• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.13 no.spc2
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• pp.336-340
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• 2012

Wide band gap p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiO:H) buffer layer has been used at the interface of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) p-type layer of a p-i-n type a-Si:H solar cell. Introduction of 5 nm thick buffer layer improves in blue response of the cell along with 0.5% enhancement of photovoltaic conversion efficiency (η). The cells with buffer layer show higher open circuit voltage (Voc), fill factor (FF), short circuit current density (Jsc) and improved blue response with respect to the cell without buffer layer.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2008

In order to apply for transparent conductive oxide(TCO), we deposited ZnO thin films on the glass at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering method. Deposition conditions for high transmittance and low resistivity were optimized in our previous studies. Under the deposition condition with the RF power of 200 W, target to substrate distance of 30 mm and working pressure of 5 mTorr, highly conductive($7.4{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$) and transparent(over 85%) ZnO films were prepared. Highly oriented ZnO film in the [002] direction were obtained with specifically designed ZnO targets. Systematic study on dependence of deposition parameters on electrical and optical properties of the as-grown ZnO films were mainly investigated in this work. And for application tests using these films as transparent conductive oxide anodes, wet chemical etching behaviors of ZnO films were also investigated using various chemicals. Wet-chemical etching behavior of ZnO films were investigated using various acid solutions. The concentrations of these different acid solutions were controlled to study the etching shapes and etching rate. ZnO films were anisotropically etched at various concentrations and wet etching led to crater-like surface structure. Also we firstly found that the etching rate and etching shapes of ZnO films strongly depended on the etchant concentrations (i.e. pH) and the etching rate is exponentially decreased with increasing pH values regardless of the acid etchants.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.68-75
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• 2011

In this review, we have investigated the effect of $TiO_2$-based blocking layers (t-BLs), deposited on a transparent conductive oxide (TCO)-coated glass substrate, on the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The t-BL was deposited using spin-coating or sputtering technique, and its thicknesses were varied to study the influence of the thin $TiO_2$ layer in between transparent conducting glass and nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ (nc-$TiO_2$). The DSSC with the t-BL showed the improved adhesion and the suppressed charge recombination at a TCO glass substrate than those without the t-BL, which led to the higher conversion efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.961-968
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• 2009

In this work, transparent conductive oxide(TCO) films such as $In_2O_3-SnO_2$(ITO) and $In_2O_3-ZnO$(IZO) were prepared on polyethylene naphthalene(PEN) and glass substrates by using rf-magnetron sputtering system. The TCO films deposited on PEN substrate show very poor conductivity as compared to that of the TCO films deposited on glass substrates. From the results of the residual gas analysis(RGA) test, this poor stability of plastic substrate is presumed to be caused by the deteriorated adhesion between the TCO films and the plastic substrate due to outgassing from the plastic substrate during deposition of TCO films. From our experiment, it is found that the vaporization of some defects in the plastic substrates deteriorate the adhesion of the TCO films to the plastic substrate, because the most plastic substrates containing the water vapor and/or other adsorbed particles such as organic solvents. Mixing of these gases vaporized in the sputtering process will also affect the electrical property of the deposited TCO films. Inorganic thin composite $(SiO_2)_{40}(ZnO)_{60}$ film as a gas barrier layer is coated on the PEN substrate to protecting the diffusion of vapors from the substrate, so that the TCO films with an improved quality can be obtained.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.525-528
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• 2001

ZnO:Al thin film can be used as a transparent conducting oxide(TCO) which has low electric resistivity and high optical transmittance for the front electrode of amorphous silicon solar cells and display devices. This study of electrical, crystallographic and optical properties of Al doped ZnO thin films prepared by Facing Targets Sputtering (FTS), where strong internal magnets were contained in target holders to confine the plasma between the targets, is described. Optimal transmittance and resistivity was obtained by controlling flow rate of O$_2$ gas and substrate temperature. When the of gas rate of 0.3 and substrate temperature 200$^{\circ}C$ , ZnO:Al thin film had strongly oriented c-axis and lower resistivity(<10$\^$-4/Ω-cm).

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.699-707
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• 1995

The material that is both conductive in electricity and transparent to the visible ray is called transparent conducting thin film. It has many fields of application such as Solar Cell, Liquid Crystal display, Vidicon on T.V, transparent electrical heater, selective optical filter, and a optical electric device , etc. In the recent papers on several TCO( transparent conducting oxide ) material, the study is mainly focusing on ITO(indium tin oxide) because ITO shows good results on both optical and electrical properties. Nowaday, in the development of LCD(Liquid Crystal display), the low temperature process to reduce the production cost and to deposit ITO on polymer substrate (or low melting substrate) has been demanded. In this study, we prepared indium tin oxide(ITO) by a cylindrical DC magnetron sputtering with Indium-tin (9:1) alloy target instead of indium-tin oxide target. The resistivity of the film deposited in oxygen partial pressure of 5% and substrate temperature of 140.deg. C. is 1.6*10$\^$-4/.ohm..cm with 85% optical transmission in viaible ray.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.371-375
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• 2022

Antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) thin films, one type of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films, were prepared on a SiO₂-coated glass substrate with different substrate temperatures by a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering system. Structural, optical, and electrical characteristics of the deposited ATO films were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, alpha-step, ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, and Hall effect measurement. The substrate temperature during deposition did not affect the basic crystal structure of the films but changed the grain size and film thickness. The optical transmittance of the ATO films deposited at different substrate temperatures was over 70%. The lowest sheet resistance and resistivity were 8.43 × 10² Ω/sq, and 0.3991 × 10^-2 Ω·cm, respectively, and the highest carrier concentration and mobility were 2.36 × 10²¹ cm^-3 and 6.627 × 10^-2 cm²V^-1s^-1, respectively, at a substrate temperature of 400 ℃.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.421.1-421.1
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• 2016

We studied indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) as transparent conductive oxide (TCO). A variety of TCO layer, such as ZnO:Al (AZO), InSnO2(ITO), Zn (O,S) etc, has been grown by various method, such as ALD, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), sputtering, laser ablation, sol-gel technique, etc. Among many deposition methods, ALD has various advantages such as uniformity of film thickness, film composition, conformality, and low temperature deposition, as compared with other techniques. In this study, we deposited indium-doped zinc oxide thin films using diethyl[bis(trimethylsilyl)amido]indium [Et2InN(TMS)2] as indium precursor, DEZn as zinc precursor and H2O as oxidant for ALD and investigated the optical and electrical properties of IZO films. As an alternative, this liquid In precursor would has several advantages in indium oxide thin-film processes by ALD, especially for low resistance indium oxide thin film and high deposition rate as compared to InCp, InCl3, TMIn precursors etc. We found out that Indium oxide films grown by Et2InN(TMS)2 and H2O precursor show ALD growth mode and ALD growth window. We also found out the different growth rate of Indium oxide as the substrate and investigated the effect of the substrate on Indium oxide growth.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.322-322
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• 2011

Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) 박막은 디스플레이 산업에 낮은 면저항 및 높은 광투과성으로 없어서는 안 될 중요한 물질로 많은 선행연구가 진행되어져 왔다. 하지만 전 세계적으로 플라즈마와 TCO박막의 특성과의 상관관계에 대한 연구가 부족하여, 디바이스 업계에서 요구하는 수준에 미치지 못하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 저온 공정이 가능한 dual pulsed magnetron sputtering을 이용해 TCO박막을 합성하고 플라즈마 특성 변화에 따른 TCO 박막의 상관관계를 규명 하고자 한다. Dual pulsed magnetron의 자장에 의해 구속되는 플라즈마 내의 이온 종들과 이온과 중성자의 비율관계를 optical emission spectroscopy (OES)로 확인 하였고, 기판 전류 및 기판 온도 측정, Langmuir probe를 통한 플라즈마 특성 분석을 통하여 플라즈마와 특성과 박막 성장과의 상관관계에 대하여 규명 하였다. 전자 온도는 1.25 eV에서 2.46 eV 증가하는 것을 확인할 수 있었으며, 이온 밀도는 $1.7{\times}109/cm^3$에서 $2.2{\times}109/cm^3$ 증가하는 것을 확인하였다. 이러한 플라즈마 밀도가 증가함에 따라 박막은 비정질에서 다결정질로 바뀌면서 전기이동도는 증가하고 전자 농도는 감소하여 87.8%의 높은 투과율과 <50 ${\Omega}/{\Box}$의 면저항을 갖는 TCO 박막을 합성 하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.208-208
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• 2010

Indium zinc tin oxide (IZTO) thin films were studied as a possible alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO) films for providing low-cost transparent conducting oxide (TCO) for thin film photovoltaic devices. IZTO films were deposited onto glass substrates at room temperature. A dc/rf magnetron co-sputtering system equipped with a ceramic target of the same composition was used to deposit TCO films. Earlier studies showed that the resistivity value of $In_{0.6}Zn_{0.2}Sn_{0.2}O_{1.5}$ (IZTO20) films could be lowered to approximately $6{\times}10^{-4}ohm{\cdot}cm$ without sacrificing optical transparency and still maintaining amorphous structure through the optimization of process variables. The growth rate was kept at about 8 nm/min while the oxygen-to-argon pressure ratio varied from 0% to 7.5%. As-deposited films were always amorphous and showed strong oxygen pressure dependence of electrical resistivity and electron concentration values. Influence of forming gas anneal (FGA) at medium temperatures was also studied and proven effective in improving electrical properties. In this study, the chemical composition of the targets and the films varied around the $In_{0.6}Zn_{0.2}Sn_{0.2}O_{1.5}$ (IZTO20). It was the main objective of this paper to investigate how off-stoichiometry affected TCO characteristics including electrical resistivity and optical transmission. In addition to the composition effect, we have also studied how film properties changed with processing variables. IZTO thin films have shown their potential as a possible alternative to ITO thin films, in such way that they could be adopted in some applications where currently ITO and IZO thin films are being used. Our experimental results are compared to those obtained for commercial ITO thin films from solar cell application view point.