UV Detector Materials Development Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-12-01

document. UNCLASSIFIED SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIr odkE ’Whe Date Entered) READ INSTRUCTIONS REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE BEFORE COMPLETING FORM 1... collection efficiency within the detector (internal quantum efficiency). As mentioned previously, it was found that reverse biasing the Schottky diodes...the ratio of the number of carriers collected in the detector versus the number of photons entering into the absorbing region. It is, therefore

Semiconducting lithium indium diselenide: Charge-carrier properties and the impacts of high flux thermal neutron irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamm, Daniel S.; Rust, Mikah; Herrera, Elan H.; Matei, Liviu; Buliga, Vladimir; Groza, Michael; Burger, Arnold; Stowe, Ashley; Preston, Jeff; Lukosi, Eric D.

2018-06-01

This paper reports on the charge carrier properties of several lithium indium diselenide (LISe) semiconductors. It was found that the charge collection efficiency of LISe was improved after high flux thermal neutron irradiation including the presence of a typically unobservable alpha peak from hole-only collection. Charge carrier trap energies of the irradiated sample were measured using photo-induced current transient spectroscopy. Compared to previous studies of this material, no significant differences in trap energies were observed. Through trap-filled limited voltage measurements, neutron irradiation was found to increase the density of trap states within the bulk of the semiconductor, which created a polarization effect under alpha exposure but not neutron exposure. Further, the charge collection efficiency of the irradiated sample was higher (14-15 fC) than that of alpha particles (3-5 fC), indicating that an increase in hole signal contribution resulted from the neutron irradiation. Finally, it was observed that significant charge loss takes place near the point of generation, producing a significant scintillation response and artificially inflating the W-value of all semiconducting LISe crystals.

Transparent electrodes in silicon heterojunction solar cells: Influence on contact passivation

DOE PAGES

Tomasi, Andrea; Sahli, Florent; Seif, Johannes Peter; ...

2015-10-26

Charge carrier collection in silicon heterojunction solar cells occurs via intrinsic/doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer stacks deposited on the crystalline silicon wafer surfaces. Usually, both the electron and hole collecting stacks are externally capped by an n-type transparent conductive oxide, which is primarily needed for carrier extraction. Earlier, it has been demonstrated that the mere presence of such oxides can affect the carrier recombination in the crystalline silicon absorber. Here, we present a detailed investigation of the impact of this phenomenon on both the electron and hole collecting sides, including its consequences for the operating voltages of silicon heterojunction solarmore » cells. As a result, we define guiding principles for improved passivating contact design for high-efficiency silicon solar cells.« less

Transparent electrodes in silicon heterojunction solar cells: Influence on contact passivation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tomasi, Andrea; Sahli, Florent; Seif, Johannes Peter

Charge carrier collection in silicon heterojunction solar cells occurs via intrinsic/doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer stacks deposited on the crystalline silicon wafer surfaces. Usually, both the electron and hole collecting stacks are externally capped by an n-type transparent conductive oxide, which is primarily needed for carrier extraction. Earlier, it has been demonstrated that the mere presence of such oxides can affect the carrier recombination in the crystalline silicon absorber. Here, we present a detailed investigation of the impact of this phenomenon on both the electron and hole collecting sides, including its consequences for the operating voltages of silicon heterojunction solarmore » cells. As a result, we define guiding principles for improved passivating contact design for high-efficiency silicon solar cells.« less

Effects of Magnetic Nanoparticles and External Magnetostatic Field on the Bulk Heterojunction Polymer Solar Cells

DOE PAGES

Wang, Kai; Yi, Chao; Liu, Chang; ...

2015-03-18

The price of energy to separate tightly bound electron-hole pair (or charge-transfer state) and extract freely movable charges from low-mobility materials represents fundamental losses for many low-cost photovoltaic devices. In bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells (PSCs), approximately 50% of the total efficiency lost among all energy loss pathways is due to the photogenerated charge carrier recombination within PSCs and low charge carrier mobility of disordered organic materials. To address these issues, we introduce magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and orientate these MNPS within BHJ composite by an external magnetostatic field. Over 50% enhanced efficiency was observed from BHJ PSCs incorporated withmore » MNPs and an external magnetostatic field alignment when compared to the control BHJ PSCs. The optimization of BHJ thin film morphology, suppression of charge carrier recombination, and enhancement in charge carrier collection result in a greatly increased short-circuit current density and fill factor, as a result, enhanced power conversion efficiency.« less

Inverted Ultrathin Organic Solar Cells with a Quasi-Grating Structure for Efficient Carrier Collection and Dip-less Visible Optical Absorption.

PubMed

In, Sungjun; Park, Namkyoo

2016-02-23

We propose a metallic-particle-based two-dimensional quasi-grating structure for application to an organic solar cell. With the use of oblate spheroidal nanoparticles in contact with an anode of inverted, ultrathin organic solar cells (OSCs), the quasi-grating structure offers strong hybridization between localized surface plasmons and plasmonic gap modes leading to broadband (300~800 nm) and uniform (average ~90%) optical absorption spectra. Both strong optical enhancement in extreme confinement within the active layer (90 nm) and improved hole collection are thus realized. A coupled optical-electrical multi-physics optimization shows a large (~33%) enhancement in the optical absorption (corresponding to an absorption efficiency of ~47%, AM1.5G weighted, visible) when compared to a control OSC without the quasi-grating structure. That translates into a significant electrical performance gain of ~22% in short circuit current and ~15% in the power conversion efficiency (PCE), leading to an energy conversion efficiency (~6%) which is comparable to that of optically-thick inverted OSCs (3-7%). Detailed analysis on the influences of mode hybridization to optical field distributions, exciton generation rate, charge carrier collection efficiency and electrical conversion efficiency is provided, to offer an integrated understanding on the coupled optical-electrical optimization of ultrathin OSCs.

Electronic Properties, Screening, and Efficient Carrier Transport in NaSbS 2

DOE PAGES

Sun, Jifeng; Singh, David J.

2017-02-13

NaSbS 2 is a semiconductor that was recently shown to have remarkable efficacy as a solar absorber indicating efficient charge collection even in material containing defects. We report first-principles calculations of properties that show (1) an indirect gap only slightly smaller than the direct gap, which may impede the recombination of photoexcited carriers, (2) highly anisotropic electronic and optical properties reflecting a layered crystal structure, (3) a pushed-up valence-band maximum due to repulsion from the Sb 5s states, and (4) cross-gap hybridization between the S p—derived valence bands and the Sb 5p states. This latter feature leads to enhanced Bornmore » effective charges that can provide local screening and, therefore, defect tolerance. Finally, these features are discussed in relation to the performance of the compound as a semiconductor with efficient charge collection.« less

Modeling charge collection efficiency degradation in partially depleted GaAs photodiodes using the 1- and 2-carrier Hecht equations

DOE PAGES

Auden, E. C.; Vizkelethy, G.; Serkland, D. K.; ...

2017-03-24

Here, the Hecht equation can be used to model the nonlinear degradation of charge collection efficiency (CCE) in response to radiation-induced displacement damage in both fully and partially depleted GaAs photodiodes. CCE degradation is measured for laser-generated photocurrent as a function of fluence and bias in Al 0.3Ga 0.7As/GaAs/Al 0.25Ga 0.75As p-i-n photodiodes which have been irradiated with 12 MeV C and 7.5 MeV Si ions. CCE is observed to degrade more rapidly with fluence in partially depleted photodiodes than in fully depleted photodiodes. When the intrinsic GaAs layer is fully depleted, the 2-carrier Hecht equation describes CCE degradation asmore » photogenerated electrons and holes recombine at defect sites created by radiation damage in the depletion region. If the GaAs layer is partially depleted, CCE degradation is more appropriately modeled as the sum of the 2-carrier Hecht equation applied to electrons and holes generated within the depletion region and the 1-carrier Hecht equation applied to minority carriers that diffuse from the field-free (non-depleted) region into the depletion region. Enhanced CCE degradation is attributed to holes that recombine within the field-free region of the partially depleted intrinsic GaAs layer before they can diffuse into the depletion region.« less

Modeling charge collection efficiency degradation in partially depleted GaAs photodiodes using the 1- and 2-carrier Hecht equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Auden, E. C.; Vizkelethy, G.; Serkland, D. K.; Bossert, D. J.; Doyle, B. L.

2017-05-01

The Hecht equation can be used to model the nonlinear degradation of charge collection efficiency (CCE) in response to radiation-induced displacement damage in both fully and partially depleted GaAs photodiodes. CCE degradation is measured for laser-generated photocurrent as a function of fluence and bias in Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs/Al0.25Ga0.75As p-i-n photodiodes which have been irradiated with 12 MeV C and 7.5 MeV Si ions. CCE is observed to degrade more rapidly with fluence in partially depleted photodiodes than in fully depleted photodiodes. When the intrinsic GaAs layer is fully depleted, the 2-carrier Hecht equation describes CCE degradation as photogenerated electrons and holes recombine at defect sites created by radiation damage in the depletion region. If the GaAs layer is partially depleted, CCE degradation is more appropriately modeled as the sum of the 2-carrier Hecht equation applied to electrons and holes generated within the depletion region and the 1-carrier Hecht equation applied to minority carriers that diffuse from the field-free (non-depleted) region into the depletion region. Enhanced CCE degradation is attributed to holes that recombine within the field-free region of the partially depleted intrinsic GaAs layer before they can diffuse into the depletion region.

Modeling charge collection efficiency degradation in partially depleted GaAs photodiodes using the 1- and 2-carrier Hecht equations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Auden, E. C.; Vizkelethy, G.; Serkland, D. K.

Here, the Hecht equation can be used to model the nonlinear degradation of charge collection efficiency (CCE) in response to radiation-induced displacement damage in both fully and partially depleted GaAs photodiodes. CCE degradation is measured for laser-generated photocurrent as a function of fluence and bias in Al 0.3Ga 0.7As/GaAs/Al 0.25Ga 0.75As p-i-n photodiodes which have been irradiated with 12 MeV C and 7.5 MeV Si ions. CCE is observed to degrade more rapidly with fluence in partially depleted photodiodes than in fully depleted photodiodes. When the intrinsic GaAs layer is fully depleted, the 2-carrier Hecht equation describes CCE degradation asmore » photogenerated electrons and holes recombine at defect sites created by radiation damage in the depletion region. If the GaAs layer is partially depleted, CCE degradation is more appropriately modeled as the sum of the 2-carrier Hecht equation applied to electrons and holes generated within the depletion region and the 1-carrier Hecht equation applied to minority carriers that diffuse from the field-free (non-depleted) region into the depletion region. Enhanced CCE degradation is attributed to holes that recombine within the field-free region of the partially depleted intrinsic GaAs layer before they can diffuse into the depletion region.« less

Recombination in liquid-filled ionization chambers beyond the Boag limit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brualla-González, L.; Roselló, J.

Purpose: The high mass density and low mobilities of charge carriers can cause important recombination in liquid-filled ionization chambers (LICs). Saturation correction methods have been proposed for LICs. Correction methods for pulsed irradiation are based on Boag equation. However, Boag equation assumes that the charge ionized by one pulse is fully collected before the arrival of the next pulse. This condition does not hold in many clinical beams where the pulse repetition period may be shorter than the charge collection time, causing overlapping between charge carriers ionized by different pulses, and Boag equation is not applicable there. In this work,more » the authors present an experimental and numerical characterization of collection efficiencies in LICs beyond the Boag limit, with overlapping between charge carriers ionized by different pulses. Methods: The authors have studied recombination in a LIC array for different dose-per-pulse, pulse repetition frequency, and polarization voltage values. Measurements were performed in a Truebeam Linac using FF and FFF modalities. Dose-per-pulse and pulse repetition frequency have been obtained by monitoring the target current with an oscilloscope. Experimental collection efficiencies have been obtained by using a combination of the two-dose-rate method and ratios to the readout of a reference chamber (CC13, IBA). The authors have also used numerical simulation to complement the experimental data. Results: The authors have found that overlap significantly increases recombination in LICs, as expected. However, the functional dependence of collection efficiencies on the dose-per-pulse does not change (a linear dependence has been observed in the near-saturation region for different degrees of overlapping, the same dependence observed in the nonoverlapping scenario). On the other hand, the dependence of collection efficiencies on the polarization voltage changes in the overlapping scenario and does not follow that of Boag equation, the reason being that changing the polarization voltage also affects the charge collection time, thus changing the amount of overlapping. Conclusions: These results have important consequences for saturation correction methods for LICs. On one hand, the two-dose-rate method, which relies on the functional dependence of the collection efficiencies on dose-per-pulse, can also be used in the overlapping situation, provided that the two measurements needed to feed the method are performed at the same pulse repetition frequency (monitor unit rate). This result opens the door to computing collection efficiencies in LICs in many clinical setups where charge overlap in the LIC exists. On the other hand, correction methods based on the voltage-dependence of Boag equation like the three-voltage method or the modified two-voltage method will not work in the overlapping scenario due to the different functional dependence of collection efficiencies on the polarization voltage.« less

Performance analysis of nanodisk and core/shell/shell-nanowire type III-Nitride heterojunction solar cell for efficient energy harvesting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Routray, S. R.; Lenka, T. R.

2017-11-01

Now-a-days III-Nitride nanowires with axial (nanodisk) and radial (core/shell/shell-nanowire) junctions are two unique and potential methods for solar energy harvesting adopted by worldwide researchers. In this paper, polarization behavior of GaN/InGaN/GaN junction and its effect on carrier dynamics of nanodisk and CSS-nanowire type solar cells are intensively studied and compared with its planar counterpart by numerical simulations using commercially available Victory TCAD. It is observed that CSS-NW with hexagonal geometrical shapes are robust to detrimental impact of polarization charges and could be good enough to accelerate carrier collection efficiency as compared to nanodisk and planar solar cells. This numerical study provides an innovative aspect of fundamental device physics with respect to polarization charges in CSS-NW and nanodisk type junction towards photovoltaic applications. The internal quantum efficiencies (IQE) are also discussed to evaluate carrier collection mechanisms and recombination losses in each type of junctions of solar cell. Finally, it is interesting to observe a maximum conversion efficiency of 6.46% with 91.6% fill factor from n-GaN/i-In0.1Ga0.9N/p-GaN CSS-nanowire solar cell with an optimized thickness of 180 nm InGaN layer under one Sun AM1.5 illumination.

Photo-conductive detection of continuous THz waves via manipulated ultrafast process in nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moon, Kiwon; Lee, Eui Su; Lee, Il-Min; Park, Dong Woo; Park, Kyung Hyun

2018-01-01

Time-domain and frequency-domain terahertz (THz) spectroscopy systems often use materials fabricated with exotic and expensive methods that intentionally introduce defects to meet short carrier lifetime requirements. In this study, we demonstrate the development of a nano-photomixer that meets response speed requirements without using defect-incorporated, low-temperature-grown (LTG) semiconductors. Instead, we utilized a thin InGaAs layer grown on a semi-insulating InP substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) combined with nano-electrodes to manipulate local ultrafast photo-carrier dynamics via a carefully designed field-enhancement and plasmon effect. The developed nano-structured photomixer can detect continuous-wave THz radiation up to a frequency of 2 THz with a peak carrier collection efficiency of 5%, which is approximately 10 times better than the reference efficiency of 0.4%. The better efficiency results from the high carrier mobility of the MOCVD-grown InGaAs thin layer with the coincidence of near-field and plasmon-field distributions in the nano-structure. Our result not only provides a generally applicable methodology for manipulating ultrafast carrier dynamics by means of nano-photonic techniques to break the trade-off relation between the carrier lifetime and mobility in typical LTG semiconductors but also contributes to mass-producible photo-conductive THz detectors to facilitate the widespread application of THz technology.

Three dimensional amorphous silicon/microcrystalline silicon solar cells

DOEpatents

Kaschmitter, James L.

1996-01-01

Three dimensional deep contact amorphous silicon/microcrystalline silicon (a-Si/.mu.c-Si) solar cells which use deep (high aspect ratio) p and n contacts to create high electric fields within the carrier collection volume material of the cell. The deep contacts are fabricated using repetitive pulsed laser doping so as to create the high aspect p and n contacts. By the provision of the deep contacts which penetrate the electric field deep into the material where the high strength of the field can collect many of the carriers, thereby resulting in a high efficiency solar cell.

Three dimensional amorphous silicon/microcrystalline silicon solar cells

DOEpatents

Kaschmitter, J.L.

1996-07-23

Three dimensional deep contact amorphous silicon/microcrystalline silicon (a-Si/{micro}c-Si) solar cells are disclosed which use deep (high aspect ratio) p and n contacts to create high electric fields within the carrier collection volume material of the cell. The deep contacts are fabricated using repetitive pulsed laser doping so as to create the high aspect p and n contacts. By the provision of the deep contacts which penetrate the electric field deep into the material where the high strength of the field can collect many of the carriers, thereby resulting in a high efficiency solar cell. 4 figs.

Direct determination of quantum efficiency of semiconducting films

DOEpatents

Faughnan, Brian W.; Hanak, Joseph J.

1986-01-01

Photovoltaic quantum efficiency of semiconductor samples is determined directly, without requiring that a built-in photovoltage be generated by the sample. Electrodes are attached to the sample so as to form at least one Schottky barrier therewith. When illuminated, the generated photocurrent carriers are collected by an external bias voltage impressed across the electrodes. The generated photocurrent is measured, and photovoltaic quantum efficiency is calculated therefrom.

Direct determination of quantum efficiency of semiconducting films

DOEpatents

Faughnan, B.W.; Hanak, J.J.

Photovoltaic quantum efficiency of semiconductor samples is determined directly, without requiring that a built-in photovoltage be generated by the sample. Electrodes are attached to the sample so as to form at least one Schottky barrier therewith. When illuminated, the generated photocurrent carriers are collected by an external bias voltage impressed across the electrodes. The generated photocurrent is measured, and photovoltaic quantum efficiency is calculated therefrom.

75 FR 25912 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently-Approved Information Collection...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-10

... Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 106-159, 113 Stat. 1749, December 9, 1999) (MCSIA..., Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (Pub. L. 109- 59, 119 Stat. 1144, Aug. 10..., 2010. Terry Shelton, Associate Administrator for Research and Information Technology. [FR Doc. 2010...

Hot Carrier Extraction from Multilayer Graphene.

PubMed

Urcuyo, Roberto; Duong, Dinh Loc; Sailer, Patrick; Burghard, Marko; Kern, Klaus

2016-11-09

Hot carriers in semiconductor or metal nanostructures are relevant, for instance, to enhance the activity of oxide-supported metal catalysts or to achieve efficient photodetection using ultrathin semiconductor layers. Moreover, rapid collection of photoexcited hot carriers can improve the efficiency of solar cells, with a theoretical maximum of 85%. Because of the long lifetime of secondary excited electrons, graphene is an especially promising two-dimensional material to harness hot carriers for solar-to-electricity conversion. However, the photoresponse of thus far realized graphene photoelectric devices is mainly governed by thermal effects, which yield only a very small photovoltage. Here, we report a Gr-TiO x -Ti heterostructure wherein the photovoltaic effect is predominant. By doping the graphene, the open circuit voltage reaches values up to 0.30 V, 2 orders of magnitude larger than for devices relying upon the thermoelectric effect. The photocurrent turned out to be limited by trap states in the few-nanometer-thick TiO x layer. Our findings represent a first valuable step toward the integration of graphene into third-generation solar cells based upon hot carrier extraction.

Beneficial Effect of Post-Deposition Treatment in High-Efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells through Reduced Potential Fluctuations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jensen, Soren A.; Glynn, Stephen; Kanevce, Ana

World-record power conversion efficiencies for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells have been achieved via a post-deposition treatment with alkaline metals, which increases the open-circuit voltage and fill factor. We explore the role of the potassium fluoride (KF) post-deposition treatment in CIGS by employing energy- and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy and electrical characterization combined with numerical modeling. The bulk carrier lifetime is found to increase with post-deposition treatment from 255 ns to 388 ns, which is the longest charge carrier lifetime reported for CIGS, and within ~40% of the radiative limit. We find evidence that the post-deposition treatment causes a decrease in themore » electronic potential fluctuations. These potential fluctuations have previously been shown to reduce the open-circuit voltage and the device efficiency in CIGS. Additionally, numerical simulations based on the measured carrier lifetimes and mobilities show a diffusion length of ~10 um, which is ~4 times larger than the film thickness. Thus, carrier collection in the bulk is not a limiting factor for device efficiency. By considering differences in doping, bandgap, and potential fluctuations, we present a possible explanation for the voltage difference between KF-treated and untreated samples.« less

A possible radiation-resistant solar cell geometry using superlattices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goradia, C.; Clark, R.; Brinker, D.

1985-01-01

A solar cell structure is proposed which uses a GaAs nipi doping superlattice. An important feature of this structure is that photogenerated minority carriers are very quickly collected in a time shorter than bulk lifetime in the fairly heavily doped n and p layers and these carriers are then transported parallel to the superlattice layers to selective ohmic contacts. Assuming that these already-separated carriers have very long recombination lifetimes, due to their across an indirect bandgap in real space, it is argued that the proposed structure may exhibit superior radiation tolerance along with reasonably high beginning-of-life efficiency.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kephart, Jason M.; Kindvall, Anna; Williams, Desiree

Commercial CdTe PV modules have polycrystalline thin films deposited on glass, and devices made in this format have exceeded 22% efficiency. Devices made by the authors with a magnesium zinc oxide window layer and tellurium back contact have achieved efficiency over 18%, but these cells still suffer from an open-circuit voltage far below ideal values. Oxide passivation layers made by sputter deposition have the potential to increase voltage by reducing interface recombination. CdTe devices with these passivation layers were studied with photoluminescence (PL) emission spectroscopy and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) to detect an increase in minority carrier lifetime. Because these oxidemore » materials exhibit barriers to carrier collection, micropatterning was used to expose small point contacts while still allowing interface passivation. TRPL decay lifetimes have been greatly enhanced for thin polycrystalline absorber films with interface passivation. Device performance was measured and current collection was mapped spatially by light-beam-induced current.« less

High-sensitivity silicon ultraviolet p+-i-n avalanche photodiode using ultra-shallow boron gradient doping

DOE PAGES

Xia, Zhenyang; Zang, Kai; Liu, Dong; ...

2017-08-21

Photo detection of ultraviolet (UV) light remains a challenge since the penetration depth of UV light is limited to the nanometer scale. Therefore, the doping profile and electric field in the top nanometer range of the photo detection devices become critical. Traditional UV photodetectors usually use a constant doping profile near the semiconductor surface, resulting in a negligible electric field, which limits the photo-generated carrier collection efficiency of the photodetector. Here, we demonstrate, via the use of an optimized gradient boron doping technique, that the carrier collection efficiency and photo responsivity under the UV wavelength region have been enhanced. Moreover,more » the ultrathin p+-i-n junction shows an avalanche gain of 2800 and an ultra-low junction capacitance (sub pico-farad), indicating potential applications in the low timing jitter single photon detection area.« less

High-sensitivity silicon ultraviolet p+-i-n avalanche photodiode using ultra-shallow boron gradient doping

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xia, Zhenyang; Zang, Kai; Liu, Dong

Photo detection of ultraviolet (UV) light remains a challenge since the penetration depth of UV light is limited to the nanometer scale. Therefore, the doping profile and electric field in the top nanometer range of the photo detection devices become critical. Traditional UV photodetectors usually use a constant doping profile near the semiconductor surface, resulting in a negligible electric field, which limits the photo-generated carrier collection efficiency of the photodetector. Here, we demonstrate, via the use of an optimized gradient boron doping technique, that the carrier collection efficiency and photo responsivity under the UV wavelength region have been enhanced. Moreover,more » the ultrathin p+-i-n junction shows an avalanche gain of 2800 and an ultra-low junction capacitance (sub pico-farad), indicating potential applications in the low timing jitter single photon detection area.« less

13.2% efficiency Si nanowire/PEDOT:PSS hybrid solar cell using a transfer-imprinted Au mesh electrode

PubMed Central

Park, Kwang-Tae; Kim, Han-Jung; Park, Min-Joon; Jeong, Jun-Ho; Lee, Jihye; Choi, Dae-Geun; Lee, Jung-Ho; Choi, Jun-Hyuk

2015-01-01

In recent years, inorganic/organic hybrid solar cell concept has received growing attention for alternative energy solution because of the potential for facile and low-cost fabrication and high efficiency. Here, we report highly efficient hybrid solar cells based on silicon nanowires (SiNWs) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) using transfer-imprinted metal mesh front electrodes. Such a structure increases the optical absorption and shortens the carrier transport distance, thus, it greatly increases the charge carrier collection efficiency. Compared with hybrid cells formed using indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes, we find an increase in power conversion efficiency from 5.95% to 13.2%, which is attributed to improvements in both the electrical and optical properties of the Au mesh electrode. Our fabrication strategy for metal mesh electrode is suitable for the large-scale fabrication of flexible transparent electrodes, paving the way towards low-cost, high-efficiency, flexible solar cells. PMID:26174964

Quantitative determination of optical and recombination losses in thin-film photovoltaic devices based on external quantum efficiency analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nakane, Akihiro; Tamakoshi, Masato; Fujimoto, Shohei

2016-08-14

In developing photovoltaic devices with high efficiencies, quantitative determination of the carrier loss is crucial. In conventional solar-cell characterization techniques, however, photocurrent reduction originating from parasitic light absorption and carrier recombination within the light absorber cannot be assessed easily. Here, we develop a general analysis scheme in which the optical and recombination losses in submicron-textured solar cells are evaluated systematically from external quantum efficiency (EQE) spectra. In this method, the optical absorption in solar cells is first deduced by imposing the anti-reflection condition in the calculation of the absorptance spectrum, and the carrier extraction from the light absorber layer ismore » then modeled by considering a carrier collection length from the absorber interface. Our analysis method is appropriate for a wide variety of photovoltaic devices, including kesterite solar cells [Cu{sub 2}ZnSnSe{sub 4}, Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4}, and Cu{sub 2}ZnSn(S,Se){sub 4}], zincblende CdTe solar cells, and hybrid perovskite (CH{sub 3}NH{sub 3}PbI{sub 3}) solar cells, and provides excellent fitting to numerous EQE spectra reported earlier. Based on the results obtained from our EQE analyses, we discuss the effects of parasitic absorption and carrier recombination in different types of solar cells.« less

Semiconductor-based photoelectrochemical water splitting at the limit of very wide depletion region

DOE PAGES

Liu, Mingzhao; Lyons, John L.; Yan, Danhua H.; ...

