This paper describes why we must use graphene materials for solar cells and biosensors. It has been superior in several properties such as super-thin film, higher tensile strength, high current density, high thermal conductivity, and high mobility. Therefore, graphene is one of the emerging advanced materials because of its applicability in various electronic device applications. We investigated the requirements of graphene materials for the application of solar cells and biosensors. In addition, we discussed the research trends such as transducers in biosensors and transparent electrodes in solar cells. The research on graphene materials and their application will be beneficial and helpful for the near future.
We have studied structural, optical and electrical properties of In-Ga-doped ZnO (IGZO) thin films. The IGZO thin films were deposited on the corning 1737 glass by RF magnetron sputtering method. The RF power in sputtering process was varied as 30, 50, 70, and 90 W respectively. All of the IGZO thin films transmittance in the visible range (400 nm ~ 800 nm) was above 83%. XRD analysis showed the IGZO thin films amorphous structure of the thin films without any peak. And also IGZO thin film have low resistivity (1.99×10-3 Ωcm), high carrier concentration (6.4×1020 cm-3), and mobility (10.3 cm2V-1s-1). By the studies we found that IGZO transparent thin film can be used as optoelectronic material and introduced application possibility for future electronic devices.
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.
Indium Zinc Tin Oxide (IZTO) thin films were developed as an alternative to Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) thin films. ITO material which has been acknowledged with its low resistivity and optical transparency of 85-90% has been used as major transparent conducting oxide (TCO) materials. However, due to the limited source, high price, and instability problems at high temperature of indium, many researches has been focused on indium-saving TCO materials. Mason Group of Northwestern University was reported to expand the solubility limit up to 40% by co-doping with 1:1 ratio of Zn+2 and Sn+4 ions. In this study, the properties of IZTO thin films corresponding to Zn/Sn different ratio were investigated. In addition, the effect of substrate temperature variable to the structural, optical and electrical properties of IZTO thin films was investigated.
We have studied structural, optical, and electrical properties of the Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films being usable in transparent conducting oxides. The GZO thin films were deposited on the corning 1737 glass plate by the RF magnetron sputtering system. To find optimal properties of GZO for transparent conducting oxides, the Ar gas in sputtering process was varied as 40, 60, 80 and 100 sccm, respectively. As reaction gas decreased, the crystallinity of GZO thin film was increased, the optical bandgap of GZO thin film increased. The transmittance of the film was over 80% in the visible light range regardless of the changes in reaction gas. The measurement of Hall effect characterizes the whole thin film as n-type, and the electrical property was improved with decreasing reaction gas. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of the GZO thin films were affected by Ga dopant content in GZO thin film.
We have investigated the structural, electrical and optical properties of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering with laboratory-made ZnO targets containing 1, 3, 5, 7 wt% of Ga2O3 powder as a doping source. The GZO thin films show the typical crystallographic orientation with c-axis regardless of Ga2O3 content in the targets. The 3,000 Å thick GZO thin films with the lowest resistivity of 7×10-4 Ω·cm are obtained by using the GZO (Ga2O3= 5 wt%) target. Optical transmittance of all films shows higher than 80% at the visible region. The optical energy band gap for GZO films increases as the carrier concentration (ne) in the film increases.
TiO2 (Ti(1-x)Nb(x)O2, x= 0.04~0.06) transparent conducting oxide film was fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering process and their electrical, optical, stability properties were studied. When the Nb 4 at% sputtering target was used with RF power 120 W, pressure 8 mTorr, post-annealing temperature 60 0℃, the resistivity of TNO film was 4×10(-4) Ω-cm. The optical transmittance in the visible wavelength was ca. 86%. TNO films require heat treatment during or after the deposition process. When the film was deposited at room temperature and post-annealed at 600℃, the lowest resistivity was obtained. When the TNO film was exposed to high temperature and humidity, the resistivity of the film was rather decreased. The stability to temperature and humidity implies that the TNO film could be a appropriate candidate for In-free, ZnO-free transparent conducting oxide materials.
AZO (Al doped ZnO) thin films were deposited on the quartz substrates with thickness variation from 25 to 300 nm by using PLD (pulsed laser deposition). XRD (x-ray diffractometer), SPM (scanning probe microscopy), Hall effect measurement and uv-visible spectrophotometer were employed to investigate the structural, morphological, electrical and optical properties of the thin films. XRD results demonstrated that films were preferrentially oriented along the c-axis and crystallinity of film was improved with increase of film thickness. As for the surface morphologies, the mean diameter and root mean square of grains were increased as the film thickness was increased. When the film thickness was 200 nm, the lowest resistivity of 4.25×10-4 Ωcm obtained with carrier concentration of 6.84×1020 cm-3 and mobility of 21.4 cm2/V?S. All samples showed more than 80% of transmittance in the visible range. Upon these results, it is found that the samples thickness can affect their structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties. This study suggests that the resistivity can be improved by controlling film thickness.
We have studied structural, optical, and electrical properties of the Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films being usable in transparent conducting oxides. The AZO thin films were deposited on the corning 1737 glass plate by the RF magnetron sputtering system. To find optimal properties of AZO for transparent conducting oxides, the RF power in sputtering process was varied as 40 W, 60 W, and 80 W, respectively. As RF power increased, the crystallinity of AZO thin film was decreased, the optical bandgap of AZO thin film increased. The transmittance of the film was over 80% in the visible light range regardless of the changes in RF power. The measurement of Hall effect characterizes the whole thin film as n-type, and the electrical property was improved with increasing RF power. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of the AZO thin films were affected by Al dopant content in AZO thin film.