This work focuses on improving the light-harvesting efficiency of thin-film silicon solar cells through innovative multi-architecture surface modifications. To create a regular optical structure, a lithographic process was performed to form it on a glass substrate through various etching processes, from Etch-1 to Etch-3. AZO was deposited on top of the structures and re-etched to create a multi-architectural surface. These surface-modified structures improved the light absorption and overall performance of the solar cell through changes in optical and physical properties, which we will analyze. In addition, we investigated the effect of post-cleaning on the etched glass structures through EDX analysis to understand the mechanism of the etching action. The results of this study are expected to provide important guidelines for the design and fabrication of solar cells and other photovoltaic devices.
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A Review on Energy Yield Enhancement Characteristics of Bifacial Photovoltaic Systems Combined with Solar Tracking Hyeong Gi Park Journal of Electrical and Electronic Materials.2026; 39(4): 309. CrossRef
In this study, the structural, electrical, and optical properties of AZO films of various thicknesses are compared. The AZO films were deposited on a glass substrate by FTS (Facing-Target-Sputtering) This research was conducted to find the optimal thickness for Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO). AZO has suitable properties for TCO such as low resistivity, and high transmittance. Thin films of all thicknesses showed a transmittance of over 80% in the visible light region and electrical properties improved as thickness increased. It was confirmed that the film of 300 nm thick had the best performance due to its low resistivity, and uniform surface. This research is expected to help find optimal conditions in various fields where TCO is used, such as solar cells, displays, and sensors in the future.
There is a need for the development of transparent conductive materials that are economical and environmentally friendly with exhibit low resistivity and high transmittance in the visible spectrum. In this study, the deposition rate and uniformity of Al-doped ZnO-thin films were improved by changing the Z-motion of the sputtering system. The deposition rate and the uniformity were determined to be 3.44 nm/min and 1.23%, respectively, under the 10 mm Z-motion condition. During O2 plasma treatment, the intrusion-type metal elements in the thin film were reduced, which contributed to an oxygen vacancy reduction in addition to structural stabilization. Moreover, the sheet resistance was more easily saturated.
In this study, functional transparent conducting layers were investigated for Si-based photoelectric applications. Double transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films were deposited on a Si substrate in the sequence of indium tin oxide (ITO) followed by aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO). First, we observed that the conductivity and transparency of AZO dominate the overall performance of the double TCO layers. Secondly, the double layered TCO film (consisting of AZO/ITO) deposited by sputtering was compared to a AZO-only film in terms of their optical and electrical properties. We prepared three different AZO films: ITO:3min/AZO:10min, ITO:5min/AZO:7min, and ITO:7min/AZO:4min. The results show that the optical properties (transmittance, absorbance, and reflection) can be controlled by the film composition. This may provide a significant pathway for the manipulation of the optical and electrical properties of photoelectric devices.
An all-transparent photodetector was fabricated by structuring Cu2O/ZnO/AZO/ITO on a glass substrate. The visible-range transmittance was as high as 80%, which ensures clear vision forhuman eyes. High-transparency metal conductive oxides (p-type Cu2O and n-type ZnO) were appliedto form the transparent p/n junction. The functional AZO layer was adopted to improve the transparent photodetector performance between the ZnO and ITO, improving the photoresponses because of its electrical conductivity. To clarify the AZO functionality, a comparator device was prepared without the AZO layer in the formation of Cu2O/ZnO/ITO/Glass. The Cu2O/ZnO/AZO/ITO device provided a rectifying ratio of 113.46, significantly better than the 9.44 of the Cu2O/ZnO/ITO device. In addition, the Cu2O/ZnO/AZO/ITO device`s photoresponses at short wavelengths were better than those of the comparator. The functioning AZO layer provides ahigh-performing transparent Cu oxide photodetector and may suggest a route for the design of efficient photoelectric devices.
