This study investigated the effects of the post annealing temperatures on the electrical and interfacial properties of a metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector(MSM-PD) device. The interdigitate type MSM-PD devices had the structure Al(500 nm) / Ti(200 nm) / poly-Si(500 nm). Structural analyses of the MSM-PD devices were performed by employing X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and transmission electron microscope(TEM). Electrical characteristics of the MSM-PD were also examined using current-voltage(I-V) measurements. The optimal post annealing condition for the Schottky contact of MSM-PD devices are 350℃-30minutes. However, as the annealing temperature and time are increased, electrical characteristics of MSM-PD device are degraded. Especially, for the annealing conditions of 400℃-180minutes and 500℃-30minutes, the I-V measurement itself was impossible. These results are closely related to the solid phase reactions at the interface of MSM-PD device, which result in the formation of intermetallic compounds such as Al3Ti and Ti7Al5Si12.
Infrared(IR) heating has many advantages, such as energy efficiency, reduced heating time, cleanliness, equipment compactness, high drying rate and easy automation. These features of IR heating provide widely industrial applications, such as surface heat treatment in semiconductor fabrication, thermoforming of polymers, drying and disinfection of food products, heating to metal forging, and drying of wet materials. In this study, the characteristics of a protected gold mirror were examined by spectrophotometer and the lifetime of the coating layers were evaluated by a cross-cutting method and salt spray test. The effects of manufacturing conditions on the protected gold mirror were seen and remedies for these effects were noted in order to improve the properties of the protected gold mirror in the drying process. The reflectance and lifetime of the protected gold mirror was influenced by manufacturing conditions, such as surface roughness and forming conditions of the anti-oxide layer, the adhesion layer, the reflecting layer and the protection layer. The results of this study showed that the protected gold mirror manufactured using a buffing method for pre-treatment resulted in the most effective reflectance. In addition, Al2O3 coating on an Al substrate as an anti-oxide layer was more effective than the anodizing process in the test of reflectance. Furthermore, the protected gold mirror manufactured by layers forming of various materials resulted in the most effective reflectance and lifetime when coated with Al2O3 as the anti-oxide layer, coated Cr as the adhesion layer, and coated MgF2 as the protection layer.
Epitaxial (1120) a-plane GaN films were grown on a (1102) R-plane sapphire substrate with photoresist (PR) masks using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The PR mask with striped patterns was prepared using an ex-situ lithography process, whereas carbonization and heat treatment of the PR mask were carried out using an in-situ MOCVD. The heat treatment of the PR mask was continuously conducted in ambient H2/NH3 mixture gas at 1140℃ after carbonization by the pyrolysis in ambient H2 at 1100℃. As the time of the heat treatment progressed, the striped patterns of the carbonized PR mask shrank. The heat treatment of the carbonized PR mask facilitated epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) of a-plane GaN films without carbon contamination on the R-plane sapphire substrate. Thhe surface morphology of a-plane GaN films was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The structural characteristics of a-plane GaN films on an R-plane sapphire substrate were evaluated by ω-2θ high-resolution X-ray diffraction. The a-plane GaN films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to determine carbon contamination from carbonized PR masks in the GaN film bulk. After Ar+ ion etching, XPS spectra indicated that carbon contamination exists only in the surface region. Finally, the heat treatment of carbonized PR masks was used to grow high-quality a-plane GaN films without carbon contamination. This approach showed the promising potential of the ELO process by using a PR mask.
We report on the fabrication and photoelectrochemical(PEC) properties of a Cu2O thin film/ZnO nanorod array oxide p-n heterojunction structure with ZnO nanorods embedded in Cu2O thin film as an efficient photoelectrode for solardriven water splitting. A vertically oriented n-type ZnO nanorod array was first prepared on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate via a seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method and then a p-type Cu2O thin film was directly electrodeposited onto the vertically oriented ZnO nanorods array to form an oxide semiconductor heterostructure. The crystalline phases and morphologies of the heterojunction materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy as well as Raman scattering. The PEC properties of the fabricated Cu2O/ZnO p-n heterojunction photoelectrode were evaluated by photocurrent conversion efficiency measurements under white light illumination. From the observed PEC current density versus voltage (J-V) behavior, the Cu2O/ZnO photoelectrode was found to exhibit a negligible dark current and high photocurrent density, e.g., 0.77 mA/cm2 at 0.5 V vs Hg/HgCl2 in a 1 mM Na2SO4 electrolyte, revealing an effective operation of the oxide heterostructure. In particular, a significant PEC performance was observed even at an applied bias of 0 V vs Hg/ HgCl2, which made the device self-powered. The observed PEC performance was attributed to some synergistic effect of the p-n bilayer heterostructure on the formation of a built-in potential, including the light absorption and separation processes of photoinduced charge carriers.
The property changes of 18, 14, and 8K green gold alloys for jewelry are observed by adding 0.0, 3.0, and 5.0 wt% of indium (In), respectively. To check the composition of the alloys, an energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis is conducted. Color and microstructure analysis is executed through bare-eye, macro camera, UV-VIS-NIR-colormeter, and optical microscope. The melting point, wetting angle, and hardness are measured using TGA-DTA, a wetting angle tester, and a Vickers hardness tester. The EDS analysis result demonstrates that each of the green gold alloys was manufactured with purposed contents. The color analysis result shows that the color of the alloys is similar to the color of the conventional 4 wt%- Cd 18K green gold, and the green color improves as the In content increases. The micro structure analysis result demonstrates that grain refinement improves as the amount of In increases. Enhancements in the melting point, wettability, and Vickers hardness changes appear as the In content increases and Au content decreases. The hardness is up to 260, which implies good durability. Therefore, the results suggest that the proposed 18, 14, and 8K In-added green gold alloys enhance the properties of jewelry products with regard to the green color, castability, and durability.
