In this study, KTN heterolayer thin films were fabricated by alternately stacking films of K(Ta0.70Nb0.30)O3 and K(Ta0.55Nb0.45)O3 synthesized using the sol-gel method. The sintering temperature and time were 750℃ and 1 hour, respectively. All specimens exhibited a polycrystalline pseudo-cubic crystal structure, with a lattice constant of approximately 0.398 nm. The average grain size was around 130~150 nm, indicating relatively uniform sizes regardless of the number of coatings. The average thickness of a single-coated film was approximately 70 nm. The phase transition temperature of the KTN heterolayer films was found to be approximately 8~12℃. Moreover, the 6-coated KTN heterolayer film displayed an excellent dielectric constant of about 11,000. As the number of coatings increased, and consequently the film thickness, the remanent polarization increased, while the coercive field decreased. The 6-coated KTN heterolayer film exhibited a remanent polarization and coercive field of 11.4 μC/cm2 and 69.3 kV/cm at room temperature, respectively. ΔT showed the highest value at a temperature slightly above the Curie temperature, and for the 6-coated KTN heterolayer film, the ΔT and ΔT/ΔE were approximately 1.93 K and 0.128×10-6 K·m/V around 40℃, respectively.
(La0.7Sr0.3)(Mn1-xFex)O3 (LSMFO) (x = 0.03, 0.06, 0.09, 0.12) precursor solution are prepared by sol-gel method. LSMFO thin films are fabricated by the spin-coating method on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate, and the sintering temperature and time are 800℃ and 1 hr, respectively. The average thickness of the 6-times coated LSMFO films is about 181 to 190 nm and average grain size is about 18 to 20 nm. As the amount of Fe added in the LSMFO thin film increased, the resistivity decreased, and the TCR and B25/65-value increased. Electrical resistivity, TCR and B25/65-value of the (La0.7Sr0.3)(Mn0.88Fe0.12)O3 thin film are 0.0136 mΩ-cm, 0.358%/℃, and 328 K at room temperature, respectively. The resistivity properties of LSMFO thin films matched well with Mott’s VRH model.
Indium-doped Mg0.05Zn0.95O thin films were deposited on glass substrates by a sol-gel method. Three types of indium precursors such as indium chloride, indium acetate, and indium nitrate were used as doping sources. Physical properties of fabricated thin films were analyzed through XRD (x-ray diffraction), UV-vis spectrophotometer, Hall effect measurement, and EDS (energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy). All In-doped thin films grown in this study exhibited a preferred orientation of (002) with over 80% transmittance. The results showed that the Mg0.05Zn0.95O thin film from indium chloride as the indium precursor has higher crystallinity and transmittance with lower resistivity when compared with those from other indium precursors.
Heterolayered K(Ta,Nb)O3/Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin films on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates were prepared by a sol-gel process and spin-coating method. The structural and electrical properties were measured to investigate the possibility of application as an electrocaloric effect device. All specimens exhibited dense and uniform cross-sectional structures without pores, and the average thickness of the specimen coated six times was approximately 394 nm. Curie temperatures were observed at 5℃ or less in type-Ⅰ and 10℃ in type-Ⅱ specimens, respectively. Type-Ⅱ specimens coated 6 times showed a relative dielectric constant of 758 and remanent polarization of 9.71 μC/cm2 at room temperature. The maximum electrocaloric effect occurred between 20 and 25℃, slightly higher than their Curie temperature, and the electrocaloric property (ΔT) of the type-Ⅱ specimens coated 6 times was approximately 1.2℃ at room temperature.
In this study, MgxZn1-xO thin films, which can be applied not only to active layers of light-emitting devices (LEDs), such as UV-LEDs, but also to solar cells, high mobility field-effect transistors, and power semiconductor devices, are fabricated using the sol-gel method. ZnO and Mg0.3Zn0.7O solution synthesized by the sol-gel method and the thin film were grown by spin coating on a Si (100) substrate and sapphire substrate. The solutions are synthesized by dissolving precursor materials in 2-methoxyethanol (2-ME) solvent, and then monoethanolamine (MEA) was added to the mixed solution as a sol stabilizer. Zinc acetate dihydrate is used as a ZnO precursor, while Mg nitrate hexahydrate and Mg acetate tetrahydrate are used as an MgO precursor. Then, the optical and structural characteristics of the fabricated thin films are compared. The molar concentration of the Zn precursor in the solvent is fixed at 0.3 M, and the amount of the Mg precursor is 30% of Mg2+/Zn2+. The optical characteristics are measured using an UV-vis spectrophotometer, and the transmittance of each wavelength is measured. Structural characteristics are measured using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Composition analyses are performed using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The Mg0.3Zn0.7O thin film was well formed at the ratio of the Mg precursor added regardless of the type of Mg precursor, and the c-axis of the thin film was decreased, while the band gap was increased to 3.56 eV.