2015-11-23

In semiconductor-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, carrier separation and delivery largely relies on the depletion region formed at the semiconductor/water interface. As a Schottky junction device, the trade-off between photon collection and minority carrier delivery remains a persistent obstacle for maximizing the performance of a water splitting photoelectrode. Here, it is demonstrated that the PEC water splitting efficiency for an n-SrTiO 3 (n-STO) photoanode is improved very significantly despite its weak indirect band gap optical absorption (α < 10⁴ cm⁻¹), by widening the depletion region through engineering its doping density and profile. Graded doped n-SrTiO 3 photoanodes are fabricated withmore » their bulk heavily doped with oxygen vacancies but their surface lightly doped over a tunable depth of a few hundred nanometers, through a simple low temperature re-oxidation technique. The graded doping profile widens the depletion region to over 500 nm, thus leading to very efficient charge carrier separation and high quantum efficiency (>70%) for the weak indirect transition. As a result, this simultaneous optimization of the light absorption, minority carrier (hole) delivery, and majority carrier (electron) transport by means of a graded doping architecture may be useful for other indirect band gap photocatalysts that suffer from a similar problem of weak optical absorption.« less

Charge carrier transport and collection enhancement of copper indium diselenide photoactive nanoparticle-ink by laser crystallization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nian, Qiong; Cheng, Gary J., E-mail: gjcheng@purdue.edu; School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906

2014-09-15

There has been increasing needs for cost-effective and high performance thin film deposition techniques for photovoltaics. Among all deposition techniques, roll-to-roll printing of nanomaterials has been a promising method. However, the printed thin film contains many internal imperfections, which reduce the charge-collection performance. Here, direct pulse laser crystallization (DPLC) of photoactive nanoparticles-inks is studied to meet this challenge. In this study, copper indium selenite (CIS) nanoparticle-inks is applied as an example. Enhanced crystallinity, densified structure in the thin film is resulted after DLPC under optimal conditions. It is found that the decreased film internal imperfections after DPLC results in reducingmore » scattering and multi-trapping effects. Both of them contribute to better charge-collection performance of CIS absorber material by increasing extended state mobility and carrier lifetime, when carrier transport and kinetics are coupled. Charge carrier transport was characterized after DPLC, showing mobility increased by 2 orders of magnitude. Photocurrent under AM1.5 illumination was measured and shown 10 times enhancement of integrated power density after DPLC, which may lead to higher efficiency in photo-electric energy conversion.« less

Tension-Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Vanadium Disulfide Monolayer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Hui

2016-02-01

Water electrolysis is an efficient way for hydrogen production. Finding efficient, cheap, and eco-friendly electrocatalysts is essential to the development of this technology. In the work, we present a first-principles study on the effects of tension on the hydrogen evolution reaction of a novel electrocatalyst, vanadium disulfide (VS2) monolayer. Two electrocatalytic processes, individual and collective processes, are investigated. We show that the catalytic ability of VS2 monolayer at higher hydrogen coverage can be efficiently improved by escalating tension. We find that the individual process is easier to occur in a wide range of hydrogen coverage and the collective process is possible at a certain hydrogen coverage under the same tension. The best hydrogen evolution reaction with near-zero Gibbs free energy can be achieved by tuning tension. We further show that the change of catalytic activity with tension and hydrogen coverage is induced by the change of free carrier density around the Fermi level, that is, higher carrier density, better catalytic performance. It is expected that tension can be a simple way to improve the catalytic activity, leading to the design of novel electrocatalysts for efficient hydrogen production from water electrolysis.

Solar cells for terrestrial applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chernow, F.

1975-01-01

The power efficiency curves of photovoltaic solar cells were investigated as a function of the forbidden energy gap (E sub g) and the current-voltage characteristic of the diode. Minority carrier injection, depletion layer recombination, and interface recombination terms were considered in models for the I-V characteristic. The collection efficiency for photons with energy between (E sub g) and an upper energy cutoff (E sub w) was assumed to be 100% and zero otherwise. Results are presented in terms of a single parameter related to the ratio of depletion layer width and minority carrier diffusion length. It was found that increasing depletion layer recombination shifts the efficiency curves to larger values of the energy without changing the shape of the efficiency curve appreciably. It is believed that similar results would be obtained whenever the quality factors in the exponential energy gap and forward bias terms are equal.

Beneficial effect of post-deposition treatment in high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} solar cells through reduced potential fluctuations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jensen, S. A., E-mail: Soren.Jensen@nrel.gov, E-mail: Darius.Kuciauskas@nrel.gov; Glynn, S.; Kanevce, A.

World-record power conversion efficiencies for Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} (CIGS) solar cells have been achieved via a post-deposition treatment with alkaline metals, which increases the open-circuit voltage and fill factor. We explore the role of the potassium fluoride (KF) post-deposition treatment in CIGS by employing energy- and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy and electrical characterization combined with numerical modeling. The bulk carrier lifetime is found to increase with post-deposition treatment from 255 ns to 388 ns, which is the longest charge carrier lifetime reported for CIGS, and within ∼40% of the radiative limit. We find evidence that the post-deposition treatment causes a decrease in the electronicmore » potential fluctuations. These potential fluctuations have previously been shown to reduce the open-circuit voltage and the device efficiency in CIGS. Additionally, numerical simulations based on the measured carrier lifetimes and mobilities show a diffusion length of ∼10 μm, which is ∼4 times larger than the film thickness. Thus, carrier collection in the bulk is not a limiting factor for device efficiency. By considering differences in doping, bandgap, and potential fluctuations, we present a possible explanation for the voltage difference between KF-treated and untreated samples.« less

Surface/Interface Carrier-Transport Modulation for Constructing Photon-Alternative Ultraviolet Detectors Based on Self-Bending-Assembled ZnO Nanowires.

PubMed

Guo, Zhen; Zhou, Lianqun; Tang, Yuguo; Li, Lin; Zhang, Zhiqi; Yang, Hongbo; Ma, Hanbin; Nathan, Arokia; Zhao, Dongxu

2017-09-13

Surface/interface charge-carrier generation, diffusion, and recombination/transport modulation are especially important in the construction of photodetectors with high efficiency in the field of nanoscience. In the paper, a kind of ultraviolet (UV) detector is designed based on ZnO nanostructures considering photon-trapping, surface plasmonic resonance (SPR), piezophototronic effects, interface carrier-trapping/transport control, and collection. Through carefully optimized surface/interface carrier-transport modulation, a designed device with detectivity as high as 1.69 × 10 16 /1.71 × 10 16 cm·Hz 1/2 /W irradiating with 380 nm photons under ultralow bias of 0.2 V is realized by alternating nanoparticle/nanowire active layers, respectively, and the designed UV photodetectors show fast and slow recovery processes of 0.27 and 4.52 ms, respectively, which well-satisfy practical needs. Further, it is observed that UV photodetection could be performed within an alternative response by varying correlated key parameters, through efficient surface/interface carrier-transport modulation, spectrally resolved photoresponse of the detector revealing controlled detection in the UV region based on the ZnO nanomaterial, photodetection allowed or limited by varying the active layers, irradiation distance from one of the electrodes, standing states, or electric field. The detailed carrier generation, diffusion, and recombination/transport processes are well illustrated to explain charge-carrier dynamics contributing to the photoresponse behavior.

The detailed balance principle and the reciprocity theorem between photocarrier collection and dark carrier distribution in solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rau, Uwe; Brendel, Rolf

1998-12-01

It is shown that a recently described general relationship between the local collection efficiency of solar cells and the dark carrier concentration (reciprocity theorem) directly follows from the principle of detailed balance. We derive the relationship for situations where transport of charge carriers occurs between discrete states as well as for the situation where electronic transport is described in terms of continuous functions. Combining both situations allows to extend the range of applicability of the reciprocity theorem to all types of solar cells, including, e.g., metal-insulator-semiconductor-type, electrochemical solar cells, as well as the inclusion of the impurity photovoltaic effect. We generalize the theorem further to situations where the occupation probability of electronic states is governed by Fermi-Dirac statistics instead of Boltzmann statistics as underlying preceding work. In such a situation the reciprocity theorem is restricted to small departures from equilibrium.

Multiscale transparent electrode architecture for efficient light management and carrier collection in solar cells.

PubMed

Boccard, Mathieu; Battaglia, Corsin; Hänni, Simon; Söderström, Karin; Escarré, Jordi; Nicolay, Sylvain; Meillaud, Fanny; Despeisse, Matthieu; Ballif, Christophe

2012-03-14

The challenge for all photovoltaic technologies is to maximize light absorption, to convert photons with minimal losses into electric charges, and to efficiently extract them to the electrical circuit. For thin-film solar cells, all these tasks rely heavily on the transparent front electrode. Here we present a multiscale electrode architecture that allows us to achieve efficiencies as high as 14.1% with a thin-film silicon tandem solar cell employing only 3 μm of silicon. Our approach combines the versatility of nanoimprint lithography, the unusually high carrier mobility of hydrogenated indium oxide (over 100 cm(2)/V/s), and the unequaled light-scattering properties of self-textured zinc oxide. A multiscale texture provides light trapping over a broad wavelength range while ensuring an optimum morphology for the growth of high-quality silicon layers. A conductive bilayer stack guarantees carrier extraction while minimizing parasitic absorption losses. The tunability accessible through such multiscale electrode architecture offers unprecedented possibilities to address the trade-off between cell optical and electrical performance. © 2012 American Chemical Society

Free-carrier mobility in GaN in the presence of dislocation walls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farvacque, J.-L.; Bougrioua, Z.; Moerman, I.

2001-03-01

The free-carrier mobility versus carrier density in n-type GaN grown by low-pressure metal-organic vapor- phase epitaxy on a sapphire substrate experiences a particular behavior that consists of the appearance of a sharp transition separating a low- from a high-mobility regime. This separation appears as soon as the carrier density exceeds a critical value that depends on the growth process. Using low-field electrical transport simulations, we show that this particular mobility behavior cannot be simply interpreted in terms of dislocation scattering or trapping mechanisms, but that it is also controlled by the collective effect of dislocation walls (the columnar structure). As the free-carrier density increases, the more efficient screening properties result in the transition from a barrier-controlled mobility regime to a pure-diffusion-process-controlled mobility regime. The model permits us to reproduce the experimental mobility collapse quantitatively.

Utilizing hot electrons

DOE PAGES

Nozik, Arthur J.

2018-03-01

In current solar cells, any photon energy exceeding the semiconductor bandgap is lost before being collected, limiting the cell performance. Hot carrier solar cells could avoid these losses. Now, a detailed experimental study and analysis shows that this strategy could lead to an improvement of the photoconversion efficiency in practice.

Utilizing hot electrons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nozik, Arthur J.

In current solar cells, any photon energy exceeding the semiconductor bandgap is lost before being collected, limiting the cell performance. Hot carrier solar cells could avoid these losses. Now, a detailed experimental study and analysis shows that this strategy could lead to an improvement of the photoconversion efficiency in practice.

Sputter-Deposited Oxides for Interface Passivation of CdTe Photovoltaics

DOE PAGES

Kephart, Jason M.; Kindvall, Anna; Williams, Desiree; ...

2018-01-18

Commercial CdTe PV modules have polycrystalline thin films deposited on glass, and devices made in this format have exceeded 22% efficiency. Devices made by the authors with a magnesium zinc oxide window layer and tellurium back contact have achieved efficiency over 18%, but these cells still suffer from an open-circuit voltage far below ideal values. Oxide passivation layers made by sputter deposition have the potential to increase voltage by reducing interface recombination. CdTe devices with these passivation layers were studied with photoluminescence (PL) emission spectroscopy and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) to detect an increase in minority carrier lifetime. Because these oxidemore » materials exhibit barriers to carrier collection, micropatterning was used to expose small point contacts while still allowing interface passivation. TRPL decay lifetimes have been greatly enhanced for thin polycrystalline absorber films with interface passivation. Device performance was measured and current collection was mapped spatially by light-beam-induced current.« less

Trade-Offs in Thin Film Solar Cells with Layered Chalcostibite Photovoltaic Absorbers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Welch, Adam W.; Baranowski, Lauryn L.; Peng, Haowei

Discovery of novel semiconducting materials is needed for solar energy conversion and other optoelectronic applications. However, emerging low-dimensional solar absorbers often have unconventional crystal structures and unusual combinations of optical absorption and electrical transport properties, which considerably slows down the research and development progress. Here, the effect of stronger absorption and weaker carrier collection of 2D-like absorber materials are studied using a high-throughput combinatorial experimental approach, complemented by advanced characterization and computations. It is found that the photoexcited charge carrier collection in CuSbSe 2 solar cells is enhanced by drift in an electric field, addressing a different absorption/collection balance. Themore » resulting drift solar cells efficiency is <5% due to inherent J SC/ V OC trade-off, suggesting that improved carrier diffusion and better contacts are needed to further increase the CuSbSe 2 performance. Furthermore, this study also illustrates the advantages of high-throughput experimental methods for fast optimization of the optoelectronic devices based on emerging low-dimensional semiconductor materials.« less

Trade-Offs in Thin Film Solar Cells with Layered Chalcostibite Photovoltaic Absorbers

DOE PAGES

Welch, Adam W.; Baranowski, Lauryn L.; Peng, Haowei; ...

2017-01-25

Discovery of novel semiconducting materials is needed for solar energy conversion and other optoelectronic applications. However, emerging low-dimensional solar absorbers often have unconventional crystal structures and unusual combinations of optical absorption and electrical transport properties, which considerably slows down the research and development progress. Here, the effect of stronger absorption and weaker carrier collection of 2D-like absorber materials are studied using a high-throughput combinatorial experimental approach, complemented by advanced characterization and computations. It is found that the photoexcited charge carrier collection in CuSbSe 2 solar cells is enhanced by drift in an electric field, addressing a different absorption/collection balance. Themore » resulting drift solar cells efficiency is <5% due to inherent J SC/ V OC trade-off, suggesting that improved carrier diffusion and better contacts are needed to further increase the CuSbSe 2 performance. Furthermore, this study also illustrates the advantages of high-throughput experimental methods for fast optimization of the optoelectronic devices based on emerging low-dimensional semiconductor materials.« less

Enhanced Carrier Collection from CdS Passivated Grains in Solution-Processed Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Solar Cells.

PubMed

Werner, Melanie; Keller, Debora; Haass, Stefan G; Gretener, Christina; Bissig, Benjamin; Fuchs, Peter; La Mattina, Fabio; Erni, Rolf; Romanyuk, Yaroslav E; Tiwari, Ayodhya N

2015-06-10

Solution processing of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe)-kesterite solar cells is attractive because of easy manufacturing using readily available metal salts. The solution-processed CZTSSe absorbers, however, often suffer from poor morphology with a bilayer structure, exhibiting a dense top crust and a porous bottom layer, albeit yielding efficiencies of over 10%. To understand whether the cell performance is limited by this porous layer, a systematic compositional study using (scanning) transmission electron microscopy ((S)TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of the dimethyl sulfoxide processed CZTSSe absorbers is presented. TEM investigation revealed a thin layer of CdS that is formed around the small CZTSSe grains in the porous bottom layer during the chemical bath deposition step. This CdS passivation is found to be beneficial for the cell performance as it increases the carrier collection and facilitates the electron transport. Electron-beam-induced current measurements reveal an enhanced carrier collection for this buried region as compared to reference cells with evaporated CdS.

Effects of the unintentional background concentration, indium composition and defect density on the performance of InGaN p-i-n homojunction solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Shudong; Cheng, Liwen; Wang, Qiang

2018-07-01

We theoretically investigate the effects of the unintentional background concentration, indium composition and defect density of intrinsic layer (i-layer) on the photovoltaic performance of InGaN p-i-n homojunction solar cells by solving the Poisson and steady-state continuity equations. The built-in electric field and carrier generation rate depend on the position within the i-layer. The collection efficiency, short circuit current density, open circuit voltage, fill factor, and conversion efficiency are found to depend strongly on the background concentration, thickness, indium composition, and defect density of the i-layer. With increasing the background concentration, the maximum thickness of field-bearing i-layer decreases, and the width of depletion region may become even too small to cover the whole i-layer, resulting in a serious decrease of the carrier collection. Some oscillations as a function of indium composition are found in the short circuit current density and conversion efficiency at high indium composition and low defect density due to the interference between the absorbance and the generation rate of carriers. The defect density degrades seriously the overall photovoltaic performance, and its effect on the photovoltaic performance is roughly seven orders of magnitude higher than the previously reported values [Feng et al., J. Appl. Phys. 108 (2010) 093118]. As a result, the high crystalline quality InGaN with high indium composition is a key factor in the device performance of III-nitride based solar cells.

Carrier transport dynamics in Mn-doped CdSe quantum dot sensitized solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poudyal, Uma; Maloney, Francis S.; Sapkota, Keshab; Wang, Wenyong

2017-10-01

In this work quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) were fabricated with CdSe and Mn-doped CdSe quantum dots (QDs) using the SILAR method. QDSSCs based on Mn-doped CdSe QDs exhibited improved incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. Carrier transport dynamics in the QDSSCs were studied using the intensity modulated photocurrent/photovoltage spectroscopy technique, from which transport and recombination time constants could be derived. Compared to CdSe QDSSCs, Mn-CdSe QDSSCs exhibited shorter transport time constant, longer recombination time constant, longer diffusion length, and higher charge collection efficiency. These observations suggested that Mn doping in CdSe QDs could benefit the performance of solar cells based on such nanostructures.

Faithful One-way Trip Deterministic Secure Quantum Communication Scheme Against Collective Rotating Noise Based on Order Rearrangement of Photon Pairs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Hao; Zhang, Qin; Hong, Liang; Yin, Wen-jie; Xu, Dong

2014-08-01

We present a novel scheme for deterministic secure quantum communication (DSQC) over collective rotating noisy channel. Four special two-qubit states are found can constitute a noise-free subspaces, and so are utilized as quantum information carriers. In this scheme, the information carriers transmite over the quantum channel only one time, which can effectively reduce the influence of other noise existing in quantum channel. The information receiver need only perform two single-photon collective measurements to decode the secret messages, which can make the present scheme more convenient in practical application. It will be showed that our scheme has a relatively high information capacity and intrisic efficiency. Foremostly, the decoy photon pair checking technique and the order rearrangement of photon pairs technique guarantee that the present scheme is unconditionally secure.

A comparative study of the plasmon effect in nanoelectrode THz emitters: Pulse vs. continuous-wave radiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moon, Kiwon; Lee, Eui Su; Lee, Il-Min

Plasmonic field enhancement in terahertz (THz) generation is one of the recently arisen techniques in the THz field that has attracted considerable interest. However, the reported levels of enhancement of THz output power in the literature are significantly different from each other, from less than two times to about two orders of magnitude of enhancement in power, which implies the existence of other major limiting factors yet to be revealed. In this work, the contribution of the plasmonic effect to the power enhancement of THz emitters is revisited. We show that the carrier collection efficiency in a THz emitter withmore » plasmonic nanostructures is more critical to the device performance than the plasmonic field enhancement itself. The strong reverse fields induced by the highly localized plasmonic carriers in the vicinity of the nanoelectrodes screen the carrier collections and seriously limit the power enhancement. This is supported by our experimental observations of the significantly enhanced power in a plasmonic nanoelectrode THz emitter in continuous-wave radiation mode, while the same device has limited enhancement with pulsed radiation. We hope that our study may provide an intuitive but practical guideline in adopting plasmonic nanostructures with an aim of enhancing the efficiency of optoelectronic devices.« less

Incident light adjustable solar cell by periodic nanolens architecture

PubMed Central

Yun, Ju-Hyung; Lee, Eunsongyi; Park, Hyeong-Ho; Kim, Dong-Wook; Anderson, Wayne A.; Kim, Joondong; Litchinitser, Natalia M.; Zeng, Jinwei; Yi, Junsin; Kumar, M. Melvin David; Sun, Jingbo

2014-01-01

Could nanostructures act as lenses to focus incident light for efficient utilization of photovoltaics? Is it possible, in order to avoid serious recombination loss, to realize periodic nanostructures in solar cells without direct etching in a light absorbing semiconductor? Here we propose and demonstrate a promising architecture to shape nanolenses on a planar semiconductor. Optically transparent and electrically conductive nanolenses simultaneously provide the optical benefit of modulating the incident light and the electrical advantage of supporting carrier transportation. A transparent indium-tin-oxide (ITO) nanolens was designed to focus the incident light-spectrum in focal lengths overlapping to a strong electric field region for high carrier collection efficiency. The ITO nanolens effectively broadens near-zero reflection and provides high tolerance to the incident light angles. We present a record high light-conversion efficiency of 16.0% for a periodic nanostructured Si solar cell. PMID:25371099

Double Super-Exchange in Silicon Quantum Dots Connected by Short-Bridged Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Huashan; Wu, Zhigang; Lusk, Mark

2013-03-01

Silicon quantum dots (QDs) with diameters in the range of 1-2 nm are attractive for photovoltaic applications. They absorb photons more readily, transport excitons with greater efficiency, and show greater promise in multiple-exciton generation and hot carrier collection paradigms. However, their high excitonic binding energy makes it difficult to dissociate excitons into separate charge carriers. One possible remedy is to create dot assemblies in which a second material creates a Type-II heterojunction with the dot so that exciton dissociation occurs locally. This talk will focus on such a Type-II heterojunction paradigm in which QDs are connected via covalently bonded, short-bridge molecules. For such interpenetrating networks of dots and molecules, our first principles computational investigation shows that it is possible to rapidly and efficiently separate electrons to QDs and holes to bridge units. The bridge network serves as an efficient mediator of electron superexchange between QDs while the dots themselves play the complimentary role of efficient hole superexchange mediators. Dissociation, photoluminescence and carrier transport rates will be presented for bridge networks of silicon QDs that exhibit such double superexchange. This material is based upon work supported by the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (REMRSEC) under Grant No. DMR-0820518 and Golden Energy Computing Organization (GECO).

Study on efficiency droop in InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes based on differential carrier lifetime analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Xiao; Wang, Lai; Hao, Zhibiao; Luo, Yi; Sun, Changzheng; Han, Yanjun; Xiong, Bing; Wang, Jian; Li, Hongtao

2016-01-01

Efficiency droop is currently one of the most popular research problems for GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In this work, a differential carrier lifetime measurement system is optimized to accurately determine carrier lifetimes (τ) of blue and green LEDs under different injection current (I). By fitting the τ-I curves and the efficiency droop curves of the LEDs according to the ABC carrier rate equation model, the impact of Auger recombination and carrier leakage on efficiency droop can be characterized simultaneously. For the samples used in this work, it is found that the experimental τ-I curves cannot be described by Auger recombination alone. Instead, satisfactory fitting results are obtained by taking both carrier leakage and carriers delocalization into account, which implies carrier leakage plays a more significant role in efficiency droop at high injection level.

GaN ultraviolet p-i-n photodetectors with enhanced deep ultraviolet quantum efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Guosheng; Xie, Feng; Wang, Jun; Guo, Jin

2017-10-01

GaN ultraviolet (UV) p-i-n photodetectors (PDs) with a thin p-AlGaN/GaN contact layer are designed and fabricated. The PD exhibits a low dark current density of˜7 nA/cm2 under -5 V, and a zero-bias peak responsivity of ˜0.16 A/W at 360 nm, which corresponds to a maximum quantum efficiency of 55%. It is found that, in the wavelength range between 250 and 365 nm, the PD with thin p-AlGaN/GaN contact layer exhibits enhanced quantum efficiency especially in a deep-UV wavelength range, than that of the control PD with conventional thin p-GaN contact layer. The improved quantum efficiency of the PD with thin p-AlGaN/GaN contact layer in the deep-UV wavelength range is mainly attributed to minority carrier reflecting properties of thin p-AlGaN/GaN heterojunction which could reduce the surface recombination loss of photon-generated carriers and improve light current collection efficiency.

Effects of Nanoimprinted Structures on the Performance of Organic Solar Cells

DOE PAGES

Gill, Hardeep Singh; Li, Lian; Ren, Haizhou; ...

2018-01-01

The effect of nanoimprinted structures on the performance of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells was investigated. The nanostructures were formed over the active layer employing the soft lithographic technique. The measured incident photon-to-current efficiency revealed that the nanostructured morphology over the active layer can efficiently enhance both light harvesting and charge carrier collection due to improvement of the absorption of incident light and the buried nanostructured cathode, respectively. The devices prepared with the imprinted nanostructures exhibited significantly higher power conversion efficiencies as compared to those of the control cells.

