• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.458-464
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• 2014

Light scattering enhancement is widely used to enhance the optical absorption efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. In this work, we systematically analyzed the effects of spherical voids distributed as light-scattering centers in photoanode films made of an assembly of zinc oxide nanoparticles. Spherical voids in electrode films were formed using a sacrificial template of polystyrene (PS) spheres. The diameter and volume concentration of these spheres was varied to optimize the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. The effects of film thickness on this efficiency was also examined. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was performed to study electron transport in the electrodes. The highest power conversion efficiency of 4.07 % was observed with $12{\mu}m$ film thickness. This relatively low optimum thickness of the electrode film is due to the enhanced light absorption caused by the light scattering centers of voids distributed in the film.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.96-102
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• 2023

Sn-Pb narrow-bandgap perovskite solar cells, which is a light-harvesting layer thicker than 1.3 micrometers, is needed to enhance the low photocurrent. The fabrication of such a thick film through solution processing is a key challenge. Here, we studied and characterized the film by using a precursor solution of increased concentration, comparing it with the universally used 1-micrometer Sn-Pb perovskite film. The increase in molar concentration clearly induced thickness enhancement, but we observed that it also created numerous voids at the interface with bottom charge transporting layer. We hypothesized that these voids might hinder the increase in photocurrent associated with thickness enhancement. By introducing methylammonium chloride (MACl), we successfully fabricated Sn-Pb perovskite film with a thickness of 1.3 micrometer and no voids. Void-controlled Sn-Pb perovskite solar cells not only demonstrated superior short-circuit current density compared to those with voids but also operated smoothly under light exposure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.105-106
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• 2013

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is classified into the propagating surface plasmon (PSP) excited on flat metal surfaces and the local surface plasmon (LSP) excited by metalnanoparticles. It is known that fluorescence signals are enhanced by these two SPR-fields.On the other hand, fluorescence is quenched by the energy transfer to metal (FRET). Bothphenomena are controlled by the distance between dyes and metals, and the degree offluorescence enhancement is determined by the correlation. In this study, we determined thecondition to achieve the maximum fluorescence enhancement by adjusting the distance of ametal nanoparticle 2D sheet and a quantum dots 2D sheet by the use of $SiO_2$ spacer layers. The 2D sheets consisting of myristate-capped Ag nanoparticles (AgMy nanosheets) wereprepared at the air-water interface and transferred onto hydrophobized gold thin films basedon the Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) method [1]. The $SiO_2$ sputtered films with different thickness (0~100 nm) were deposited on the AgMy nanosheet as an insulator. TOPO-cappedCdSe/CdZnS/ZnS quantum dots (QDs, ${\lambda}Ex=638nm$) [2] were also transferred onto the $SiO_2$ films by the LS method. The layered structure is schematically shown in Fig. 1. The result of fluorescence measurement is shown in Fig. 2. Without the $SiO_2$ layer, the fluorescence intensity of the layered QD film was lower than that of the original QDs layer, i.e., the quenching by FRET was predominant. When the $SiO_2$ thickness was increased, the fluorescence intensity of the layered QD film was higher than that of the original QDs layer, i.e., the SPR enhancement was predominant. The fluorescence intensity was maximal at the $SiO_2$ thickness of 20 nm, particularly when the LSPR absorption wavelength (${\lambda}=480nm$) was utilized for the excitation. This plasmonic nanosheet can be integrated intogreen or bio-devices as the creation point ofenhanced LSPR field.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.60-63
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• 2012

Enhancement of efficiency and luminance of organic light-emitting diodes was investigated by the introduction of a lithium carbonate ($Li_2CO_3$) electron-injection layer. Electron-injection layer is used in organic light-emitting diodes to inject electrons efficiently between a cathode and an organic layer. A device structure of ITO/TPD (40 nm)/$Alq_3$ (60 nm)/$Li_2CO_3$ (x nm)/Al (100 nm) was manufactured by thermal evaporation, where the thickness of $Li_2CO_3$ layer was varied from 0 to 3.3 nm. Current density-luminance-voltage characteristics of the device were measured and analyzed. When the thickness of $Li_2CO_3$ layer is 0.7 nm, the current efficiency and luminance of the device at 8.0 V are improved by a factor of about 18 and 3,000 compared to the ones without the $Li_2CO_3$ layer, respectively. The enhancement of efficiency and luminance of the device with an insertion of $Li_2CO_3$ electron-injection layer is thought to be due to the lowering of an electron barrier height at the interface region between the cathode and the emissive layer. This is judged from an analysis of current density-voltage characteristics with a Fowler-Nordheim tunneling conduction mechanism model. In a study of lifetime of the device that depends on the thickness of $Li_2CO_3$ layer, the optimum thickness of $Li_2CO_3$ layer was obtained to be 1.1 nm. It is thought that an improvement in the lifetime is due to the prevention of moisture and oxygen by $Li_2CO_3$ layer. Thus, from the efficiency and lifetime of the device, we have obtained the optimum thickness of $Li_2CO_3$ layer to be about 1.0 nm.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.08a
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• pp.1068-1071
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• 2004

