With the increasing demand for mobile devices featuring multi-touch operation, extensive research is being conducted on touch screen panel (TSP) Readout ICs (ROICs) that should possess low power consumption, compact chip size, and immunity to external noise. Therefore, this paper discusses capacitive touch sensors and their readout circuits, and it introduces research trends in various circuit designs that are robust against external noise sources. The recent state-of-the-art TSP ROICs have primarily focused on minimizing the impact of parasitic capacitance (Cp) caused by thin panel thickness. The large Cp can be effectively compensated using an area-efficient current compensator and Current Conveyor (CC), while a display noise reduction scheme utilizing a noise-antenna (NA) electrode significantly improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Based on these achievements, it is expected that future TSP ROICs will be capable of stable operation with thinner and flexible Touch Screen Panels (TSPs).

Piezoelectric ceramics play an important role in electrical and electronic devices such as sensors, actuators, and microelectronic devices. However, traditional ceramics are difficult to be used in various process industries due to their high brittleness and low flexibility. Therefore, piezoelectric paint sensors have been designed for application to the curved surfaces of complicated structures. Furthermore, recently, significant attention has been focused on the development of paint sensors that can be used as structure health monitoring sensors for vibration, impact, and acoustic emission. Several studies have successfully demonstrated the possibility that smart paint sensors can take the place of traditional ceramic sensors. In this review, we briefly introduce the concept of the piezoelectric paint sensors and the expected application field as well as their preparation and history.

Tandem or multijunction solar cells (MJSCs) can convert sunlight into electricity with higher efficiency (η) than single junction solar cells (SJSCs) by dividing the solar irradiance over sub-cells having distinct bandgaps. The efficiencies of various common SJSC materials are close to the edge of their theoretical efficiency and hence there is a tremendous growing interest in utilizing the tandem/multijunction technique. Recently, III-V materials integration on a silicon substrate has been broadly investigated in the development of III-V on Si tandem solar cells. Numerous growth techniques such as heteroepitaxial growth, wafer bonding, and mechanical stacking are crucial for better understanding of high-quality III-V epitaxial layers on Si. As the choice of growth method and substrate selection can significantly impact the quality and performance of the resulting tandem cell and the terminal configuration exhibit a vital role in the overall proficiency. Parallel and Series-connected configurations have been studied, each with its advantage and disadvantages depending on the application and cell configuration. The optimization of both growth mechanisms and terminal configurations is necessary to further improve efficiency and lessen the cost of III-V on Si tandem solar cells. In this review article, we present an overview of the growth mechanisms and terminal configurations with the areas of research that are crucial for the commercialization of III-V on Si tandem solar cells.

Flash lamp annealing (FLA) of metal nanoparticle (NP) ink has provided powerful strategies to fabricate highperformance electrodes on a flexible substrate because of its rapid processing capability (in milliseconds), low-temperature process, and compatibility with to roll-to-roll process. However, metal NPs [e.g., gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), etc.] have limitations such as difficulty in synthesizing fine metal NPs (diameter less than 10 nm), high price, and degradation during ink storage and FLA processing. In this regard, organometallic ink has been proposed as a material that can replace metal NPs due to their low-cost (usually 1/100 times cheaper than metal nano inks), low-temperature processability, and high material stability. Despite these advantages, the fabrication of flexible electrodes through FLA treatment of organometallic compounds has not been extensively researched. In this paper, we experimentally guide how to determine the optimal conditions for forming electrodes on flexible substrates by considering material parameters, and flashlight processing parameters (energy density, pulse duration, etc) to minimize the difficulties that may arise during the FLA of organometallic ink.

In recent years, the transparent amorphous oxide thin film transistor represented by indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) has become the first choice of the next generation of integrated circuit control components. This article contributes an overview of IGZO thin-film transistors (TFTs), including their fundamental principles and recent advancements. The paper outlines various TFT structures and places emphasis on the fabrication process of the active layer. The result showed that the size of the active layer including the length-to-width ratio and the width could have a significant effect on the mobility. And the process of TFT could influence the crystal structure of IGZO thin film. Furthermore, the article presents an overview of recent applications of IGZO TFTs, such as their use in display drivers and TFT memories. At last, the future development of IGZO TFT is forecasted in this paper.

