• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.13-16
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• 2012

Zinc oxide (ZnO) films were deposited by an RF magnetron sputtering system with the RF power of 200W and 300W and flow rate of oxygen gases of 20 and 30 sccm, in order to research the growth of ZnO on carbon doped silicon oxide (SiOC) thin film. The reflectance of SiOC film on Si film deposited by the sputtering decreased with increasing the oxygen flow rate in the range of long wavelength. In comparison between ZnO/Si and ZnO/SiOC/Si thin film, the reflectance of ZnO/SiOC/Si film was inversed that of ZnO/Si film in the rage of 200~1000 nm. The transmittance of ZnO film increased with increasing the oxygen gas flow rate because of the transition from conduction band to oxygen interstitial band due to the oxygen interstitial (Oi) sites. The low reflectance and the high transmittance of ZnO film was suitable properties to use for the front electrode in the display or solar cell.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.312.2-312.2
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• 2013

태양전지에서 SiNX층은 반사방지막 역할과 표면 페시베이션의 역할을 동시에 하고 있다. SiNx에서 굴절율과 두께는 반사율과 밀접한 관계가 있으며 동시에 표면 소수캐리어 수명에도 큰 영향을 미친다. 따라서 굴절율과 두께를 조절하여 낮은 반사도와 긴 소수캐리어 수명을 가지는 SiNx 박막을 제조하여야 우수한 효율의 태양전지를 제조할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 다양한 굴절율과 두께의 SiNx 박막을 결정질 실리콘 태양전지에 적용하여 효율과의 상관관계를 해석하였다. SiNx 박막은 PECVD장비를 이용하여 RF파워, 가스혼합량, 증착시간 등을 각각 변화시키며 형성하였다. RF 파워는 100~500 W로 변화 시켰고 혼합가스 변화는 SiH4가스와 NH3가스, Ar가스를 각각 주입하며 증착하였다. RF 파워 300W, 가스혼합량 SiH4 90sccm, NH3 26sccm, Ar 99sccm과 기판 온도 $300^{\circ}C$, 공정시간 58초에서 포면 반사율 1.09%와 굴절률 1.965, 두께 76nm를 갖는 SiNx층을 형성 할 수 있었다. SiNx층을 증착하여 셀을 제작한 결과, 개방전압: 0.612V, 전류밀도: 38.49 mA/cm2, 충실도: 75.62%, 효율: 17.82%를 얻을 수 있었다.

• Solar Energy
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.3-11
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• 1997

Because grain boundaries in polycrystalline silicon act as potential barriers and recombination centers for the photo-generated charge carriers, these defects degrade conversion effiency of solar cell. To reduce these effects of grain boundaries, we investigated various influencing factors such as thermal treatment, various grid pattern, selective wet etching for grain boundaries, buried contact metallization along grain boundaries, grid on metallic thin film. Pretreatment above $900^{\circ}C$ in $N_2$ atmosphere, gettering by $POCl_3$ and Al treatment for back surface field contributed to obtain a high quality poly-Si. To prevent carrier losses at the grain boundaries, we carried out surface treatment using Schimmel etchant. This etchant delineated grain boundaries of $10{\mu}m$ depth as well as surface texturing effect. A metal AI diffusion into grain boundaries on rear side reduced back surface recombination effects at grain boundaries. A combination of fine grid with finger spacing of 0.4mm and buried electrode along grain boundaries improved short circuit current density of solar cell. A ultra-thin Chromium layer of 20nm with transmittance of 80% reduced series resistance. This paper focused on the grain boundary effect for terrestrial applications of solar cells with low cost, large area, and high efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.28-29
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• 2006

When photovoltaic module is used for a long time, its performance decreases due to several reasons. In this paper, we focus on the possibilities mainly contributing to the degraded efficiency of the polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic modules. The analysis is based on the modules that have been used for 15 years. These are two main reasons that cause the efficiency degradation, the corrosion and thermal decomposition. The former phenomenon of electrode is mainly due to the moisture from damaged back sheet in some module. However the other reason of the degraded efficiency comes from the thermal decomposition, which can not be observed from the outside but only by experiment. In this study, the comparison between the efficiency of normal modules and degradation modules is presented. Module having degraded cell was seen to cause increase of series resistance by about 80%, in comparison to normal samples efficiency which reduce by about 20%. This study shows that the effects of series resistances on module performance are critical. These effects must be understood and taken into consideration when analyzing performance degradation.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.378-381
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• 2008

고효율 a-Si:H/c-Si 이종접합 태양전지를 얻기 위해서는 우수한 c-Si wafer 위에 고품질의 비정질 실리콘박막을 통한 heterointerface를 형성하는 것이 매우 중요하다. 이를 달성하기 위해서는 공정중에 오염되기 쉬운 Si wafer 표면 상태를 정확히 검사하고 잘 관리하여야 한다. 본 연구에서는 세정 및 표면산화에 따른 Si wafer 상태를 Spectroscopic Ellipsometry 및 u-PCD를 이용하여 분석하였으며, <$\varepsilon$2> @4.25eV 값이 Si wafer 상태를 잘 나타내고 있음을 확인하였고 세정 최적화 할 경우 그 값이 43.02에 도달하였다. 또한 RF-PECVD로 증착된a-Si:H 박막을 EMA 모델링을 통해 분석한 결과 낮은 결정성과 높은 밀도를 가지는 a-Si:H를 얻을 수 있었으며, 이를 이종접합 태양전지에 적용한 결과 Flat wafer상에서 10.88%, textured wafer 적용하여 13.23%의 변환효율을 얻었다. 결론적으로 Spectroscopic Ellipsometry가 매우 얇고 고품질의 다층 박막이 필요한 이종접합 태양전지 분석에 있어 매우 유용한 방법임이 확인되었다.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.95-95
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• 2009

