To realize high-performance thin film solar cells, we prepared CIGS by the co-evaporation technique on both sodalime and Corning glass substrates. The structural and efficient properties were investigated by varying the thickness of the Mo:Na layer, where the total thickness of the back contact was fixed at 1μm. As a result, when the Mo:Na thickness was 300 nm on soda-lime glass, the measured Na content was 0.28 %, the surface morphology was a plate-like compact structure, and the crystallinity by XRD showed a strong peak of (112) preferential orientation together with relatively intense (220) and (204) peaks as the secondary phases influenced crystal formation. In addition, the substrates on soda-lime glass effected the lowest surface roughness of 2.76 nm and the highest carrier density and short circuit current. Through the optimization of the Mo:Na layer, a solar conversion efficiency of 11.34% was achieved. When using the Corning glass, a rather low conversion efficiency of 9.59% was obtained. To determine the effects of the concentration of sodium and in order to develop a highefficiency solar cells, a very small amount of sodium was added to the soda lime glass substrate.
Pure MgH2 was milled under a hydrogen atmosphere (reactive mechanical grinding, RMG). The hydrogen storage properties of the prepared samples were studied at a relatively low temperature of 423 K and were compared with those of pure Mg. The hydriding rate of the Mg was extremely low (0.0008 wt% H/min at n = 4), and the MgH2 after RMG had higher hydriding rates than that of Mg at 423 K under 12 bar H2. The initial hydriding rate of MgH2 after RMG at 423 K under 12 bar H2 was the highest (0.08 wt% H/min) at n = 2. At n = 2, the MgH2 after RMG absorbed 0.39 wt% H for 5 min, and 1.21 wt% H for 60 min at 423K under 12 bar H2. At 573 K under 12 bar H2, the MgH2 after RMG absorbed 4.86 wt% H for 5 min, and 5.52 wt% H for 60 min at n = 2. At 573 K and 423 K under 1.0 bar H2, the MgH2 after RMG and the Mg did not release hydrogen. The decrease in particle size and creation of defects by reactive mechanical grinding are believed to have led to the increase in the hydriding rate of the MgH2 after RMG at a relatively low temperature of 423 K.
To obtain the transistor with ambipolar transfer characteristics, IGZO/SiOC thin film transistor was prepared on SiOC with various polarities as a gate insulator. The interface between a channel and insulator showed the Ohmic and Schottky contacts in the bias field of -5V ~ +5V. These contact characteristics depended on the polarities of SiOC gate insulators. The transfer characteristics of TFTs were observed the Ohmic contact on SiOC with polarity, but Schottky contact on SiOC with low polarity. The IGZO/SiOC thin film transistor with a Schottky contact in a short range bias electric field exhibited ambipolar transfer characteristics, but that with Ohmic contact in a short range electric field showed unipolar characteristics by the trapping phenomenon due to the trapped ionized defect formation.
The contact mechanism of devices is usually researched at electrode contacts. However, the contact between a dielectric and channel at the MOS structure is more important. The graphene was used as a channel material, and the thin film transistor with MOS structure was prepared to observe the contact mechanism. The graphene was obtained on Cu foil by the thermal decomposition method with H2 and CH4 mixed gases at an ambient annealing temperature of 1000˚C during the deposition for 30 min, and was then transferred onto a SiO2/Si substrate. The graphene was doped in a nitrogen acidic solution. The chemical properties of graphene were investigated to research the effect of nitric atoms doping. The sheet resistance of graphene decreased after nitrogen acidic doping, and the sheet resistance decreased with an increase in the doping times because of the increment of negative charge carriers. The nitric-atom-doped graphene showed the Ohmic contact at the curve of the drain current and drain voltage, in spite of the Schottky contact of grapnene without doping.
Solution-based Sb-doped SnO2 (ATO) transparent conductive oxides using a low-temperature process werefabricated by an electrospray technique followed by spin coating. We demonstrated their structural, chemical, morphological,electrical, and optical properties by means of X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field-emission scanningelectron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Hall effect measurement system, and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. In order toinvestigate optimum electrical and optical properties at low-temperature annealing, we systemically coated two layer, four layer,and six layers of ATO sol-solution using spin-coating on the electrosprayed ATO thin films. The resistivity and opticaltransmittance of the ATO thin films decreased as the thickness of ATO sol-layer increased. Then, the ATO thin films with twosol-layers exhibited superb figure of merit compared to the other samples. The performance improvement in a low temperatureprocess (300oC) can be explained by the effect of enhanced carrier concentration due to the improved densification of the ATOthin films causing the optimum sol-layer coating. Therefore, the solution-based ATO thin films prepared at 300oC exhibitedthe superb electrical (~7.25×10−3Ω·cm) and optical transmittance (~83.1%) performances.
We report the effect of the fabric of the surface microstructure on the CO gas sensing properties of SnO2 thin films deposited on self-assembled Au nanodots (SnO2/Au) that were formed on SiO2/Si substrates. We characterized structural and morphological properties, comparing them to those of SnO2 thin films deposited directly onto SiO2/Si substrates. We observed a significant enhancement of CO gas sensing properties in the SnO2/Au gas sensors, specifically exhibiting a high maximum response at 200˚C and quite a low detection limit of 1 ppm level in dry air. In particular, the response of the SnO2/Au gas sensor was found to reach the maximum value of 32.5 at 200˚C, which is roughly 27 times higher than the response (~1.2) of the SnO2 gas sensor obtained at the same operating temperature of 200˚C. Furthermore, the SnO2/Au gas sensors displayed very fast response and recovery behaviors. The observed enhancement in the CO gas sensing properties of the SnO2/Au sensors is mainly ascribed to the formation of a nanostructured morphology in the active SnO2 layer having a high specific surface-reaction area by the insertion of a nanodot form of Au nucleation layer.
This study is research on the thermal emissivity depending on the alignment degrees of graphite flakes. Samples were manufactured by a slurry of natural graphite flakes with organic binder and subsequent dip-coating on an aluminum substrate. The alignment degrees were controlled by applying magnetic field strength (0, 1, and 3 kG) to the coated samples. The alignment degree of the sample was measured by XRD. The thermal emissivity was measured by an infrared thermal image camera at 100˚C. The alignment degrees were 0.04, 0.11, and 0.17 and the applied magnetic field strengths were 0, 1, and 3 kG, respectively. The thermal emissivities were 0.829, 0.837, and 0.844 and the applying magnetic field strengths were 0, 1, and 3 kG, respectively. In this study the correlation coefficient, R2, between thermal emissivity and alignment degree was 0.997. Therefore, it was concluded that the thermal emissivities are correlated with the alignment degree of the graphite flakes.
The effects of printed circuit board electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) and organic solderability preservative (OSP) surface finishes on the electromigration reliability and shear strength of Sn-3.5Ag Pb-free solder bump were systematically investigated. In-situ annealing tests were performed in a scanning electron microscope chamber at 130, 150, and 170˚C in order to investigate the growth kinetics of intermetallic compound (IMC). Electromigration lifetime and failure modes were investigated at 150˚C and 1.5×105A/cm2, while ball shear tests and failure mode analysis were conducted under the high-speed conditions from 10 mm/s to 3000 mm/s. The activation energy of ENIG and OSP surface finishes during annealing were evaluated as 0.84 eV and 0.94 eV, respectively. The solder bumps with ENIG surface finish showed longer electromigration lifetime than OSP surface finish. Shear strengths between ENIG and OSP were similar, and the shear energies decreased with increasing shear speed. Failure analysis showed that electrical and mechanical reliabilities were very closely related to the interfacial IMC stabilities.