This paper is an experimental study on the optimal operating conditions of direct charging type electrospray for particulate matter collection. To perform the research, a direct charging type electrospray visualization system was configured to photograph the spray shape of microdroplets, and experiments were performed with varying electrode distance, flow rate, and applied voltage, which are the main factors affecting the particulate matter collection efficacy. Through image processing, the total number of microdroplets according to each condition was analyzed, and the number of microdroplets with a diameter of 1.5 mm or less was confirmed. In addition, by calculating the number of microdroplets per power consumption according to the applied voltage, the optimal operating conditions were derived in terms of energy consumption efficacy, and the microdroplet size distribution was analyzed under the optimal operating conditions. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the optimal operating condition was at a flow rate of 10 mL/min and a voltage of -20 kV in case of 5 mm electrode distance, and at a flow rate of 15 mL/min and a voltage of -30 kV in case of 100 mm electrode distance.

A carbon-based hybrid resistor was fabricated using carbon nanotube (CNT) paste as an adhesive layer to establish electrically continuous ohmic contacts between CNT sheets and different CNT sheet or copper based metal alloy plates, and its electrical properties were evaluated. CNT sheets were fabricated using vacuum filtration with a CNT solution dispersed in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solvent. The electrical characteristics of these carbon-based hybrid resistors were investigated.The CNT paste fulfilled the requirements for forming ohmic contacts between CNT sheets and metal alloy plates, which was attributed to the lowest work function difference and excellent wettability at the interface.

The effect of sputtering power on the amorphous Ga₂O₃ thin film deposited using the radio frequency sputtering system was evaluated. Amorphous Ga₂O₃ is cheaper and more efficiently fabricated than crystalline Ga₂O₃, and is studied in various fields such as RRAM, photodetector, and flexible devices. In this study, amorphous Ga₂O₃ was deposited by radio frequency sputtering system and represented a transmittance of over 80% in the visible light region and a homogeneous and dense surface. The optical band gap energy decreased as the sputtering power increased owing to the quantum size effect. Thus, the specific band gap of amorphous Ga₂O₃ can be obtained by adjusting the sputtering power, it indicates amorphous Ga₂O₃ can be used in various fields.

In this paper, in order to apply the CF (color filter) type of the micro light emitting device (Micro LED) display method, a study on the manufacturing process of red and green phosphor inks for the inkjet process was conducted. The blue light-emitting KSF and LuAG phosphors were respectively used to control the phosphor particle size to about 1μm, and a phosphor ink was prepared by synthesizing with a low-viscosity solution (IPA/Eg). A chemical dispersion method was applied to selectively control the dispersion characteristics in the manufacture of phosphor inks, and in particular, phosphor inks with a dispersant applied a dispersant secured stable dispersion characteristic compared to phosphor inks without a dispersion process. Therefore, it seems possible to manufacture CF for Micro LED through an inkjet process capable of controlling the dispersion characteristics of phosphor ink.

In this study, the heteroepitaxial thin film growth of β-Ga₂O₃ was studied according to the position of the susceptor in mist-CVD. The position of the susceptor and substrate was moved step by step from the center of the hot zone to the inlet of mist in the range of 0~50 mm. It was confirmed that the average thickness increased to 292 nm (D1), 521 nm (D2), and 580 nm (D3) as the position of the susceptor moved away from the center of the hot zone region. The thickness of the lower region of the substrate is increased compared to the upper region. The surface roughness of the lower region of the substrate also increased because the nucleation density increased due to the increase in the lifetime of the mist droplets and the increased mist density. Therefore, thin film growth of β-Ga₂O₃ in mist-CVD is performed by appropriately adjusting the position of the susceptor (or substrate) in consideration of the mist velocity, evaporation amount, and temperature difference with the substrate, thereby determining the crystallinity of the thin film, the thickness distribution, and the thickness of the thin film. Therefore, these results can provide insights for optimizing the mist-CVD process and producing high-quality β-Ga₂O₃ thin films for various optical and electronic applications.

