Herein, we report the manufacture of high-performance, ambipolar organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) and complementary-like electronic circuitry based on a blended, polymeric, semiconducting film. Relatively high and wellbalanced electron and hole mobilities were achieved by incorporating a small amount of ionic additives. The equivalent P-channel and N-channel properties of the ambipolar OFETs enabled the manufacture of complementary-like inverter circuits with a near-ideal switching point, high gain, and good noise margins, via a simple blanket spin-coating process with no additional patterning of each active P-type and N-type semiconductor layer.

Atomically thin MoS₂ single crystals have a two-dimensional structure and exhibit semiconductor properties, and have therefore recently been utilized in electronic devices and circuits. In this study, we have fabricated a field effect transistor (FET), using a CVD-grown, 3 nm-thin, MoS₂ single-crystal as a transistor channel after transfer onto a SiO2/Si substrate. The MoS2 FETs displayed n-channel characteristics with an electron mobility of 0.05 cm²/V-sec, and a current on/off ratio of ION/IOFF?5×10⁴. Application of bottom-gate voltage stresses, however, increased the interface charges on MoS2/SiO₂, incurred the threshold voltage change, and degraded the device performance in further measurements. Exposure of the channel to UV radiation further degraded the device properties.

Ni-InGaAs shows promise as a self-aligned S/D (source/drain) alloy for n-InGaAs MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors). However, limited thermal stability and instability of the microstructural morphology of Ni-InGaAs could limit the device performance. The in situ deposition of a Pd interlayer beneath the Ni layer was proposed as a strategy to improve the thermal stability of Ni-InGaAs. The Ni-InGaAs alloy layer prepared with the Pd interlayer showed better surface roughness and thermal stability after furnace annealing at 570℃ for 30 min, while the Ni-InGaAs without the Pd interlayer showed degradation above 500℃. The Pd/Ni/TiN structure offers a promising route to thermally immune Ni-InGaAs with applications in future n-InGaAs MOSFET technologies.

In this study, we compared the threshold-voltage extraction methods of accumulation-type JLDG (junctionless double-gate) MOSFETs (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors). Threshold voltage is the most basic element of transistor design; therefore, accurate threshold-voltage extraction is the most important factor in integrated-circuit design. For this purpose, analytical potential distributions were obtained and diffusion-drift current equations for these potential distributions were used. There are the ø_min method, based on the physical concept; the linear extrapolation method; and the second and third derivative method from the I_d-V_g relation. We observed that the threshold-voltages extracted using the maximum value of TD (third derivatives) and the ø_min method were the most reasonable in JLDG MOSFETs. In the case of 20 nm channel length or more, similar results were obtained for other methods, except for the linear extrapolation method. However, when the channel length is below 20 nm, only the ø_min method and the TD method reflected the short-channel effect.

Ultrasonic wave technologies have been widely used in ultrasonic washing machines, ultrasonic surgery, ultrasonic welding machines, ultrasonic sensors, and medical instruments. Ultrasonic surgery can be realized through the cavitation effect of ultrasonic waves. In this study, piezoelectric ceramics were manufactured to achieve the optimum design of a piezoelectric vibrator in a handheld generator for ultrasonic surgery. The best specimen showed the excellent piezoelectric properties of kp＝0.624, Qm＝1,531, and d₃₃＝356 pC/N. Numerical modeling based on the finite element method was performed to find the resonance frequency, the anti-resonance frequency, and the displacement properties of the handheld ultrasonic generator. Maximum displacement was observed in the six-step piezoelectric vibrator at 6.36 μm.

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) treatment with argon and a mixture of argon and oxygen gases has been used to modify the surface of polycarbonate (PC) substrates. The results showed that the surface contact angle was inversely proportional to the plasma discharge power and that the mixed-gas plasma (gas flow 10:10 sccm, discharge power 60 W) decreased the surface contact angle as low as 18.3°, indicating a large increase in the surface hydrophilicity. In addition, SnO₂ thin films deposited on the PC substrate effectively enhanced the ICP plasma treatment, and could also enhance the usefulness of PC in the inner parts of automobiles.