We investigated the effect of a post-annealing process using ultraviolet (UV) light on the electrical properties of solution-processed InZnO (IZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). UV light was irradiated on IZO TFTs for different time periods of 0s, 30s, and 90s. We measured transfer and retention stability curves to evaluate the performance of the fabricated TFTs. In addition, we measured height, amplitude, and phase AFM images to analyze changes in the surface and morphology of the devices. AFM measurements were performed by setting the drive amplitude of the cantilever tip to 47.9 mV in tapping mode, then dividing the device surface into 500 nm × 500 nm. In the case of IZO TFT irradiated with UV for 30s, the electron mobility and Ion/Ioff ratio were improved, the threshold voltage was reduced by approximately 2 V, and the subthreshold swing also decreased form 1.34 V/dec to 1.11 V/dec.
We demonstrate an alignment technology using an imprinting process on an inorganic NiOx film. The aligned nanopattern was fabricated on a silicon wafer by laser interference lithography. The aligned nano pattern was then imprinted onto the sol-gel driven NiOx film using an imprinting process at an annealing temperature of 150℃. After the imprinting process, parallel grooves had been formed on the NiOx film. Atomic force microscopy and water contact angle measurements were performed to confirm the parallel groove on the NiOx film. The grooves caused liquid crystal alignment through geometric restriction, similar to grooves formed by the rubbing process on polyimide. The liquid crystal cell exhibited a pretilt angle of 0.2°, which demonstrated homogeneous alignment.
In this study, double layer KTN/STO thin films were fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate, their structural and electrical properties were measured according with the number of STO coatings, and their applicability to microwave materials was investigated. The average grain size was about 80~90 nm, the average thickness of the 6-coated KTN thin film was about 320 nm, and the average thickness of the STO thin film coated once was about 45~50 nm. The dielectric constant decreased with increasing frequency, and as the number of STO coatings increased, the rate of change of the dielectric constant with the applied electric field decreased. The tunability of the KTN thin film showed a maximum value of 19.8% at 3 V. The figure of merit of the KTN/1STO thin film was 9.8 at 3 V.
Transparent conductive thin films (TCFs) are essential materials for solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes, and display panels. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is one of the most widely used commercial materials to create TCFs’; however, new materials that can possibly replace ITO at a lower cost and/or those possessing mechanical flexibility are urgently needed. Silver nanowire (AgNW) is one of those promising materials, as it is less expensive and possesses superior mechanical flexibility as compared to ITO. We used AgNW and sol-gel ZnO to fabricate composite thin films by spray coating. We propose two spray-coating methods: the ‘metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)/AgNW’ method and the Mixture method. These two methods are expected to be commercialized for high-quality and low-cost products, respectively.
We investigated the effect of different thin-film thicknesses (25, 30, and 40 nm) on the electrical performance of solution-processed indium-zinc-oxide (IZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). The structural properties of the IZO thin films were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM images revealed that the IZO thin films with thicknesses of 25 and 40 nm exhibit an uneven distribution of grains, which deforms the thin film and degrades the performance of the IZO TFT. Further, the IZO thin film with a thickness of 30 nm exhibits a homogeneous and smooth surface with a low RMS roughness of 1.88 nm. The IZO TFTs with the 30-nm-thick IZO film exhibit excellent results, with a field-effect mobility of 3.0(±0.2) cm2/Vs, high Ion/Ioff ratio of 1.1×107, threshold voltage of 0.4(±0.1) V, and subthreshold swing of 0.7(±0.01) V/dec. The optimization of oxide semiconductor thickness through analysis of the surface morphologies can thus contribute to the development of oxide TFT manufacturing technology.
We investigated the rewritable operation of a non-volatile memory device composed of Al (top)/TiO2/ indium-zinc-oxide (IZO)/Al (bottom). The oxygen-deficient IZO layer of the device was spin-coated with 0.1 M indium nitrate hydrate and 0.1 M zinc acetate dehydrate as precursor solutions, and the TiO2 layer was fabricated by atomic layer deposition. The oxygen vacancies IZO layer of an active component annealed at 400℃ using thermal annealing and it was proven to be in oxygen vacancies and oxygen binding environments with OH species and heavy metal ions investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The device, which operates at low voltages (less than 3.5 V), exhibits non-volatile memory behavior consistent with resistive-switching properties and an ON/OFF ratio of approximately 3.6×103 at 2.5 V.
