• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.110.1-110.1
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• 2012

Recently, advances in ZnO based oxide semiconductor materials have accelerated the development of thin-film transistors (TFTs), which are the building blocks for active matrix flat-panel displays including liquid crystal displays (LCD) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). However, the electrical performances of oxide semiconductors are significantly affected by interactions with the ambient atmosphere. Jeong et al. reported that the channel of the IGZO-TFT is very sensitive to water vapor adsorption. Thus, water vapor passivation layers are necessary for long-term current stability in the operation of the oxide-based TFTs. In the present work, $Al_2O_3$ and $TiO_2$ thin films were deposited on poly ether sulfon (PES) and $SnO_x$-based TFTs by electron cyclotron resonance atomic layer deposition (ECR-ALD). And enhancing the WVTR (water vapor transmission rate) characteristics, barrier layer structure was modified to $Al_2O_3/TiO_2$ layered structure. For example, $Al_2O_3$, $TiO_2$ single layer, $Al_2O_3/TiO_2$ double layer and $Al_2O_3/TiO_2/Al_2O_3/TiO_2$ multilayer were studied for enhancement of water vapor barrier properties. After thin film water vapor barrier deposited on PES substrate and $SnO_x$-based TFT, thin film permeation characteristics were three orders of magnitude smaller than that without water vapor barrier layer of PES substrate, stability of $SnO_x$-based TFT devices were significantly improved. Therefore, the results indicate that $Al_2O_3/TiO_2$ water vapor barrier layers are highly proper for use as a passivation layer in $SnO_x$-based TFT devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.37-37
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• 2010

Silicate-silsesquioxane or siloxane-silsesquioxane hybrid thin films are strong candidates as matrix materials for ultra low dielectric constant (low-k) thin films. We synthesized the silicate-silsesquioxane hybrid resins from tetraethoxyorthosilicate (TEOS) and methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) through hydrolysis and condensation polymerization by changing their molar ratios ([TEOS]:[MTMS] = 7:3, 5:5, and 3:7), spin-coating on Si(100) wafers. In the case of [TEOS]:[MTMS] 7:3, the dielectric permittivity value of the resultant thin film was measured at 4.30, exceeding that of the thermal oxide (3.9). This high value was thought to be due to Si-OH groups inside the film and more extensive studies were performed in terms of electronic, ionic, and orientational polarizations using Debye equation. The relationship between the mechanical properties and the synthetic conditions of the silicate-silsesquioxane precursors was also investigated. The synthetic conditions of the low-k films have to be chosen to meet both the low orientational polarization and high mechanical properties requirements. In addition, we have investigated a new solution-based approach to the synthesis of semiconducting chalcogenide films for use in thin-film transistor (TFT) devices, in an attempt to develop a simple and robust solution process for the synthesis of inorganic semiconductors. Our material design strategy is to use a sol-gel reaction to carry out the deposition of a spin-coated CdS film, which can then be converted to a xerogel material. These devices were found to exhibit n-channel TFT characteristics with an excellent field-effect mobility (a saturation mobility of ${\sim}\;48\;cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$) and low voltage operation (< 5 V). These results show that these semiconducting thin film materials can be used in low-cost and high-performance printable electronics.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.242-242
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• 2012

Transparent oxide semiconductors are increasingly becoming one of good candidates for high efficient channel materials of thin film transistors (TFTs) in large-area display industries. Compare to the conventional hydrogenated amorphous silicon channel layers, solution processed ZnO-TFTs can be simply fabricated at low temperature by just using a spin coating method without vacuum deposition, thus providing low manufacturing cost. Furthermore, solution based oxide TFT exhibits excellent transparency and enables to apply flexible devices. For this reason, this process has been attracting much attention as one fabrication method for oxide channel layer in thin-film transistors (TFTs). But, poor electrical characteristic of these solution based oxide materials still remains one of issuable problems due to oxygen vacancy formed by breaking weak chemical bonds during fabrication. These electrical properties are expected due to the generation of a large number of conducting carriers, resulting in huge electron scattering effect. Therefore, we study a novel technique to effectively improve the electron mobility by applying environmental annealing treatments with various gases to the solution based Li-doped ZnO TFTs. This technique was systematically designed to vary a different lithium ratio in order to confirm the electrical tendency of Li-doped ZnO TFTs. The observations of Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy were performed to investigate structural properties and elemental composition of our samples. In addition, I-V characteristics were carried out by using Keithley 4,200-Semiconductor Characterization System (4,200-SCS) with 4-probe system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.115-115
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• 2011

Nano hybrid superlattices consisting of organic and inorganic components have great potential for creation of new types of functional material by utilizing the wide variety of properties which differ from their constituents. They provide the opportunity for developing new materials with new useful properties. Herein, we fabricated new type of organic-inorganic nano hybrid superlattice thin films by a sequential, self-limiting surface chemistry process known as molecular layer depostion (MLD) combined with atomic layer deposition (ALD). An organic layer was formed at $150^{\circ}C$ using MLD with repeated sequintial adsorption of Hydroquinone and Titanium tetrachloride. A $TiO_2$ inorganic nanolayer was deposited at the same temperature using ALD with alternating surface-saturating reactions of Titanium tetrachloride and water. Using UV-Vis spectroscopy, we confirmed visible light absorption by LMCT. And FTIR spectroscopy and XPS were employed to determine the chemical composition. Ellipsometry and TEM analysis were also used to confirm linear growth of the film versus number of MLD cycles at all same temperature. In addition, p-n junction diodes domonstrated in this study suggest that the film can be suitable for n-type semiconductors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.450-450
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• 2007