We have proposed a hydrogen detection sensor based on a Pd (palladium)-coated, single-mode, optical fiber. The experimental results demonstrated that the sensor could detect hydrogen in air as well as in insulation oil. The influence of Pd film thickness and environmental temperature on response time and sensitivity was analyzed. The reflected optical power at the optical-fiber/Pd interface decreased as the concentration of hydrogen increased, in both air and the insulation oil. The sensor showed 0.75 dB of optical power variation when the concentration of dissolved hydrogen was saturated in the insulation oil.

In this study, double-layered TCO (transparent conductive oxide) films were produced by depositing two distinct TCO materials: SnO₂ works as an n-type layer and ITO (indium-doped tin oxide) serves as a transparent conductor. Both transparent conductive oxide-films were sequentially deposited by sputtering. The electrical and optical properties of single-layered TCO films (SnO₂) and double-layered TCO (ITO/SnO₂) films were investigated. A TCO-embedding photodetector was realized through the formation of an ITO/SnO₂/p-Si/Al layered structure. The remarkably high rectifying ratio of 400.64 was achieved with the double-layered TCO device, compared to 1.72 with the single-layered TCO device. This result was attributed to the enhanced electrical properties of the double-layered TCO device. With respect to the photoresponses, the photocurrent of the double-layered TCO photodetector was significantly improved: 1,500% of that of the single-layered TCO device. This study suggests that, due to the electrical and optical benefits, double-layered TCO films are effective for enhancing the photoresponses of TCO photodetectors. This provides a useful approach for the design of photoelectric devices, including solar cells and photosensors.

An electronic paper display was fabricated by injecting electronic ink, including white and black particles coated by positive and negative charge control agents (CCA), respectively, into closed cells surrounded by micro-barriers. These two types of charged, colored particles are easily damaged or their charging value can be changed by the injection process; therefore, the electrical and optical properties of the image panel fabricated by the injection method were estimated in this study. The active particle-loading method, proposed as a new electronic ink injection process, was applied, and the electro-optical properties of the resulting three-electrode-type e-paper image panel were analyzed. The reflection rate of the white image-panel fabricated with our new injection method was 24.7%, while that of the same panel fabricated with a previously reported injection method was 19.8%. In addition, the response time was improved by about five times compared to those reported in other publications.

We prepared ZnS thin films via chemical bath deposition (CBD) in an aqueous solution of ammonia (NH₃) and hydrazine (N₂H₄). The composition ratio of hydrazine used was 0%, 17%, 22%, 29%, or 50%. We investigated the effects of hydrazine and ammonia on the growth, and the structural and optical properties of ZnS in terms of surface uniformity, voids, and grain size. We found that during the growth of ZnS films, hydrazine was very effective for improving the surface morphology and layer uniformity with fast layer formation, while it had no effect on the bandgap energy, Eg.

In this study, 20.8% of a p-type Si bifacial solar cell was used to develop a photovoltaic (PV) module to obtain the maximum power under a limited installation area. The transparent back sheet material was replaced during fabrication with a white one, which is opaque in commercial products. This is very beneficial for the generation of more electricity, owing to the additional power generation via absorption of light from the rear side. A new model is suggested herein to predict the power of the bifacial PV module by considering the backside reflections from the roof and/or environment. This model considers not only the frontside reflection, but also the nonuniformity of the backside light sources. Theoretical predictions were compared to experimental data to prove the validity of this model, the error range for which ranged from 0.32% to 8.49%. Especially, under 700 W/m2, the error rate was as low as 2.25%. This work could provide theoretical and experimental bases for application to a distributed and microgrid network.

In this study, we fabricated an NOX gas sensor using a composite film of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)/zinc oxide (ZnO). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) show good electronic conductivity and chemical-stability, and zinc oxide (ZnO) is a wide band gap semiconductor with a large exciton binding energy. Gas sensors require characteristics such as high speed, sensitivity, and selectivity. The fabricated gas sensor was used to detect NOX gas at different NOX concentrations. The sensitivity of the gas sensor increased with increasing gas concentrations. Additionally, while changing the temperature inside the chamber containing the MWCNT/ZnO gas sensor, we obtained the sensitivity and normalized responses for detecting NOX gas in comparison to ZnO and MWCNT film gas sensors. From the experimental results, we confirmed that the gas sensor sensing mechanism was enhanced in the composite-film gas-sensor and that the electronic interaction between MWCNT and ZnO contributed to the improved sensor performance.