Undergraduate Publishes SCIE Journal Article through Research Internship

▲ Kyungmin Yoo, 3rd-year student, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, SNU

Seoul National University (SNU) College of Engineering announced that Kyeongmin Yoo, a 20-year-old student from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Class of 2022), has been awarded the Alfred R. Cooper Scholars Award by the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) for his research in transparent electrode technology. This award is one of the most prestigious in the field of ceramics and recognizes excellence among undergraduate researchers.

The Alfred R. Cooper Scholars Award was established to encourage undergraduate researchers who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in glass and optical materials. The award includes a $500 prize, a plaque, and an opportunity for the recipient to present their research at the annual Materials Science & Technology (MS&T) Conference held in the United States.

Yoo’s award-winning research paper, recognized for its high quality, has been published in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds, an international SCIE-indexed journal in the top 10% of materials science publications.

During an internship in Professor In-ho Jung's lab at SNU, Yoo collaborated with Ph.D. candidate Woono Choi to conduct research on transparent electrodes. These materials allow electric current to pass through while remaining transparent, making them essential for applications such as solar cells and touchscreens. Yoo’s work focused on indium oxide (In₂O₃), commonly used in transparent electrodes, and investigated how it behaves at temperatures above 1,400°C when combined with tin oxide (SnO₂) and zinc oxide (ZnO). The study led to the discovery of a new mixed oxide, In₂Sn₂Zn₂O₉, a material with previously unreported properties. Yoo also successfully analyzed its composition, crystal structure, and formation temperature.

Reflecting on his achievement, Yoo expressed gratitude to Professor Jung and his lab partner Choi for their guidance, adding, "I encourage other undergraduates to participate in internships to experience the entire research process firsthand, which greatly aids in career exploration and skill development."