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
The deposition of indium zinc oxide (IZO) thin films was carried out on substrate at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering. The effects of substrate temperature, RF power and deposition pressure were investigated with respect to physical and optical properties of films such as deposition rate, electrical properties, structure, and transmittance. As the RF power increases, the resistivity gradually decreases, and the transmittance slightly decreases. For the variation of deposition pressure, the resistivity greatly increases, and the transmittance is decreased with increasing deposition pressure. As a result, it was demonstrated that an IZO film with the resistivity of 3.89 × 10-4 Ω·cm, the hole mobility of 51.28 ㎠/Vs, and the light transmittance of 86.89% in the visible spectrum at room temperature can be prepared without post-deposition annealing.
Resistive switching behaviors of a co-sputtered zinc silicate thin film (ZnO and SiO2 targets) have been investigated. We fabricated an Ag/ZnSiOx/highly doped n-type Si substrate device by using an RF magnetron sputter system. X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) indicated that the Zn2SiO4 was formed by a post annealing process. A unique morphology was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). As a result of annealing process, 50 nm sized nano clusters were formed spontaneously in 200~300 nm sized grains. The device showed a unipolar resistive switching process. The average value of the ratio of the resistance change between the high resistance state (HRS) and the low resistance state (LRS) was about 106 when the readout voltage (0.5 V) was achieved. Resistance ratio is not degraded during 50 switching cycles. The conduction mechanisms were explained by using Ohmic conduction for the LRS and Schottky emission for the HRS.
ZnO-based transparent conductive films have been widely studied to achieve high performance optoelectronic devices such as next generation flexible and transparent display systems. In order to achieve a transparent flexible ZnO-based device, a low temperature growth technique using a flexible polymer substrate is required. In this work, high quality flexible ZnO films were grown on colorless polyimide substrate using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Transparent ZnO films grown from 80 to 200℃ were fabricated with a metal-semiconductor-metal structure photodetectors (PDs). As the growth temperature of ZnO film increases, the photocurrent of UV PDs increases, while the sensitivity of that decreases. In addition, it is found that the response times of the PDs become shorter as the growth temperature increases. Based on these results, we suggest that high-quality ZnO film can be grown below 200℃ in an atomic layer deposition system, and can be applied to transparent and flexible UV PDs with very fast response time and high photocurrent.
An 80 nm thick zinc aluminate thin film was deposited on a glass substrate via radio-frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering and heat treated to analyze changes in the wetting angles due to a surface modification. The thin films were modified from hydrophilic to hydrophobic by a simple thermal treatment. The surface modification from a heat treatment increased the wetting angles up to 111°, which was explained by the relationship with the excess surface area. The wetting angles of the annealed thin films decreased with increasing exposure time under ambient conditions, which was attributed to the oxygen vacancies in the films that were introduced during deposition. The annealed thin films were treated by ionized oxygen via oxygen plasma. After the oxygen plasma treatment, the decreased wetting angles were maintained at ~95° for 11 days.
The alignment characteristics of liquid crystal (LC) molecules on a solution-derived lanthanum zinc oxide (LZO) film under ion-beam irradiation were demonstrated. Using the solution process, an LZO film was fabricated on the glass substrate and cured at 100℃. Afterwards, ion-beam irradiation was performed following the LC alignment method. Using this film, an LC cell was fabricated and the characteristics of the LC alignment were verified. Cross polarizing microscopy and the crystal rotation method were used to investigate the alignment state of the LC molecules on the LZO films. Furthermore, field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to explore the effect of the ion-beam irradiation on the LZO film. Through these, it was confirmed that the ion-beam irradiation induced surface modification, which demonstrated anisotropic physical and chemical surface characteristics. Due to this, uniform LC alignment was achieved. Finally, the residual DC and anchoring energy of the LC cell based on the LZO films were measured using a capacitance-voltage curve.
In this work, we investigate the effects of lithium doping on the electric performance of solution-processed n-type zinc tin oxide (ZTO)/p-type silicon carbide (SiC) heterojunction diode structures. The proper amount of lithium doping not only affects the carrier concentration and interface quality but also influences the temperature sensitivity of the series resistance and activation energy. We confirmed that the device characteristics vary with lithium doping at concentrations of 0, 10, and 20 wt%. In particular, the highest rectification ratio of 1.89×107 and the lowest trap density of 4.829×1,022 cm-2 were observed at 20 wt% of lithium doping. Devices at this doping level showed the best characteristics. As the temperature was increased, the series resistance value decreased. Additionally, the activation energy was observed to change with respect to the component acting on the trap. We have demonstrated that lithium doping is an effective way to obtain a higher performance ZTO-based diode.
