있었고, 충 방전 시 Cu 원자의 실리콘 박막으로의 확산을 통한 brittle한 Cu-Si alloy 형성을 막아 줄 수 있어 큰 특성 향상을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한, 리튬과 실리콘의 반응을 통한 형태와 미세구조 변화를 SEM, TEM 등의 다양한 장비를 사용하여 확인하였고, 이를 통해 adhesion layer의 사용이 전극의 특성향상에 큰 영향을 끼쳤다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2012

The Hydrogenated silicon nitride (SiNx:H) using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is widely used in photovoltaic industry as an antireflection coating and passivation layer. In the high temperature firing process, the $SiN_x:H$ film should not change the properties for its use as high quality surface layer in crystalline silicon solar cells. Initially PECVD-$SiN_x:H$ film trends were investigated by varying the deposition parameters (temperature, electrode gap, RF power, gas flow rate etc.) to optimize the process parameter conditions. Then by varying gas ratios ($NH_3/SiH_4$), the hydrogenated silicon nitride films were analyzed for its optical, electrical, chemical and surface passivation properties. The $SiN_x:H$ films of refractive indices 1.90~2.20 were obtained. The film deposited with the gas ratio of 3.6 (Refractive index=1.98) showed the best properties in after firing process condition. The single crystalline silicon solar cells fabricated according to optimized gas ratio (R=3.6) condition on large area substrate of size $156{\times}156mm$ (Pseudo square) was found to have the conversion efficiency as high as 17.2%. Optimized hydrogenated silicon nitride surface layer and high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells fabrication sequence has also been explained in this study.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.88-95
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• 2004

Purpose: Current treatment for osteoid osteomas is usually surgical excision of the nidus. Various minimal invasive techniques have been reported to overcome the invasiveness of the surgical excision. We treated 22 patients with osteoid osteoma by percutaneous thermoablation of the nidus under computed-tomography guidance. Materials and Methods: Twenty two consecutive patients underwent CT-guided percutaneous radio-frequency thermoablation between April 1999 and May 2004. The mean age was 26.5(7~55) years. In three cases, the diagnosis was confirmed pathologically before the prodedure while the others clinically and radiologically. Computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous RF ablation was performed with general or spinal anesthesia. With an RF electrode, the lesion was heated to 80 or 90 degrees C for 6(3~8) minutes. Clinical success was assessed at a mean of 30(4~62) months after the procedure at out patient clinic or by telephone interview. Results: The procedure was technically successful in all cases except a complication. Patients were discharged on 1.9 days after the procedure and resumed normal activities immediately. All patients but three (86%) remained pain free during follow-up (range 4~62 months). A second thermoablation treatment relieved the recurrent symptoms in 2 patients and the remained had persistent pain without a second prodedure. Conclusion: Percutaneous thermoablation appears to be safe and effective for osteoid osteomas, and is a minimally invasive procedure alternative to surgical resection.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.1-6
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• 2011

A transparent oxide thin film transistors (Transparent Oxide-TFT) have been fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature using amorphous indium zinc oxide (a-IZO) as both of active channel and source/drain, gate electrodes and co-sputtered $HfO_2-Al_2O_3$ (HfAIO) as gate dielectric. In spite of its high dielectric constant > 20), $HfO_2$ has some drawbacks including high leakage current and rough surface morphologies originated from small energy band gap (5.31eV) and microcrystalline structure. In this work, the incorporation of $Al_2O_3$ into $HfO_2$ was obtained by co-sputtering of $HfO_2$ and $Al_2O_3$ without any intentional substrate heating and its structural and electrical properties were investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectroscopic ellipsometer (SE) analyses. The XRD studies confirmed that the microcrystalline structures of $HfO_2$ were transformed to amorphous structures of HfAIO. By AFM analysis, HfAIO films (0.490nm) were considerably smoother than $HfO_2$ films (2.979nm) due to their amorphous structure. The energy band gap ($E_g$) deduced by spectroscopic ellipsometer was increased from 5.17eV ($HfO_2$) to 5.42eV (HfAIO). The electrical performances of TFTs which are made of well-controlled active/electrode IZO materials and co-sputtered HfAIO dielectric material, exhibited a field effect mobility of more than $10cm^2/V{\cdot}s$, a threshold voltage of ~2 V, an $I_{on/off}$ ratio of > $10^5$, and a max on-current of > 2 mA.