Transparent UV photodetector was achieved by using wide bandgap metal oxide materials. In order to realize transparent heterojunction UV photodetector, n-type ZnO and p-type NiO metal oxide materials were employed. High light-absorbing SnS layer was inserted into the n-ZnO and p-NiO layers. High-performing UV photodetector was realized by ZnO/SnS/NiO/ITO structures to provide extremely fast response times (Fall time: 7 μ s and rise time: 13 μs) and high rectifying ratio. The use of functional SnS-embedded photodetector would provide a route for high functional photoelectric devices.
In this study, we intended to achieve both antibacterial properties and electromagnetic shielding using the Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films. FTS (Facial Target Sputtering) magnetron sputtering was used for the AZO thin films instead of the conventional RF sputtering because the FTS sputtering could avoid the damage for the plasma as well as fabrication of thin films with a high quality. The 300-nm thick AZO thin films grown on glass substrate showed a resistivity of about 7 × 10-4 Ω-cm and a transmittance of about 90% at a wavelength of 550 nm. AZO thin films were investigated for the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness measured by 2-port network method at 1.5 ~ 3 GHz. The AZO (300 nm)/glass films showed an EMI shielding effectiveness of approximately 27 dB. An antibacterial effect was measured by the film attachment method (JIS Z 2801). The percent reductions of bacteria by AZO films were 99.99668% and 99.99999% against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively.
We have investigated the properties of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films as functions of atomic layer deposition (ALD) oxidants. AZO transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) layer was deposited by ALD with adding trimethylaluminum (TMA) and diethylzinc (DEZn). AZO films were deposited at low temperature with H2O and O3 as oxidants. Electrical, optical and structural properties of AZO thin films were investigated by 4-point probe, Hall effect measurement, UV-VIS, and AFM. Microstructure and atomic bonding states were investigated by HRXRD and XPS. The resistivity of AZO films grown using H2O was lower than the films grown using H2O and O3, by approximately two orders of magnitude. The differences in oxygen vacancy peak intensity of AZO films were correlated to the optical and electrical properties.
Recently, ZnO based oxide TFTs used in the flexible and transparent display devices are widely studied. To apply to OLED display switching devices, electrical performance and stability are important issues. In this study, to improve these electrical properties, we fabricated TFTs having Al doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) layer inserted between the gate insulator and ZnO layer. The AZO and ZnO layers are deposited by Atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. I-V transfer characteristics and stability of the suggested devices are investigated under the positive gate bias condition while the channel defects are also analyzed by the photoluminescence spectrum. The TFTs with AZO layer show lower threshold voltage (Vth) and superior sub-threshold slop. In the case of Vth shift after positive gate bias stress, the stability is also better than that of ZnO channel TFTs. This improvement is thought to be caused by the reduced defect density in AZO/ZnO stack devices, which can be confirmed by the photoluminescence spectrum analysis results where the defect related deep level emission of AZO is lower than that of ZnO layer.
In this study, we fabricated the indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), zinc oxide (ZnO), aluminum zincoxide (AZO). oxide and silver are deposited by magnetron sputtering and thermal evaporator, respectively transparency and energy band gap were changed by the thickness of silver layer. To fabricate metal oxide metal(OMO) structure, IGZO sputtered on a corning 1,737 glass substrate was used as bottom oxide material and then silver was evaporated on the IGZO layer, finally IGZO was sputtered on the silver layer we get the final OMO structure. The radio-frequency power of the target was fixed at 30 W. The chamber pressure was set to 6.0×10-3Torr, and the gas ratio of Ar was fixed at 25 sccm. The silver thickness are varied from 3 to 15 nm. The OMO thin films was analyzed using XRD. XRD shows broad peak which clearly indicates amorphous phase. ZnO, AZO,OMO show the peak [002] direction at 34°. This indicate that ZnO, AZO OMO structure show the crystalline peak. Average transmittance of visible region was over 75%, while that of infrared region was under 20%. Energy band gap of OMO layer was increased with increasing thickness of Ag layer. As a result total transmittance was decreased.