We report the techniques to obtain the high uniformity of the phosphor film thickness in the cold cathode fluorescent lamps, which are widely used as a back-light for the liquid crystal display. The thickness variation of the phosphor layer was sensitive to blowing conditions. The optimum conditions were obtained at flow rate of 15 sccm for 30 min at 40 $^{\circ}C$. The optimum and uniform thickness of a phosphor layer gives good luminous output.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.153-157
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• 2008

Recently, electronic devices is produced by multilayer structure, therefore analysis for hidden layers is important nondestructive inspection. This paper presents visibility enhancement methods for the ultrasonic multiple echoes reflected from adhesive layer in the multilayers using digital signal processing. The reflected signals from the multilayers come out interval of the peaks in the power cepstrum. In the experiment, the adhesive layers of settled thickness using epoxy were formed. The reflected signals from the multilayer is detected by pulse-echo method and power cepstrum is processed for enhancement of visibility.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.141-166
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• 2015

In the present study, a Finite Element Model has been developed and used to study the effect of diameter to wall thickness ratio (D/t) of steel tube filled with concrete under axial loading on its behavior and load carrying capacity. The model is verified by comparing its findings with available experimental results. Influence of thickness and area of steel tube on strength, ductility, confinement and failure mode shapes has been studied. Strength enhancement factors, load factor, confinement contribution, percentage of steel and ductility index are defined and introduced for the assessment. A parametric study by varying length and thickness of tube has been carried out. Diameter of tube kept constant and equals to 140 mm while thickness has been varied between 1 mm and 6 mm. Equations were developed to find out the ultimate load and confined concrete strength of concrete. Variation of lateral confining pressure along the length of concrete cylinder was obtained and found that it varies along the length. The increase in length of tubes has a minimal effect on strength of tube but it affects the failure mode shapes. The findings indicate that optimum use of materials can be achieved by deciding the thickness of steel tube. A better ductility index can be obtained with the use of higher thickness of tube.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.123-133
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• 2023

This paper proposes a thermography-based coating thickness estimation method for steel structures using model-agnostic meta-learning. In the proposed method, a halogen lamp generates heat energy on the coating surface of a steel structure, and the resulting heat responses are measured using an infrared (IR) camera. The measured heat responses are then analyzed using model-agnostic meta-learning to estimate the coating thickness, which is visualized throughout the inspection surface of the steel structure. Current coating thickness estimation methods rely on point measurement and their inspection area is limited to a single point, whereas the proposed method can inspect a larger area with higher accuracy. In contrast to previous ANN-based methods, which require a large amount of data for training and validation, the proposed method can estimate the coating thickness using only 10- pixel points for each material. In addition, the proposed model has broader applicability than previous methods, allowing it to be applied to various materials after meta-training. The performance of the proposed method was validated using laboratory-scale and field tests with different coating materials; the results demonstrated that the error of the proposed method was less than 5% when estimating coating thicknesses ranging from 40 to 500 ㎛.

• Proceedings of the Optical Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.02a
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• pp.189-190
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• 2009

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.86-93
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• 2014

This paper describes performance enhancement of a regenerative blower used for a 20 kW fuel cell system. Two design variables, bending angle of an impeller and blade thickness of an impeller tip, which are used to define an impeller shape, are introduced to enhance the blower performance. Internal flow of the regenerative blower has been analyzed with three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations to obtain the blower performance. General analysis code, CFX, is introduced in the present work. SST turbulence model is employed to estimate the eddy viscosity. Throughout the numerical analysis, it is found that the thickness of impeller tip is effective to increase the blower efficiency in the present blower. Pressure is successfully increased up to 2.8% compared to the reference blower at the design flow condition. And efficiency is also enhanced up to 2.98 % compared to the reference one. It is noted that low velocity region disturbs to make strong recirculation flow inside the blade passages, thus increases local pressure loss. Detailed flow field inside the regenerative blower is also analyzed and compared.