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.
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.
IZO transistors with Al2O3 as gate dielectrics have been investigated. To improve permittivity in an ambient dielectric layer, we grew Al2O3 by atomic layer deposition directly onto the substrates. Then, we prepared IZO semiconductor solutions with 0.1 M indium nitrate hydrate [In(NO3)3·xH2O] and 0.1 M zinc acetate dehydrate [Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O] as precursor solutions; the IZO solution made with a molar ratio of 7:3 was then prepared. It has been found that these oxide transistors exhibit low operating voltage, good turn-on voltage, and an average field-effect mobility of 0.90 ㎠/Vs in ambient conditions. Studies of low-voltage driving of IZO transistors with atomic layer-deposited high-k Al2O3 as gate dielectric provide data of relevance for the potential use of these materials and this technology in transparent display devices and displays.
Because silicon thin film solar cells have a high absorption coefficient in visible light, they can absorb 90% of the solar spectrum in a 1-μm-thick layer. Silicon thin film solar cells also have high transparency and are lightweight. Therefore, they can be used for building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems. However, the contact electrode needs to be replaced for fabricating silicon thin film solar cells in BIPV systems, because most of the silicon thin film solar cells use metal electrodes that have a high reflectivity and low transmittance. In this study, we replace the conventional aluminum top electrode with a transparent aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) electrode, the band level of which matches well with that of the intrinsic layer of the silicon thin film solar cell and has high transmittance. We show that the AZO effectively replaces the top metal electrode and the bottom fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate without a noticeable degradation of the photovoltaic characteristics.
ZnO nanorods were grown on SiO2 coated Si wafers and glass by the hydrothermal method. The structural and optical properties variation of ZnO nanorods as a function of growing time was studied. ～10 nm-thick ZnO thin films deposited on substrates by rf magnetron sputtering were employed as seed layers. Zinc nitrate hexahydrate (0.05 M) and hexamethylenetetramine (0.05 M) mixed in DI water were used as a reaction solution. ZnO nanorods were respectively grown for 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, and 4 h by maintaining the reactor at 90℃. Crystallinity of ZnO nanorods was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, and the morphology of nanorods was observed by a field emission scanning electron microscope. Transmittance and absorbance were measured by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and energy band gap and urbach energy were obtained from the data. Photoluminescence measurements were carried out using Nd-Yag laser (266 nm).
In this study, we fabricated NOX gas sensor by using multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNT)/zinc oxide(ZnO) composite film. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have good electronic, chemical-stability, and sensitivity characteristics. And zinc oxide (ZnO) is a wide band gap and large exciton binding energy semiconductor. In particular, gas sensors require characteristics such as high speed, sensitivity, and selectivity. The fabricated gas sensor was used to detect NOX gas for different values of the NOX gas concentrations. The gas sensor that absorbed NOX gas molecules showed a increasing in resistance. The sensitivity of the gas sensor was increased by increasing the gas concentrations. Additionally, while changing the temperature inside the chamber for the MWCNT/ZnO composite film gas sensor, we obtained the sensitivity. And the comparison analysis to ZnO film gas sensor for detecting NOX gas. From the experiment result, we confirmed improvement of NOX gas detection characteristics using the MWCNT/ZnO composite film.
We investigated the effects of annealing on the electrical and thermal properties of ZTO/4H-SiC heterojunction diodes. A ZTO thin film layer was grown on p-type 4H-SiC substrate by using solution process. The ZTO/SiC heterojunction structures annealed at 500℃ show that Ion/Ioff increases from ~5.13×107 to ~1.11×109 owing to the increased electron concentration of ZTO layer as confirmed by capacitance-voltage characteristics. In addition, the electrical characterization of ZTO/SiC heterojunction has been carried out in the temperature range of 300∼500 K. When the measurement temperature increased from 300 K to 500 K, the reverse current variation of annealed device is higher than as-grown device, which is related to barrier height in the ZTO/SiC interface. It is shown that annealing process is possible to control the electrical characteristics of ZTO/SiC heterojunction diode.