Effects of Nanoimprinted Structures on the Performance of Organic Solar Cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gill, Hardeep Singh; Li, Lian; Ren, Haizhou

The effect of nanoimprinted structures on the performance of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells was investigated. The nanostructures were formed over the active layer employing the soft lithographic technique. The measured incident photon-to-current efficiency revealed that the nanostructured morphology over the active layer can efficiently enhance both light harvesting and charge carrier collection due to improvement of the absorption of incident light and the buried nanostructured cathode, respectively. The devices prepared with the imprinted nanostructures exhibited significantly higher power conversion efficiencies as compared to those of the control cells.

Plasmonic hot carrier dynamics in solid-state and chemical systems for energy conversion

DOE PAGES

Narang, Prineha; Sundararaman, Ravishankar; Atwater, Harry A.

2016-06-11

Surface plasmons provide a pathway to efficiently absorb and confine light in metallic nanostructures, thereby bridging photonics to the nano scale. The decay of surface plasmons generates energetic ‘hot’ carriers, which can drive chemical reactions or be injected into semiconductors for nano-scale photochemical or photovoltaic energy conversion. Novel plasmonic hot carrier devices and architectures continue to be demonstrated, but the complexity of the underlying processes make a complete microscopic understanding of all the mechanisms and design considerations for such devices extremely challenging.Here,we review the theoretical and computational efforts to understand and model plasmonic hot carrier devices.We split the problem intomore » three steps: hot carrier generation, transport and collection, and review theoretical approaches with the appropriate level of detail for each step along with their predictions. As a result, we identify the key advances necessary to complete the microscopic mechanistic picture and facilitate the design of the next generation of devices and materials for plasmonic energy conversion.« less

Efficient carrier relaxation and fast carrier recombination of N-polar InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Shih-Wei; Liao, Po-Hsun; Leung, Benjamin; Han, Jung; Yang, Fann-Wei; Wang, Hsiang-Chen

2015-07-01

Based on quantum efficiency and time-resolved electroluminescence measurements, the effects of carrier localization and quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) on carrier transport and recombination dynamics of Ga- and N-polar InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are reported. The N-polar LED exhibits shorter ns-scale response, rising, delay, and recombination times than the Ga-polar one does. Stronger carrier localization and the combined effects of suppressed QCSE and electric field and lower potential barrier acting upon the forward bias in an N-polar LED provide the advantages of more efficient carrier relaxation and faster carrier recombination. By optimizing growth conditions to enhance the radiative recombination, the advantages of more efficient carrier relaxation and faster carrier recombination in a competitive performance N-polar LED can be realized for applications of high-speed flash LEDs. The research results provide important information for carrier transport and recombination dynamics of an N-polar InGaN/GaN LED.

Efficient carrier relaxation and fast carrier recombination of N-polar InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, Shih-Wei, E-mail: swfeng@nuk.edu.tw; Liao, Po-Hsun; Leung, Benjamin

2015-07-28

Based on quantum efficiency and time-resolved electroluminescence measurements, the effects of carrier localization and quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) on carrier transport and recombination dynamics of Ga- and N-polar InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are reported. The N-polar LED exhibits shorter ns-scale response, rising, delay, and recombination times than the Ga-polar one does. Stronger carrier localization and the combined effects of suppressed QCSE and electric field and lower potential barrier acting upon the forward bias in an N-polar LED provide the advantages of more efficient carrier relaxation and faster carrier recombination. By optimizing growth conditions to enhance the radiative recombination, the advantagesmore » of more efficient carrier relaxation and faster carrier recombination in a competitive performance N-polar LED can be realized for applications of high-speed flash LEDs. The research results provide important information for carrier transport and recombination dynamics of an N-polar InGaN/GaN LED.« less

Thin film solar cells grown by organic vapor phase deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Fan

Organic solar cells have the potential to provide low-cost photovoltaic devices as a clean and renewable energy resource. In this thesis, we focus on understanding the energy conversion process in organic solar cells, and improving the power conversion efficiencies via controlled growth of organic nanostructures. First, we explain the unique optical and electrical properties of organic materials used for photovoltaics, and the excitonic energy conversion process in donor-acceptor heterojunction solar cells that place several limiting factors of their power conversion efficiency. Then, strategies for improving exciton diffusion and carrier collection are analyzed using dynamical Monte Carlo models for several nanostructure morphologies. Organic vapor phase deposition is used for controlling materials crystallization and film morphology. We improve the exciton diffusion efficiency while maintaining good carrier conduction in a bulk heterojunction solar cell. Further efficiency improvement is obtained in a novel nanocrystalline network structure with a thick absorbing layer, leading to the demonstration of an organic solar cell with 4.6% efficiency. In addition, solar cells using simultaneously active heterojunctions with broad spectral response are presented. We also analyze the efficiency limits of single and multiple junction organic solar cells, and discuss the challenges facing their practical implementations.

14 CFR 158.69 - Recordkeeping and auditing: Collecting carriers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Recordkeeping and auditing: Collecting carriers. 158.69 Section 158.69 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF....69 Recordkeeping and auditing: Collecting carriers. (a) Collecting carriers shall establish and...

14 CFR 158.65 - Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) Reporting, Recordkeeping and Audits § 158.65 Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers. (a) Each air carrier collecting PFCs for a public... carrier and airport involved, (ii) The total PFC revenue collected, (iii) The total PFC revenue refunded...

14 CFR 158.65 - Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) Reporting, Recordkeeping and Audits § 158.65 Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers. (a) Each air carrier collecting PFCs for a public... carrier and airport involved, (ii) The total PFC revenue collected, (iii) The total PFC revenue refunded...

14 CFR 158.65 - Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) Reporting, Recordkeeping and Audits § 158.65 Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers. (a) Each air carrier collecting PFCs for a public... carrier and airport involved, (ii) The total PFC revenue collected, (iii) The total PFC revenue refunded...

14 CFR 158.65 - Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) Reporting, Recordkeeping and Audits § 158.65 Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers. (a) Each air carrier collecting PFCs for a public... carrier and airport involved, (ii) The total PFC revenue collected, (iii) The total PFC revenue refunded...

14 CFR 158.65 - Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) Reporting, Recordkeeping and Audits § 158.65 Reporting requirements: Collecting air carriers. (a) Each air carrier collecting PFCs for a public... carrier and airport involved, (ii) The total PFC revenue collected, (iii) The total PFC revenue refunded...

Carrier transport performance of Cd0.9Zn0.1Te detector by direct current photoconductive technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ling, Yunpeng; Min, Jiahua; Liang, Xiaoyan; Zhang, Jijun; Yang, Liuqing; Zhang, Ying; Li, Ming; Liu, Zhaoxin; Wang, Linjun

2017-01-01

In this paper, based on the derivation of the Hecht model and Many model, we establish a new theoretical model and deduce its mathematical equation by considering an even-distributed charged center of certain concentration under constant illumination. This model helps us deeply understand the carrier transport performance of Cd0.9Zn0.1Te (CZT) under various illuminations and non-uniform distribution of the internal electric field in CZT. In our research, direct current photoconductive technology (DCPT) is applied to assess the electrical transport properties of carriers in CZT crystals, which is verified by room temperature Am-241 alpha-particle responses and charge collection efficiency test. The mobility-lifetime product ( μτ ) for carriers is extracted from fitting the Hecht model by DCPT for CZT radiated from the cathode and anode by a constant laser, respectively. Moreover, the carrier transport properties of CZT under various light intensities and during a wide range of temperatures are also taken and analyzed in detail, which enable us to develop the best performance of CZT. In addition, we figure out a method for estimating μeτe and μhτh on different positions of CZT wafer on the basis of the pixel detector that collects single polarity charge, and several corrective actions have improved the accuracy of the measurement.

A flatter gallium profile for high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 solar cell and improved robustness against sulfur-gradient variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Chien-Yao; Lee, Wen-Chin; Lin, Albert

2016-09-01

Co-optimization of the gallium and sulfur profiles in penternary Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 thin film solar cell and its impacts on device performance and variability are investigated in this work. An absorber formation method to modulate the gallium profiling under low sulfur-incorporation is disclosed, which solves the problem of Ga-segregation in selenization. Flatter Ga-profiles, which lack of experimental investigations to date, are explored and an optimal Ga-profile achieving 17.1% conversion efficiency on a 30 cm × 30 cm sub-module without anti-reflection coating is presented. Flatter Ga-profile gives rise to the higher Voc × Jsc by improved bandgap matching to solar spectrum, which is hard to be achieved by the case of Ga-accumulation. However, voltage-induced carrier collection loss is found, as evident from the measured voltage-dependent photocurrent characteristics based on a small-signal circuit model. The simulation results reveal that the loss is attributed to the synergistic effect of the detrimental gallium and sulfur gradients, which can deteriorate the carrier collection especially in quasi-neutral region (QNR). Furthermore, the underlying physics is presented, and it provides a clear physical picture to the empirical trends of device performance, I-V characteristics, and voltage-dependent photocurrent, which cannot be explained by the standard solar circuit model. The parameter "FGa" and front sulfur-gradient are found to play critical roles on the trade-off between space charge region (SCR) recombination and QNR carrier collection. The co-optimized gallium and sulfur gradients are investigated, and the corresponding process modification for further efficiency-enhancement is proposed. In addition, the performance impact of sulfur-gradient variation is studied, and a gallium design for suppressing the sulfur-induced variability is proposed. Device performances of varied Ga-profiles with front sulfur-gradients are simulated based on a compact device model. Finally, an exploratory path toward 20% high-efficiency Ga-profile with robustness against sulfur-induced performance variability is presented.

Doping of polycrystalline CdTe for high-efficiency solar cells on flexible metal foil.

PubMed

Kranz, Lukas; Gretener, Christina; Perrenoud, Julian; Schmitt, Rafael; Pianezzi, Fabian; La Mattina, Fabio; Blösch, Patrick; Cheah, Erik; Chirilă, Adrian; Fella, Carolin M; Hagendorfer, Harald; Jäger, Timo; Nishiwaki, Shiro; Uhl, Alexander R; Buecheler, Stephan; Tiwari, Ayodhya N

2013-01-01

Roll-to-roll manufacturing of CdTe solar cells on flexible metal foil substrates is one of the most attractive options for low-cost photovoltaic module production. However, various efforts to grow CdTe solar cells on metal foil have resulted in low efficiencies. This is caused by the fact that the conventional device structure must be inverted, which imposes severe restrictions on device processing and consequently limits the electronic quality of the CdTe layer. Here we introduce an innovative concept for the controlled doping of the CdTe layer in the inverted device structure by means of evaporation of sub-monolayer amounts of Cu and subsequent annealing, which enables breakthrough efficiencies up to 13.6%. For the first time, CdTe solar cells on metal foil exceed the 10% efficiency threshold for industrialization. The controlled doping of CdTe with Cu leads to increased hole density, enhanced carrier lifetime and improved carrier collection in the solar cell. Our results offer new research directions for solving persistent challenges of CdTe photovoltaics.

Doping of polycrystalline CdTe for high-efficiency solar cells on flexible metal foil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kranz, Lukas; Gretener, Christina; Perrenoud, Julian; Schmitt, Rafael; Pianezzi, Fabian; La Mattina, Fabio; Blösch, Patrick; Cheah, Erik; Chirilă, Adrian; Fella, Carolin M.; Hagendorfer, Harald; Jäger, Timo; Nishiwaki, Shiro; Uhl, Alexander R.; Buecheler, Stephan; Tiwari, Ayodhya N.

2013-08-01

Roll-to-roll manufacturing of CdTe solar cells on flexible metal foil substrates is one of the most attractive options for low-cost photovoltaic module production. However, various efforts to grow CdTe solar cells on metal foil have resulted in low efficiencies. This is caused by the fact that the conventional device structure must be inverted, which imposes severe restrictions on device processing and consequently limits the electronic quality of the CdTe layer. Here we introduce an innovative concept for the controlled doping of the CdTe layer in the inverted device structure by means of evaporation of sub-monolayer amounts of Cu and subsequent annealing, which enables breakthrough efficiencies up to 13.6%. For the first time, CdTe solar cells on metal foil exceed the 10% efficiency threshold for industrialization. The controlled doping of CdTe with Cu leads to increased hole density, enhanced carrier lifetime and improved carrier collection in the solar cell. Our results offer new research directions for solving persistent challenges of CdTe photovoltaics.

Enhancing light absorption within the carrier transport length in quantum junction solar cells.

PubMed

Fu, Yulan; Hara, Yukihiro; Miller, Christopher W; Lopez, Rene

2015-09-10

Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells have attracted tremendous attention because of their tunable absorption spectrum window and potentially low processing cost. Recently reported quantum junction solar cells represent a promising approach to building a rectifying photovoltaic device that employs CQD layers on each side of the p-n junction. However, the ultimate efficiency of CQD solar cells is still highly limited by their high trap state density in both p- and n-type CQDs. By modeling photonic structures to enhance the light absorption within the carrier transport length and by ensuring that the carrier generation and collection efficiencies were both augmented, our work shows that overall device current density could be improved. We utilized a two-dimensional numerical model to calculate the characteristics of patterned CQD solar cells based on a simple grating structure. Our calculation predicts a short circuit current density as high as 31  mA/cm², a value nearly 1.5 times larger than that of the conventional flat design, showing the great potential value of patterned quantum junction solar cells.

Electro-optical modeling of bulk heterojunction solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirchartz, Thomas; Pieters, Bart E.; Taretto, Kurt; Rau, Uwe

2008-11-01

We introduce a model for charge separation in bulk heterojunction solar cells that combines exciton transport to the interface between donor and acceptor phases with the dissociation of the bound electron/hole pair. We implement this model into a standard semiconductor device simulator, thereby creating a convenient method to simulate the optical and electrical characteristics of a bulk heterojunction solar cell with a commercially available program. By taking into account different collection probabilities for the excitons in the polymer and the fullerene, we are able to reproduce absorptance, internal and external quantum efficiency, as well as current/voltage curves of bulk heterojunction solar cells. We further investigate the influence of mobilities of the free excitons as well as the mobilities of the free charge carriers on the performance of bulk heterojunction solar cells. We find that, in general, the highest efficiencies are achieved with the highest mobilities. However, an optimum finite mobility of free charge carriers can result from a large recombination velocity at the contacts. In contrast, Langevin-type of recombination cannot lead to finite optimum mobilities even though this mechanism has a strong dependence on the free carrier mobilities.

A new approach to high-efficiency multi-band-gap solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barnham, K.W.J.; Duggan, G.

1990-04-01

The advantages of using multi-quantum-well or superlattice systems as the absorbers in concentrator solar cells are discussed. By adjusting the quantum-well width, an effective band-gap variation that covers the high-efficiency region of the solar spectrum can be obtained. Higher efficiencies should result from the ability to optimize separately current and voltage generating factors. Suitable structures to ensure good carrier separation and collection and to obtain higher open-circuit voltages are presented using the (AlGa)As/GaAs/(InGa)As system. Efficiencies above existing single-band-gap limits should be achievable, with upper limits in excess of 40%.

Passivation Using Molecular Halides Increases Quantum Dot Solar Cell Performance.

PubMed

Lan, Xinzheng; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Kiani, Amirreza; García de Arquer, F Pelayo; Abbas, Abdullah Saud; Kim, Gi-Hwan; Liu, Mengxia; Yang, Zhenyu; Walters, Grant; Xu, Jixian; Yuan, Mingjian; Ning, Zhijun; Fan, Fengjia; Kanjanaboos, Pongsakorn; Kramer, Illan; Zhitomirsky, David; Lee, Philip; Perelgut, Alexander; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sargent, Edward H

2016-01-13

A solution-based passivation scheme is developed featuring the use of molecular iodine and PbS colloidal quantum dots (CQDs). The improved passivation translates into a longer carrier diffusion length in the solid film. This allows thicker solar-cell devices to be built while preserving efficient charge collection, leading to a certified power conversion efficiency of 9.9%, which is a new record in CQD solar cells. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The development of a volatile organics concentrator for use in monitoring Space Station water quality

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bodek, Itamar; Ehntholt, Daniel J.; Stolki, Thomas J.; Valentine, James R.; Trabanino, Rudy; Webb, Johanna V.; Sauer, Richard L.

1991-01-01

A breadboard concept of a volatile organics concentrator (VOC) is manufactured and tested for optimized water-quality analysis in a space environment. The VOC system is attached to a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer to analyze the volatile chemicals relevant to the operation of Space Station Freedom. The preliminary tests include: (1) comparisons with analyses based on direct on-column injections of standards; (2) analyses of iodinated volatile organics; (3) comparisons of nitrogen vs helium as the chromatography carrier gas; and (4) measurements of collection efficiency. The VOC can analyze EPA method-624 analytes at comparable detection using flame-ionization detection and can analyze volatile iodinated compounds. The breadboard has good reproducibility and can use nitrogen as a carrier gas; good results are noted for the collection and concentration levels and for water removal.

Progress and Design Concerns of Nanostructured Solar Energy Harvesting Devices.

PubMed

Leung, Siu-Fung; Zhang, Qianpeng; Tavakoli, Mohammad Mahdi; He, Jin; Mo, Xiaoliang; Fan, Zhiyong

2016-05-01

Integrating devices with nanostructures is considered a promising strategy to improve the performance of solar energy harvesting devices such as photovoltaic (PV) devices and photo-electrochemical (PEC) solar water splitting devices. Extensive efforts have been exerted to improve the power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of such devices by utilizing novel nanostructures to revolutionize device structural designs. The thicknesses of light absorber and material consumption can be substantially reduced because of light trapping with nanostructures. Meanwhile, the utilization of nanostructures can also result in more effective carrier collection by shortening the photogenerated carrier collection path length. Nevertheless, performance optimization of nanostructured solar energy harvesting devices requires a rational design of various aspects of the nanostructures, such as their shape, aspect ratio, periodicity, etc. Without this, the utilization of nanostructures can lead to compromised device performance as the incorporation of these structures can result in defects and additional carrier recombination. The design guidelines of solar energy harvesting devices are summarized, including thin film non-uniformity on nanostructures, surface recombination, parasitic absorption, and the importance of uniform distribution of photo-generated carriers. A systematic view of the design concerns will assist better understanding of device physics and benefit the fabrication of high performance devices in the future. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Electron-beam-induced information storage in hydrogenated amorphous silicon device

DOEpatents

Yacobi, Ben G.

1986-01-01

A method for recording and storing information in a hydrogenated amorphous silicon device, comprising: depositing hydrogenated amorphous silicon on a substrate to form a charge-collection device; and generating defects in the hydrogenated amorphous silicon device, wherein the defects act as recombination centers that reduce the lifetime of carriers, thereby reducing charge-collection efficiency; and thus in the charge-collection mode of scanning probe instruments, regions of the hydrogenated amorphous silicon device that contain the defects appear darker in comparison to regions of the device that do not contain the defects, leading to a contrast formation for pattern recognition and information storage, in the device, which darkened areas can be restored to their original charge-collection efficiency by heating the hydrogenated amorphous silicon to a temperature of about 100.degree. C. to 250.degree. C. for a sufficient period of time to provide for such restoration.

General method for simultaneous optimization of light trapping and carrier collection in an ultra-thin film organic photovoltaic cell

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tsai, Cheng-Chia, E-mail: ct2443@columbia.edu; Grote, Richard R.; Beck, Jonathan H.

2014-07-14

We describe a general method for maximizing the short-circuit current in thin planar organic photovoltaic (OPV) heterojunction cells by simultaneous optimization of light absorption and carrier collection. Based on the experimentally obtained complex refractive indices of the OPV materials and the thickness-dependence of the internal quantum efficiency of the OPV active layer, we analyze the potential benefits of light trapping strategies for maximizing the overall power conversion efficiency of the cell. This approach provides a general strategy for optimizing the power conversion efficiency of a wide range of OPV structures. In particular, as an experimental trial system, the approach ismore » applied here to a ultra-thin film solar cell with a SubPc/C{sub 60} photovoltaic structure. Using a patterned indium tin oxide (ITO) top contact, the numerically optimized designs achieve short-circuit currents of 0.790 and 0.980 mA/cm{sup 2} for 30 nm and 45 nm SubPc/C{sub 60} heterojunction layer thicknesses, respectively. These values correspond to a power conversion efficiency enhancement of 78% for the 30 nm thick cell, but only of 32% for a 45 nm thick cell, for which the overall photocurrent is actually higher. Applied to other material systems, the general optimization method can elucidate if light trapping strategies can improve a given cell architecture.« less

High Tolerance to Iron Contamination in Lead Halide Perovskite Solar Cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Poindexter, Jeremy R.; Hoye, Robert L. Z.; Nienhaus, Lea

The relationship between charge-carrier lifetime and the tolerance of lead halide perovskite (LHP) solar cells to intrinsic point defects has drawn much attention by helping to explain rapid improvements in device efficiencies. However, little is known about how charge-carrier lifetime and solar cell performance in LHPs are affected by extrinsic defects (i.e., impurities), including those that are common in manufacturing environments and known to introduce deep levels in other semiconductors. Here, we evaluate the tolerance of LHP solar cells to iron introduced via intentional contamination of the feedstock and examine the root causes of the resulting efficiency losses. We findmore » that comparable efficiency losses occur in LHPs at feedstock iron concentrations approximately 100 times higher than those in p-type silicon devices. Photoluminescence measurements correlate iron concentration with nonradiative recombination, which we attribute to the presence of deep-level iron interstitials, as calculated from first-principles, as well as iron-rich particles detected by synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence microscopy. At moderate contamination levels, we witness prominent recovery of device efficiencies to near-baseline values after biasing at 1.4 V for 60 s in the dark. We theorize that this temporary effect arises from improved charge-carrier collection enhanced by electric fields strengthened from ion migration toward interfaces. Lastly, our results demonstrate that extrinsic defect tolerance contributes to high efficiencies in LHP solar cells, which inspires further investigation into potential large-scale manufacturing cost savings as well as the degree of overlap between intrinsic and extrinsic defect tolerance in LHPs and 'perovskite-inspired' lead-free stable alternatives.« less

High Tolerance to Iron Contamination in Lead Halide Perovskite Solar Cells

DOE PAGES

Poindexter, Jeremy R.; Hoye, Robert L. Z.; Nienhaus, Lea; ...

2017-06-28

The relationship between charge-carrier lifetime and the tolerance of lead halide perovskite (LHP) solar cells to intrinsic point defects has drawn much attention by helping to explain rapid improvements in device efficiencies. However, little is known about how charge-carrier lifetime and solar cell performance in LHPs are affected by extrinsic defects (i.e., impurities), including those that are common in manufacturing environments and known to introduce deep levels in other semiconductors. Here, we evaluate the tolerance of LHP solar cells to iron introduced via intentional contamination of the feedstock and examine the root causes of the resulting efficiency losses. We findmore » that comparable efficiency losses occur in LHPs at feedstock iron concentrations approximately 100 times higher than those in p-type silicon devices. Photoluminescence measurements correlate iron concentration with nonradiative recombination, which we attribute to the presence of deep-level iron interstitials, as calculated from first-principles, as well as iron-rich particles detected by synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence microscopy. At moderate contamination levels, we witness prominent recovery of device efficiencies to near-baseline values after biasing at 1.4 V for 60 s in the dark. We theorize that this temporary effect arises from improved charge-carrier collection enhanced by electric fields strengthened from ion migration toward interfaces. Lastly, our results demonstrate that extrinsic defect tolerance contributes to high efficiencies in LHP solar cells, which inspires further investigation into potential large-scale manufacturing cost savings as well as the degree of overlap between intrinsic and extrinsic defect tolerance in LHPs and 'perovskite-inspired' lead-free stable alternatives.« less

14 CFR 158.11 - Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to isolated communities... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) General § 158.11 Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to...

14 CFR 158.11 - Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to isolated communities... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) General § 158.11 Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to...

14 CFR 158.11 - Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to isolated communities... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) General § 158.11 Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to...

14 CFR 158.11 - Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to isolated communities... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) General § 158.11 Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to...

14 CFR 158.11 - Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to isolated communities... TRANSPORTATION (CONTINUED) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) General § 158.11 Public agency request not to require collection of PFC's by a class of air carriers or foreign air carriers or for service to...

Carrier Transport, Recombination, and the Effects of Grain Boundaries in Polycrystalline Cadmium Telluride Thin Films for Photovoltaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuteja, Mohit

Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), a chalcogenide semiconductor, is currently used as the absorber layer in one of the highest efficiency thin film solar cell technologies. Current efficiency records are over 22%. In 2011, CdTe solar cells accounted for 8% of all solar cells installed. This is because, in part, CdTe has a low degradation rate, high optical absorption coefficient, and high tolerance to intrinsic defects. Solar cells based on polycrystalline CdTe exhibit a higher short-circuit current, fill factor, and power conversion efficiency than their single crystal counterparts. This is despite the fact that polycrystalline CdTe devices exhibit lower open-circuit voltages. This is contrary to the observation for silicon and III-V semiconductors, where material defects cause a dramatic drop in device performance. For example, grain boundaries in covalently-bonded semiconductors (a) act as carrier recombination centers, and (b) lead to localized energy states, causing carrier trapping. Despite significant research to date, the mechanism responsible for the superior current collection properties of polycrystalline CdTe solar cells has not been conclusively answered. This dissertation focuses on the macro-scale electronic band structure, and micro scale electronic properties of grains and grain boundaries in device-grade CdTe thin films to answer this open question. My research utilized a variety of experimental techniques. Samples were obtained from leading groups fabricating the material and devices. A CdCl 2 anneal is commonly performed as part of this fabrication and its effects were also investigated. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was employed to study the band structure and defect states in CdTe polycrystals. Cadmium vacancy- and chlorine-related states lead to carrier recombination, as in CdTe films grown by other methods. Comparing polycrystalline and single crystal CdTe, showed that the key to explaining the improved performance of polycrystalline CdTe does not lie in macroscopic analysis. The nanoscale majority carrier concentration was studied using scanning microwave impedance microscopy, which revealed an existence of majority carrier depletion along the grain boundaries, independent of the growth process used, which was absent in films that were not subjected to CdCl2 annealing. This effect promotes carrier separation and collection. Conductive atomic force microscopy showed enhanced conduction of electrons along the grain boundaries in samples subjected to the CdCl2 anneal treatment while holes were shown to move through the grain bulk. The separation of conduction channels minimizes recombination while simultaneously reducing series resistance and hence enhancing fill factor. Several technical capabilities demonstrated in this work can be easily extended to other semiconductor materials.

