To build a highly active photocatalytic system with high efficiency and low cast of TiO2, we report a facile hydrothermal technique to synthesize Ag2Se-nanoparticle-modified TiO2 composites. The physical characteristics of these samples are analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, transmission electron microscopy and BET analysis. The XRD and TEM results show us that TiO2 is coupled with small sized Ag2Se nanoplate, which has an average grain size of about 30 nm in diameter. The agglomeration of Ag2Se nanoparticles is improved by the hydrothermal process, with dispersion improvement of the Ag2Se@TiO2 nanocomposite. Texbrite BA-L is selected as a simulated dye to study the photodegradation behavior of as-prepared samples under visible light radiation. A significant enhancement of about two times the photodegradation rate is observed for the Ag2Se@TiO2 nanocomposite compared with the control sample P25 and as-prepared TiO2. Long-term stability of Ag2Se@TiO2 is observed via ten iterations of recycling experiments under visible light irradiation.

ZnO thin-films are grown on a p-Si(111) substrate by RF sputtering. The effects of growth temperature and O2 mixture ratio on the ZnO films are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and roomtemperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements. All the grown ZnO thin films show a strong preferred orientation along the c-axis, with an intense ultraviolet emission centered at 377 nm. However, when O2 is mixed with the sputtering gas, the half width at half maximum (FWHM) of the XRD peak increases and the deep-level defect-related emission PL band becomes pronounced. In addition, an n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode is fabricated by photolithographic processes and characterized using its current-voltage (I-V) characteristic curve and photoresponsivity. The fabricated n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode exhibits typical rectifying I-V characteristics, with turn-on voltage of about 1.1 V and ideality factor of 1.7. The ratio of current density at ± 3 V of the reverse and forward bias voltage is about 5.8 × 103, which demonstrates the switching performance of the fabricated diode. The photoresponse of the diode under illumination of chopped with 40 Hz white light source shows fast response time and recovery time of 0.5 msec and 0.4 msec, respectively.

Hole carrier selective MoOx film is obtained by atomic layer deposition(ALD) using molybdenum hexacarbonyl[Mo(CO)6] as precursor and ozone(O3) oxidant. The growth rate is about 0.036 nm/cycle at 200 g/Nm of ozone concentration and the thickness of interfacial oxide is about 2 nm. The measured band gap and work function of the MoOx film grown by ALD are 3.25 eV and 8 eV, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) result shows that the Mo6+ state is dominant in the MoOx thin film. In the case of ALD-MoOx grown on Si wafer, the ozone concentration does not affect the passivation performance in the as-deposited state. But, the implied open-circuit voltage increases from 576 oC to 620 oC at 250 g/Nm after post-deposition annealing at 350 oC in a forming gas ambient. Instead of using a p-type amorphous silicon layer, high work function MoOx films as hole selective contact are applied for heterojunction silicon solar cells and the best efficiency yet recorded (21 %) is obtained.

Recently, metal cases are widely used in smart phones for their luxurious color and texture. However, when a metal case is used, electric shock may occur during charging. Chip capacitors of various values are used to prevent the electric shock. However, chip capacitors are vulnerable to electrostatic discharge(ESD) generated by the human body, which often causes insulation breakdown during use. This breakdown can be eliminated with a high-voltage chip varistor over 340V, but when the varistor voltage is high, the capacitance is limited to about 2pF. If a chip capacitor with a high dielectric constant and a chip varistor with a high voltage can be combined, it is possible to obtain a new device capable of coping with electric shock and ESD with various capacitive values. Usually, varistors and capacitors differ in composition, which causes different shrinkage during co-firing, and therefore camber, internal crack, delamination and separation may occur after sintering. In addition, varistor characteristics may not be realized due to the diffusion of unwanted elements into the varistor during firing. Various elements are added to control shrinkage. In addition, a buffer layer is inserted in the middle of the varistor-capacitor junction to prevent diffusion during firing, thereby developing a co-fired product with desirable characteristics.