Indium tin oxide (ITO), which is used as an electrode in organic thin film transistors (OTFT), was modified with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) by wet chemical surface modification. The surface of the ITO was treated by dipping method in a solution of 2-chloroethane phosphonic acid (2-CEPA) at room temperature. The work function in the ITO which was modified with the SAM in the 2-CEPA had 5.43eV. A surface energy and a transmittance were unchanged in an error range. On this study, therefore, possibility of ohmic contact is showed in the interface between the ITO and the organic semiconductors. These results suggest that the treatment of the ITO with the SAM can greatly enhance the performance of the OTFT.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.493-493
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• 2014

The manufacturing cost of thin-film photovoltics can potentially be lowered by minimizing the amount of a semiconductor material used to fabricate devices. Thin-film solar cells are typically only a few micrometers thick, whereas crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafer solar cells are $180{\sim}300\mu}m$ thick. As such, thin-film layers do not fully absorb incident light and their energy conversion efficiency is lower compared with that of c-Si wafer solar cells. Therefore, effective light trapping is required to realize commercially viable thin-film cells, particularly for indirect-band-gap semiconductors such as c-Si. An emerging method for light trapping in thin film solar cells is the use of metallic nanostructures that support surface plasmons. Plasmon-enhanced light absorption is shown to increase the cell photocurrent in many types of solar cells, specifically, in c-Si thin-film solar cells and in poly-Si thin film solar cell. By proper engineering of these structures, light can be concentrated and coupled into a thin semiconductor layer to increase light absorption. In many cases, silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NP) are formed either on the front surface or on the rear surface on the cells. In case of poly-Si thin film solar cells, Ag NPs are formed on the rear surface of the cells due to longer wavelengths are not perfectly absorbed in the active layer on the first path. In our cells, shorter wavelengths typically 300~500 nm are also not effectively absorbed. For this reason, a new concept of plasmonic nanostructure which is NPs formed both the front - and the rear - surface is worth testing. In this simulation Al NPs were located onto glass because Al has much lower parasitic absorption than other metal NPs. In case of Ag NP, it features parasitic absorption in the optical frequency range. On the other hand, Al NP, which is non-resonant metal NP, is characterized with a higher density of conduction electrons, resulting in highly negative dielectric permittivity. It makes them more suitable for the forward scattering configuration. In addition to this, Ag NP is located on the rear surface of the cell. Ag NPs showed good performance enhancement when they are located on the rear surface of our cells. In this simulation, Al NPs are located on glass and Ag NP is located on the rear Si surface. The structure for the simulation is shown in figure 1. Figure 2 shows FDTD-simulated absorption graphs of the proposed and reference structures. In the simulation, the front of the cell has Al NPs with 70 nm radius and 12.5% coverage; and the rear of the cell has Ag NPs with 157 nm in radius and 41.5% coverage. Such a structure shows better light absorption in 300~550 nm than that of the reference cell without any NPs and the structure with Ag NP on rear only. Therefore, it can be expected that enhanced light absorption of the structure with Al NP on front at 300~550 nm can contribute to the photocurrent enhancement.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.380-382
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• 2016

The mechanism for instability under PBS (positive bias stress) in amorphous SIZO (Si-In-Zn-O) thin-film transistors was investigated by analyzing the charge trapping mechanism. It was found that the bulk traps in the SIZO channel layer and the channel/dielectric interfacial traps are not created during the PBS duration. This result suggests that charge trapping in gate dielectric, and/or in oxide semiconductor bulk, and/or at the channel/dielectric interface is a more dominant mechanism than the creation of defects in the SIZO-TFTs.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.9-10
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• 2006

Recent work in our laboratory has focused on the molecular and supramolecular engineering of conjugated polymers and oligomers for device applications, including light emitting diodes for displays and lighting, photovoltaic cells, and thin film transistors. A central finding is that the supramolecular structure of conjugated polymers can have a dominant influence on their properties and the performance of devices. Some major results include: highly efficient RGB light-emitting diodes from polymers and oligomers; high mobility n-channel polymer field effect transistors; ambipolar thin film transistors from copolymer semiconductors; and self-assembly and ambipolar charge transport in polymer nanowires.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.18.1-18.1
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• 2010

Here, we introduce our R&D status and strategies for printed electronics containing the two types of aspects such as materials and process/architectures. Specially, in this talk, we focus on the high-performance polymer thin film transistors (PTFTs) backplanes fabricated by ink-jet printing using new polymer semiconductors for the applications of flexible display.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.568-570
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• 2009

Octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) self-assembled monolayer was selectively patterned by deep ultraviolet exposure, resulting in differential surface state, hydrophilic area with OTS hydrophobic surroundings. High-resolution (<10 ${\mu}m$) nanoparticulate Ag electrodes and organic semiconductors were patterned from simple dip-casting and ink-jetting on the pre-patterned hydrophilic surface, forming all solution-processed organic thin film transistors. The devices typically have shown a mobility of 0.065 $cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ and on-off current ratio of $8{\times}10^5$.