This study investigated crystal structures, microstructures, and electric-field-induced strain (EFIS) properties of Bibased lead-free ferroelectric/relaxor composites. Bi_1/2(Na_0.82K_0.18)_1/2TiO₃ (BNKT) as a ferroelectric material and 0.78Bi_1/2(Na_0.78K_0.22)_1/2TiO₃-0.02LaFeO₃ (BNKT2LF) as a relaxor material were synthesized using a conventional solid-state reaction method, and the resulting BNKT2LF powders were subjected to high-energy ball milling (HEBM) after calcination. As a result, HEBM proved a larger average grain size of sintered samples compared to conventional ball milling (CBM). In addition, the increased sintering time led to grain growth. Furthermore, HEBM treatment and sintering time demonstrated a significant effect on EFIS of BNKT/BNKT2LF composites. At 6 kV/mm, 0.35% of the maximum strain (S_max) was observed in the HEBM sample sintered for 12 h. The unipolar strain curves of CBM samples were almost linear, indicating almost no phase transitions, while HEBM samples displayed phase transitions at 5~6 kV/mm for all sintering time levels, showing the highest S_max/E_max value of 700 pm/V. These results indicated that HEBM treatment with a long sintering time might significantly enhance the electromechanical strain properties of BNT-based ceramics.

It was reported that a tetragonal phase can be stabilized with maintaining good piezoelectric properties when Na_0.5K_0.5NbO₃ (KNN) is modified with 0.06 mol SrTiO₃. However, such a high amount of SrTiO₃ leads not only to poor sinterability but low Curie temperature (TC). To maintain high TC with good piezoelectric properties in KNN-based lead-free piezoelectric ceramics, this study investigates the effect of Li-doping on the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of 0.96Na_0.5K_0.5NbO₃-0.04SrTiO₃ (KNN-4ST) ceramics. As a result, the orthorhombic-tetragonal phase transition was observed at 2 mol% Li₂CO₃ modified KNN-4ST ceramics, whose TC, d33 and kp values are 328℃, 165pC/N and 0.33, respectively.

An algorithm was developed to detect and block serial arc currents using HPF. The AC series arc problem is that the load current is greater than the fault current and no leakage current occurs. As a solution, an arc detection method utilizing differences in high- frequency amplitudes was developed. HPT was applied to the load current and FFT was applied to eliminate low frequencies. An algorithm has been developed to detect arc waveforms when they exceed a certain value compared to the average of normal waveforms. Using one cycle of data, arc detection is faster and arc accidents are prevented.

Stretchable piezoelectric energy harvester (S-PEHs) based on composite materials are considered one of the potential candidates for realizing wearable self-powered devices for smart clothing and electronic skin. However, low energy conversion performance and expensive stretchable electrodes are major bottlenecks hindering the development and application of S-PEHs. Here, we fabricated the S-PEH by adopting the piezoelectric composites with enhanced stress transfer properties and kirigamipatterned textile electrodes. The optimum contents of piezoelectric BaTiO₃ nanoparticles inside the carbon nanotube/ecoflex composite were selected as 30 wt% considering the trade-off between stretchability and energy harvesting performance of the device. The final S-PEH shows an output voltage and mechanical stability of ~5 V and ~3,000 cycles under repeated 150% of tensile strain, respectively. This work presents a cost-effective and scalable way to fabricate stretchable piezoelectric devices for self-powered wearable electronic systems.

Mechanoluminescence (ML) is a phenomenon where the application of mechanical force to ML materials generates an electric field and produces light, holding significant promise as an eco-friendly technology. However, challenges in commercializing ML technology has arisen due to its low brightness and short luminous lifetime. To address this, in this work, we enhance ML efficiency by mixing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into a ZnS: Cu embedded in a polydimethylsiloxane composite ML device. The inclusion of CNTs boosts ML intensity by 98% compared to devices without CNTs, as the increasing CNT fraction elevates conductivity, thereby amplifying ML intensity. However, this increase in CNT fraction also leads to enhanced light absorption within the device. Consequently, we observe a trend where ML intensity rises initially but declines beyond a CNT fraction of 0.0015 wt%. Based on these findings, we anticipate that our research will make valuable contributions to the advancement of electrical powerless mechanoluminescent technology.