Cast-resin transformers are widely installed in various electrical power systems because of their low operating cost and low influence on external environmental factors. However, when they have an internal defect during the manufacturing process or operation, a partial discharge (PD) occurs, and eventually destroys the insulation. In this paper, a Rogowski-type PD sensor was studied to replace commercial PD sensors used for the insulation diagnosis of power apparatus. The proposed PD sensor was manufactured with four different types of PCB-based winding structures, and it was analyzed in terms of the detection characteristics for standard calibration pulses and the changes of the output voltage according to the distance. The output increased linearly in accordance with the applied discharge amount. It was confirmed that the hexagon structure sensor had the highest sensitivity, because the winding cross-sectional area of the sensor was larger than others. In addition, as the distance from the defect increased, the output voltage of the sensors decreased by 7.32% on average. It was also confirmed that the attenuation rate according to the distance decreased as the input discharge amount increased. For the application of this new type sensor, PD electrode system was designed to simulate the void defect. Waveforms and PRPD patterns measured by the proposed PD sensors at DIV and 120% of DIV were the same as the results measured by MPD 600 based on IEC 60270. The proposed PD sensors can be installed on the inner wall of the transformer tank by coating its surfaces with a non-conductive material; therefore, it is possible to detect internal defects more effectively at a closer distance from the defect than the conventional sensors.

Single crystal gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃) has been an emerging material for power semiconductor applications. However, the defect distribution of Ga₂O₃ substrates needs to be carefully characterized to improve crystal quality during crystal growth. We analyzed the type and the distribution of defects on commercial (-201) Ga₂O₃ substrates to get a basic standard prior to growing Ga₂O₃ crystals. Etch pit technique was employed to expose the type of defects on the Ga₂O₃ substrates. Synchrotron white beam X-ray topography was also utilized to observe the defect distribution by a nondestructive manner. We expect that the observation of defect distribution with three-dimensional geometry will also be useful for other crystal planes of Ga₂O₃ single crystals.

Defects in solids play a vital role on thermoelectric properties through the direct impacts of electronic band structure and electron/phonon transports, which can improve the electronic and thermal properties of a given thermoelectric semiconductor. Defects in semiconductors can be divided into four different types depending on their geometric dimensions, and thus understanding the effects on thermoelectric properties of each type is of a vital importance. This paper reviews the recent advances in the various thermoelectric semiconductors through defect engineering focusing on the charge carrier and phonon behaviors. First, we clarify and summarize each type of defects in thermoelectric semiconductors. Then, we review the recent achievements in thermoelectric properties by applying defect engineering when introducing defects into semiconductor lattices. This paper ends with a brief discussion on the challenges and future directions of defect engineering in the thermoelectric field.

In this study, we investigated the crystal defects and grain boundary properties in a ZZCCC (ZnO-Zn₂BiVO₆-Co₃O₄-Cr₂O₃-CaCO₃) varistor, with the liquid-phase sintering aid Zn₂BiVO₆ developed by our laboratory. The ZZCCC varistor sintered at 1,200℃ exhibited excellent nonlinear current-voltage characteristics (α=63), with oxygen vacancy (V₀^·; 0.35 eV) as a main defect, and an apparent activation energy of 1.1 eV with an electrically single grain boundary. Therefore, among the various additives to improve the electrical properties of ZnO varistors, if Zn₂BiVO₆ is used as a liquid phase sintering aid, it will be ideal to use Co for the oxygen vacancy and Ca for the electrically single grain boundary. This will allow the good properties of ZnO varistors to be maintained up to high sintering temperatures.

Transient earth voltage (TEV) signals propagate on metal surfaces when partial discharge (PD) occurs due to the deterioration of insulation performance in the operation of gas-insulated switchgears (GIS). A TEV sensor has advantages of high sensitivity and convenient installation for detecting PD defects. However, the TEV sensor depends on imports in domestic and detailed studies have not been conducted. In this study, a sensor was designed and fabricated by the TEV principle and its response characteristics were evaluated for detecting PD defects, which were simulated as protrusion on conductor (POC), protrusion on enclosure (POE), and free moving particle (FMP) defects. Finally, the PD-induced TEV signals were measured and phase-resolved partial discharge (PRPD) patterns were analyzed to identify the type of defect.

The effects of off-state bias stress on the characteristics of p-type poly-Si TFT were investigated. To reduce the gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) current, the off-state bias stress was changed by varying Vgs and Vds. After application of the off-state bias stress, the Vgs causing GIDL current was dramatically increased from 1 to 10 V, and thus, the Vgs margin to turn off the TFT was improved. The on-current and subthreshold swing in the aged TFT was maintained. We performed a technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulation to describe the aged characteristics. The aged-transfer characteristics were well described by the local charge trapping. The activation energy of the GIDL current was measured for the pristine and aged characteristics. The reduced GIDL current was mainly a thermionic field-emission current.