Zinc tin oxide transparent thin film transistors (ZTO TTFTs) were fabricated by using n`` Si wafers as gate electrodes. Indium (In), aluminum (Al), indium tin oxide (ITO), silver (Ag), and gold (Au) were employed for source and drain electrodes, and the mobility and the threshold voltage of ZTO TTFTs were observed as a function of electrode. The ZTO TTFTs adopting In as electrodes showed the highest mobility and the lowest threshold voltage. It was shown that Ag and Au are not suitable for the electrodes of ZTO TTFTs. As the results of this study, it is considered that the interface properties of electrode/ZTO are more influential in the properties of ZTO TTFTs than the conductivity of electrode.
Zinc tin oxide transparent thin film transistors (ZTO TTFTs) were fabricated on oxidized n+ Si wafers. The thickness of 30 nm Al2O3 films were deposited on the oxidized Si wafers by atomic layer deposition, which acted as the gate insulators of ZTO TTFTs. The Al2O3 films were rapid-annealed at 400 , 600 , 800 , and 1,000 , respectively. Active layers of ZTO films were deposited on the Al2O3/SiO2 coated n+ Si wafers by rf magnetron sputtering. Mobility and threshold voltage were measured as a function of the rapid-annealing temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were carried out to observe the chemical bindings of Al2O3 films. The annealing effects of gate-insulator on the properties of TTFTs were analyzed based on the results of XPS.
Transparent thin film transistors were fabricated on n+-Si wafers coated by Al2O3/SiO2. Zinctin oxide (ZTO) films deposited by rf magnetron sputtering were employed for active layers. The mobility(μs), threshold voltage (VT), and sub threshold swing (SS) dependances on ZTO thickness were analyzed. The VT decreased with increasing ZTO thickness. The μs raised from 5.1 cm2/Vsec to 27.0 cm2/Vsec byincreasing ZTO thickness from 7 nm to 12 nm, and then decreased with ZTO thickness above 12 nm. The SS was proportional to ZTO thickness.
In this study, chemical bath deposition method was used to grow Zinc sulfide(ZnS) thin filmsfrom NH3/SC(NH2)2/ZnSO4 solutions at 90℃. ZnS thin films have been prepared onto ITO glass. Theconcentrations of ZnSO4 and NH were varied while the concentration of Thiourea was fixed in 0.52 M. Structural, optical, electrical characteristic of ZnS thin films were measured. The physical and opticalproperties of different ZnS thin films were influenced severely by the concentration of the two reactingchemicals. The optimal concentration of ZnSO4 and NH3 was 0.085 M and 1.6 M, respectively.
Mg doped zinc tin oxide (ZTOMg) thin films were prepared on glasses by rf magnetron sputtering. O was introduced into the chamber during the sputtering. The optical properties of the films as a function of oxygen flow rate were studied. The crystal structure, elementary properties, and depth profiles of the films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), respectively. Bottom-gate trdnsparent thin film transistors were fabricated on N Si wafers, and the variation of mobility, threshold voltage etc. with the oxygen flow rate were observed.
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A Study on the Chemical Properties of AZO with Crystal Structure and IGZO of Amorphous Structure Due to the Annealing Temperature Young Ho So, Jung Ho Song, Dong Myung Seo, Teresa Oh Industry Promotion Research.2016; 1(1): 1. CrossRef
For the application to the window layer of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cell, zinc oxide(ZnO) thin film was deposited at various temperatures by in-line pulsed DC sputtering. From the structural, optical, and electrical investigation and analysis, it was possible to obtain the lower thickness, the lower resistivity, and the higher transmittance at a higher process temperature. The energy band gap of ZnO was calculated using the transmittance data and was analyzed in terms of the dependency on temperature. From the X-ray diffraction(XRD) results, it was possible to conclude that a dominant peak was found about 34.2 ～ 34.6° (111) and crystallinity was obtained at a temperature above 150℃.
Transparent thin film transistors (TTFT) were fabricated on N+ Si wafers. SiO2, Si3N4/SiO2 and Al2O3/SiO2 grown on the wafers were used as gate insulators. The rf magnetron sputtered zinc tin oxide (ZTO) films were adopted as active layers. N+Si wafers were wet-oxidized to grow SiO2. Si3N4 and Al2O3 films were deposited on the SiO2 by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD), respectively. The mobility, Ion/Ioff and subthreshold swing (SS) were obtained from the transfer characteristics of TTFTs. The properties of gate insulators were analyzed by comparing the characteristics of TTFTs. The property variation of the ZTO TTFTs with time were observed.