This study interrogated multi-layer heterojunction anodes were interrogated for potential applications to water treatment. The multi-layer anodes with outer layers of SnO2/Bi2O3 and/or TiO2/Bi2O3 onto IrO2/Ta2O5 electrodes were prepared by thermal decomposition and characterized in terms of reactive chlorine species (RCS) generation in 50 mM NaCl solutions. The IrO2/Ta2O5 layer on Ti substrate (Anode 1) primarily served as an electron shuttle. The current efficiency (CE) and energy efficiency (EE) for RCS generation were significantly enhanced by the further coating of SnO2/Bi2O3 (Anode 2) and TiO2/Bi2O3 (Anode 3) layers onto the Anode 1, despite moderate losses in electrical conductivity and active surface area. The CE of the Anode 3 was found to show the highest RCS generation rate, whereas the multi-junction architecture (Anode 4, sequential coating of IrO2/Ta2O5, SnO2/Bi2O3, and TiO2/Bi2O3) showed marginal improvement. The microscopic observations indicated that the outer TiO2/Bi2O3 could form a crack-free layer by an incorporation of anatase TiO2 particles, potentially increasing the service life of the anode. The results of this study are expected to broaden the usage of dimensionally stable anodes in water treatment with an enhanced RCS generation and lifetime.

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.

We report on the efficient detection of NO gas by an all-oxide semiconductor p-n heterojunction diode structure comprised of n-type zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods embedded in p-type copper oxide (CuO) thin film. The CuO thin film/ZnO nanorod heterostructure was fabricated by directly sputtering CuO thin film onto a vertically aligned ZnO nanorod array synthesized via a hydrothemal method. The transport behavior and NO gas sensing properties of the fabricated CuO thin film/ ZnO nanorod heterostructure were charcterized and revealed that the oxide semiconductor heterojunction exhibited a definite rectifying diode-like behavior at various temperatures ranging from room temperature to 250 oC. The NO gas sensing experiment indicated that the CuO thin film/ZnO nanorod heterostructure had a good sensing performance for the efficient detection of NO gas in the range of 2-14 ppm under the conditions of an applied bias of 2 V and a comparatively low operating temperature of 150 oC. The NO gas sensing process in the CuO/ZnO p-n heterostructure is discussed in terms of the electronic band structure.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be produced by interactions between sunlight and light-absorbing substances in natural water environments and can completely destroy various organic pollutants in waste water. In this study, we used graphene oxide modified Ag2Se nanoparticles to enhance photochemically generated oxygen (PGO) species activity. Surface area and pore volumes of the Ag2Se-graphene (Ag2Se-G) samples showed catastrophic decrease due to deposition of Ag2Se. The generation of reactive oxygen species was detected through the oxidation reaction of DPCI to DPCO. The photocurrent density and the PGO effect increase in the case of the use of modified graphene. The PGO effect of the graphene modified with Ag2Se composites increased significantly due to a synergetic effect between graphene and the Ag2Se nanoparticles. The photocatalytic activity of sample was evaluated by measuring the degradation of organic pollutants such as methylene blue (MB) and industrial dyes such as Texbrite BA-L (TBA) under visible light.

We report on the fabrication and characterization of a novel Cu2O/CuO heterojunction structure with CuO nanorods embedded in Cu2O thin film as an efficient photocathode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar water splitting. A CuO nanorod array was first prepared on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate via a seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method; then, a Cu2O thin film was electrodeposited onto the CuO nanorod array to form an oxide semiconductor heterostructure. The crystalline phases and morphologies of the heterojunction materials were examined using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, as well as Raman scattering. The PEC properties of the fabricated Cu2O/CuO heterojunction photocathode were evaluated by photocurrent conversion efficiency measurements under white light illumination. From the observed PEC current density versus voltage (J-V) behavior, the Cu2O/CuO photocathode was found to exhibit negligible dark current and high photocurrent density, e.g. −1.05 mA/cm2 at −0.6 V vs. Hg/HgCl2 in 1 mM Na2SO4 electrolyte, revealing the effective operation of the oxide heterostructure. The photocurrent conversion efficiency of the Cu2O/CuO photocathode was estimated to be 1.27% at −0.6 V vs. Hg/HgCl2. Moreover, the PEC current density versus time (J-T) profile measured at −0.5 V vs. Hg/HgCl2 on the Cu2O/CuO photocathode indicated a 3-fold increase in the photocurrent density compared to that of a simple Cu2O thin film photocathode. The improved PEC performance was attributed to a certain synergistic effect of the bilayer heterostructure on the light absorption and electron-hole recombination processes.