Most series arcs lead to electrical fires that cannot be interrupted by circuit breakers, because the arc’s current is outside the breaker’s operating range. In this paper, experiments were conducted on the detection and identification of series arcs to prevent electrical fires. Plugs and outlets specified in KS C 8305 were deteriorated to replicate arc faults commonly found in fields. The characteristics of series arcs resulting from various types of loose connections were determined by analyzing the frequency spectra and phase distributions of detected arc pulses. The results showed that the simulated arc defects used in this study were more similar to actual arc phenomena than the existing arc generator specified in UL 1699. In addition, loose connections, such as wire-wire, terminal-wire, and outlet-plug, can be identified by phases of 0°, 180° and 360°, respectively. These phases can be detected by a band pass filter with a frequency range of 5~10 MHz, which can be used as the trip signal for circuit breakers.

Liquid phases in ZnO varistors cause more complex phase development and microstructure, which makes the control of electrical properties and reliability more difficult. Therefore, we have investigated 2 mol% CaCO₃ doped ZnO-Co₃O₄-Cr₂O₃-La₂O₃ (ZCCLCa) bulk ceramics as one of the compositions without liquid phase sintering additive. The results were as follows: when CaCO₃ is added to ZCCLCa (644 Ωcm) acting as a simple ohmic resistor, CaO does not form a secondary phase with ZnO but is mostly distributed in the grain boundary and has excellent varistor characteristics (high nonlinear coefficient α＝78, low leakage current of 0.06 μA/㎠, and high insulation resistance of 1×10¹¹ Ωcm). The main defects Zn_i^·· (AS: 0.16 eV, IS & MS: 0.20 eV) and V˙_o (AS: 0.29 eV, IS & MS: 0.37 eV) were found, and the grain boundaries had 1.1 eV with electrically single grain boundary. The resistance of each defect and grain boundary decreases exponentially with increasing the measurement temperature. However, the capacitance (0.2 nF) of the grain boundary was ~1/10 lower than that of the two defects (~3.8 nF, ~2.2 nF) and showed a tendency to decrease as the measurement temperature increased. Therefore, ZCCLCa varistors have high sintering temperature of 1,200℃ due to lack of liquid phase additives, but excellent varistor characteristics are exhibited, which means ZCCLCa is a good candidate for realizing chip type or disc type commercial varistor products with excellent performance.

One-dimensional photonic crystals (1D PCs) were fabricated by RF sputtering technique on p-Si (100), and fused quartz substrates. The 1D PCs structures consisted of TeOx (x=1.42), and SiO2 with the difference refractive index. In order to estimate the effect on a defect level within 1D PCs structures, samples were prepared with both normal, and defect mode. The structural and optical properties were confirmed by Scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Ultraviolet visible near-infrared spectrophotometer (UV-VIS-NIR) respectively. In the case of a 1D PC normal mode without defect layer, it had a photonic band gap (PBG) in the near infrared (NIR) region. In the case of a 1D PC defect mode with defect layer, it had a sharp transmission band owing to a defect level, and moved towards the longer wavelength after exposing He-Cd laser with a wavelength of 325 nm.

Electrode systems: a protrusion on conductor (POC), a protrusion on enclosure (POE), a crack in epoxy plate and a free particle (FP) were fabricated to simulate insulation defects in a gas insulated switchgear (GIS). SF6 gas was filled in the electrode systems by 3 bar and/or 5 bar, respectively. Partial discharge (PD) pulses were detected through a 50 Ω non-inductive resistor. A calibration test was carried out according to IEC 60270, and the sensitivity was 0.25 pC/mV. PD pulses were distributed in the phase of 50˚∼135˚ and over 95% of them existed in the phase of 55˚∼120˚ for the POC. PD pulses were distributed in the phase of 230˚～310˚ and over 90% of them existed in phase of 220˚∼300˚ for the POE. PD pulses occurred in the phase of 40˚∼60˚ and 220˚∼300˚ for the crack, and pulse counts were 25%higher in negative polarity than in positive polarity. PD pulses were distributed in every phase unlike to other three electrode systems and the peak magnitude was measured at 118˚ and 260˚ for the FP. As described above, PD pulses were observed in positive polarity for the POC, in negative one for the POE, in both one for the crack and the FP. In conclusion, it is expected that the identification rate of defect type can be improved by considering the polarity ratio of PD pulses on the PRPDA method.