78 FR 19726 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Visa Waiver Program Carrier Agreement (CBP Form I-775)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-02

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Explanation of low efficiency droop in semipolar (202¯1¯) InGaN/GaN LEDs through evaluation of carrier recombination coefficients.

PubMed

Monavarian, Morteza; Rashidi, Arman; Aragon, Andrew; Oh, Sang H; Nami, Mohsen; DenBaars, Steve P; Feezell, Daniel

2017-08-07

We report the carrier dynamics and recombination coefficients in single-quantum-well semipolar (202¯1¯) InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes emitting at 440 nm with 93% peak internal quantum efficiency. The differential carrier lifetime is analyzed for various injection current densities from 5 A/cm 2 to 10 kA/cm 2 , and the corresponding carrier densities are obtained. The coupling of internal quantum efficiency and differential carrier lifetime vs injected carrier density (n) enables the separation of the radiative and nonradiative recombination lifetimes and the extraction of the Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) nonradiative (A), radiative (B), and Auger (C) recombination coefficients and their n-dependency considering the saturation of the SRH recombination rate and phase-space filling. The results indicate a three to four-fold higher A and a nearly two-fold higher B0 for this semipolar orientation compared to that of c-plane reported using a similar approach [A. David and M. J. Grundmann, Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 103504 (2010)]. In addition, the carrier density in semipolar (202¯1¯) is found to be lower than the carrier density in c-plane for a given current density, which is important for suppressing efficiency droop. The semipolar LED also shows a two-fold lower C0 compared to c-plane, which is consistent with the lower relative efficiency droop for the semipolar LED (57% vs. 69%). The lower carrier density, higher B 0 coefficient, and lower C 0 (Auger) coefficient are directly responsible for the high efficiency and low efficiency droop reported in semipolar (202¯1¯) LEDs.

Explanation of low efficiency droop in semipolar (202¯1¯) InGaN/GaN LEDs through evaluation of carrier recombination coefficients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monavarian, Morteza; Rashidi, Arman; Aragon, Andrew; Oh, Sang H.; Nami, Mohsen; DenBaars, Steve P.; Feezell, Daniel

2017-08-01

We report the carrier dynamics and recombination coefficients in single-quantum-well semipolar $(20\\bar 2\\bar 1)$ InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes emitting at 440 nm with 93% peak internal quantum efficiency. The differential carrier lifetime is analyzed for various injection current densities from 5 $A/cm^2$ to 10 $kA/cm^2$, and the corresponding carrier densities are obtained. The coupling of internal quantum efficiency and differential carrier lifetime vs injected carrier density ($n$) enables the separation of the radiative and nonradiative recombination lifetimes and the extraction of the Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) nonradiative ($A$), radiative ($B$), and Auger ($C$) recombination coefficients and their $n$-dependency considering the saturation of the SRH recombination rate and phase-space filling. The results indicate a three to four-fold higher $A$ and a nearly two-fold higher $B_0$ for this semipolar orientation compared to that of $c$-plane reported using a similar approach [A. David and M. J. Grundmann, Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 103504 (2010)]. In addition, the carrier density in semipolar $(20\\bar 2\\bar 1)$ is found to be lower than the carrier density in $c$-plane for a given current density, which is important for suppressing efficiency droop. The semipolar LED also shows a two-fold lower $C_0$ compared to $c$-plane, which is consistent with the lower relative efficiency droop for the semipolar LED (57% vs. 69%). The lower carrier density, higher $B_0$ coefficient, and lower $C_0$ (Auger) coefficient are directly responsible for the high efficiency and low efficiency droop reported in semipolar $(20\\bar 2\\bar 1)$ LEDs.

Carrier lifetimes in polar InGaN-based LEDs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lai; Jin, Jie; Hao, Zhibiao; Luo, Yi

2018-02-01

Measurement of carrier lifetime is very important to understand the physics in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), as it builds a link between carrier concentration and excitation power or current density. In this paper, we present our study on optical and electrical characterizations on carrier lifetimes in polar InGaN-based LEDs. First, a carrier rate equation model is proposed to explain the non-exponential nature of time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) decay curves, wherein exciton recombination is replaced by bimolecular recombination, considering the influence of polarization field on electron-hole pairs. Then, nonradiative recombination and radiative recombination coefficients can be deduced from fitting and used to calculate the radiative recombination efficiency. By comparing with the temperature-dependent photoluminescence (TDPL) and power-dependent photoluminescence (PDPL), it is found these three methods provide the consistent results. Second, differential carrier lifetimes depending on injection current are measured in commercial near-ultraviolet (NUV), blue and green LEDs. It is found that carrier lifetime is longer in green one and shorter in NUV one, which is attributed to the influence of polarization-induced quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE). This result implies the carrier density is higher in green LED while lower NUV LED, even the injection current is the same. By ignoring Auger recombination and fitting the efficiency-current and carrier lifetime-current curves simultaneously, the dependence of injection efficiency on carrier concentration in different LED samples are plotted. The NUV LED, which has the shallowest InGaN quantum well, actually exhibits the most serious efficiency droop versus carrier concentration. Then, the approaches to overcome the efficiency droop are discussed.

Disrupted topology of the resting state structural connectome in middle-aged APOE ε4 carriers.

PubMed

Korthauer, L E; Zhan, L; Ajilore, O; Leow, A; Driscoll, I

2018-05-24

The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele is the best characterized genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease to date. Older APOE ε4 carriers (aged 60 + years) are known to have disrupted structural and functional connectivity, but less is known about APOE-associated network integrity in middle age. The goal of this study was to characterize APOE-related differences in network topology in middle age, as disentangling the early effects of healthy versus pathological aging may aid early detection of Alzheimer's disease and inform treatments. We performed resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in healthy, cognitively normal, middle-aged adults (age 40-60; N = 76, 38 APOE ε4 carriers). Graph theoretical analysis was used to calculate local and global efficiency of 1) a whole brain rs-fMRI network; 2) a whole brain DTI network; and 3) the resting state structural connectome (rsSC), an integrated functional-structural network derived using functional-by-structural hierarchical (FSH) mapping. Our results indicated no APOE ε4-associated differences in network topology of the rs-fMRI or DTI networks alone. However, ε4 carriers had significantly lower global and local efficiency of the integrated rsSC compared to non-carriers. Furthermore, ε4 carriers were less resilient to targeted node failure of the rsSC, which mimics the neuropathological process of Alzheimer's disease. Collectively, these findings suggest that integrating multiple neuroimaging modalities and employing graph theoretical analysis may reveal network-level vulnerabilities that may serve as biomarkers of age-related cognitive decline in middle age, decades before the onset of overt cognitive impairment. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Fundamental Studies and Development of III-N Visible LEDs for High-Power Solid-State Lighting Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dupuis, Russell

The goal of this program is to understand in a fundamental way the impact of strain, defects, polarization, and Stokes loss in relation to unique device structures upon the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) and efficiency droop (ED) of III-nitride (III-N) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and to employ this understanding in the design and growth of high-efficiency LEDs capable of highly-reliable, high-current, high-power operation. This knowledge will be the basis for our advanced device epitaxial designs that lead to improved device performance. The primary approach we will employ is to exploit new scientific and engineering knowledge generated through the application of amore » set of unique advanced growth and characterization tools to develop new concepts in strain-, polarization-, and carrier dynamics-engineered and low-defect materials and device designs having reduced dislocations and improved carrier collection followed by efficient photon generation. We studied the effects of crystalline defect, polarizations, hole transport, electron-spillover, electron blocking layer, underlying layer below the multiplequantum- well active region, and developed high-efficiency and efficiency-droop-mitigated blue LEDs with a new LED epitaxial structures. We believe new LEDs developed in this program will make a breakthrough in the development of high-efficiency high-power visible III-N LEDs from violet to green spectral region.« less

First-principles design of nanostructured hybrid photovoltaics based on layered transition metal phosphates

DOE PAGES

Lentz, Levi C.; Kolpak, Alexie M.

2017-04-28

The performance of bulk organic and hybrid organic-inorganic heterojunction photovoltaics is often limited by high carrier recombination arising from strongly bound excitons and low carrier mobility. Structuring materials to minimize the length scales required for exciton separation and carrier collection is therefore a promising approach for improving efficiency. In this work, first-principles computations are employed to design and characterize a new class of photovoltaic materials composed of layered transition metal phosphates (TMPs) covalently bound to organic absorber molecules to form nanostructured superlattices. Using a combination of transition metal substitution and organic functionalization, the electronic structure of these materials is systematicallymore » tuned to design a new hybrid photovoltaic material predicted to exhibit very low recombination due to the presence of a local electric field and spatially isolated, high mobility, two-dimensional electron and hole conducting channels. Furthermore, this material is predicted to have a large open-circuit voltage of 1.7 V. Here, this work suggests that hybrid TMPs constitute an interesting class of materials for further investigation in the search for achieving high efficiency, high power, and low cost photo Zirconium phosphate was chosen, in part, due to previous experiment voltaics.« less

First-principles design of nanostructured hybrid photovoltaics based on layered transition metal phosphates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lentz, Levi C.; Kolpak, Alexie M.

The performance of bulk organic and hybrid organic-inorganic heterojunction photovoltaics is often limited by high carrier recombination arising from strongly bound excitons and low carrier mobility. Structuring materials to minimize the length scales required for exciton separation and carrier collection is therefore a promising approach for improving efficiency. In this work, first-principles computations are employed to design and characterize a new class of photovoltaic materials composed of layered transition metal phosphates (TMPs) covalently bound to organic absorber molecules to form nanostructured superlattices. Using a combination of transition metal substitution and organic functionalization, the electronic structure of these materials is systematicallymore » tuned to design a new hybrid photovoltaic material predicted to exhibit very low recombination due to the presence of a local electric field and spatially isolated, high mobility, two-dimensional electron and hole conducting channels. Furthermore, this material is predicted to have a large open-circuit voltage of 1.7 V. Here, this work suggests that hybrid TMPs constitute an interesting class of materials for further investigation in the search for achieving high efficiency, high power, and low cost photo Zirconium phosphate was chosen, in part, due to previous experiment voltaics.« less

Research on energy efficiency design index for sea-going LNG carriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yan; Yu, Yanyun; Guan, Guan

2014-12-01

This paper describes the characteristics of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers briefly. The LNG carrier includes power plant selection, vapor treatment, liquid cargo tank type, etc. Two parameters—fuel substitution rate and recovery of boil of gas (BOG) volume to energy efficiency design index (EEDI) formula are added, and EEDI formula of LNG carriers is established based on ship EEDI formula. Then, based on steam turbine propulsion device of LNG carriers, mathematical models of LNG carriers' reference line value are established in this paper. By verification, the EEDI formula of LNG carriers described in this paper can provide a reference for LNG carrier EEDI calculation and green shipbuilding.

Two-photon photoemission study of competing Auger and surface-mediated relaxation of hot electrons in CdSe quantum dot solids.

PubMed

Sippel, Philipp; Albrecht, Wiebke; Mitoraj, Dariusz; Eichberger, Rainer; Hannappel, Thomas; Vanmaekelbergh, Daniel

2013-04-10

Solids composed of colloidal quantum dots hold promise for third generation highly efficient thin-film photovoltaic cells. The presence of well-separated conduction electron states opens the possibility for an energy-selective collection of hot and equilibrated carriers, pushing the efficiency above the one-band gap limit. However, in order to reach this goal the decay of hot carriers within a band must be better understood and prevented, eventually. Here, we present a two-photon photoemission study of the 1Pe→1Se intraband relaxation dynamics in a CdSe quantum dot solid that mimics the active layer in a photovoltaic cell. We observe fast hot electron relaxation from the 1Pe to the 1Se state on a femtosecond-scale by Auger-type energy donation to the hole. However, if the oleic acid capping is exchanged for hexanedithiol capping, fast deep hole trapping competes efficiently with this relaxation pathway, blocking the Auger-type electron-hole energy exchange. A slower decay becomes then visible; we provide evidence that this is a multistep process involving the surface.

77 FR 44307 - Notice of Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Approvals and Disapprovals

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-27

... Required to Collect PFC's: Air taxi/ commercial operators filing FAA Form 1800-31. Determination: Approved... Air Carriers Not Required to Collect PFC's: Nonscheduled/ on-demand air carriers filing FAA Form 1800... Carriers Not Required to Collect PFC's: None. Brief Description of Projects Approved for Collection and Use...

New results on diamond pixel sensors using ATLAS frontend electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keil, M.; Adam, W.; Berdermann, E.; Bergonzo, P.; de Boer, W.; Bogani, F.; Borchi, E.; Brambilla, A.; Bruzzi, M.; Colledani, C.; Conway, J.; D'Angelo, P.; Dabrowski, W.; Delpierre, P.; Dulinski, W.; Doroshenko, J.; Doucet, M.; van Eijk, B.; Fallou, A.; Fischer, P.; Fizzotti, F.; Kania, D.; Gan, K. K.; Grigoriev, E.; Hallewell, G.; Han, S.; Hartjes, F.; Hrubec, J.; Husson, D.; Kagan, H.; Kaplon, J.; Kass, R.; Knöpfle, K. T.; Koeth, T.; Krammer, M.; Logiudice, A.; mac Lynne, L.; Manfredotti, C.; Meier, D.; Menichelli, D.; Meuser, S.; Mishina, M.; Moroni, L.; Noomen, J.; Oh, A.; Pan, L. S.; Pernicka, M.; Perera, L.; Riester, J. L.; Roe, S.; Rudge, A.; Russ, J.; Sala, S.; Sampietro, M.; Schnetzer, S.; Sciortino, S.; Stelzer, H.; Stone, R.; Suter, B.; Trischuk, W.; Tromson, D.; Vittone, E.; Weilhammer, P.; Wermes, N.; Wetstein, M.; Zeuner, W.; Zoeller, M.

2003-03-01

Diamond is a promising sensor material for future collider experiments due to its radiation hardness. Diamond pixel sensors have been bump bonded to an ATLAS pixel readout chip using PbSn solder bumps. Single chip devices have been characterised by lab measurements and in a high-energy pion beam at CERN. Results on charge collection, spatial resolution, efficiency and the charge carrier lifetime are presented.

Is there any Exciton (bottleneck) in an Excitonic Solar Cell: Revisiting the Prospects of Single-Semiconductor OPV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alam, Muhammad

2014-03-01

The discovery dye sensitized and bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells in early 1990s introduced a new class of PV technology that rely on (i) distributed photogeneration of excitons, (ii) dissociation of excitons into free carriers by the heterojunction between two organic semiconductors (OSC), and (iii) collection of free carriers through electron and hole transport layers. The success of the approach is undisputed: the highest efficiency OPV cells have all relied on variants of BHJ approach. Yet, three concerns related to the use of a pair of OSCs, namely, low Voc, process sensitivity, and reliability, suggest that the technology may never achieve efficiency-variability-reliability metrics comparable to inorganic solar cells. This encourages a reconsideration of the prospects of Single semiconductor OPV (SS-OPV), a system presumably doomed by the exciton bottleneck. In this talk, we use an inverted SS-OPV to demonstrate how the historical SS-OPV experiments may have been misinterpreted. No one disputes the signature of excitons in polymer under narrowband excitation, but our experiments show that exciton dissociation need not be a bottleneck for OPV under broadband solar illumination. We demonstrate that an alternate collection-limited theory consistently interprets the classical and new experiments, resolves puzzles such as efficiency loss with increasing light intensity, and voltage-dependent reverse photo-current, etc. The theory and experiments suggest a new ``perovskite-like'' strategy to efficiency-variability-reliability of organic solar cells. The work was supported by the Columbia DOE-EFRC (DE-SC0001085) and NSF-NCN (EEC-0228390).

77 FR 74267 - Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information Collection Request: Driver and Carrier...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-13

.... Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,039 [(2 carrier in-depth interviews + 20 carrier pre test web interviews...-depth interviews x 30 minutes/60 minutes + 20 carrier pre-test web interviews x 20 minutes/60 minutes...

Electron-beam-induced information storage in hydrogenated amorphous silicon devices

DOEpatents

Yacobi, B.G.

1985-03-18

A method for recording and storing information in a hydrogenated amorphous silicon device, comprising: depositing hydrogenated amorphous silicon on a substrate to form a charge collection device; and generating defects in the hydrogenated amorphous silicon device, wherein the defects act as recombination centers that reduce the lifetime of carriers, thereby reducing charge collection efficiency and thus in the charge collection mode of scanning probe instruments, regions of the hydrogenated amorphous silicon device that contain the defects appear darker in comparison to regions of the device that do not contain the defects, leading to a contrast formation for pattern recognition and information storage.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yamashita, G.; Nagai, M., E-mail: mnagai@mp.es.osaka-u.ac.jp, E-mail: ashida@mp.es.osaka-u.ac.jp; Ashida, M., E-mail: mnagai@mp.es.osaka-u.ac.jp, E-mail: ashida@mp.es.osaka-u.ac.jp

We estimated the carrier multiplication efficiency in the most common solar-cell material, Si, by using optical-pump/terahertz-probe spectroscopy. Through close analysis of time-resolved data, we extracted the exact number of photoexcited carriers from the sheet carrier density 10 ps after photoexcitation, excluding the influences of spatial diffusion and surface recombination in the time domain. For incident photon energies greater than 4.0 eV, we observed enhanced internal quantum efficiency due to carrier multiplication. The evaluated value of internal quantum efficiency agrees well with the results of photocurrent measurements. This optical method allows us to estimate the carrier multiplication and surface recombination of carriersmore » quantitatively, which are crucial for the design of the solar cells.« less

Recent developments in luminescent solar concentrators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Sark, W. G. J. H. M.

2014-10-01

High efficiency photovoltaic devices combine full solar spectrum absorption and effective generation and collection of charge carriers, while commercial success depends on cost effectiveness in manufacturing. Spectrum modification using down shifting has been demonstrated in luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) since the 1970s, as a cheap alternative for standard c-Si technology. LSCs consist of a highly transparent plastic plate, in which luminescent species are dispersed, which absorb incident light and emit light at a red-shifted wavelength, with high quantum efficiency. Material issues have hampered efficiency improvements, in particular re-absorption of light emitted by luminescent species and stability of these species. In this contribution, approaches are reviewed on minimizing re-absorption, which should allow surpassing the 10% luminescent solar concentrator efficiency barrier.

Investigation of efficiency enhancement in InGaN MQW LED with compositionally step graded GaN/InAlN/GaN multi-layer barrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prajoon, P.; Anuja Menokey, M.; Charles Pravin, J.; Ajayan, J.; Rajesh, S.; Nirmal, D.

2018-04-01

The advantage of InGaN multiple Quantum well (MQW) Light emitting diode (LED) on a SiC substrate with compositionally step graded GaN/InAlN/GaN multi-layer barrier (MLB) is studied. The Internal quantum efficiency, Optical power, current-voltage characteristics, spontaneous emission rate and carrier distribution profile in the active region are investigated using Sentaurus TCAD simulation. An analytical model is also developed to describe the QW carrier injection efficiency, by including carrier leakage mechanisms like carrier overflow, thermionic emission and tunnelling. The enhanced electron confinement, reduced carrier asymmetry, and suppressed carrier overflow in the active region of the MLB MQW LED leads to render a superior performance than the conventional GaN barrier MQW LED. The simulation result also elucidates the efficiency droop behaviour in the MLB MQW LED, it suggests that the efficiency droop effect is remarkably improved when the GaN barrier is replaced with GaN/InAlN/GaN MLB barrier. The analysis shows a dominating behaviour of carrier escape mechanism due to tunnelling. Moreover, the lower lattice mismatching of SiC substrate with GaN epitaxial layer is attributed with good crystal quality and reduced polarization effect, ultimately enhances the optical performance of the LEDs.

Combined effects of space charge and energetic disorder on photocurrent efficiency loss of field-dependent organic photovoltaic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoon, Sangcheol; Park, Byoungchoo; Hwang, Inchan

2015-11-01

The loss of photocurrent efficiency by space-charge effects in organic solar cells with energetic disorder was investigated to account for how energetic disorder incorporates space-charge effects, utilizing a drift-diffusion model with field-dependent charge-pair dissociation and suppressed bimolecular recombination. Energetic disorder, which induces the Poole-Frenkel behavior of charge carrier mobility, is known to decrease the mobility of charge carriers and thus reduces photovoltaic performance. We found that even if the mobilities are the same in the absence of space-charge effects, the degree of energetic disorder can be an additional parameter affecting photocurrent efficiency when space-charge effects occur. Introducing the field-dependence parameter that reflects the energetic disorder, the behavior of efficiency loss with energetic disorder can differ depending on which charge carrier is subject to energetic disorder. While the energetic disorder that is applied to higher-mobility charge carriers decreases photocurrent efficiency further, the efficiency loss can be suppressed when energetic disorder is applied to lower-mobility charge carriers.

Materials interface engineering for solution-processed photovoltaics.

PubMed

Graetzel, Michael; Janssen, René A J; Mitzi, David B; Sargent, Edward H

2012-08-16

Advances in solar photovoltaics are urgently needed to increase the performance and reduce the cost of harvesting solar power. Solution-processed photovoltaics are cost-effective to manufacture and offer the potential for physical flexibility. Rapid progress in their development has increased their solar-power conversion efficiencies. The nanometre (electron) and micrometre (photon) scale interfaces between the crystalline domains that make up solution-processed solar cells are crucial for efficient charge transport. These interfaces include large surface area junctions between photoelectron donors and acceptors, the intralayer grain boundaries within the absorber, and the interfaces between photoactive layers and the top and bottom contacts. Controlling the collection and minimizing the trapping of charge carriers at these boundaries is crucial to efficiency.

Particle and Photon Detection: Counting and Energy Measurement

PubMed Central

Janesick, James; Tower, John

2016-01-01

Fundamental limits for photon counting and photon energy measurement are reviewed for CCD and CMOS imagers. The challenges to extend photon counting into the visible/nIR wavelengths and achieve energy measurement in the UV with specific read noise requirements are discussed. Pixel flicker and random telegraph noise sources are highlighted along with various methods used in reducing their contribution on the sensor’s read noise floor. Practical requirements for quantum efficiency, charge collection efficiency, and charge transfer efficiency that interfere with photon counting performance are discussed. Lastly we will review current efforts in reducing flicker noise head-on, in hopes to drive read noise substantially below 1 carrier rms. PMID:27187398

Characterization of ErAs:GaAs and LuAs:GaAs Superlattice Structures for Continuous-Wave Terahertz Wave Generation through Plasmonic Photomixing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Shang-Hua; Salas, Rodolfo; Krivoy, Erica M.; Nair, Hari P.; Bank, Seth R.; Jarrahi, Mona

2016-07-01

We investigate the impact of ErAs:GaAs and LuAs:GaAs superlattice structures with different LuAs/ErAs nanoparticle depositions and superlattice geometries on terahertz radiation properties of plasmonic photomixers operating at a 780-nm optical wavelength. Our analysis indicates the crucial impact of carrier drift velocity and carrier lifetime on the performance of plasmonic photomixers. While higher carrier drift velocities enable higher optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiencies by offering higher quantum efficiencies, shorter carrier lifetimes allow achieving higher optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiencies by mitigating the negative impact of destructive terahertz radiation from slow photocarriers and preventing the carrier screening effect.

Planar n-Si/PEDOT:PSS hybrid heterojunction solar cells utilizing functionalized carbon nanoparticles synthesized via simple pyrolysis route

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nam, Yoon-Ho; Kim, Dong-Hyung; Shinde, Sambhaji S.; Song, Jae-Won; Park, Min-Joon; Yu, Jin-Young; Lee, Jung-Ho

2017-11-01

Herein, we present a facile and simple strategy for in situ synthesis of functionalized carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) via direct pyrolysis of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on silicon surface. The CNPs were incorporated in hybrid planar n-Si and poly(3,4-etyhlenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) solar cells to improve device performance. We demonstrate that the CNPs-incorporated devices showed increased electrical conductivity (reduced series resistance) and minority carrier lifetime (better charge carrier collection) than those of the cells without CNPs due to the existence of electrically conductive sp 2-hybridized carbon at the heterojunction interfaces. With an optimal concentration of CNPs, the hybrid solar cells exhibited power conversion efficiency up to 11.95%, with an open-circuit voltage of 614 mV, short-circuit current density of 26.34 mA cm-2, and fill factor of 73.93%. These results indicate that our approach is promising for the development of highly efficient organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells.