We present the rectifying and nitrogen monoxide (NO) gas sensing properties of an oxide semiconductor heterostructure composed of n-type zinc oxide (ZnO) and p-type copper oxide thin layers. A CuO thin layer was first formed on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate by sol-gel spin coating method using copper acetate monohydrate and diethanolamine as precursors; then, to form a p-n oxide heterostructure, a ZnO thin layer was spin-coated on the CuO layer using copper zinc dihydrate and diethanolamine. The crystalline structures and microstructures of the heterojunction materials were examined using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The observed current-voltage characteristics of the p-n oxide heterostructure showed a non-linear diode-like rectifying behavior at various temperatures ranging from room temperature to 200 oC. When the spin-coated ZnO/CuO heterojunction was exposed to the acceptor gas NO in dry air, a significant increase in the forward diode current of the p-n junction was observed. It was found that the NO gas response of the ZnO/CuO heterostructure exhibited a maximum value at an operating temperature as low as 100 oC and increased gradually with increasing of the NO gas concentration up to 30 ppm. The experimental results indicate that the spin-coated ZnO/CuO heterojunction structure has significant potential applications for gas sensors and other oxide electronics.

The ZnO thin films were grown on GaN template substrates by RF magnetron sputtering at different RF powers and n-ZnO/p-GaN heterojunction LEDs were fabricated to investigate the effect of the RF power on the characteristics of the n-ZnO/p-GaN LEDs. For the growth of the ZnO thin films, the substrate temperature was kept constant at 200˚C and the RF power was varied within the range of 200 to 500W at different growth times to deposit films of 100 nm thick. The electrical, optical and structural properties of ZnO thin films were investigated by ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) and by assessing the Hall effect. The characteristics of the n-ZnO/p-GaN LEDs were evaluated by current-voltage (I-V) and electroluminescence (EL) measurements. ZnO thin films were grown with a preferred c-axis orientation along the (0002) plane. The XRD peaks shifted to low angles and the surface roughness became non-uniform with an increase in the RF power. Also, the PL emission peak was red-shifted. The carrier density and the mobility decreased with the RF power. For the n-ZnO/p-GaN LED, the forward current at 20 V decreased and the threshold voltage increased with the RF power. The EL emission peak was observed at approximately 435 nm and the luminescence intensity decreased. Consequently, the crystallinity of the ZnO thin films grown with RF sputtering powers were improved. However, excess Zn affected the structural, electrical and optical properties of the ZnO thin films when the optimal RF power was exceeded. This excess RF power will degrade the characteristics of light emitting devices.

Excellent electron transport properties with enhanced light scattering ability for light harvesting have made well-ordered one dimensional TiO2 nanotube(TNT) arrays an alternative candidate over TiO2 nanoparticles in the area of solar energy conversion applications. The principal drawback of TNT arrays being activated only by UV light has been addressed by coupling the TNT with secondary materials which are visible light-triggered. As well as extending the absorption region of sunlight, the introduction of these foreign components is also found to influence the charge separation and electron lifetime of TNT. In this study, a novel method to fabricate the TNT-based composite photoelectrodes employing visible responsive CuInS2 (CIS) nanoparticles is presented. The developed method is a square wave pulse-assisted electrochemical deposition approach to wrap the inner and outer walls of a TNT array with CIS nanoparticles. Instead of coating as a dense compact layer of CIS by a conventional non-pulsed-electrochemical deposition method, the nanoparticles pack relatively loosely to form a rough surface which increases the surface area of the composite and results in a higher degree of light scattering within the tubular channels and hence a greater chance of absorption. The excellence coverage of CIS on the tubular TiO2 allows the construction of an effective heterojunction that exhibits enhanced photoelectrochemical performance.