Zn wires have been electrically exploded in methanol or distilled water using the pulsed power technologies. The nanopowders produced by the explosions have been observed by using SEM and TEM, and analyzed its phase by using EDS and XRD. The nanopowders produced in distilled water showed ZnO phase only. On the other hands, the nanopowder produced in methanol showed mixed phases with Zn and ZnO. The HR-TEM images of the nanopowders produced in methanol showed that the some particles have been coated with carbon like materials. It is considered that the carbon coatings could be depended on the positions of the particles during the plasma state formed by explosion.
ZnO thin films were deposited on p-type 4H-SiC substrate by pulsed laser deposition. ZnO nanowires were formed on p-type 4H-SiC substrate by furnace. Ti/Au electrodes were deposited on ZnO thin film/SiC and ZnO nanowire/SiC structures, respectively. Structural and crystallographical properties of the fabricated ZnO thin film/SiC and ZnO nanowire/SiC structures were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. In this work, resistance and sensitivity of ZnO thin film/SiC gas sensor and ZnO nanowire/SiC gas sensor were measured at 300℃ with various CO gas concentrations (0%, 90%, 70%, and 50%). Resistance of gas sensor decreases at CO gas atmosphere. Sensitivity of ZnO nanowire/SiC gas sensor is twice as big as sensitivity of ZnO thin film/SiC gas sensor.
In this research, we prepared Ga doped zinc oxide(ZnO:Ga, GZO) targets each difference sintering temperature 700℃, 800℃, and doping rate 1 wt.%, 2 wt.%, 3 wt.%. The characteristics of thin film on glass substrates which deposited by facing target sputtering in pure Ar atmosphere are reported. Ga doped zinc oxide film is attracted material through low resistivity, high transmittance, etc. When prepared target powder`s structure was investigated by scanning electron microscope, densification and coarsening by driving force was observed. For each ZnO:Ga films with a Ga2O3 content of 3 wt.% at input power of 45 W, the lowest resistivity of 9.967×10(-4) Ω·cm (700℃) and 9.846×10(-4) Ω ·cm (800℃) was obtained. the carrier concentration and mobility were 4.09 × 10(20) cm-3(700℃), 4.12×10(20) cm-3(800℃) and 15.31 cm2/V·s(700℃), 12.51 cm2/V·s(800℃), respectively. And except 1 wt.% Ga doped ZnO thin film, average transmittance of these samples in the range 350-800 nm was over 80%.
Porous carbon electrodes with wooden materials are manufactured by molding carbonized wood powder. Electrical properties of the interface for electrolyte and porous carbon electrode are investigated from viewpoint of NaCl electrolyte concentration, capacitance and complex impedance. Density of porous carbon materials is 0.47∼0.61 g/cm3. NaCl electrolytic absorptance of the porous carbon materials is 5∼ 30%. As the electrolyte concentration increased, capacitance is increased and electric resistance is decrease with electric double layer effect of the interface. The electric current of the porous carbon electrode compared in the copper and the high density carbon electrode was improved on a large scale, due to a increase in surface area. The circuit current increased as the distance between of the porous carbon electrode and the zinc electrode decreased, due to increase in electric field. Experimental results indicated that the current properties of galvanic cell could be improved by using porous carbon electrode.
In the study, the characteristics of the etched Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films surface, the etch rate of ZnO thin film in Cl2/BCl3/Ar plasma was investigated. The maximum ZnO etch rate of 53 nm/min was obtained for Cl2/BCl3/Ar=3:16:4 sccm gas mixture. According to the x-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), the etched ZnO thin film was investigated to the chemical reaction of the ZnO surface in Cl2/BCl3/Ar plasma. The field emission auger electron spectroscopy (FE-AES) analysis showed an elemental analysis from the etched surfaces. According to the etching time, the ZnO thin film of etched was obtained to The AES depth-profile analysis. We used to atomic force microscopy to determine the roughness of the surface. So, the root mean square of ZnO thin film was 17.02 in Cl2/BCl3/Ar plasma. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch mechanism for the plasmas.
Dependences of Sputtering Times on the Structural and Electrical Properties of ZnO/Ag/ZnO Thin Films on PET by DC Sputtering Yun-Hae Kim, Jin-Woo Lee, Ri-Ichi Murakami IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology.2013; 12(6): 991. CrossRef
Preparation and Electrochemical Properties of Pr1-x(Sr, Ca)xCoO3Cathode Materials for Zinc Air Batteries Sang-Hun Heo, Seung-Wook Eom, Hyun-Soo Kim Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society.2009; 12(4): 342. CrossRef
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