Direct X-ray detection with hybrid solar cells based on organolead halide perovskites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gill, Hardeep Singh; Elshahat, Bassem; Sajo, Erno; Kumar, Jayant; Kokil, Akshay; Zygmanski, Piotr; Li, Lian; Mosurkal, Ravi

2014-03-01

Organolead halide perovskite materials are attracting considerable interest due to their exceptional opto-electronic properties, such as, high charge carrier mobilities, high exciton diffusion length, high extinction coefficients and broad-band absorption. These interesting properties have enabled their application in high performance hybrid photovoltaic devices. The high Z value of their constituents also makes these materials efficient for absorbing X-rays. Here we will present on the efficient use of hybrid solar cells based on organolead perovskite materials as X-ray detectors. Hybrid solar cells based on CH3NH3PbI3 were fabricated using facile processing techniques on patterned indium tin oxide coated glass substrates. The solar cells typically had a planar configuration of ITO/CH3NH3PbI3/P3HT/Ag. High sensitivity for X-rays due to high Z value, larger carrier mobility and better charge collection was observed. Detecting X-rays with energies relevant to medical oncology applications opens up the potential for diagnostic imaging applications.

The theory, design, and operation of the suppressed carrier data-aided tracking receiver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, M. K.; Springett, J. C.

1973-01-01

A viable, efficient, and easily mechanized carrier regenerating receiver for use in suppressed carrier-tracking system is described. The receiver referred to as a data-aided receiver (DAR) incorporates a data-aided loop (DAL) which provides the required carrier reference signal. The DAL employs the principle of decision feedback and as such is more efficient than other forms of suppressed carrier-tracking loops. The analysis, design, and implementation of the DAR are covered in detail. Performance comparisons and mechanization tradeoffs are made, wherever possible, with discrete carrier systems and other suppressed carrier systems presently in use. Experimental performance verification is given throughout in support of the theory presented.

Unravelling Photocarrier Dynamics beyond the Space Charge Region for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Wenrui; Yan, Danhua; Appavoo, Kannatassen; ...

2017-04-18

Semiconductor photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting require efficient carrier generation, separation, and transport at and beyond the space charge region (SCR) formed at the aqueous interface. The trade-off between photon collection and minority carrier delivery governs the photoelectrode design and implies maximum water splitting efficiency at an electrode thickness equivalent to the light absorption depth. Here, using planar ZnO thin films as a model system, we identify the photocarriers beyond the SCR as another significant source to substantially enhance the PEC performance. The high-quality ZnO films synthesized by pulsed laser deposition feature very few deep trap states and supportmore » a long photocarrier lifetime. Combined with photoelectrochemical characterization, ultrafast spectroscopy, and numerical calculations, it is revealed that engineering the exciton concentration gradient by film thickness facilitates the inward diffusion of photocarriers from the neighboring illuminated region to the SCR and, therefore, achieves a record high quantum efficiency over 80% at a thickness far beyond its light absorption depth and the SCR width. Furthermore, these results elucidate the important role of the photocarriers beyond SCR for the PEC process and provide new insight into exploring the full potential for efficient photoelectrode materials with large exciton diffusivity.« less

Battling Malaria in Rural Zambia with Modern Technology: A Qualitative Study on the Value of Cell Phones, Geographical Information Systems, Asymptomatic Carriers and Rapid Diagnostic Tests to Identify, Treat and Control Malaria.

PubMed

Nygren, David; Isaksson, Arvid Lissel

2014-02-04

During the last decade much progress has been made in reducing malaria transmission in Macha, Southern Province, Zambia. Introduction of artemisinin combination therapies as well as mass screenings of asymptomatic carriers is believed to have contributed the most. When an endemic malaria situation is moving towards a non-endemic situation the resident population loses acquired immunity and therefore active case detection and efficient surveillance is crucial to prevent epidemic outbreaks. Our purpose was to evaluate the impact of cell phone surveillance and geographical information systems on malaria control in Macha. Furthermore, it evaluates what screening and treatment of asymptomatic carriers and implementation of rapid diagnostic tests in rural health care has led to. Ten in-depth semi-structured interviews, field observations and data collection were performed at the Macha Research Trust and at surrounding rural health centers. This qualitative method was inspired by rapid assessment procedure. The cell phone surveillance has been easily integrated in health care, and its integration with Geographical Information Systems has provided the ability to follow malaria transmission on a weekly basis. In addition, active case detection of asymptomatic carriers has been fruitful, which is reflected in it soon being applied nationwide. Furthermore, rapid diagnostic tests have provided rural health centers with reliable malaria diagnostics, thereby decreasing excessive malaria treatments and selection for drug resistance. This report reflects the importance of asymptomatic carriers in targeting malaria elimination, as well as development of effective surveillance systems when transmission decreases. Such an approach would be cost-efficient in the long run through positive effects in reduced child mortality and relief in health care.

Quantum-engineered interband cascade photovoltaic devices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Razeghi, Manijeh; Tournié, Eric; Brown, Gail J.

2013-12-18

Quantum-engineered multiple stage photovoltaic (PV) devices are explored based on InAs/GaSb/AlSb interband cascade (IC) structures. These ICPV devices employ multiple discrete absorbers that are connected in series by widebandgap unipolar barriers using type-II heterostructure interfaces for facilitating carrier transport between cascade stages similar to IC lasers. The discrete architecture is beneficial for improving the collection efficiency and for spectral splitting by utilizing absorbers with different bandgaps. As such, the photo-voltages from each individual cascade stage in an ICPV device add together, creating a high overall open-circuit voltage, similar to conventional multi-junction tandem solar cells. Furthermore, photo-generated carriers can be collectedmore » with nearly 100% efficiency in each stage. This is because the carriers travel over only a single cascade stage, designed to be shorter than a typical diffusion length. The approach is of significant importance for operation at high temperatures where the diffusion length is reduced. Here, we will present our recent progress in the study of ICPV devices, which includes the demonstration of ICPV devices at room temperature and above with narrow bandgaps (e.g. 0.23 eV) and high open-circuit voltages. © (2013) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.« less

Energy, cost and design aspects of coarse- and fine-bubble aeration systems in the MBBR IFAS process.

PubMed

Sander, S; Behnisch, J; Wagner, M

2017-02-01

With the MBBR IFAS (moving bed biofilm reactor integrated fixed-film activated sludge) process, the biomass required for biological wastewater treatment is either suspended or fixed on free-moving plastic carriers in the reactor. Coarse- or fine-bubble aeration systems are used in the MBBR IFAS process. In this study, the oxygen transfer efficiency (OTE) of a coarse-bubble aeration system was improved significantly by the addition of the investigated carriers, even in-process (∼1% per vol-% of added carrier material). In a fine-bubble aeration system, the carriers had little or no effect on OTE. The effect of carriers on OTE strongly depends on the properties of the aeration system, the volumetric filling rate of the carriers, the properties of the carrier media, and the reactor geometry. This study shows that the effect of carriers on OTE is less pronounced in-process compared to clean water conditions. When designing new carriers in order to improve their effect on OTE further, suppliers should take this into account. Although the energy efficiency and cost effectiveness of coarse-bubble aeration systems can be improved significantly by the addition of carriers, fine-bubble aeration systems remain the more efficient and cost-effective alternative for aeration when applying the investigated MBBR IFAS process.

Strategies for increasing the efficiency of heterojunction organic solar cells: material selection and device architecture.

PubMed

Heremans, Paul; Cheyns, David; Rand, Barry P

2009-11-17

Thin-film blends or bilayers of donor- and acceptor-type organic semiconductors form the core of heterojunction organic photovoltaic cells. Researchers measure the quality of photovoltaic cells based on their power conversion efficiency, the ratio of the electrical power that can be generated versus the power of incident solar radiation. The efficiency of organic solar cells has increased steadily in the last decade, currently reaching up to 6%. Understanding and combating the various loss mechanisms that occur in processes from optical excitation to charge collection should lead to efficiencies on the order of 10% in the near future. In organic heterojunction solar cells, the generation of photocurrent is a cascade of four steps: generation of excitons (electrically neutral bound electron-hole pairs) by photon absorption, diffusion of excitons to the heterojunction, dissociation of the excitons into free charge carriers, and transport of these carriers to the contacts. In this Account, we review our recent contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms that govern these steps. Starting from archetype donor-acceptor systems of planar small-molecule heterojunctions and solution-processed bulk heterojunctions, we outline our search for alternative materials and device architectures. We show that non-planar phthalocynanines have appealing absorption characteristics but also have reduced charge carrier transport. As a result, the donor layer needs to be ultrathin, and all layers of the device have to be tuned to account for optical interference effects. Using these optimization techniques, we illustrate cells with 3.1% efficiency for the non-planar chloroboron subphthalocyanine donor. Molecules offering a better compromise between absorption and carrier mobility should allow for further improvements. We also propose a method for increasing the exciton diffusion length by converting singlet excitons into long-lived triplets. By doping a polymer with a phosphorescent molecule, we demonstrate an increase in the exciton diffusion length of a polymer from 4 to 9 nm. If researchers can identify suitable phosphorescent dopants, this method could be employed with other materials. The carrier transport from the junction to the contacts is markedly different for a bulk heterojunction cell than for planar junction cells. Unlike for bulk heterojunction cells, the open-circuit voltage of planar-junction cells is independent of the contact work functions, as a consequence of the balance of drift and diffusion currents in these systems. This understanding helps to guide the development of new materials (particularly donor materials) that can further boost the efficiency of single-junction cells to 10%. With multijunction architectures, we expect that efficiencies of 12-16% could be attained, at which point organic photovoltaic cells could become an important renewable energy source.

Perovskite Solar Cells with Near 100% Internal Quantum Efficiency Based on Large Single Crystalline Grains and Vertical Bulk Heterojunctions

DOE PAGES

Yang, Bin; Dyck, Ondrej; Poplawsky, Jonathan; ...

2015-07-09

Grain boundaries (GBs) as defects in the crystal lattice detrimentally impact the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of polycrystalline solar cells, particularly in recently emerging hybrid perovskites where non-radiative recombination processes lead to significant carrier losses. Here, the beneficial effects of activated vertical GBs are demonstrated by first growing large, vertically-oriented methylammonium lead tri-iodide (CH 3NH 3PbI 3) single-crystalline grains. We show that infiltration of p-type doped 2 -7,7 -tetrakis(N,Ndi-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) into CH 3NH 3PbI 3 films along the GBs creates space charge regions to suppress non-radiative recombination and enhance carrier collection efficiency. Solar cells with such activated GBs yielded averagemore » PCE of 16.3 ± 0.9%, which are among the best solution-processed perovskite devices. As an important alternative to growing ideal CH 3NH 3PbI 3 single crystal films, which is difficult to achieve for such fast-crystallizing perovskites, activating GBs paves a way to design a new type of bulk heterojunction hybrid perovskite photovoltaics toward theoretical maximum PCE.« less

Interband cascade detectors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chuang, Shun Lien (Inventor); Li, Jian (Inventor); Yang, Rui Q. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A device for detecting radiation, typically in the infrared. Photons are absorbed in an active region of a semiconductor device such that the absorption induces an interband electronic transition and generates photo-excited charge carriers. The charge carriers are coupled into a carrier transport region having multiple quantum wells and characterized by intersubband relaxation that provides rapid charge carrier collection. The photo-excited carriers are collected from the carrier transport region at a conducting contact region. Another carrier transport region characterized by interband tunneling for multiple stages draws charge carriers from another conducting contact and replenishes the charge carriers to the active region for photo-excitation. A photocurrent is generated between the conducting contacts through the active region of the device.

Probing photo-carrier collection efficiencies of individual silicon nanowire diodes on a wafer substrate.

PubMed

Schmitt, S W; Brönstrup, G; Shalev, G; Srivastava, S K; Bashouti, M Y; Döhler, G H; Christiansen, S H

2014-07-21

Vertically aligned silicon nanowire (SiNW) diodes are promising candidates for the integration into various opto-electronic device concepts for e.g. sensing or solar energy conversion. Individual SiNW p-n diodes have intensively been studied, but to date an assessment of their device performance once integrated on a silicon substrate has not been made. We show that using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a nano-manipulator and an optical fiber feed-through for tunable (wavelength, power using a tunable laser source) sample illumination, the dark and illuminated current-voltage (I-V) curve of individual SiNW diodes on the substrate wafer can be measured. Surprisingly, the I-V-curve of the serially coupled system composed of SiNW/wafers is accurately described by an equivalent circuit model of a single diode and diode parameters like series and shunting resistivity, diode ideality factor and photocurrent can be retrieved from a fit. We show that the photo-carrier collection efficiency (PCE) of the integrated diode illuminated with variable wavelength and intensity light directly gives insight into the quality of the device design at the nanoscale. We find that the PCE decreases for high light intensities and photocurrent densities, due to the fact that considerable amounts of photo-excited carriers generated within the substrate lead to a decrease in shunting resistivity of the SiNW diode and deteriorate its rectification. The PCE decreases systematically for smaller wavelengths of visible light, showing the possibility of monitoring the effectiveness of the SiNW device surface passivation using the shown measurement technique. The integrated device was pre-characterized using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), TCAD simulations and electron beam induced current (EBIC) measurements to validate the properties of the characterized material at the single SiNW diode level.

High-Performance Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells Based on a Selenium-Containing Polymer Donor and a Twisted Perylene Bisimide Acceptor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Tao; Meng, Dong; Cai, Yunhao

2016-04-23

A novel polymer donor (PBDTS-Se) is designed to match with a non-fullerene acceptor (SdiPBI-S). The corresponding solar cells show a high efficiency of 8.22%, which result from synergetic improvements of light harvesting, charge carrier transport and collection, and morphology. The results indicate that rational design of novel donor materials is important for non-fullerene organic solar cells.

Electrical characterization and comparison of CIGS solar cells made with different structures and fabrication techniques

DOE PAGES

Garris, Rebekah L.; Johnston, Steven; Li, Jian V.; ...

2017-08-31

In a previous study, we reported on Cu(In,Ga)Se2-based (CIGS) solar cell samples collected from different research laboratories and industrial companies with the purpose of understanding the range of CIGS materials that can lead to high-quality and high-efficiency solar panels. Here, we report on electrical measurements of those same samples. Electron-beam induced current and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) gave insights about the collection probability and the lifetime of carriers generated in each absorber. Capacitance and drive-level capacitance profiling revealed nonuniformity in carrier-density profiles. Admittance spectroscopy revealed small activation energies (= 0.03 eV) indicative of the inversion strength, larger activation energies (> 0.1more » eV) reflective of thermal activation of absorber conductivity and a deeper defect level. Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) probed deep hole-trapping defects and showed that all samples in this study had a majority-carrier defect with activation energy between 0.3 eV and 0.9 eV. Optical-DLTS revealed deep electron-trapping defects in several of the CIGS samples. This work focused on revealing similarities and differences between high-quality CIGS solar cells made with various structures and fabrication techniques.« less

Electrical characterization and comparison of CIGS solar cells made with different structures and fabrication techniques

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garris, Rebekah L.; Johnston, Steven; Li, Jian V.

In a previous study, we reported on Cu(In,Ga)Se2-based (CIGS) solar cell samples collected from different research laboratories and industrial companies with the purpose of understanding the range of CIGS materials that can lead to high-quality and high-efficiency solar panels. Here, we report on electrical measurements of those same samples. Electron-beam induced current and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) gave insights about the collection probability and the lifetime of carriers generated in each absorber. Capacitance and drive-level capacitance profiling revealed nonuniformity in carrier-density profiles. Admittance spectroscopy revealed small activation energies (= 0.03 eV) indicative of the inversion strength, larger activation energies (> 0.1more » eV) reflective of thermal activation of absorber conductivity and a deeper defect level. Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) probed deep hole-trapping defects and showed that all samples in this study had a majority-carrier defect with activation energy between 0.3 eV and 0.9 eV. Optical-DLTS revealed deep electron-trapping defects in several of the CIGS samples. This work focused on revealing similarities and differences between high-quality CIGS solar cells made with various structures and fabrication techniques.« less

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TiO2/BiVO4 Nanowire Heterostructure Photoanodes Based on Type II Band Alignment

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Metal oxides that absorb visible light are attractive for use as photoanodes in photoelectrosynthetic cells. However, their performance is often limited by poor charge carrier transport. We show that this problem can be addressed by using separate materials for light absorption and carrier transport. Here, we report a Ta:TiO2|BiVO4 nanowire photoanode, in which BiVO4 acts as a visible light-absorber and Ta:TiO2 acts as a high surface area electron conductor. Electrochemical and spectroscopic measurements provide experimental evidence for the type II band alignment necessary for favorable electron transfer from BiVO4 to TiO2. The host–guest nanowire architecture presented here allows for simultaneously high light absorption and carrier collection efficiency, with an onset of anodic photocurrent near 0.2 V vs RHE, and a photocurrent density of 2.1 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs RHE. PMID:27163032

Model of Ni-63 battery with realistic PIN structure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Munson, Charles E.; Voss, Paul L.; Ougazzaden, Abdallah, E-mail: aougazza@georgiatech-metz.fr

2015-09-14

GaN, with its wide bandgap of 3.4 eV, has emerged as an efficient material for designing high-efficiency betavoltaic batteries. An important part of designing efficient betavoltaic batteries involves a good understanding of the full process, from the behavior of the nuclear material and the creation of electron-hole pairs all the way through the collection of photo-generated carriers. This paper presents a detailed model based on Monte Carlo and Silvaco for a GaN-based betavoltaic battery device, modeled after Ni-63 as an energy source. The accuracy of the model is verified by comparing it with experimental values obtained for a GaN-based p-i-nmore » structure under scanning electron microscope illumination.« less

Superstructure high efficiency photovoltaics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wagner, M.; So, L. C.; Leburton, J. P.

1987-01-01

A novel class of photovoltaic cascade structures is introduced which features multijunction upper subcells. These superstructure high efficiency photovoltaics (SHEP's) exhibit enhanced upper subcell spectral response because of the additional junctions which serve to reduce bulk recombination losses by decreasing the mean collection distance for photogenerated minority carriers. Two possible electrical configurations were studied and compared: a three-terminal scheme that allows both subcells to be operated at their individual maximum power points and a two-terminal configuration with an intercell ohmic contact for series interconnection. The three-terminal devices were found to be superior both in terms of beginning-of-life expectancy and radiation tolerance. Realistic simulations of three-terminal AlGaAs/GaAs SHEP's show that one sun AMO efficiencies in excess of 26 percent are possible.

Model of Ni-63 battery with realistic PIN structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munson, Charles E.; Arif, Muhammad; Streque, Jeremy; Belahsene, Sofiane; Martinez, Anthony; Ramdane, Abderrahim; El Gmili, Youssef; Salvestrini, Jean-Paul; Voss, Paul L.; Ougazzaden, Abdallah

2015-09-01

GaN, with its wide bandgap of 3.4 eV, has emerged as an efficient material for designing high-efficiency betavoltaic batteries. An important part of designing efficient betavoltaic batteries involves a good understanding of the full process, from the behavior of the nuclear material and the creation of electron-hole pairs all the way through the collection of photo-generated carriers. This paper presents a detailed model based on Monte Carlo and Silvaco for a GaN-based betavoltaic battery device, modeled after Ni-63 as an energy source. The accuracy of the model is verified by comparing it with experimental values obtained for a GaN-based p-i-n structure under scanning electron microscope illumination.

Reversible electron-hole separation in a hot carrier solar cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limpert, S.; Bremner, S.; Linke, H.

2015-09-01

Hot-carrier solar cells are envisioned to utilize energy filtering to extract power from photogenerated electron-hole pairs before they thermalize with the lattice, and thus potentially offer higher power conversion efficiency compared to conventional, single absorber solar cells. The efficiency of hot-carrier solar cells can be expected to strongly depend on the details of the energy filtering process, a relationship which to date has not been satisfactorily explored. Here, we establish the conditions under which electron-hole separation in hot-carrier solar cells can occur reversibly, that is, at maximum energy conversion efficiency. We thus focus our analysis on the internal operation of the hot-carrier solar cell itself, and in this work do not consider the photon-mediated coupling to the Sun. After deriving an expression for the voltage of a hot-carrier solar cell valid under conditions of both reversible and irreversible electrical operation, we identify separate contributions to the voltage from the thermoelectric effect and the photovoltaic effect. We find that, under specific conditions, the energy conversion efficiency of a hot-carrier solar cell can exceed the Carnot limit set by the intra-device temperature gradient alone, due to the additional contribution of the quasi-Fermi level splitting in the absorber. We also establish that the open-circuit voltage of a hot-carrier solar cell is not limited by the band gap of the absorber, due to the additional thermoelectric contribution to the voltage. Additionally, we find that a hot-carrier solar cell can be operated in reverse as a thermally driven solid-state light emitter. Our results help explore the fundamental limitations of hot-carrier solar cells, and provide a first step towards providing experimentalists with a guide to the optimal configuration of devices.

Situ soil sampling probe system with heated transfer line

DOEpatents

Robbat, Jr., Albert

2002-01-01

The present invention is directed both to an improved in situ penetrometer probe and to a heated, flexible transfer line. The line and probe may be implemented together in a penetrometer system in which the transfer line is used to connect the probe to a collector/analyzer at the surface. The probe comprises a heater that controls a temperature of a geologic medium surrounding the probe. At least one carrier gas port and vapor collection port are located on an external side wall of the probe. The carrier gas port provides a carrier gas into the geologic medium, and the collection port captures vapors from the geologic medium for analysis. In the transfer line, a flexible collection line that conveys a collected fluid, i.e., vapor, sample to a collector/analyzer. A flexible carrier gas line conveys a carrier gas to facilitate the collection of the sample. A system heating the collection line is also provided. Preferably the collection line is electrically conductive so that an electrical power source can generate a current through it so that the internal resistance generates heat.

Lead Telluride Quantum Dot Solar Cells Displaying External Quantum Efficiencies Exceeding 120%

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Multiple exciton generation (MEG) in semiconducting quantum dots is a process that produces multiple charge-carrier pairs from a single excitation. MEG is a possible route to bypass the Shockley-Queisser limit in single-junction solar cells but it remains challenging to harvest charge-carrier pairs generated by MEG in working photovoltaic devices. Initial yields of additional carrier pairs may be reduced due to ultrafast intraband relaxation processes that compete with MEG at early times. Quantum dots of materials that display reduced carrier cooling rates (e.g., PbTe) are therefore promising candidates to increase the impact of MEG in photovoltaic devices. Here we demonstrate PbTe quantum dot-based solar cells, which produce extractable charge carrier pairs with an external quantum efficiency above 120%, and we estimate an internal quantum efficiency exceeding 150%. Resolving the charge carrier kinetics on the ultrafast time scale with pump–probe transient absorption and pump–push–photocurrent measurements, we identify a delayed cooling effect above the threshold energy for MEG. PMID:26488847

High charge-carrier mobility enables exploitation of carrier multiplication in quantum-dot films

PubMed Central

Sandeep, C. S. Suchand; Cate, Sybren ten; Schins, Juleon M.; Savenije, Tom J.; Liu, Yao; Law, Matt; Kinge, Sachin; Houtepen, Arjan J.; Siebbeles, Laurens D. A.

2013-01-01

Carrier multiplication, the generation of multiple electron–hole pairs by a single photon, is of great interest for solar cells as it may enhance their photocurrent. This process has been shown to occur efficiently in colloidal quantum dots, however, harvesting of the generated multiple charges has proved difficult. Here we show that by tuning the charge-carrier mobility in quantum-dot films, carrier multiplication can be optimized and may show an efficiency as high as in colloidal dispersion. Our results are explained quantitatively by the competition between dissociation of multiple electron–hole pairs and Auger recombination. Above a mobility of ~1 cm2 V−1 s−1, all charges escape Auger recombination and are quantitatively converted to free charges, offering the prospect of cheap quantum-dot solar cells with efficiencies in excess of the Shockley–Queisser limit. In addition, we show that the threshold energy for carrier multiplication is reduced to twice the band gap of the quantum dots. PMID:23974282

Plasmonic Enhancement Mechanisms in Solar Energy Harvesting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cushing, Scott K.

Semiconductor photovoltaics (solar-to-electrical) and photocatalysis (solar-to-chemical) requires sunlight to be converted into excited charge carriers with sufficient lifetimes and mobility to drive a current or photoreaction. Thin semiconductor films are necessary to reduce the charge recombination and mobility losses, but thin films also limit light absorption, reducing the solar energy conversion efficiency. Further, in photocatalysis, the band edges of semiconductor must straddle the redox potentials of a photochemical reaction, reducing light absorption to half the solar spectrum in water splitting. Plasmonics transforms metal nanoparticles into antennas with resonances tuneable across the solar spectrum. If energy can be transferred from the plasmon to the semiconductor, light absorption in the semiconductor can be increased in thin films and occur at energies smaller than the band gap. This thesis investigates why, despite this potential, plasmonic solar energy harvesting techniques rarely appear in top performing solar architectures. To accomplish this goal, the possible plasmonic enhancement mechanisms for solar energy conversion were identified, isolated, and optimized by combining systematic sample design with transient absorption spectroscopy, photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic testing, and theoretical development. Specifically, metal semiconductor nanostructures were designed to modulate the plasmon's scattering, hot carrier, and near field interactions as well as remove heating and self-catalysis effects. Transient absorption spectroscopy then revealed how the structure design affected energy and charge carrier transfer between metal and semiconductor. Correlating this data with wavelength-dependent photoconversion efficiencies and theoretical developments regarding metal-semiconductor interactions identified the origin of the plasmonic enhancement. Using this methodology, it has first been proven that three plasmonic enhancement routes are possible: i) increasing light absorption in the semiconductor by light trapping through scattering, ii) transferring hot carriers from metal to semiconductor after light absorption in the metal, and iii) non-radiative excitation of interband transitions in the semiconductor by plasmon-induced resonant energy transfer (PIRET). The effects of the metal on charge transport and carrier recombination were also revealed. Next, it has been shown that the strength and balance of the three enhancement mechanisms is rooted in the plasmon's dephasing time, or how long it takes the collective electron oscillations to stop being collective. The importance of coherent effects in plasmonic enhancement is also shown. Based on these findings, a thermodynamic balance framework has been used to predict the theoretical maximum efficiency of solar energy conversion in plasmonic metal-semiconductor heterojunctions. These calculations have revealed how plasmonics is best used to address the different light absorption problems in semiconductors, and that not taking into account the plasmon's dephasing is the origin of low plasmonic enhancement Finally, to prove these guidelines, each of the three enhancement mechanisms has been translated into optimal device geometries, showing the plasmon's potential for solar energy harvesting. This dissertation identifies the three possible plasmonic enhancement mechanisms for the first time, discovering a new enhancement mechanism (PIRET) in the process. It has also been shown for the first time that the various plasmon-semiconductor interactions could be rooted in the plasmon's dephasing. This has allowed for the first maximum efficiency estimates which have combined all three enhancement mechanisms to be performed, and revealed that changes in the plasmon's dephasing leads to the disparity in reported plasmonic enhancements. These findings are combined to create optimal device design guidelines, which are proven by fabrication of several devices with top efficiencies in plasmonic solar energy conversion. The knowledge obtained will guide the design of efficient photovoltaics and photocatalysts, helping usher in a renewable energy economy and address current needs of climate change.