In this study we aims to examine the effects of Co3O4 and NiO doping on the defects and electrical properties in ZnO-Bi2O3-Sb2O3 (Sb/Bi=0.5) varistors. It seemed to form □(0.20 eV) and □(0.33 eV) as dominant defects in Co and Ni co-doped ZBS system, however only □appeared in Co- or Ni-doped ZBS. Even though the same defects it was different in capacitance (1.5∼4.5 nF) and resistance (0.3∼9.5 kΩ). The varistor characteristics were improved with Co and Co+Ni doping (non-linear coefficient, α= 36 and 29, relatively) in ZBS. The various parameters (Nd= 1.43∼2.33×1017 cm-3, Nt=1.40∼ 2.28×1012 cm-2, Φb= 1.76∼2.37 V, W= 98∼118 nm) calculated from the C-V characteristics in our systems did not depend greatly on the type of dopant, which were in the range of a typical ZnO varistors. It should be derived a improved C-V equation carefully for more reliable parameters because the variation of the varistor capacitance as a function of the applied dc voltage is depend on the defect, frequency, and temperature.

In this study, we have investigated the effects of Mn and Co co-doping on defects, J-E curves and grain boundary characteristics of ZnO-Bi2O3 (ZB) varistor. Admittance spectra and dielectric functions show two bulk defects of Zn ·· (0.17∼0.18 eV) and V· (0.30∼0.33 eV). From J-E characteristics the nonlinear coefficient (α) and resistivity (ρgb) of pre-breakdown region decreased as 30 to 24 and 5.1 to 0.08 GΩcm with sintering temperature, respectively. The double Schottky barrier of grain boundaries in ZB(MCo) (ZnO-Bi2O3-Mn3O4-Co3O4) could be electrochemically single type. However, its thermal stability was slightly disturbed by ambient oxygen because the apparent activation energy of grain boundaries was changed from 0.64 eV at lower temperature to 1.06 eV at higher temperature. It was revealed that a co-doping of Mn and Co in ZB reduced the heterogeneity of the barrier in grain boundaries and stabilized the barrier against an ambient temperature (α-factor= 0.136).

In this study, we investigated the effects of Mn dopant (0.1∼3.0 at% Mn3O4 sintered at 100 0℃ for 1 h in air) on the bulk trap (i.e. defect) and grain boundary properties of ZnO, ZM(0.1∼3.0) using admittance spectroscopy (AS), and impedance-modulus spectroscopy (IS & MS). As a result, three kinds of defect were found below the conduction band edge of ZnO as 0.09∼0.14 eV (attractive coulombic center), 0.22∼25 eV (Zn¨(i)), and 0.32∼0.33 eV (V`o). The oxygen vacancy increased with Mn doping. In ZM, an electrically single grain boundary as double Schottky barrier was formed with 0.82∼1.0 eV of activation energies by IS & MS. We also find out that the barriers of grain boundary of Mn-doped ZnO (α-factor=0.13) were more stabilized and homogenized with temperature compared to pure ZnO.

In this study, we have investigated the effects of Co doping on I-V curves, bulk trap levels and grain boundary characteristics of ZnO-Bi2O3 (ZB) varistor. From I-V characteristics the nonlinear coefficient (a) and the grain boundary resistivity (ρgb) decreased as 32→22 and 18.4→0.6×10(9) Ωcm with sintering temperature (900∼1,300℃), respectively. Admittance spectra and dielectric functions show two bulk traps of zinc interstitial, Zn(i)·· (0.16∼0.18 eV) and oxygen vacancy, Vo· (0.28∼0.33 eV). The barrier of grain boundaries in ZBCo (ZnO-Bi2O3-Co3O4) could be electrochemically single type. However, its thermal stability was slightly disturbed by ambient oxygen because the apparent activation energy of grain boundaries was changed from 0.93 eV at the 460∼580 K to 1.13 eV at the 620∼700 K. It is revealed that Co dopant in ZB reduced the heterogeneity of the barrier in grain boundaries and stabilized the barrier against the ambient temperature.

To integrate the sensor driver and logic circuits, fabricating down scaled transistors has been main issue. At this research, short channel effects were analyzed after n channel polycrystalline silicon thin film transistor was fabricated at high temperature. As a result, on current, on/off current ratio and transconductance were increased but threshold voltage, electron mobility and s-slope were reduced with a decrease of channel length. When carriers that develop at grain boundary in activated polycrystalline silicon have no gate biased, on current was increased with punch through by drain current. Also, due to BJT effect (parallel bipolar effect) that developed under region of channel by increase of gate voltage on current was rapidly increased.