In this study, the influence on the surface passivation properties of crystalline silicon according to silicon wafer thickness, and the correlation with a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cell performances were investigated. The wafers passivated by p(n)-doped a-Si:H layers show poor passivation properties because of the doping elements, such as boron(B) and phosphorous(P), which result in a low minority carrier lifetime (MCLT). A decrease in open circuit voltage (Voc) was observed when the wafer thickness was thinned from 170μm to 50μm. On the other hand, wafers incorporating intrinsic (i) a-Si:H as a passivation layer showed high quality passivation of a-Si:H/c-Si. The implied Voc of the ITO/p a-Si:H/i a-Si:H/n c-Si wafer/i a-Si:H/n a-Si:H/ITO stacked layers was 0.715 V for 50μm c-Si substrate, and 0.704 V for 170μm c-Si. The Voc in the heterojunction solar cells increased with decreases in the substrate thickness. The high quality passivation property on the c-Si led to an increasing of Voc in the thinner wafer. Short circuit current decreased as the substrate became thinner because of the low optical absorption for long wavelength light. In this paper, we show that high quality passivation of c-Si plays a role in heterojunction solar cells and is important in the development of thinner wafer technology.

Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) used in the antireflection layer and current spreading layer of heterojunction solar cells should have excellent optical and electrical properties. Furthermore, TCOs need a high work function over 5.2 eV to prevent the effect of emitter band-bending caused by the difference in work function between emitter and TCOs. Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO) film is a highly promising material as a TCO due to its excellent optical and electrical properties. However, ITO films have a low work function of about 4.8 eV. This low work function of ITO films leads to deterioration of the conversion efficiency of solar cells. In this work, ITO films with various Zn contents of 0, 6.9, 12.7, 28.8, and 36.6 at.% were fabricated by a co-sputtering method using ITO and AZO targets at room temperature. The optical and electrical properties of Zn-doped ITO thin films were analyzed. Then, silicon heterojunction solar cells with these films were fabricated. The 12.7 at% Zn-doped ITO films show the highest hall mobility of 35.71 cm2/Vsec. With increasing Zn content over 12.7, the hall mobility decreases. Although a small addition of Zn content increased the work function, further addition of Zn content over 12.7 at.% led to decreasing electrical properties because of the decrease in the carrier concentration and hall mobility. Silicon heterojunction solar cells with 12.7 at% Zn-doped ITO thin films showed the highest conversion efficiency of 15.8%.

In this study, we inserted a Zn buffer layer into a AZO/p-type a-si:H layer interface in order to lower the contact resistance of the interface. For the Zn layer, the deposition was conducted at 5 nm, 7 nm and 10 nm using the rf-magnetron sputtering method. The results were compared to that of the AZO film to discuss the possibility of the Zn layer being used as a transparent conductive oxide thin film for application in the silicon heterojunction solar cell. We used the rf-magnetron sputtering method to fabricate Al 2 wt.% of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) film as a transparent conductive oxide (TCO). We analyzed the electro-optical properties of the ZnO as well as the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer. After inserting a buffer layer into the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layers to enhance the interface properties, we measured the contact resistance of the layers using a CTLM (circular transmission line model) pattern, the depth profile of the layers using AES (auger electron spectroscopy), and the changes in the properties of the AZO thin film through heat treatment. We investigated the effects of the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer on the characteristics of silicon heterojunction solar cells and the way to improve the interface properties. When depositing AZO thin film on a-Si layer, oxygen atoms are diffused from the AZO thin film towards the a-Si layer. Thus, the characteristics of the solar cells deteriorate due to the created oxide film. While a diffusion of Zn occurs toward the a-Si in the case of AZO used as TCO, the diffusion of In occurs toward a-Si in the case of ITO used as TCO.

Silicon heterojunction solar cells have been studied by many research groups. In this work, silicon heterojunction solar cells having a simple structure of Ag/ZnO:Al/n type a-Si:H/p type c-Si/Al were fabricated. Samples were fabricated to investigate the effect of transparent conductive oxide growth conditions on the interface between ZnO:Al layer and a-Si:H layer. One sample was deposited by ZnO:Al at low working pressure. The other sample was deposited by ZnO:Al at alternating high working pressure and low working pressure. Electrical properties and chemical properties were investigated by light I-V characteristics and AES method, respectively. The light I-V characteristics showed better efficiency on sample deposited by ZnO:Al by alternating high working pressure and low working pressure. Atomic concentrations and relative oxidation states of Si, O, and Zn were analyzed by AES method. For poor efficiency samples, Si was diffused into ZnO:Al layer and O was diffused at the interface of ZnO:Al and Si. Differentiated O KLL spectra, Zn LMM spectra, and Si KLL spectra were used for interface reaction and oxidation state. According to AES spectra, sample deposited by high working pressure was effective at reducing the interface reaction and the Si diffusion. Consequently, the efficiency was improved by suppressing the SiOx formation at the interface.