We investigated solution-processed indium-zinc oxide (IZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) by inserting a 2-(4- biphenylyl)-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PBD) buffer layer. This buffer layer efficiently tuned the energy level between the semiconducting oxide channel and metal electrode by increasing charge extraction, thereby enhancing the overall device performance: the IZO TFT with embedded PBD layer (thickness: 5 nm; width: 2,000 μm; length: 200 μm) exhibited a field-effect mobility of 1.31 cm2V-1s-1, threshold voltage of 0.12 V, subthreshold swing of 0.87 V decade-1, and on/off current ratio of 9.28×105.
Ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors are used in various industries and fields of research, including optical communication, flame sensing, missile plume detection, astronomical studies, biological sensors, and environmental research. However, general UV detectors that employ Schottky junction diodes and p-n junctions have high fabrication cost and low quantum efficiency. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of materials used to manufacture UV photodetectors in a low-cost solution process that requires easy fabrication of flexible substrates. We fabricated p-type NiO and n-type ZnO substrates with wide band gap by the sol-gel method and compared the characteristics of substrates prepared under different spin-coating and heat-treatment conditions.
Fe2O3 is one of the most important metal oxides for gas sensing applications because of its low cost and high stability. It is well-known that the shape, size, and phase of Fe2O3 have a significant influence on its sensing properties. Many reports are available in the literature on the use of Fe2O3-based sensors for detecting gases, such as NO2, NH3, H2S, H2, and CO. In this paper, we investigated the gas-sensing performance of a Pt-doped ε-phase Fe2O3 gas sensor. Pt-doped Fe2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized by a Sol-Gel method. Platinum, known as a catalytic material, was used for improving gas-sensing performance in this research. The gas-response measurement at 300℃ showed that Fe2O3 gas sensors doped with 3%Pt are selective for NO2 gas and exhibita maximum response of 21.23%. The gas-sensing properties proved that Fe2O3 could be used as a gas sensor for nitrogen dioxide.
The effect of low temperature (250℃) heat treatment after electron irradiation (irradiation time = 30, 180, 300s) on the chemical bonding and electrical properties of ZnO thin films prepared using a sol-gel process were examined. XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) analysis showed that the electron beam irradiation decreased the concentration of M-O bonding and increased the OH bonding. As a result of the electron beam irradiation, the carrier concentration of ZnO films increased. The on/off ratio was maintained at ~105 and the VTH values shifted negatively from 11 to 1 V. As the irradiation time increased from 0 to 300s, the calculated S. S. (subthreshold swing) of ZnO TFTs increased from 1.03 to 3.69 V/decade. These values are superior when compared the sample heat-treated at 400℃ representing on/off ratio of ~102 and S. S. value of 10.40 V/decade.
In this study, p-type thin film transistors consisting of CuO channels were fabricated by sol-gel process, with copper (II) acetate monohydrate precursors. At 500℃, the deposited films were fully converted into monoclinic phase CuO. The fabricated CuO thin film transistors deliver field effect mobility in saturation regime of 0.015㎠/Vs, and Ion/Ioff of ~10³. The degradation of the performance of the fabricated CuO thin film transistor caused by the exposure to air has been studied.
Transparent color coating films were fabricated on a glass substrate by using sol-gel hybrid binder and organic dye. Sol-gel hybrid binder coating film fabricated with PTMS of 0.03 mole showed a very high pencil hardness of 9 H. As the withdrawal speed increased from 1.0 mm/s to 5.0 mm/sec, The yellowness (b*) of coating glass also gradually increased. The transmittance of yellow color coating glass was 82.6% and the haze of coating glass was 0.35%. Red and blue color coating glasses also showed the high transmittance of 62.4% and 80.6% respectively. The surface hardness of color coating films was 6 H.
Anti-reflective (AR) thin film was fabricated on a glass substrate by sol-gel method. The coating solution was synthesized with TEOS (tetraethlyorthosilicate) and poly ethylene glycol (PEG, 4.0 wt%). As the withdrawal speed of coating was changed from 0.1 mm/sec to 0.3 mm/sec, the thickness and refractive index of prepared thin films were changed. The reflectance and transmittance of coating glass fabricated by the withdrawal speed of 0.1 mm/sec were 0.62% and 95.0% in visible light range. The refractive index and thickness of single layer thin film were n= 1.29 and ca. 99.0 nm.
