Jihun Oh

Tuning of vertically-aligned carbon nanotube diameter and areal density through catalyst pre-treatment.

By controlling the timing and duration of hydrogen exposure in a fixed thermal process, we tuned the diameters of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) within a vertically aligned film by a factor of 2, and tuned the areal densities by an order of magnitude. The CNT structure is correlated with the catalyst morphology, suggesting that while chemical reduction of the catalyst layer is required for growth, prolonged H2 exposure not only reduces the iron oxide and enables agglomeration of the Fe film, but also leads to catalyst coarsening. Control of this coarsening process allows tuning of CNT characteristics.

Nanoporous black silicon photocathode for H2 production by photoelectrochemical water splitting

Nanostructured Si eliminates several critical problems with Si photocathodes and dramatically improves a photoelectrochemical (PEC) reaction important to water-splitting. Our nanostructured black Si photocathodes improve the H2 production by providing (1) near-ideal anti-reflection that enables the absorption of most incident light and its conversion to photogenerated electrons and (2) extremely high surface area in direct contact with water that reduces the overpotential needed for the PEC hydrogen half-reaction. Application of these advances would significantly improve the solar H2 conversion efficiency of an ideal tandem PEC system. Finally, the nanostructured Si surface facilitates bubble evolution and therefore reduces the need for surfactants in the electrolyte.

Controlled synthesis of aligned Ni-NiO core-shell nanowire arrays on glass substrates as a new supercapacitor electrode

Aligned Ni-NiO core-shell nanowire arrays on a glass substrate were prepared via electrochemical deposition using porous alumina oxide templates. The core-shell nanowire electrodes displayed prominent supercapacitive behaviors. The rate capability of the electrodes depends strongly on the thickness of the NiO shell layers.

Fabrication of silicon nanopillar-based nanocapacitor arrays

We report the fabrication of silicon nanopillar-based nanocapacitor arrays using metal-assisted etching in conjunction with electrodeposition. The high aspect ratio made possible by the catalyzed etching provides for an increased effective electrode area and hence a significant improvement in the capacitance density. Electroplated Ni electrode forms a conformal layer over the silicon nanopillars. Capacitance measurements show the expected trend as a function of pillar height and array period. The fabrication approach is simple, compatible with integration into standard silicon technology, and easily scalable.

Characteristics of erbium-silicided n-type Schottky barrier tunnel transistors

The current–voltage characteristics of erbium-silicided n-type Schottky barrier tunnel transistors (SBTTs) are discussed. The n-type SBTTs with 60 nm gate lengths shows typical transistor behaviors in drain current to drain voltage characteristics. The drain current on/off ratio is about 105 at low drain voltage regime in drain current to gate voltage characteristics. However, the on/off ratio tends to decrease as the drain voltage increases. From the numerical simulation results, the increase of off-current is mainly attributed to the thermionic current and the increase of drain current is mainly attributed to the tunneling current, respectively. This phenomenon is explained by using drain induced Schottky barrier thickness thinning effect.

Rational Design of Efficient Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction: Single Layers of WS2 Nanoplates Anchored to Hollow Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanofibers.

To exploit the benefits of nanostructuring for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), we employed coaxial electrospinning to synthesize single-layered WS2 nanoplates anchored to hollow nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (WS2@HNCNFs) as efficient electrocatalysts. For comparison, bulk WS2 powder and single layers of WS2 embedded in nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (WS2@NCNFs) were synthesized and electrochemically tested. The distinctive design of the WS2@HNCNFs enables remarkable electrochemical performances showing a low overpotential with reduced charge transfer resistance, a small Tafel slope, and excellent durability. The experimental results highlight the importance of nanostructure engineering in electrocatalysts for enhanced HER.

Fabrication of 50-nm gate SOI n-MOSFETs using novel plasma-doping technique

A plasma-doping technique for fabricating nanoscale silicon-on-insulator (SOI) MOSFETs has been investigated. The source/drain (S/D) extensions of the tri-gate structure SOI n-MOSFETs were formed by using an elevated temperature plasma-doping method. Even though the activation annealing after plasma doping was excluded to minimize the diffusion of dopants, which resulted in a laterally abrupt S/D junction, we obtained a low sheet resistance of 920 /spl Omega///spl square/ by the elevated temperature plasma doping of 527 /spl deg/C. A tri-gate structure silicon-on-insulator n-MOSFET with a gate length of 50 nm was successfully fabricated and revealed suppressed short-channel effects.

Tailoring of the PbS/metal interface in colloidal quantum dot solar cells for improvements of performance and air stability

Despite the outstanding advantages of a simple structure and cost-effectiveness of solution-based fabrication, Schottky junction quantum dot solar cells (QDSCs) often demonstrate low open-circuit voltage and power conversion efficiency (PCE) due to insufficient band bending at the QD/metal Schottky junction. Generally, this undesirable result stems from the presence of many defects at the QD/metal interface and the consequent Fermi-level pinning effect. Here, we show how the simple oxidation of PbS QDs at the PbS/metal interface can greatly improve the open-circuit voltage, fill factor, and PCE of Schottky junction QDSCs. On the basis of systematic analysis results using current–voltage characterization, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and light-soaking tests, we reveal that this enhancement originates from reduced interface states at the PbS/metal Schottky junction. Moreover, a significant enhancement of stability of the device is confirmed by the maintenance of >55% of its initial PCE even after 500 hours exposure in air without additional passivation.

Abnormal Anodic Aluminum Oxide Formation in Confined Structures for Lateral Pore Arrays

We report on abnormal behavior in anodic oxidation of Al in mechanically confined structures for formation of horizontal nanoporous anodic alumina oxide (H-AAO). Instead of smooth pore walls, periodic dendrite inner pore structures form, the growth rate is suppressed to 5% of its value during bulk anodization under the same conditions, and a steady-state is never reached. These anomalies associated with H-AAO originate from suppressed volume expansion and a plastic flow of Al 2 O 3 confined by the Si0 2 hard mask. By determining new anodization conditions leading to zero volume expansion, dendritic H-AAO can be avoided and kinetic retardation minimized.

A wafer-scale antireflective protection layer of solution-processed TiO2 nanorods for high performance silicon-based water splitting photocathodes

Sustainable and efficient conversion of solar energy to transportable green energy and storable fuels, hydrogen, represents a solution to the energy crisis and reduces the consumption of fossil fuels, which are mainly responsible for the rise in global temperature. Solar water splitting using semiconductors, such as silicon, is promising to satisfy the global energy demand by producing hydrogen molecules. However, the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency of a silicon photoelectrode is suppressed by overpotential, high reflectance and/or instability in liquid electrolytes. Herein, we report the synthesis of multifunctional solution-processed TiO2 nanorods on a 4-inch p-silicon wafer with controllable heights and diameters for highly efficient water splitting photocathodes. The solution-processed passivation layer of TiO2 nanorods reduces the overpotential of the silicon photocathode due to its catalytic properties. The TiO2 NRs also dramatically improves the light absorption of silicon due to the antireflective ability of the nanorods. The reflectance of silicon is decreased from 37.5% to 1.4% and enhances the saturated photocurrent density. The Pt-decorated (1–2.5 nm diameter) TiO2 nanorods/p-Si photocathodes show a short circuit current density of up to 40 mA cm−2, an open circuit voltage ∼440 mV and incident photon to current conversion efficiency of >90% using 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte with simulated 1 sun irradiation. The heterostructure photocathodes are stable for more than 52 h without noticeable degradation and an ideal regenerative cell efficiency of 2.5% is achieved.