We investigate the effect of the modification of cellulose acetate propionate as an organic vehicle for silver paste on solar cell efficiency. For the modification of cellulose acetate propionate, poly(ethylene glycol) is introduced to the hydroxyl groups of a cellulose acetate propionate backbone via esterification reaction. The chemical structure and composition of poly(ethylene glycol) functionalized cellulose acetate propionate is characterized by Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. Due to the effect of structural change for poly(ethylene glycol) functionalized cellulose acetate propionate on the viscosity of silver paste, the solar cell efficiency increases from 18.524% to 18.652 %. In addition, when ethylene carbonate, which has a structure similar to poly(ethylene glycol), is introduced to cellulose acetate propionate via ring opening polymerization, we find that the efficiency of the solar cell increases from 18.524% to 18.622%.
We propose a speedy two-step deposit process to form an Au electrode on hole transport layer(HTL) without any damage using a general thermal evaporator in a perovskite solar cell(PSC). An Au electrode with a thickness of 70 nm was prepared with one-step and two-step processes using a general thermal evaporator with a 30 cm source-substrate distance and 6.0 × 10−6 torr vacuum. The one-step process deposits the Au film with the desirable thickness through a source power of 60 and 100 W at a time. The two-step process deposits a 7 nm-thick buffer layer with source power of 60, 70, and 80 W, and then deposits the remaining film thickness at higher source power of 80, 90, and 100W. The photovoltaic properties and microstructure of these PSC devices with a glass/FTO/TiO2/perovskite/ HTL/Au electrode were measured by a solar simulator and field emission scanning electron microscope. The one-step process showed a low depo-temperature of 88.5 oC with a long deposition time of 90 minutes at 60 W. It showed a high depo-temperature of 135.4 oC with a short deposition time of 8 minutes at 100 W. All the samples showed an ECE lower than 2.8% due to damage on the HTL. The two-step process offered an ECE higher than 6.25% without HTL damage through a deposition temperature lower than 88 oC and a short deposition time within 20 minutes in general. Therefore, the proposed two-step process is favorable to produce an Au electrode layer for the PSC device with a general thermal evaporator.
TaNx film is grown by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) using t-butylimido tris(dimethylamido) tantalum as a metalorganic source with various reactive gas species, such as N2+H2 mixed gas, NH3, and H2. Although the pulse sequence and duration are the same, aspects of the film growth rate, microstructure, crystallinity, and electrical resistivity are quite different according to the reactive gas. Crystallized and relatively conductive film with a higher growth rate is acquired using NH3 as a reactive gas while amorphous and resistive film with a lower growth rate is achieved using N2+H2 mixed gas. To examine the relationship between the chemical properties and resistivity of the film, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is conducted on the ALD-grown TaNx film with N2+H2 mixed gas, NH3, and H2. For a comparison, reactive sputter-grown TaNx film with N2 is also studied. The results reveal that ALD-grown TaNx films with NH3 and H2 include a metallic Ta-N bond, which results in the film’s higher conductivity. Meanwhile, ALD-grown TaNx film with a N2+H2 mixed gas or sputtergrown TaNx film with N2 gas mainly contains a semiconducting Ta3N5 bond. Such a different portion of Ta-N and Ta3N5 bond determins the resistivity of the film. Reaction mechanisms are considered by means of the chemistry of the Ta precursor and reactive gas species.
We examined the characteristics of indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) on polyimide (PI) substrates for next-generation flexible display application. In this study, the ITZO TFT was fabricated and analyzed with a SiOx/ SiNx gate insulator deposited using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) below 350℃. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) results revealed that the oxygen vacancies and impurities such as H, OH and H2O increased at ITZO/gate insulator interface. Our study suggests that the hydrogen related impurities existing in the PI and gate insulator were diffused into the channel during the fabrication process. We demonstrate that these impurities and oxygen vacancies in the ITZO channel/gate insulator may cause degradation of the electrical characteristics and bias stability. Therefore, in order to realize high performance oxide TFTs for flexible displays, it is necessary to develop a buffer layer (e.g., Al2O3) that can sufficiently prevent the diffusion of impurities into the channel.
General D-glass(Dielectric glass) fibers are adaptable to PCBs(Printed circuit boards) because they have a low dielectric constant of about 3.5~4.5. However, very few papers have appeared on the physical characteristics of D-glass fibers. D-glass fibers were fabricated via continuous spinning process using bulk D-glass. In order to fabricate the D-glass, raw materials were put into a Pt crucible, melted at 1650℃ for 2 hrs, and then annealed at 521 ± 10℃ for 2 hrs. We obtained transparent clear glass. The transmittance and adaptable temperature for spinning of the bulk marble glass were characterized using a UV-visible spectrometer and a viscometer. Continuous spinning was carried out using direct melting spinning equipment as a function of the fiberizing temperature in the range of 1368℃ to 1460℃, while the winder speed was between 100 rpm and 200 rpm. We investigated the physical properties of the D-glass fibers. The average diameters of the glass fibers were measured by optical microscope and FE-SEM. The average diameters of the D-glass fibers were 21.36 um at 100 rpm and 34.06 um at 200 rpm. The mechanical properties of the fibers were confirmed using a UTM(Universal materials testing machine). The average tensile strengths of the D-glass fibers were 467.03 MPa at 100 rpm and 522.60 MPa at 200 rpm.