Transparent Ag nanowire conducting thin films with high surface hardness were fabricated by bar coating method. When coating speed was changed from 35 mm/sec to 50 mm/sec, the transmittance of coated glass increased from 65.3% to 80.8% in visible light range and the surface resistance was changed from 10.1 Ω/sq to 23.3 Ω/sq. The surface hardness and adhesion of thin film were 5H and 5B.
In this study, we have fabricated the dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) composed by a transparent conductive oxide (TCO), a nanocrystalline semiconductor film usually TiO2, a sensitizer adsorbed on the surface of the semiconductor, an electrolyte containing a redox mediator and a counter electrode. The TiO2 nanopowder was prepared by sol-gel methode. The HCl (hydrochloric acid) and TBAOH (Tetrabutyl amonium hydroxide) was added for improving the catalyst and distributed properties of TiO2 nanopowder. Ammonium hydroixde was added in order to control the morphology and size of TiO2 nano crystal. A TiO2 paste for working electrode was prepared with the addition of HPC (hydroxypropyl cellulos) used as a binder of which volume was controled as 1.3, 1.5, 1.7, and 2.0%. The measured I-V curves of assembled DSSC showed that the cell with 1.7% HPC binder had the best efficiency of 6.79%.
YBCO thin films on SiO2/Si substrate were fabricated by spin-coaing of an alkoxide-derived precursor and heat treatment. The structural and electrical properties of the YBCO films were investigated as functions of annealing temperature at 600∼800℃. Although YBCO single phase was not synthesized, dense films of YBCO matrix phase and minor second phases have been successfully fabricated at the annealing temperatures of 650∼800℃. Thickness and temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of YBCO thin films with annealing temperature of 750℃ were 0.31 μm and -2.92%/℃,respectively.
In this study, the influence of electrochemical properties by mixing Tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBAOH) and ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) electrode on the dssc. The titanias were prepared using a sol-gel method by mixing Tetrabutylammonium hydroxide and Ammonium hydroxide. The TiO2nanopowder prepared by sol-gel methode, and to improve the distributed properties of TiO2 nanopowder,the TBAOH and NH4OH was added. The I-V values of cells show that the Tetrabutylammonium has 6.51%efficiency.
The sol-gel method has been widely used to synthesize the TiO2 for dye sensitized solar cells and has advantages of easily fabrication process, controlling the TiO2 phase and getting transparent thin-film composed of the TiO2. In this paper, we synthesized the crystalline TiO2 by sol-gel method controlled by the quantity ratio of Nitric acid and Ammonium hydroxide additives. The best efficiency result was obtained by 0.05 M Ammonium hydroxide and that results of Voc, Jsc, FF, and efficiency were 0.68 V, 3.28 mA/cm2, 58.14 and 5.21%, respectively.
In general, a photoelectrode in DSSC(dye sensitized solar cell) are fabricated by using the TiO2 (Titanium dioxide) to realize high efficiency and the efficiency of DSSC is affected by the size, the shape and the property of TiO2. We synthesized the crystalline TiO2 by sol-gel method. In spite of many merits, only weakness for the sol-gel method is taking many process times. To solve this problem, we reduced the fabricating processes. The reduced process is the making process that is TiO2 sol to TiO2 powder with including of two heat treatment and two mixing. We could simplify the process by preparing TiO2 sol to TiO2 paste directly. As a result, DSSC fabrication process is simplified and we have obtained the efficiency best result 3.88% with VOC=0.71 V, JSC=8.70 mA/cm-2, and FF=62.37%, respectively.
Multiferroic BFO/PZT(5/95) multilayer films were fabricated by spin-coating method on the Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate alternately using BFO and PZT(9/95) alkoxide solutions. The structural and dielectric properties were investigated with variation of the solvent and the number of coatings. All films showed the typical XRD patterns of the perovskite polycrystalline structure without presence of the second phase such as Bi2Fe4O3. BFO/PZT multilayer thin films showed the typical dielectric relaxation properties with increase an applied frequency. The average thickness of 6-coated BFO/PZT multilayer film was about 600 nm. The dielectric properties such as dielectric constant, dielectric loss and remnant polarization were superior to those of single composition BFO film, and those values for BFO/PZT multilayer film were 1199, 0.23% and 12 μC/cm2.