Stable High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells Based on Inorganic Electron Transporting Bi-layers.

PubMed

Gu, Hao; Zhao, Chen; Zhang, Yiqiang; Shao, Guosheng

2018-06-27

As one of the significant electron transporting materials (ETM) in efficient planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells (PSCs), SnO₂ can collect/transfer photo-generated carriers produced in perovskite active absorbers and suppress the carrier recombination at interfaces. In this study, we demonstrate that mild solution-processed SnO₂ compact layer can be an eminent ETM for planar heterojunction PSCs. Here, the device based on chemical-bath-deposited SnO₂ electron transporting layer (ETL) exhibits a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.10% and with obvious hysteresis effect (hysteresis index=19.5%), owing to the accumulation and recombination of charge carriers at SnO₂/perovskite interface. In order to improve the carrier dissociation and transport process, an ultrathin TiO₂ film was deposited on the top of SnO₂ ETL passivating nonradiative recombination center. The corresponding device based on TiO₂@SnO₂ electron transporting bi-layer (ETBL) exhibited a high PCE (17.45%) and a negligible hysteresis effect (hysteresis index=1.5%). These findings indicate that this facile solution-processed TiO₂@SnO₂ ETBL paves a scalable and inexpensive way for fabricating hysteresis-less and high-performance PSCs. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Real-Space Mapping of Surface Trap States in CIGSe Nanocrystals Using 4D Electron Microscopy.

PubMed

Bose, Riya; Bera, Ashok; Parida, Manas R; Adhikari, Aniruddha; Shaheen, Basamat S; Alarousu, Erkki; Sun, Jingya; Wu, Tom; Bakr, Osman M; Mohammed, Omar F

2016-07-13

Surface trap states in copper indium gallium selenide semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs), which serve as undesirable channels for nonradiative carrier recombination, remain a great challenge impeding the development of solar and optoelectronics devices based on these NCs. In order to design efficient passivation techniques to minimize these trap states, a precise knowledge about the charge carrier dynamics on the NCs surface is essential. However, selective mapping of surface traps requires capabilities beyond the reach of conventional laser spectroscopy and static electron microscopy; it can only be accessed by using a one-of-a-kind, second-generation four-dimensional scanning ultrafast electron microscope (4D S-UEM) with subpicosecond temporal and nanometer spatial resolutions. Here, we precisely map the collective surface charge carrier dynamics of copper indium gallium selenide NCs as a function of the surface trap states before and after surface passivation in real space and time using S-UEM. The time-resolved snapshots clearly demonstrate that the density of the trap states is significantly reduced after zinc sulfide (ZnS) shelling. Furthermore, the removal of trap states and elongation of carrier lifetime are confirmed by the increased photocurrent of the self-biased photodetector fabricated using the shelled NCs.

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Efficiency analysis of betavoltaic elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sachenko, A. V.; Shkrebtii, A. I.; Korkishko, R. M.; Kostylyov, V. P.; Kulish, M. R.; Sokolovskyi, I. O.

2015-09-01

The conversion of energy of electrons produced by a radioactive β-source into electricity in a Si and SiC p- n junctions is modeled. The features of the generation function that describes the electron-hole pair production by an electron flux and the emergence of a "dead layer" are discussed. The collection efficiency Q that describes the rate of electron-hole pair production by incident beta particles, is calculated taking into account the presence of the dead layer. It is shown that in the case of high-grade Si p- n junctions, the collection efficiency of electron-hole pairs created by a high-energy electrons flux (such as, e.g., Pm-147 beta flux) is close or equal to unity in a wide range of electron energies. For SiC p-n junctions, Q is near unity only for electrons with relatively low energies of about 5 keV (produced, e.g., by a tritium source) and decreases rapidly with further increase of electron energy. The conditions, under which the influence of the dead layer on the collection efficiency is negligible, are determined. The open-circuit voltage is calculated for realistic values of the minority carriers' diffusion coefficients and lifetimes in Si and SiC p- n junctions, irradiated by a high-energy electrons flux. Our calculations allow to estimate the attainable efficiency of betavoltaic elements.

Nanostructured organic/inorganic semicondutor photovoltaics: Investigation on morphology and optoelectronics performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wanninayake, Aruna Pushpa Kumara

Organic solar cell is a promising technology because of the versatility of organic materials in terms of tunability of their electrical and optical properties. In addition, their relative insensitivity to film imperfections potentially allows for very low-cost high-throughput roll-to-roll processing. However, the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cell is still limited and needs to be improved in order to be competitive with grid parity. This work is focused on the design and characterization of a new organic/inorganic hybrid device to enhance the efficiency factors of bilayer organic solar cells such as: light absorption, exciton diffusion, exciton dissociation, charge transportation and charge collection at the electrodes. In a hybrid solar cell operation, external quantum efficiency is determined by these five factors. The external quantum efficiency has linear relationship to the power conversation efficiency via short circuit current density. Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) PSCs benefit from a homogeneous donor-acceptor (D-A) contact interface compared to their inorganic counterpart. A homogenous D-A interface offers a longer free path for charge carriers, resulting in a longer diffusional pathway and a larger coulomb interaction between electrons and holes. This is triggered by the low dielectric constant of organic semiconductors. Among various conventional donor-acceptor structures, poly(3-hexylthiophene)/[6,6]-phenyl-C70-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT/PCBM) mixture is the most promising and ideal donor-acceptor pair due to their unique properties. In order to take benefits from both organic and inorganic materials, inorganic nanoparticles are incorporated in this donor-acceptor polymer structure. Light trapping enhances light absorption and increases efficiencies with thinner device structure. In this study, copper oxide nanoparticles are used in the P3HT/PC70BM active layer to optimize the optical absorption properties in the blend. In addition, zinc oxide nanoparticles are used for tuning the conjugated polymer films due to their high electron accepting ability and optical absorption properties. In the zinc oxide structure, electrons exhibit higher mobility, which enhances the exciton dissociation efficiency. In addition, metal nanoparticles such as gold are added to the hole transport layer to enhance the overall hole transport ability. The optimum morphology of P3HT/PCBM films is described by two main features: 1) the molecular ordering within the donor or acceptor phase, which affects the photon absorption and carrier mobility; and 2) the scale of phase separation between the donor and the acceptor, which can directly influence the exciton dissociation and charge transport and/or collection processes. Hence, the molecular ordering and the phase separation between the donor and acceptor phases are crucial for solar cells with high efficiency. Optimization of the morphology of the organic/inorganic hybrid layers will be achieved via thermal annealing. The main goal of this work is to fabricate inorganic nanoparticles incorporated polymer PV devices with increased power conversion efficiency (PCE). This goal is achieved through four research objectives which are 1) enhancement of exciton generation and morphology by CuO NPs, 2) enhancement of exciton transportation and carrier diffusion by thermal annealing, 3) Improvement of exciton dissociation and electron mobility using ZnO NPs, and 4) improvement of hole collection ability using Au NPs. The key findings in this research can be applied to fabricate solar cells with higher power conversion efficiencies.

Optimization of nanostructured lipid carriers for topical delivery of nimesulide using Box-Behnken design approach.

PubMed

Moghddam, Seyedeh Marziyeh Mahdavi; Ahad, Abdul; Aqil, Mohd; Imam, Syed Sarim; Sultana, Yasmin

2017-05-01

The aim of the present study was to develop and optimize topically applied nimesulide-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers. Box-Behnken experimental design was applied for optimization of nanostructured lipid carriers. The independent variables were ratio of stearic acid: oleic acid (X 1 ), poloxamer 188 concentration (X 2 ) and lecithin concentration (X 3 ) while particle size (Y 1 ) and entrapment efficiency (Y 2 ) were the chosen responses. Further, skin penetration study, in vitro release, confocal laser scanning microscopy and stability study were also performed. The optimized nanostructured lipid carriers of nimesulide provide reasonable particle size, flux, and entrapment efficiency. Optimized formulation (F9) with mean particle size of 214.4 ± 11 nm showed 89.4 ± 3.40% entrapment efficiency and achieved mean flux 2.66 ± 0.09 μg/cm 2 /h. In vitro release study showed prolonged drug release from the optimized formulation following Higuchi release kinetics with R 2 value of 0.984. Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed an enhanced penetration of Rhodamine B-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers to the deeper layers of the skin. The stability study confirmed that the optimized formulation was considerably stable at refrigerator temperature as compared to room temperature. Our results concluded that nanostructured lipid carriers are an efficient carrier for topical delivery of nimesulide.

86% internal differential efficiency from 8 to 9 µm-emitting, step-taper active-region quantum cascade lasers.

PubMed

Kirch, Jeremy D; Chang, Chun-Chieh; Boyle, Colin; Mawst, Luke J; Lindberg, Don; Earles, Tom; Botez, Dan

2016-10-17

8.4 μm-emitting quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) have been designed to have, right from threshold, both carrier-leakage suppression and miniband-like carrier extraction. The slope-efficiency characteristic temperature T₁, the signature of carrier-leakage suppression, is found to be 665 K. Resonant-tunneling carrier extraction from both the lower laser level (ll) and the level below it, coupled with highly effective ll-depopulation provide a very short ll lifetime (~0.12 ps). As a result the laser-transition differential efficiency reaches 89%, and the internal differential efficiency η_id, derived from a variable mirror-loss study, is found to be 86%, in good agreement with theory. A study of 8.8 μm-emitting QCLs also provides an η_id value of 86%. A corrected equation for the external differential efficiency is derived which leads to a fundamental limit of ~90% for the η_id values of mid-infrared QCLs. In turn, the fundamental wallplug-efficiency limits become ~34% higher than previously predicted.

Slow cooling and highly efficient extraction of hot carriers in colloidal perovskite nanocrystals.

PubMed

Li, Mingjie; Bhaumik, Saikat; Goh, Teck Wee; Kumar, Muduli Subas; Yantara, Natalia; Grätzel, Michael; Mhaisalkar, Subodh; Mathews, Nripan; Sum, Tze Chien

2017-02-08

Hot-carrier solar cells can overcome the Schottky-Queisser limit by harvesting excess energy from hot carriers. Inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals are considered prime candidates. However, hot-carrier harvesting is compromised by competitive relaxation pathways (for example, intraband Auger process and defects) that overwhelm their phonon bottlenecks. Here we show colloidal halide perovskite nanocrystals transcend these limitations and exhibit around two orders slower hot-carrier cooling times and around four times larger hot-carrier temperatures than their bulk-film counterparts. Under low pump excitation, hot-carrier cooling mediated by a phonon bottleneck is surprisingly slower in smaller nanocrystals (contrasting with conventional nanocrystals). At high pump fluence, Auger heating dominates hot-carrier cooling, which is slower in larger nanocrystals (hitherto unobserved in conventional nanocrystals). Importantly, we demonstrate efficient room temperature hot-electrons extraction (up to ∼83%) by an energy-selective electron acceptor layer within 1 ps from surface-treated perovskite NCs thin films. These insights enable fresh approaches for extremely thin absorber and concentrator-type hot-carrier solar cells.

Optimization of carrier multiplication for more effcient solar cells: the case of Sn quantum dots.

PubMed

Allan, Guy; Delerue, Christophe

2011-09-27

We present calculations of impact ionization rates, carrier multiplication yields, and solar-power conversion efficiencies in solar cells based on quantum dots (QDs) of a semimetal, α-Sn. Using these results and previous ones on PbSe and PbS QDs, we discuss a strategy to select QDs with the highest carrier multiplication rate for more efficient solar cells. We suggest using QDs of materials with a close to zero band gap and a high multiplicity of the bands in order to favor the relaxation of photoexcited carriers by impact ionization. Even in that case, the improvement of the maximum solar-power conversion efficiency appears to be a challenging task. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Nanoporous mannitol carrier prepared by non-organic solvent spray drying technique to enhance the aerosolization performance for dry powder inhalation

PubMed Central

Peng, Tingting; Zhang, Xuejuan; Huang, Ying; Zhao, Ziyu; Liao, Qiuying; Xu, Jing; Huang, Zhengwei; Zhang, Jiwen; Wu, Chuan-yu; Pan, Xin; Wu, Chuanbin

2017-01-01

An optimum carrier rugosity is essential to achieve a satisfying drug deposition efficiency for the carrier based dry powder inhalation (DPI). Therefore, a non-organic spray drying technique was firstly used to prepare nanoporous mannitol with small asperities to enhance the DPI aerosolization performance. Ammonium carbonate was used as a pore-forming agent since it decomposed with volatile during preparation. It was found that only the porous structure, and hence the specific surface area and carrier density were changed at different ammonium carbonate concentration. Furthermore, the carrier density was used as an indication of porosity to correlate with drug aerosolization. A good correlation between the carrier density and fine particle fraction (FPF) (r2 = 0.9579) was established, suggesting that the deposition efficiency increased with the decreased carrier density. Nanoporous mannitol with a mean pore size of about 6 nm exhibited 0.24-fold carrier density while 2.16-fold FPF value of the non-porous mannitol. The enhanced deposition efficiency was further confirmed from the pharmacokinetic studies since the nanoporous mannitol exhibited a significantly higher AUC0-8h value than the non-porous mannitol and commercial product Pulmicort. Therefore, surface modification by preparing nanoporous carrier through non-organic spray drying showed to be a facile approach to enhance the DPI aerosolization performance. PMID:28462948

Exciton delocalization incorporated drift-diffusion model for bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zi Shuai; Sha, Wei E. I.; Choy, Wallace C. H.

2016-12-01

Modeling the charge-generation process is highly important to understand device physics and optimize power conversion efficiency of bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs). Free carriers are generated by both ultrafast exciton delocalization and slow exciton diffusion and dissociation at the heterojunction interface. In this work, we developed a systematic numerical simulation to describe the charge-generation process by a modified drift-diffusion model. The transport, recombination, and collection of free carriers are incorporated to fully capture the device response. The theoretical results match well with the state-of-the-art high-performance organic solar cells. It is demonstrated that the increase of exciton delocalization ratio reduces the energy loss in the exciton diffusion-dissociation process, and thus, significantly improves the device efficiency, especially for the short-circuit current. By changing the exciton delocalization ratio, OSC performances are comprehensively investigated under the conditions of short-circuit and open-circuit. Particularly, bulk recombination dependent fill factor saturation is unveiled and understood. As a fundamental electrical analysis of the delocalization mechanism, our work is important to understand and optimize the high-performance OSCs.

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Slow hot carrier cooling in cesium lead iodide perovskites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Qing; Ripolles, Teresa S.; Even, Jacky; Ogomi, Yuhei; Nishinaka, Koji; Izuishi, Takuya; Nakazawa, Naoki; Zhang, Yaohong; Ding, Chao; Liu, Feng; Toyoda, Taro; Yoshino, Kenji; Minemoto, Takashi; Katayama, Kenji; Hayase, Shuzi

2017-10-01

Lead halide perovskites are attracting a great deal of interest for optoelectronic applications such as solar cells, LEDs, and lasers because of their unique properties. In solar cells, heat dissipation by hot carriers results in a major energy loss channel responsible for the Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit. Hot carrier solar cells offer the possibility to overcome this limit and achieve energy conversion efficiency as high as 66% by extracting hot carriers. Therefore, fundamental studies on hot carrier relaxation dynamics in lead halide perovskites are important. Here, we elucidated the hot carrier cooling dynamics in all-inorganic cesium lead iodide (CsPbI3) perovskite using transient absorption spectroscopy. We observe that the hot carrier cooling rate in CsPbI3 decreases as the fluence of the pump light increases and the cooling is as slow as a few 10 ps when the photoexcited carrier density is 7 × 1018 cm-3, which is attributed to phonon bottleneck for high photoexcited carrier densities. Our findings suggest that CsPbI3 has a potential for hot carrier solar cell applications.

Higher-efficiency photoelectrochemical electrodes of titanium dioxide-based nanoarrays sensitized simultaneously with plasmonic silver nanoparticles and multiple metal sulfides photosensitizers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Keying; Liu, Zhifeng; Han, Jianhua; Zhang, Xueqi; Li, Yajun; Hong, Tiantian; Zhou, Cailou

2015-07-01

This paper describes a novel design of high-efficiency photoelectrochemical water splitting electrode, i.e., ordered TiO2 nanorod arrays (NRs) sensitized simultaneously with noble metal (Ag), binary metal sulfides (Ag2S) and ternary metal sulfides (Ag3CuS2) multiple photosensitizers for the first time. The TiO2/Ag/Ag2S/Ag3CuS2 NRs heterostructure is successfully synthesized through successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) and a simple ion-exchange process based on ionic reaction mechanism. On the basis of an optimal quantity of Ag, Ag2S and Ag3CuS2 nanoparticles, such TiO2/Ag/Ag2S/Ag3CuS2 NRs exhibit a higher photoelectrochemical activity ever reported for TiO2-based nanoarrays in PEC water splitting, the photocurrent density is up to 9.82 mA cm-2 at 0.47 V versus Ag/AgCl, respectively. This novel architecture is able to increase electron collection efficiency and suppress carrier recombination via (i) a higher efficiency of light-harvesting through these multiple photosensitizers (Ag, Ag2S and Ag3CuS2); (ii) the efficient separation of photo-induced electrons and holes due to the direct electrical pathways; (iii) the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of Ag nanoparticles, which enhances the efficient charge separation and high carrier mobility. This work is useful to explore feasible routes to further enhance the performance of oxide semiconductors for PEC water splitting to produce clean H2 energy.

Development of high-efficiency solar cells on silicon web

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meier, D. L.; Greggi, J.; Okeeffe, T. W.; Rai-Choudhury, P.

1986-01-01

Work was performed to improve web base material with a goal of obtaining solar cell efficiencies in excess of 18% (AM1). Efforts in this program are directed toward identifying carrier loss mechanisms in web silicon, eliminating or reducing these mechanisms, designing a high efficiency cell structure with the aid of numerical models, and fabricating high efficiency web solar cells. Fabrication techniques must preserve or enhance carrier lifetime in the bulk of the cell and minimize recombination of carriers at the external surfaces. Three completed cells were viewed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in order to investigate further the relation between structural defects and electrical performance of web cells. Consistent with past TEM examinations, the cell with the highest efficiency (15.0%) had no dislocations but did have 11 twin planes.

InP shallow-homojunction solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keavney, Christopher; Spitzer, Mark B.; Vernon, Stanley M.; Haven, Victor E.; Augustine, Godfrey

1989-01-01

Indium phosphide solar cells with very thin n-type emitters have been made by both ion implantation and metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Air mass zero efficiencies as high as 18.8 percent (NASA measurement) have been achieved. Although calculations show that, as is the case with GaAs, a heterostructure is expected to be required for the highest efficiencies attainable, the material properties of InP give the shallow-homojunction structure a greater potential than in the case of GaAs. The best cells, which were those made by ion implantation, show open-circuit voltage (V sub oc) of 873 mV, short-circuit current of 357 A/sq m (35.7 mA/sq cm), and fill factor of 0.829. Improvements are anticipated in all three of these parameters. Internal quantum efficiency peaks at over 90 percent in the red end of the spectrum, but drops to 54 percent in the blue end. Other cells have achieved 74 percent in the blue end. Detailed modeling of the data indicates that a high front surface recombination velocity is responsible for the low blue response, that the carrier lifetime is high enough to allow good carrier collection from both the base and the emitter, and that the voltage is base-limited.

Spatial Resolution Versus Data Acquisition Efficiency in Mapping an Inhomogeneous System with Species Diffusion

DOE PAGES

Chen, Fengxiang; Zhang, Yong; Gfroerer, T. H.; ...

2015-06-02

Traditionally, spatially-resolved photoluminescence (PL) has been performed using a point-by-point scan mode with both excitation and detection occurring at the same spatial location. But with the availability of high quality detector arrays like CCDs, an imaging mode has become popular for performing spatially-resolved PL. By illuminating the entire area of interest and collecting the data simultaneously from all spatial locations, the measurement efficiency can be greatly improved. However, this new approach has proceeded under the implicit assumption of comparable spatial resolution. We show here that when carrier diffusion is present, the spatial resolution can actually differ substantially between the twomore » modes, with the less efficient scan mode being far superior. We apply both techniques in investigation of defects in a GaAs epilayer – where isolated singlet and doublet dislocations can be identified. A superposition principle is developed for solving the diffusion equation to extract the intrinsic carrier diffusion length, which can be applied to a system with arbitrarily distributed defects. The understanding derived from this work is significant for a broad range of problems in physics and beyond (for instance biology) – whenever the dynamics of generation, diffusion, and annihilation of species can be probed with either measurement mode.« less

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The effect of diffusion induced lattice stress on the open-circuit voltage in silicon solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weizer, V. G.; Godlewski, M. P.

1984-01-01

It is demonstrated that diffusion induced stresses in low resistivity silicon solar cells can significantly reduce both the open-circuit voltage and collection efficiency. The degradation mechanism involves stress induced changes in both the minority carrier mobility and the diffusion length. Thermal recovery characteristics indicate that the stresses are relieved at higher temperatures by divacancy flow (silicon self diffusion). The level of residual stress in as-fabricated cells was found to be negligible in the cells tested.

Charge-Carrier Balance for Highly Efficient Inverted Planar Heterojunction Perovskite Solar Cells.

PubMed

Chen, Ke; Hu, Qin; Liu, Tanghao; Zhao, Lichen; Luo, Deying; Wu, Jiang; Zhang, Yifei; Zhang, Wei; Liu, Feng; Russell, Thomas P; Zhu, Rui; Gong, Qihuang

2016-12-01

The charge-carrier balance strategy by interface engineering is employed to optimize the charge-carrier transport in inverted planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells. N,N-Dimethylformamide-treated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) and poly(methyl methacrylate)-modified PCBM are utilized as the hole and electron selective contacts, respectively, leading to a high power conversion efficiency of 18.72%. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

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2010-12-14

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Slow cooling and highly efficient extraction of hot carriers in colloidal perovskite nanocrystals

PubMed Central

Li, Mingjie; Bhaumik, Saikat; Goh, Teck Wee; Kumar, Muduli Subas; Yantara, Natalia; Grätzel, Michael; Mhaisalkar, Subodh; Mathews, Nripan; Sum, Tze Chien

2017-01-01

Hot-carrier solar cells can overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit by harvesting excess energy from hot carriers. Inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals are considered prime candidates. However, hot-carrier harvesting is compromised by competitive relaxation pathways (for example, intraband Auger process and defects) that overwhelm their phonon bottlenecks. Here we show colloidal halide perovskite nanocrystals transcend these limitations and exhibit around two orders slower hot-carrier cooling times and around four times larger hot-carrier temperatures than their bulk-film counterparts. Under low pump excitation, hot-carrier cooling mediated by a phonon bottleneck is surprisingly slower in smaller nanocrystals (contrasting with conventional nanocrystals). At high pump fluence, Auger heating dominates hot-carrier cooling, which is slower in larger nanocrystals (hitherto unobserved in conventional nanocrystals). Importantly, we demonstrate efficient room temperature hot-electrons extraction (up to ∼83%) by an energy-selective electron acceptor layer within 1 ps from surface-treated perovskite NCs thin films. These insights enable fresh approaches for extremely thin absorber and concentrator-type hot-carrier solar cells. PMID:28176882

The nature of free-carrier transport in organometal halide perovskites

PubMed Central

Hakamata, Tomoya; Shimamura, Kohei; Shimojo, Fuyuki; Kalia, Rajiv K.; Nakano, Aiichiro; Vashishta, Priya

2016-01-01

Organometal halide perovskites are attracting great attention as promising material for solar cells because of their high power conversion efficiency. The high performance has been attributed to the existence of free charge carriers and their large diffusion lengths, but the nature of carrier transport at the atomistic level remains elusive. Here, nonadiabatic quantum molecular dynamics simulations elucidate the mechanisms underlying the excellent free-carrier transport in CH3NH3PbI3. Pb and I sublattices act as disjunct pathways for rapid and balanced transport of photoexcited electrons and holes, respectively, while minimizing efficiency-degrading charge recombination. On the other hand, CH3NH3 sublattice quickly screens out electrostatic electron-hole attraction to generate free carriers within 1 ps. Together this nano-architecture lets photoexcited electrons and holes dissociate instantaneously and travel far away to be harvested before dissipated as heat. This work provides much needed structure-property relationships and time-resolved information that potentially lead to rational design of efficient solar cells. PMID:26781627

Single-walled carbon nanotube film-silicon heterojunction radioisotope betavoltaic microbatteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Peng; Chang, Yiyang; Zhang, Jinwen

2014-05-01

Ever since the appearance of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies, they have been used in almost every type of microbattery except for nuclear ones. Here we present a radioisotope betavoltaic (BV) microbattery based on a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) film that acts as a carrier separator. SWCNT film also provides a shortcut for carrier transportation. The energy conversion efficiency of a BV microbattery can reach up to 0.15% after the subtraction of the energy loss of beta particles in air and SWCNT film, proving that the SWCNT film-silicon heterojunction presents a promising configuration suitable for use in radioisotope BV microbatteries. Tracing the particle route, we achieved a charge collection rate of 59.9%, indicating that our device could potentially achieve higher performance. Primary strategies to improve the performance of the BV microbattery are discussed.