In this study, the effects of an annealed buffer layer with different thickness on heterojunction diodes based on the ZnO/ZnO/p-Si(111) systems were reported. The effects of an annealed buffer layer with different thickness on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) films on p-Si(111) were also studied. Before zinc oxide (ZnO) deposition, different thicknesses of ZnO buffer layer, 10 nm, 30 nm, 50 nm and 70 nm, were grown on p-Si(111) substrates using a radio-frequency sputtering system; samples were subsequently annealed at 700˚C for 10 minutes in N2 in a horizontal thermal furnace. Zinc oxide (ZnO) films with a width of 280nm were also deposited using a radio-frequency sputtering system on the annealed ZnO/p-Si (111) substrates at room temperature; samples were subsequently annealed at 700˚C for 30 minutes in N2. In this experiment, the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films were studied by XRD (X-ray diffraction), and room temperature PL (photoluminescence) measurements, respectively. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics were measured with a semiconductor parameter analyzer. The thermal tensile stress was found to decrease with increasing buffer layer thickness. Among the ZnO/ZnO/p-Si(111) diodes fabricated in this study, the sample that was formed with the condition of a 50 nm thick ZnO buffer layer showed a strong c-axis preferred orientation and I-V characteristics suitable for a heterojunction diode.

In the current study, a Cu2O/TiO2 photoinduced nanocomposite materials prepared by ultrasonification method was evaluated the photocatalytic oxidation efficiency of volatile organic compounds (BTEX) under visible-light irradiation. The results of XRD confirmed the successful preparation of photoinduced nanocomposite materials. However, diffraction peaks belonging to TiO2 were not confirmed for the Cu2O/TiO2. The possible reason for the absence of Cu2O peak is their low content and small particle size. The result of uv-vis spectra exhibited that the fabricated Cu2O/TiO2 can be activated under visible light irradiation. The FE-SEM/EDS and TEM showed the formation of synthesized nanocomposites and componential analysis in the undoped TiO2 and Cu2O/TiO2. The photocatalytic oxidation efficiencies of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene with Cu2O/TiO2 were higher than undoped TiO2. According to light sources, the average oxidation efficiencies for BTEX by Cu2OT-0.5 were exhibited in the orer of 8 W day light > violet LEDs > white LEDs. However, the photocatalytic oxidation efficiencies normalized to supplied electric power were calculated to be in the following order of violet LEDs > white LEDs > 8 W day light, indicating that the LEDs could be a much more energy efficient light source for the photo-oxidation of gaseous BTEX using Cu2O/TiO2.

본 연구에서는 적층 구조를 이용하여 누설전류를 저감 시키는 기술을 적용하여 PIB(Particle-In-Binder) 법을 이용한 방사선 영상 센서의 변환 물질을 개발하였다. 이는 디지털 방사선 영상 검출기의 두 가지 방식 중 하나인 직접방식에 사용 되는 핵심 소자로 기존의 a-Se을 대체하여 더욱 효율이 높은 후보 물질들이 연구되어지는 가운데 태양전지와 반도체 분 야에서 이미 많이 사용되어온 이종접합을 이용해 누설 전류를 저감 시키는데 그 목적이 있다. 본 연구에서 사용되는 PIB 제작 방법은 검출 물질 제작이 용이하고 높은 수율과 대면적의 검출기 제작에 적합하나 높은 누설 전류가 의료 영상에 있 어서 문제가 되어 오고 있다. 이러한 단점을 보완하기 위해 적층 구조를 이용하여 누설 전류를 저감시킨다면 PIB법을 이용 하여 간편하게 향상된 효율의 디지털 방사선 검출기를 제작 할 수 있다고 사료 되어 진다. 본 연구에서는 누설 전류와 민 감도에 대한 전기적 신호를 측정하여 제작된 적층 구조의 방사선 검출 물질의 특성 평가가 이루어 졌다.