실리콘 이종접합 태양전지는 비정질 실리콘을 사용하여 p-n 접합을 만들기 때문에 결정질 태양전지에 비해 개방전압이 높은 특성을 보인다. 그렇지만 결정질 태양전지는 접합을 확산공정으로 만들어 p층과 n층의 계면에서 결함이 존재하지 않는 반면 이종접합 태양전지는 결정질 실리콘 표면에 접합을 만들기 때문에 결정질 실리콘의 표면에 defect이 존재할 가능성이 많아진다. 이번 실험에서 결정질 실리콘의 cleaning 조건 변화에 따른 이종접합 태양전지의 특성변화를 보았다. 실리콘 이종접합 태양전지는 전면전극/ITO/p a-Si:H/i a-Si:H/n c-Si/i a-Si:H/n a-Si:H/후면전극의 구조로 만들으며 p형 및 n형 비정질 실리콘은 PECVD를 이용하여 증착하였고 i형 비정질 실리콘은 HWCVD를 이용하여 증착하였다. 만들어진 태양전지의 특성을 평가하기 위해 암전류 특성, 광전류 특성, 양자효율, 소수반송자수명을 측정하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.179.1-179.1
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• 2014

Si nanowires have exhibited unique optical characteristics, including nano-antenna effects due to the guided mode resonance, significant optical absorption enhancement in wide wavelength and incident angle range due to resonant optical modes, graded refractive index, and scattering. Since Si poor optical absorption coefficient due to indirect bandgap, all such properties have stimulated proposal of new optoelectronic devices whose performance can surpass that of conventional planar devices. We have carried out finite-difference time-domain simulation studies to design optimal Si nanowire array for solar cell applications. Optical reflectance, transmission, and absorption can be calculated for nanowire arrays with various diameter, length, and period. From the absorption, maximum achievable photocurrent can be estimated. In real devices, serious recombination loss occurring at the surface states is known to limit the photovoltaic performance of the nanowire-based solar cells. In order to address such issue, we will discuss how the geometric parameters of the array can influence the spatial distribution of the optical field (resulting optical generation rate) in the nanowires.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2002.07c
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• pp.1482-1484
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• 2002

Transparent conductive oxides (TCO) are necessary as front electrode for most thin film solar cell. In our paper, transparent conducting aluminum-doped Zinc oxide films (ZnO:Al) were prepared by rf magnetron sputtering on glass (Corning 1737) substrate as a variation of the deposition condition. After deposition, the smooth ZnO:Al films were etched in diluted HCI (0.5%) to examine the electrical and surface morphology properties as a variation of the time. The most important deposition condition of surface-textured ZnO films by chemical etching is the processing pressure and the substrate temperature. In low pressures (0.9mTorr) and high substrate temperatures $({\leq}300^{\circ}C)$, the surface morphology of films exhibits a more dense and compact film structure with effective light-trapping to apply the silicon thin film solar cells.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2007.07a
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• pp.220-221
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• 2007

금속 촉매 성장 (Metal-induced growth) 를 이용하여, 마이크로 사이즈의 결정질 (Microcrystalline) 박막 실리콘 (Silicon, Si)을 성장하였다. 금속 촉매로서는 코발트, 니켈, 코발트/니켈 복합물질(Co, Ni, or Co/Ni) 이 사용되었으며, 실리콘과 반응하여 실리사이드 (Silicide) 층을 형성한다. 이러한 실리사이드 층은 실리콘과 격자 거리가 유사하여 (Little lattice mismatch), 그 위에 실리콘 박막을 성장하기 위한 모체 (Template) 가 된다. XRD (X-ray diffraction) 분석을 통하여, 실리사이드 ($CoSi_2$ or $NiSi_2$) 의 형성과 성장된 박막 실리콘의 결정성을 연구하였다. 이러한 박막을 이용하여, 쇼트키 태양전지 (Schottky Solar cell) 에 응용하였다. 코발트/니켈 복합물질을 이용하였을 경우에 10.6mA/$cm^2$ 단락전류를 얻었으며, 이는 코발트만을 이용한 경우보다 10 배만큼 증가하였다. 이러한 실리사이드를 매개로한 박막 실리콘의 성장은 공정상에서의 열부담 (Thermal budget) 을 줄일 수 있으며, 대면적 응용에 큰 가능성을 가지고 있다.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2012

We fabricated the textured silicon (Si) surface on Si substrates by the electrochemical etching using gold (Au) nanoparticle catalysts. The antireflective property of the fabricated Si nanostructures was improved. The Au nanoparticles of ~20-150 nm were formed by the rapid thermal annealing using thermally evaporated Au films on Si. In the chemical etching, the aqueous solution containing $H_2O_2$ and HF was used. In order to investigate the effect of electrochemical etching on the etching depth and reflectance characteristics, the sample was immersed in the aqueous etching solution for 1 min with and without applied cathodic voltages of -1 V and -2 V. As a result, the solar weighted reflectance, i.e., the averaged reflectance with considering solar spectrum (air mass 1.5), could be efficiently reduced for the electrochemically etched Si by applying the cathodic voltage of -2 V, which is expected to be useful for Si solar cell applications.