Abstract: We focused on the development of red azo colorants with high thermal stability and good solubility for LCD color filter in this research. For the synthesis of hybrid azo colorants, we used the couplers of aniline. naphthol and benzoimidazol functional group. The synthesized hybrid azo colorants were charaterized by using NMR, UV/visihle spec troscopy, FT - JR. EA and 1`GA. They represented the maximum absorption wavelengths which are longer than 500 urn in UV/visible spectrum. So they were confirmed to be suitable for red colorants of LCD color filter. Azo compound (la, lh) with aniline functional group had good soluhility in organic solvents such as acetone, methanol, chloroform and PGMEA. Moreover azo compounds (ic, id and Ic) with naphthol and benzoimidazolone functional group gave excellent thermal stability higher than 250t in TGA thermograms.
Mineral insulating oils are an important insulating materials in oil-filled transformer, However, the mineral oil is the cause of the environmental problem, The vegetable oils are substitutes for mineral oil because of its biodegradability characteristic, As large size and high rating of the transformer increases, the losses increase at a faster rate, So insulating oil is forced circulation in the oil-filled transformer by using oil pumps. The flow electrification occurs when insulating oil was forced to be circulated. To check the flow electrification, had conducted experiments varying factors. As a result, the streaming electrification could see the changes according to flow velocity, oil temperature and insulation materials.
In this study, transparent conducting Al-doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) films with a thickness of 150 nm were prepared on corning glass substrate by the RF magnetron sputtering with using a Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO), (Al2o3: 2 wt%) target at room temperature. This study investigated the effect of rapid thermal annealing temperature and oxygen ambient on structural, electrical and optical properties of Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films. The films were annealed at temperatures ranging from 400 to 700℃ by using Rapid thermal equipment in oxygen ambient. The effect of RTA treatment on the structural properties were studied by x-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. It is observed that the Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin film annealed at 500℃ at 5 minute oxygen ambient gas reveals the strongest XRD emission intensity and narrowest full width at half maximum among the temperature studied. The enhanced UV emission from the film annealed at 500℃ at 5 minute oxygen ambient gas is attributed to the improved crystalline quality of Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin film due to the effective relaxation of residual compressive stress and achieving maximum grain size.
We were studied that AZO conductive thin film can substitute for FTO electrode in dye sensitized solar cell. Three types of AZO films were deposited on soda-lime glass(AZO/glass, AZO/AZO/glass, textured AZO/AZO/glass) using RF magnetron sputtering process and investigated their properties of electrical, optical, and photoelectric conversion rate. The textured AZO/AZO/glass has the lowest resistivity of 3.079×10-4 Ω㎝ among other films. And the optical transmittance rate was better than both non textured AZO/AZO/glass and FTO/glass in the visible region. After manufacturing dye solar cells using the three types of AZO films, the textured AZO/AZO/glass showed the highest photoelectric conversion rate of 3.68% among AZO samples. But the transformation rate was slightly lower than FTO cells (4.52%). However, the conductive film of textured AZO/AZO/glass can be applicable to use an electrode in solar cells as cost-effective products.
Durability Evaluation of Transparent Electrodes Based on Multilayer AZO/AgNW/AZO Structures Hyeji Kim, Seunghee Cho, Joondong Kim Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society.2025; 45(1): 13. CrossRef
Effect of Degraded Al-doped ZnO Thin Films on Performance Deterioration of CIGS Solar Cell Do-Wan Kim, Dong-Won Lee, Hee-Soo Lee, Seung-Tae Kim, Chi-Hong Park, Yong-Nam Kim Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society.2011; 48(4): 328. CrossRef
Review Article: Atomic layer deposition of doped ZnO films Zhengning Gao, Parag Banerjee Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Experimental Study on Fabrication of AZO Transparent Electrode for Organic Solar Cell Using Selective Low-Temperature Atomic Layer Deposition Ki-Cheol Kim, Gen-Soo Song, Hyung-Tae Kim, Kyung-Hoon Yoo, Jeong-Jin Kang, Jun-Young Hwang, Sang-Ho Lee, Kyung-Tae Kang, Heui-Seok Kang, Young-June Cho Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B.2013; 37(6): 577. CrossRef
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