Chromatographic efficiency of polar capillary columns applied for the analysis of fatty acid methyl esters by gas chromatography.

PubMed

Waktola, Habtewold D; Mjøs, Svein A

2018-04-01

The chromatographic efficiency that could be achieved in temperature-programmed gas chromatography was compared for four capillary columns that are typically applied for analysis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). Three different carrier gases, hydrogen, helium and nitrogen, were applied. For each experiment, the carrier gas velocities and the temperature rates were varied with a full 9 × 3 design, with nine levels on the carrier gas velocity and temperature rates of 1, 2 or 3°C/min. Response surface methodology was used to create models of chromatographic efficiency as a function of temperature rate and carrier gas velocity. The chromatographic efficiency was defined as the inverse of peak widths measured in retention index units. The final results were standardized so that the efficiencies that could be achieved within a certain time frame, defined by the retention time of the last compound in the chromatogram, could be compared. The results show that there were clear differences in the efficiencies that could be achieved with the different columns and that the efficiency decreased with increasing polarity of the stationary phase. The differences can be explained by higher resistance to mass transfer in the stationary phase in the most polar columns. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Efficient Carrier-to-Exciton Conversion in Field Emission Tunnel Diodes Based on MIS-Type van der Waals Heterostack.

PubMed

Wang, Shunfeng; Wang, Junyong; Zhao, Weijie; Giustiniano, Francesco; Chu, Leiqiang; Verzhbitskiy, Ivan; Zhou Yong, Justin; Eda, Goki

2017-08-09

We report on efficient carrier-to-exciton conversion and planar electroluminescence from tunnel diodes based on a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) van der Waals heterostack consisting of few-layer graphene (FLG), hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), and monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS 2 ). These devices exhibit excitonic electroluminescence with extremely low threshold current density of a few pA·μm -2 , which is several orders of magnitude lower compared to the previously reported values for the best planar EL devices. Using a reference dye, we estimate the EL quantum efficiency to be ∼1% at low current density limit, which is of the same order of magnitude as photoluminescence quantum yield at the equivalent excitation rate. Our observations reveal that the efficiency of our devices is not limited by carrier-to-exciton conversion efficiency but by the inherent exciton-to-photon yield of the material. The device characteristics indicate that the light emission is triggered by injection of hot minority carriers (holes) to n-doped WS 2 by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling and that hBN serves as an efficient hole-transport and electron-blocking layer. Our findings offer insight into the intelligent design of van der Waals heterostructures and avenues for realizing efficient excitonic devices.

Comparison of Iron and Tungsten Based Oxygen Carriers for Hydrogen Production Using Chemical Looping Reforming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, M. N.; Shamim, T.

2017-08-01

Hydrogen production by using a three reactor chemical looping reforming (TRCLR) technology is an innovative and attractive process. Fossil fuels such as methane are the feedstocks used. This process is similar to a conventional steam-methane reforming but occurs in three steps utilizing an oxygen carrier. As the oxygen carrier plays an important role, its selection should be done carefully. In this study, two oxygen carrier materials of base metal iron (Fe) and tungsten (W) are analysed using a thermodynamic model of a three reactor chemical looping reforming plant in Aspen plus. The results indicate that iron oxide has moderate oxygen carrying capacity and is cheaper since it is abundantly available. In terms of hydrogen production efficiency, tungsten oxide gives 4% better efficiency than iron oxide. While in terms of electrical power efficiency, iron oxide gives 4.6% better results than tungsten oxide. Overall, a TRCLR system with iron oxide is 2.6% more efficient and is cost effective than the TRCLR system with tungsten oxide.

Ultrafast Hot Carrier Dynamics in GaN and Its Impact on the Efficiency Droop.

PubMed

Jhalani, Vatsal A; Zhou, Jin-Jian; Bernardi, Marco

2017-08-09

GaN is a key material for lighting technology. Yet, the carrier transport and ultrafast dynamics that are central in GaN light-emitting devices are not completely understood. We present first-principles calculations of carrier dynamics in GaN, focusing on electron-phonon (e-ph) scattering and the cooling and nanoscale dynamics of hot carriers. We find that e-ph scattering is significantly faster for holes compared to electrons and that for hot carriers with an initial 0.5-1 eV excess energy, holes take a significantly shorter time (∼0.1 ps) to relax to the band edge compared to electrons, which take ∼1 ps. The asymmetry in the hot carrier dynamics is shown to originate from the valence band degeneracy, the heavier effective mass of holes compared to electrons, and the details of the coupling to different phonon modes in the valence and conduction bands. We show that the slow cooling of hot electrons and their long ballistic mean free paths (over 3 nm at room temperature) are a possible cause of efficiency droop in GaN light-emitting diodes. Taken together, our work sheds light on the ultrafast dynamics of hot carriers in GaN and the nanoscale origin of efficiency droop.

Investigation of theoretical efficiency limit of hot carriers solar cells with a bulk indium nitride absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aliberti, P.; Feng, Y.; Takeda, Y.; Shrestha, S. K.; Green, M. A.; Conibeer, G.

2010-11-01

Theoretical efficiencies of a hot carrier solar cell considering indium nitride as the absorber material have been calculated in this work. In a hot carrier solar cell highly energetic carriers are extracted from the device before thermalisation, allowing higher efficiencies in comparison to conventional solar cells. Previous reports on efficiency calculations approached the problem using two different theoretical frameworks, the particle conservation (PC) model or the impact ionization model, which are only valid in particular extreme conditions. In addition an ideal absorber material with the approximation of parabolic bands has always been considered in the past. Such assumptions give an overestimation of the efficiency limits and results can only be considered indicative. In this report the real properties of wurtzite bulk InN absorber have been taken into account for the calculation, including the actual dispersion relation and absorbance. A new hybrid model that considers particle balance and energy balance at the same time has been implemented. Effects of actual impact ionization (II) and Auger recombination (AR) lifetimes have been included in the calculations for the first time, considering the real InN band structure and thermalisation rates. It has been observed that II-AR mechanisms are useful for cell operation in particular conditions, allowing energy redistribution of hot carriers. A maximum efficiency of 43.6% has been found for 1000 suns, assuming thermalisation constants of 100 ps and ideal blackbody absorption. This value of efficiency is considerably lower than values previously calculated adopting PC or II-AR models.

General working principles of CH3NH3PbX3 perovskite solar cells.

PubMed

Gonzalez-Pedro, Victoria; Juarez-Perez, Emilio J; Arsyad, Waode-Sukmawati; Barea, Eva M; Fabregat-Santiago, Francisco; Mora-Sero, Ivan; Bisquert, Juan

2014-02-12

Organometal halide perovskite-based solar cells have recently realized large conversion efficiency over 15% showing great promise for a new large scale cost-competitive photovoltaic technology. Using impedance spectroscopy measurements we are able to separate the physical parameters of carrier transport and recombination in working devices of the two principal morphologies and compositions of perovskite solar cells, viz. compact thin films of CH3NH3PbI(3-x)Clx and CH3NH3PbI3 infiltrated on nanostructured TiO2. The results show nearly identical spectral characteristics indicating a unique photovoltaic operating mechanism that provides long diffusion lengths (1 μm). Carrier conductivity in both devices is closely matched, so that the most significant differences in performance are attributed to recombination rates. These results highlight the central role of the CH3NH3PbX3 semiconductor absorber in carrier collection and provide a new tool for improved optimization of perovskite solar cells. We report for the first time a measurement of the diffusion length in a nanostructured perovskite solar cell.

Effects of anodic aluminum oxide membrane on performance of nanostructured solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dang, Hongmei; Singh, Vijay

2015-05-01

Three nanowire solar cell device configurations have been fabricated to demonstrate the effects of the host anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane on device performance. The three configurations show similar transmittance spectra, indicating that AAO membrane has negligible optical absorption. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the device is studied as a function of the carrier transport and collection in cell structures with and without AAO membrane. Free standing nanowire solar cells exhibit PCE of 9.9%. Through inclusion of AAO in solar cell structure, interface defects and traps caused by humidity and oxygen are reduced, and direct contact of CdTe tentacles with SnO2 and formation of micro shunt shorts are prevented; hence PCE is improved to 11.1%-11.3%. Partially embedded nanowire solar cells further reduce influence of non-ideal and non-uniform nanowire growth and generate a large amount of carriers in axial direction and also a small quantity of carriers in lateral direction, thus becoming a promising solar cell structure. Thus, including AAO membrane in solar cell structure provides favorable electro-optical properties as well as mechanical advantages.

78 FR 46677 - Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information Collection Request: Commercial Motor...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-01

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration [Docket No. FMCSA-2013... Vehicle Marking Requirements AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT. [[Page... of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below...

Diffusion length of non-equilibrium minority charge carriers in β-Ga2O3 measured by electron beam induced current

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yakimov, E. B.; Polyakov, A. Y.; Smirnov, N. B.; Shchemerov, I. V.; Yang, Jiancheng; Ren, F.; Yang, Gwangseok; Kim, Jihyun; Pearton, S. J.

2018-05-01

The spatial distribution of electron-hole pair generation in β-Ga2O3 as a function of scanning electron microscope (SEM) beam energy has been calculated by a Monte Carlo method. This spatial distribution is then used to obtain the diffusion length of charge carriers in high-quality epitaxial Ga2O3 films from the dependence of the electron beam induced current (EBIC) collection efficiency on the accelerating voltage of a SEM. The experimental results show, contrary to earlier theory, that holes are mobile in β-Ga2O3 and to a large extent determine the diffusion length of charge carriers. Diffusion lengths in the range 350-400 nm are determined for the as-grown Ga2O3, while processes like exposing the samples to proton irradiation essentially halve this value, showing the role of point defects in controlling minority carrier transport. The pitfalls related to using other popular EBIC-based methods assuming a point-like excitation function are demonstrated. Since the point defect type and the concentration in currently available Ga2O3 are dependent on the growth method and the doping concentration, accurate methods of diffusion length determination are critical to obtain quantitative comparisons of material quality.

Conditions for a carrier multiplication in amorphous-selenium based photodetector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Masuzawa, Tomoaki; Kuniyoshi, Shingo; Onishi, Masanori

2013-02-18

Amorphous selenium is a promising candidate for high sensitivity photodetector due to its unique carrier multiplication phenomenon. More than 10 carriers can be generated per incident photon, which leads to high photo-conversion efficiency of 1000% that allows real-time imaging in dark ambient. However, application of this effect has been limited to specific devices due to the lack in material characterization. In this article, mechanism of carrier multiplication has been clarified using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. A prototype photodetector achieved photo conversion efficiency of 4000%, which explains the signal enhancement mechanism in a-Se based photodetector.

Guanidinium: A Route to Enhanced Carrier Lifetime and Open-Circuit Voltage in Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells.

PubMed

De Marco, Nicholas; Zhou, Huanping; Chen, Qi; Sun, Pengyu; Liu, Zonghao; Meng, Lei; Yao, En-Ping; Liu, Yongsheng; Schiffer, Andy; Yang, Yang

2016-02-10

Hybrid perovskites have shown astonishing power conversion efficiencies owed to their remarkable absorber characteristics including long carrier lifetimes, and a relatively substantial defect tolerance for solution-processed polycrystalline films. However, nonradiative charge carrier recombination at grain boundaries limits open circuit voltages and consequent performance improvements of perovskite solar cells. Here we address such recombination pathways and demonstrate a passivation effect through guanidinium-based additives to achieve extraordinarily enhanced carrier lifetimes and higher obtainable open circuit voltages. Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements yield carrier lifetimes in guanidinium-based films an order of magnitude greater than pure-methylammonium counterparts, giving rise to higher device open circuit voltages and power conversion efficiencies exceeding 17%. A reduction in defect activation energy of over 30% calculated via admittance spectroscopy and confocal fluorescence intensity mapping indicates successful passivation of recombination/trap centers at grain boundaries. We speculate that guanidinium ions serve to suppress formation of iodide vacancies and passivate under-coordinated iodine species at grain boundaries and within the bulk through their hydrogen bonding capability. These results present a simple method for suppressing nonradiative carrier loss in hybrid perovskites to further improve performances toward highly efficient solar cells.

A joint tracking method for NSCC based on WLS algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Ruidan; Xu, Ying; Yuan, Hong

2017-12-01

Navigation signal based on compound carrier (NSCC), has the flexible multi-carrier scheme and various scheme parameters configuration, which enables it to possess significant efficiency of navigation augmentation in terms of spectral efficiency, tracking accuracy, multipath mitigation capability and anti-jamming reduction compared with legacy navigation signals. Meanwhile, the typical scheme characteristics can provide auxiliary information for signal synchronism algorithm design. This paper, based on the characteristics of NSCC, proposed a kind of joint tracking method utilizing Weighted Least Square (WLS) algorithm. In this method, the LS algorithm is employed to jointly estimate each sub-carrier frequency shift with the frequency-Doppler linear relationship, by utilizing the known sub-carrier frequency. Besides, the weighting matrix is set adaptively according to the sub-carrier power to ensure the estimation accuracy. Both the theory analysis and simulation results illustrate that the tracking accuracy and sensitivity of this method outperforms the single-carrier algorithm with lower SNR.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in bimetallic nanostructure-enhanced methylammonium lead bromide perovskites.

PubMed

Zarick, Holly F; Boulesbaa, Abdelaziz; Puretzky, Alexander A; Talbert, Eric M; DeBra, Zachary R; Soetan, Naiya; Geohegan, David B; Bardhan, Rizia

2017-01-26

In this work, we examine the impact of hybrid bimetallic Au/Ag core/shell nanostructures on the carrier dynamics of methylammonium lead tribromide (MAPbBr 3 ) mesoporous perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Plasmon-enhanced PSCs incorporated with Au/Ag nanostructures demonstrated improved light harvesting and increased power conversion efficiency by 26% relative to reference devices. Two complementary spectral techniques, transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) and time-resolved photoluminescence (trPL), were employed to gain a mechanistic understanding of plasmonic enhancement processes. TAS revealed a decrease in the photobleach formation time, which suggests that the nanostructures improve hot carrier thermalization to an equilibrium distribution, relieving hot phonon bottleneck in MAPbBr 3 perovskites. TAS also showed a decrease in carrier decay lifetimes, indicating that nanostructures enhance photoinduced carrier generation and promote efficient electron injection into TiO 2 prior to bulk recombination. Furthermore, nanostructure-incorporated perovskite films demonstrated quenching in steady-state PL and decreases in trPL carrier lifetimes, providing further evidence of improved carrier injection in plasmon-enhanced mesoporous PSCs.

Treatment of oilfield wastewater in moving bed biofilm reactors using a novel suspended ceramic biocarrier.

PubMed

Dong, Zhiyong; Lu, Mang; Huang, Wenhui; Xu, Xiaochun

2011-11-30

In this study, a novel suspended ceramic carrier was prepared, which has high strength, optimum density (close to water), and high porosity. Two different carriers, unmodified and sepiolite-modified suspended ceramic carriers were used to feed two moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) with a filling fraction of 50% to treat oilfield produced water. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) was varied from 36 to 10h. The results, during a monitoring period of 190 days, showed that removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand was the highest in reactor 3 filled with the sepiolite-modified carriers, followed by reactor 2 filled with the unmodified carriers, with the lowest in reactor 1 (activated sludge reactor), at an HRT of 10h. Similar trends were found in the removal efficiencies of ammonia nitrogen and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Reactor 3 was more shock resistant than reactors 2 and 1. The results indicate that the suspended ceramic carrier is an excellent MBBR carrier. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Charge carrier localization effects on the quantum efficiency and operating temperature range of InAs{sub x}P{sub 1−x}/InP quantum well detectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vashisht, Geetanjali, E-mail: geetanjali@rrcat.gov.in; Dixit, V. K., E-mail: dixit@rrcat.gov.in; Porwal, S.

2016-03-07

The effect of charge carrier localization resulting in “S-shaped” temperature dependence of the photoluminescence peak energy of InAs{sub x}P{sub 1−x}/InP quantum wells (QWs) is distinctly revealed by the temperature dependent surface photo voltage (SPV) and photoconductivity (PC) processes. It is observed that the escape efficiency of carriers from QWs depends on the localization energy, where the carriers are unable to contribute in SPV/PC signal below a critical temperature. Below the critical temperature, carriers are strongly trapped in the localized states and are therefore unable to escape from the QW. Further, the critical temperature increases with the magnitude of localization energymore » of carriers. Carrier localization thus plays a pivotal role in defining the operating temperature range of InAs{sub x}P{sub 1−x}/InP QW detectors.« less

Recombination in liquid filled ionisation chambers with multiple charge carrier species: Theoretical and numerical results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aguiar, P.; González-Castaño, D. M.; Gómez, F.; Pardo-Montero, J.

2014-10-01

Liquid-filled ionisation chambers (LICs) are used in radiotherapy for dosimetry and quality assurance. Volume recombination can be quite important in LICs for moderate dose rates, causing non-linearities in the dose rate response of these detectors, and needs to be corrected for. This effect is usually described with Greening and Boag models for continuous and pulsed radiation respectively. Such models assume that the charge is carried by two different species, positive and negative ions, each of those species with a given mobility. However, LICs operating in non-ultrapure mode can contain different types of electronegative impurities with different mobilities, thus increasing the number of different charge carriers. If this is the case, Greening and Boag models can be no longer valid and need to be reformulated. In this work we present a theoretical and numerical study of volume recombination in parallel-plate LICs with multiple charge carrier species, extending Boag and Greening models. Results from a recent publication that reported three different mobilities in an isooctane-filled LIC have been used to study the effect of extra carrier species on recombination. We have found that in pulsed beams the inclusion of extra mobilities does not affect volume recombination much, a behaviour that was expected because Boag formula for charge collection efficiency does not depend on the mobilities of the charge carriers if the Debye relationship between mobilities and recombination constant holds. This is not the case in continuous radiation, where the presence of extra charge carrier species significantly affects the amount of volume recombination.

From 20.9 to 22.3% Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 solar cell: Reduced recombination rate at the heterojunction and the depletion region due to K-treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tai, Kong Fai; Kamada, Rui; Yagioka, Takeshi; Kato, Takuya; Sugimoto, Hiroki

2017-08-01

Certified efficiency of 22.3% has been achieved for Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 solar cell. Compared to our previous record cell with 20.9% efficiency, the major breakthrough is due to the increased V oc, benefited from potassium treatment. A lower reverse saturation current and a longer carrier collection length deduced from electron-beam induced current indicate that the degree of carrier recombination at the heterojunction and depletion region for the 22.3% cell is lower. Further characterizations (capacitance-voltage profiling, temperature-dependent V oc, Suns-V oc) and analysis indicate that the recombination coefficients at all regions were reduced, especially for the interface and depletion regions. Device simulation was performed assuming varying defect densities to model the current-voltage curve for the 22.3% cell. The best model was also used to estimate the achievable V oc if defect densities were further reduced. Furthermore, by using higher bandgap Cd-free buffer layers, a higher J sc was achieved which gives an in-house solar cell efficiency of 22.8%. Recombination analysis on the 22.8% cell indicates that the interface recombination is further reduced, but the recombination coefficients at the depletion region was higher, pointing out that further improvement on the depletion region recombination could help to achieve a higher V oc and therefore an efficiency beyond 23%.

A new technology for harnessing the dye polluted water and dye collection in a chemical factory.

PubMed

Pu, J P; Pu, P M; Hu, C H; Qian, J L; Pu, J X; Hua, J K

2001-04-01

A new technology for harnessing the dye polluted water and dye collection was developed. It is based on the enhanced evaporation by using solar, wind and air temperature energy and additional heat-electric energy. It consists of four parts: (1) evaporation carrier system (evaporation carrier and frame for evaporation carrier) for polluted water; (2) polluted water circulating system (pumping-spraying-collecting); (3) heating system; (4) workshop with polluted water reservoir-tanks and rainfall prevention roof. The polluted water was (heated in case necessary) sprayed to the evaporation carrier system and the water was evaporated when it moved in the space and downward along the carrier mainly by using natural (solar, wind and air temperature energy). In case, when there is no roof for the carrier system, the polluted water can be stored in the reservoirs (storage volume for about 20 days). The first 10-25 mm rainfall also need to be stored in the reservoirs to meet the state standard for discharging wastewater. The dye may be collected at the surface in the reservoir-tanks and the crystallized salt may be collected at the bottom plate. The black-color wastewater released by the factory is no more discharged to the surface water system of Taihu Lake Basin. About 2 kg dye and 200 kg industrial salt may be collected from each tone of the polluted water. The non-pollution production of dye may be realized by using this technology with environmental, economical and social benefits.

High extraction efficiency ultraviolet light-emitting diode

DOEpatents

Wierer, Jonathan; Montano, Ines; Allerman, Andrew A.

2015-11-24

Ultraviolet light-emitting diodes with tailored AlGaN quantum wells can achieve high extraction efficiency. For efficient bottom light extraction, parallel polarized light is preferred, because it propagates predominately perpendicular to the QW plane and into the typical and more efficient light escape cones. This is favored over perpendicular polarized light that propagates along the QW plane which requires multiple, lossy bounces before extraction. The thickness and carrier density of AlGaN QW layers have a strong influence on the valence subband structure, and the resulting optical polarization and light extraction of ultraviolet light-emitting diodes. At Al>0.3, thinner QW layers (<2.5 nm are preferred) result in light preferentially polarized parallel to the QW plane. Also, active regions consisting of six or more QWs, to reduce carrier density, and with thin barriers, to efficiently inject carriers in all the QWs, are preferred.

Power conversion efficiency exceeding the Shockley-Queisser limit in a ferroelectric insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spanier, Jonathan E.; Fridkin, Vladimir M.; Rappe, Andrew M.; Akbashev, Andrew R.; Polemi, Alessia; Qi, Yubo; Gu, Zongquan; Young, Steve M.; Hawley, Christopher J.; Imbrenda, Dominic; Xiao, Geoffrey; Bennett-Jackson, Andrew L.; Johnson, Craig L.

2016-09-01

Ferroelectric absorbers, which promote carrier separation and exhibit above-gap photovoltages, are attractive candidates for constructing efficient solar cells. Using the ferroelectric insulator BaTiO3 we show how photogeneration and the collection of hot, non-equilibrium electrons through the bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) yields a greater-than-unity quantum efficiency. Despite absorbing less than a tenth of the solar spectrum, the power conversion efficiency of the BPVE device under 1 sun illumination exceeds the Shockley-Queisser limit for a material of this bandgap. We present data for devices that feature a single-tip electrode contact and an array with 24 tips (total planar area of 1 × 1 μm2) capable of generating a current density of 17 mA cm-2 under illumination of AM1.5 G. In summary, the BPVE at the nanoscale provides an exciting new route for obtaining high-efficiency photovoltaic solar energy conversion.

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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-28

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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-30

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Screening in crystalline liquids protects energetic carriers in hybrid perovskites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Haiming; Miyata, Kiyoshi; Fu, Yongping; Wang, Jue; Joshi, Prakriti; Niesner, Daniel; Williams, Kristopher; Jin, Song; Zhu, Xiaoyang

Hybrid lead halide perovskites exhibit carrier properties that resemble those of pristine nonpolar semiconductors despite static and dynamic disorder, but how carriers are protected from efficient scattering with charged defects and optical phonons is unknown. Here, we reveal the carrier protection mechanism by comparing three single-crystal lead bromide perovskites: CH3NH3PbBr3, CH(NH2)2PbBr3, and CsPbBr3. We observed hot fluorescence emission from energetic carriers with 102 picosecond lifetimes in CH3NH3PbBr3 or CH(NH,SUB>2)2PbBr3, but not in CsPbBr3. The hot fluorescence is correlated with liquid-like molecular reorientational motions, suggesting that dynamic screening protects energetic carriers via solvation or large polaron formation on time scales competitive with that of ultrafast cooling. Similar protections likely exist for band-edge carriers. The long-lived energetic carriers may enable hot-carrier solar cells with efficiencies exceeding the Shockley-Queisser limit. This work was supported by U.S. Department of Energy Grant ER46980, National Science Foundation, Grant DMR 1420634 (MRSEC), and Department of Energy Award DE-FG02-09ER46664.

Heat to electricity conversion by cold carrier emissive energy harvesters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strandberg, Rune

2015-12-07

This paper suggests a method to convert heat to electricity by the use of devices called cold carrier emissive energy harvesters (cold carrier EEHs). The working principle of such converters is explained and theoretical power densities and efficiencies are calculated for ideal devices. Cold carrier EEHs are based on the same device structure as hot carrier solar cells, but works in an opposite way. Whereas a hot carrier solar cell receives net radiation from the sun and converts some of this radiative heat flow into electricity, a cold carrier EEH sustains a net outflux of radiation to the surroundings whilemore » converting some of the energy supplied to it into electricity. It is shown that the most basic type of cold carrier EEHs have the same theoretical efficiency as the ideal emissive energy harvesters described earlier by Byrnes et al. In the present work, it is also shown that if the emission from the cold carrier EEH originates from electron transitions across an energy gap where a difference in the chemical potential of the electrons above and below the energy gap is sustained, power densities slightly higher than those given by Byrnes et al. can be achieved.« less

Solvent annealing of perovskite-induced crystal growth for photovoltaic-device efficiency enhancement

DOE PAGES

Xiao, Zhengguo; Dong, Qingfeng; Bi, Cheng; ...

2014-08-26

Solvent-annealing is found to be an effective method to increase the grain size and carrier diffusion lengths of trihalide perovskite materials. Thus, the carrier diffusion length of MAPbI 3 is increased to over 1 μm. The efficiency remains above 14.5% when the MAPbI 3 thickness changes from 250 nm to 1 μm, with the highest efficiency reaching 15.6%.

Development of Energy-Saving Devices for a 20,000DWT River-Sea Bulk Carrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Kunpeng; Gao, Yuling; Huang, Zhenping; Dong, Guoxiang

2018-05-01

A reduction of fuel consumption and an increase in efficiency are currently required for river-sea bulk carriers. Pre-swirl and ducted stators are widely used devices in the industry and efficiency gains can be obtained for single-screw and twin-screw vessels. Based on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the 20,000DWT river-sea bulk carrier, in this study, we proposed, designed, and tested a series of pre-swirl energy-saving devices (ESDs). The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed ESDs improved the propulsive efficiency and reduced the delivered power. The results confirm the success of our ESD for the 20,000DWT river-sea bulk carrier. We validated the role of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the twin-skeg river-sea vessel ESD design and found the circumferential arrangement and number of stators to be important factors in the design process.

Polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells with PEDOT:PSS bilayer structure as hole extraction layer.

PubMed

Kim, Wanjung; Kim, Namhun; Kim, Jung Kyu; Park, Insun; Choi, Yeong Suk; Wang, Dong Hwan; Chae, Heeyeop; Park, Jong Hyeok

2013-06-01

A high current density obtained in a limited, nanometer-thick region is important for high efficiency polymer solar cells (PSCs). The conversion of incident photons to charge carriers only occurs in confined active layers; therefore, charge-carrier extraction from the active layer within the device by using solar light has an important impact on the current density and the related to power conversion efficiency. In this study, we observed a surprising result, that is, extracting the charge carrier generated in the active layer of a PSC device, with a thickness-controlled PEDOT:PSS bilayer that acted as a hole extraction layer (HEL), yielded a dramatically improved power conversion efficiency in two different model systems (P3HT:PC₆₀BM and PCDTBT:PC₇₀BM). To understand this phenomenon, we conducted optical strength simulation, photocurrent-voltage measurements, incident photon to charge carrier efficiency measurements, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and AFM studies. The results revealed that approximately 60 nm was the optimum PEDOT:PSS bilayer HEL thickness in PSCs for producing the maximum power conversion efficiency. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Release modeling and comparison of nanoarchaeosomal, nanoliposomal and pegylated nanoliposomal carriers for paclitaxel.

PubMed

Movahedi, Fatemeh; Ebrahimi Shahmabadi, Hasan; Alavi, Seyed Ebrahim; Koohi Moftakhari Esfahani, Maedeh

2014-09-01

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women. Recently, delivering by nanocarriers has resulted in a remarkable evolution in treatment of numerous cancers. Lipid nanocarriers are important ones while liposomes and archaeosomes are common lipid nanocarriers. In this work, paclitaxel was used and characterized in nanoliposomal and nanoarchaeosomal form to improve efficiency. To increase stability, efficiency and solubility, polyethylene glycol 2000 (PEG 2000) was added to some samples. MTT assay confirmed effectiveness of nanocarriers on MCF-7 cell line and size measuring validated nano-scale of particles. Nanoarchaeosomal carriers demonstrated highest encapsulation efficiency and lowest release rate. On the other hand, pegylated nanoliposomal carrier showed higher loading efficiency and less release compared with nanoliposomal carrier which verifies effect of PEG on improvement of stability and efficiency. Additionally, release pattern was modeled using artificial neural network (ANN) and genetic algorithm (GA). Using ANN modeling for release prediction, resulted in R values of 0.976, 0.989 and 0.999 for nanoliposomal, pegylated nanoliposomal and nanoarchaeosomal paclitaxel and GA modeling led to values of 0.954, 0.951 and 0.976, respectively. ANN modeling was more successful in predicting release compared with the GA strategy.

Effective suppression of efficiency droop in GaN-based light-emitting diodes: role of significant reduction of carrier density and built-in field.

PubMed

Yoo, Yang-Seok; Na, Jong-Ho; Son, Sung Jin; Cho, Yong-Hoon

2016-10-19

A critical issue in GaN-based high power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is how to suppress the efficiency droop problem occurred at high current injection while improving overall quantum efficiency, especially in conventional c-plane InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW), without using complicated bandgap engineering or unconventional materials and structures. Although increasing thickness of each QW may decrease carrier density in QWs, formation of additional strain and defects as well as increased built-in field effect due to enlarged QW thickness are unavoidable. Here, we propose a facile and effective method for not only reducing efficiency droop but also improving quantum efficiency by utilizing c-plane InGaN/GaN QWs having thinner barriers and increased QW number while keeping the same single well thickness and total active layer thickness. As the barrier thickness decreases and the QW number increases, both internal electric field and carrier density within QWs are simultaneously reduced without degradation of material quality. Furthermore, we found overall improved efficiency and reduced efficiency droop, which was attributed to the decrease of the built-in field and to less influence by non-radiative recombination processes at high carrier density. This simple and effective approach can be extended further for high power ultraviolet, green, and red LEDs.

Effective suppression of efficiency droop in GaN-based light-emitting diodes: role of significant reduction of carrier density and built-in field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoo, Yang-Seok; Na, Jong-Ho; Son, Sung Jin; Cho, Yong-Hoon

2016-10-01

A critical issue in GaN-based high power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is how to suppress the efficiency droop problem occurred at high current injection while improving overall quantum efficiency, especially in conventional c-plane InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW), without using complicated bandgap engineering or unconventional materials and structures. Although increasing thickness of each QW may decrease carrier density in QWs, formation of additional strain and defects as well as increased built-in field effect due to enlarged QW thickness are unavoidable. Here, we propose a facile and effective method for not only reducing efficiency droop but also improving quantum efficiency by utilizing c-plane InGaN/GaN QWs having thinner barriers and increased QW number while keeping the same single well thickness and total active layer thickness. As the barrier thickness decreases and the QW number increases, both internal electric field and carrier density within QWs are simultaneously reduced without degradation of material quality. Furthermore, we found overall improved efficiency and reduced efficiency droop, which was attributed to the decrease of the built-in field and to less influence by non-radiative recombination processes at high carrier density. This simple and effective approach can be extended further for high power ultraviolet, green, and red LEDs.

Effects of chemical structure on the thermodynamic efficiency of radical chain carriers for organic synthesis.

PubMed

Lin, Ching Yeh; Peh, Jessie; Coote, Michelle L

2011-03-18

The chain carrier index (CCI), defined as the ratio of the bond dissociation free energies (BDFE) of corresponding chain carrier halides and hydrides, is proposed as a measure of the thermodynamic efficiency of chain carriers for radical dehalogenation. The larger this value is relative to the corresponding value of the organic substrate, the more thermodynamically efficient the process. The chloride and bromide CCIs were evaluated at the G3(MP2)-RAD(+) level of theory for 120 different R-groups, covering a broad range of carbon-centered and noncarbon-centered species; the effects of solvent and temperature have also been studied. The broad finding from this work is that successful chain carriers generally maximize the strength of their halide (versus hydride bonds) through charge-shift bonding. As a result, the thermodynamic efficiency of a chain carrier tends to increase down the periodic table, and also with the inclusion of stronger electron donating substituents. The CCIs of carbon-centered species fall into a relatively narrow range so that, even when the CCI is maximized through inclusion of lone pair donor OMe or NMe(2) groups, the thermodynamic driving force for dehalogenation of other organic substrates is modest at best, and the process is likely to be kinetically hampered. Among the noncarbon-centered species studied, bismuth- and borane-centered compounds have some of the highest CCI values and, although their kinetics requires further optimization, these classes of compounds would be worth further investigation as tin-free radical reducing agents.

Quantum efficiency investigations of type-II InAs/GaSb midwave infrared superlattice photodetectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Giard, E., E-mail: edouard.giard@onera.fr; Ribet-Mohamed, I.; Jaeck, J.

2014-07-28

We present in this paper a comparison between different type-II InAs/GaSb superlattice (T2SL) photodiodes and focal plane array (FPA) in the mid-wavelength infrared domain to understand which phenomenon drives the performances of the T2SL structure in terms of quantum efficiency (QE). Our measurements on test photodiodes suggest low minority carrier diffusion length in the “InAs-rich” design, which penalizes carriers' collection in this structure for low bias voltage and front side illumination. This analysis is completed by a comparison of the experimental data with a fully analytic model, which allows to infer a hole diffusion length shorter than 100 nm. In addition,more » measurements on a FPA with backside illumination are finally presented. Results show an average QE in the 3–4.7 μm window equal to 42% for U{sub bias} = −0.1 V, 77 K operating temperature and no anti-reflection coating. These measurements, completed by modulation transfer function and noise measurements, reveal that the InAs-rich design, despite a low hole diffusion length, is promising for high performance infrared imaging applications.« less

Refractive indices of layers and optical simulations of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

PubMed Central

Avancini, Enrico; Losio, Paolo A.; Figi, Renato; Schreiner, Claudia; Bürki, Melanie; Bourgeois, Emilie; Remes, Zdenek; Nesladek, Milos; Tiwari, Ayodhya N.

2018-01-01

Abstract Cu(In,Ga)Se2 based solar cells have reached efficiencies close to 23%. Further knowledge-driven improvements require accurate determination of the material properties. Here, we present refractive indices for all layers in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with high efficiency. The optical bandgap of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 does not depend on the Cu content in the explored composition range, while the absorption coefficient value is primarily determined by the Cu content. An expression for the absorption spectrum is proposed, with Ga and Cu compositions as parameters. This set of parameters allows accurate device simulations to understand remaining absorption and carrier collection losses and develop strategies to improve performances. PMID:29785230

Overcoming the efficiency limitations of SnS2 nanoparticle-based bulk heterojunction solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tam Nguyen Truong, Nguyen; Kieu Trinh, Thanh; Thanh Hau Pham, Viet; Smith, Ryan P.; Park, Chinho

2018-04-01

This study examined the effects of heat treatment, the electron transport layer, and [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) incorporation on the performance of hybrid bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells composed of tin disulfide (SnS2) nanoparticles (NPs) and low band gap energy polymers poly[2,6-(4,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b3,4-b‧]dithiophene)-alt-4,7(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PCPDTBT) or poly({4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b‧]dithiophene-2,6-diyl}{3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophenediyl}) (PBT7). Inserting an electron transport layer (ETL) (i.e., ZnO) on the top of the photoactive layer improved the surface morphology of the photoactive layer, which led to an improvement in charge transport. Moreover, adding a suitable amount of PCBM to the SnS2/polymer active layer enhanced the device performance, such as short circuit current density (J sc) and power conversion efficiency (PCE). In particular, adding 0.5 mg of PCBM to the composite solution led to a 25% and 1.5% improvement in the J sc value and PCE, respectively. The enhanced performance was due mainly to the improvements in the surface morphology of the photoactive layer, charge carrier mobility within the donor-acceptor interface, and carrier collection efficiency at the cathode.

Long-lived hot-carrier light emission and large blue shift in formamidinium tin triiodide perovskites.

PubMed

Fang, Hong-Hua; Adjokatse, Sampson; Shao, Shuyan; Even, Jacky; Loi, Maria Antonietta

2018-01-16

A long-lived hot carrier population is critical in order to develop working hot carrier photovoltaic devices with efficiencies exceeding the Shockley-Queisser limit. Here, we report photoluminescence from hot-carriers with unexpectedly long lifetime (a few ns) in formamidinium tin triiodide. An unusual large blue shift of the time-integrated photoluminescence with increasing excitation power (150 meV at 24 K and 75 meV at 293 K) is displayed. On the basis of the analysis of energy-resolved and time-resolved photoluminescence, we posit that these phenomena are associated with slow hot carrier relaxation and state-filling of band edge states. These observations are both important for our understanding of lead-free hybrid perovskites and for an eventual future development of efficient lead-free perovskite photovoltaics.

Effect of thermal annealing on carrier localization and efficiency of spin detection in GaAsSb epilayers grown on InP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Bin; Chen, Cheng; Han, Junbo; Jin, Chuan; Chen, Jianxin; Wang, Xingjun

2018-04-01

The effect of the thermal annealing on the optical and spin properties in GaAs0.44Sb0.56 epilayers grown on InP was investigated via photoreflectance, power-dependent and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy as well as optical orientation measurement. The carrier's localization and the optical spin detection efficiency increase with an increase of annealing temperature up to 600 °C. The enhancement of the spin detection efficiency is attributed to both the shortening of the electron lifetime and the prolonging of the spin lifetime as a result of the enhanced carriers' localization induced by the annealing process. Our results provided an approach to enhance spin detection efficiency of GaAsSb with its PL emission in the 1.55 μm region.

Electron beam induced current in the high injection regime.

PubMed

Haney, Paul M; Yoon, Heayoung P; Koirala, Prakash; Collins, Robert W; Zhitenev, Nikolai B

2015-07-24

Electron beam induced current (EBIC) is a powerful technique which measures the charge collection efficiency of photovoltaics with sub-micron spatial resolution. The exciting electron beam results in a high generation rate density of electron-hole pairs, which may drive the system into nonlinear regimes. An analytic model is presented which describes the EBIC response when the total electron-hole pair generation rate exceeds the rate at which carriers are extracted by the photovoltaic cell, and charge accumulation and screening occur. The model provides a simple estimate of the onset of the high injection regime in terms of the material resistivity and thickness, and provides a straightforward way to predict the EBIC lineshape in the high injection regime. The model is verified by comparing its predictions to numerical simulations in one- and two-dimensions. Features of the experimental data, such as the magnitude and position of maximum collection efficiency versus electron beam current, are consistent with the three-dimensional model.

Artificial twin-layer configurations of Zn(O,S) films by radio frequency sputtering in all dry processed eco-friendly Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wei; Fan, Yu; Li, Xiaodong; Lin, Shuping; Liu, Yang; Shi, Sihan; Wang, He; Zhou, Zhiqiang; Zhang, Yi; Sun, Yun

2018-03-01

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells are of great interest for research and industrial applications with their high conversion efficiencies, long-term stability and significant lifetimes. Such a solar cell of a p-n junction consists of p-type Cu(In,Ga)Se2 films as a light absorber and n-type CdS as a buffer layer, which often emerges with intrinsic ZnO. Aimed at eco-friendly fabrication protocols, a large number of strategies have been investigated to fabricate a Cd-free n-type buffer layer such as Zn(O,S) in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells. Also, if the Zn(O,S) films are prepared by coevaporation or sputtering, it will offer high compatibility with the preferred mass production. Here, we propose and optimize a dry method for Zn(O,S) deposition in a radio frequency sputtering. In particular, the strategy for the twin-layer configurations of Zn(O,S) films not only greatly improve their electrical conductance and suppress charge carrier recombination, but also avoid degradation of the Zn(O,S)/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 interfaces. Indeed, the high quality of such twin Zn(O,S) layers have been reflected in the similar conversion efficiencies of the complete solar cells as well as the large short-circuit current density, which exceeds the CdS reference device. In addition, Zn(O,S) twin layers have reduced the production time and materials by replacing the CdS/i-ZnO layers, which removes two fabrication steps in the multilayered thin film solar cells. Furthermore, the device physics for such improvements have been fully unveiled with both experimental current-voltage and capacitance-voltage spectroscopies and device simulations via wxAMPS program. Finally, the proposed twin-layer Zn(O,S)/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 interfaces account for the broadening of the depletion region of photogenerated charge carriers, which greatly suppress the carrier recombination at the space charge region, and eventually lead to the more efficient collection of charge carriers at both electrodes.

47 CFR 61.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... trunk ports, Information Surcharge, and signalling transfer point (STP) port) by the base period LS...) Dominant carrier. A carrier found by the Commission to have market power (i.e., power to control prices... billing or collection of access charges from interexchange carriers or wireless carriers. When determining...

47 CFR 61.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... trunk ports, Information Surcharge, and signalling transfer point (STP) port) by the base period LS...) Dominant carrier. A carrier found by the Commission to have market power (i.e., power to control prices... billing or collection of access charges from interexchange carriers or wireless carriers. When determining...

Photon ratchet intermediate band solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshida, M.; Ekins-Daukes, N. J.; Farrell, D. J.; Phillips, C. C.

2012-06-01

In this paper, we propose an innovative concept for solar power conversion—the "photon ratchet" intermediate band solar cell (IBSC)—which may increase the photovoltaic energy conversion efficiency of IBSCs by increasing the lifetime of charge carriers in the intermediate state. The limiting efficiency calculation for this concept shows that the efficiency can be increased by introducing a fast thermal transition of carriers into a non-emissive state. At 1 sun, the introduction of a "ratchet band" results in an increase of efficiency from 46.8% to 48.5%, due to suppression of entropy generation.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in bimetallic nanostructure-enhanced methylammonium lead bromide perovskites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zarick, Holly; Boulesbaa, Abdelaziz; Puretzky, Alexander A

In this paper, we examine the impact of hybrid bimetallic Au/Ag core/shell nanostructures on the carrier dynamics of methylammonium lead tribromide (MAPbBr 3) mesoporous perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Plasmon-enhanced PSCs incorporated with Au/Ag nanostructures demonstrated improved light harvesting and increased power conversion efficiency by 26% relative to reference devices. Two complementary spectral techniques, transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) and time-resolved photoluminescence (trPL), were employed to gain a mechanistic understanding of plasmonic enhancement processes. TAS revealed a decrease in the photobleach formation time, which suggests that the nanostructures improve hot carrier thermalization to an equilibrium distribution, relieving hot phonon bottleneck in MAPbBr3more » perovskites. TAS also showed a decrease in carrier decay lifetimes, indicating that nanostructures enhance photoinduced carrier generation and promote efficient electron injection into TiO 2 prior to bulk recombination. Furthermore, nanostructure-incorporated perovskite films demonstrated quenching in steady-state PL and decreases in trPL carrier lifetimes, providing further evidence of improved carrier injection in plasmon-enhanced mesoporous PSCs.« less

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in bimetallic nanostructure-enhanced methylammonium lead bromide perovskites

DOE PAGES

Zarick, Holly; Boulesbaa, Abdelaziz; Puretzky, Alexander A; ...

2016-12-14

In this paper, we examine the impact of hybrid bimetallic Au/Ag core/shell nanostructures on the carrier dynamics of methylammonium lead tribromide (MAPbBr 3) mesoporous perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Plasmon-enhanced PSCs incorporated with Au/Ag nanostructures demonstrated improved light harvesting and increased power conversion efficiency by 26% relative to reference devices. Two complementary spectral techniques, transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) and time-resolved photoluminescence (trPL), were employed to gain a mechanistic understanding of plasmonic enhancement processes. TAS revealed a decrease in the photobleach formation time, which suggests that the nanostructures improve hot carrier thermalization to an equilibrium distribution, relieving hot phonon bottleneck in MAPbBr3more » perovskites. TAS also showed a decrease in carrier decay lifetimes, indicating that nanostructures enhance photoinduced carrier generation and promote efficient electron injection into TiO 2 prior to bulk recombination. Furthermore, nanostructure-incorporated perovskite films demonstrated quenching in steady-state PL and decreases in trPL carrier lifetimes, providing further evidence of improved carrier injection in plasmon-enhanced mesoporous PSCs.« less

Fading-free transmission of 124-Gb/s PDM-DMT signal over 100-km SSMF using digital carrier regeneration.

PubMed

Li, Cai; Hu, Rong; Yang, Qi; Luo, Ming; Li, Wei; Yu, Shaohua

2016-01-25

The coherent reception of intensity modulated signal has been recently widely investigated, in which the signal is recovered by the envelop detection. High linewidth tolerance is achieved with such scheme. However, strong optical carrier exists during the transmission, which degrades the optical power efficiency. In this paper, an efficient modulation scheme for discrete multi-tone (DMT) signal is proposed based on the Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM). Different from the traditional intensity modulation, the proposed method employs both intensity and phase domain. Thus, the optical carrier power can be greatly reduced by adjusting the bias of MZM around the null point. By employing coherent detection and digital carrier regeneration (DCR), the carrier suppressed DMT signal can be recovered using envelop detection. No carrier frequency or phase estimation is required. Numerical investigations are made to demonstrate the feasibility, in which significant improvements are found for the proposed DCR method, showing great tolerance against laser linewidth and carrier power reduction. Finally, a 124-Gb/s transmission of polarization-division multiplexed DMT (PDM-DMT) signal is demonstrated over 100-km SSMF, with only -8 dB optical carrier to signal power ratio (CSPR).

Methods for modeling non-equilibrium degenerate statistics and quantum-confined scattering in 3D ensemble Monte Carlo transport simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crum, Dax M.; Valsaraj, Amithraj; David, John K.; Register, Leonard F.; Banerjee, Sanjay K.

2016-12-01

Particle-based ensemble semi-classical Monte Carlo (MC) methods employ quantum corrections (QCs) to address quantum confinement and degenerate carrier populations to model tomorrow's ultra-scaled metal-oxide-semiconductor-field-effect-transistors. Here, we present the most complete treatment of quantum confinement and carrier degeneracy effects in a three-dimensional (3D) MC device simulator to date, and illustrate their significance through simulation of n-channel Si and III-V FinFETs. Original contributions include our treatment of far-from-equilibrium degenerate statistics and QC-based modeling of surface-roughness scattering, as well as considering quantum-confined phonon and ionized-impurity scattering in 3D. Typical MC simulations approximate degenerate carrier populations as Fermi distributions to model the Pauli-blocking (PB) of scattering to occupied final states. To allow for increasingly far-from-equilibrium non-Fermi carrier distributions in ultra-scaled and III-V devices, we instead generate the final-state occupation probabilities used for PB by sampling the local carrier populations as function of energy and energy valley. This process is aided by the use of fractional carriers or sub-carriers, which minimizes classical carrier-carrier scattering intrinsically incompatible with degenerate statistics. Quantum-confinement effects are addressed through quantum-correction potentials (QCPs) generated from coupled Schrödinger-Poisson solvers, as commonly done. However, we use these valley- and orientation-dependent QCPs not just to redistribute carriers in real space, or even among energy valleys, but also to calculate confinement-dependent phonon, ionized-impurity, and surface-roughness scattering rates. FinFET simulations are used to illustrate the contributions of each of these QCs. Collectively, these quantum effects can substantially reduce and even eliminate otherwise expected benefits of considered In0.53Ga0.47 As FinFETs over otherwise identical Si FinFETs despite higher thermal velocities in In0.53Ga0.47 As. It also may be possible to extend these basic uses of QCPs, however calculated, to still more computationally efficient drift-diffusion and hydrodynamic simulations, and the basic concepts even to compact device modeling.

Correction: Mesoporous titania thin films as efficient enzyme carriers for paraoxon determination/detoxification: effects of enzyme binding and pore hierarchy on the biocatalyst activity and reusability.

PubMed

Frančič, N; Bellino, M G; Soler-Illia, G J A A; Lobnik, A

2016-07-07

Correction for 'Mesoporous titania thin films as efficient enzyme carriers for paraoxon determination/detoxification: effects of enzyme binding and pore hierarchy on the biocatalyst activity and reusability' by N. Frančičet al., Analyst, 2014, 139, 3127-3136.

Development of high efficiency solar cells on silicon web

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rohatgi, A.; Meier, D. L.; Campbell, R. B.; Schmidt, D. N.; Rai-Choudhury, P.

1984-01-01

Web base material is being improved with a goal toward obtaining solar cell efficiencies in excess of 18% (AM1). Carrier loss mechanisms in web silicon was investigated, techniques were developed to reduce carrier recombination in the web, and web cells were fabricated using effective surface passivation. The effect of stress on web cell performance was also investigated.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Yao; Huang, Yang; Wang, Junxi

In this work, a novel carrier concentration adjusting insertion layer for InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells light-emitting diodes was proposed to mitigate the efficiency droop and improve optical output properties at high current density. The band diagrams and carrier distributions were investigated numerically and experimentally. The results indicate that due to the newly formed electron barrier and the adjusted built-in field near the active region, the hole injection has been improved and a better radiative recombination can be achieved. Compared to the conventional LED, the light output power of our new structure with the carrier concentration adjusting layers is enhanced bymore » 127% at 350 mA , while the efficiency only droops to be 88.2% of its peak efficiency.« less

High efficiency III-nitride light-emitting diodes

DOEpatents

Crawford, Mary; Koleske, Daniel; Cho, Jaehee; Zhu, Di; Noemaun, Ahmed; Schubert, Martin F; Schubert, E. Fred

2013-05-28

Tailored doping of barrier layers enables balancing of the radiative recombination among the multiple-quantum-wells in III-Nitride light-emitting diodes. This tailored doping enables more symmetric carrier transport and uniform carrier distribution which help to reduce electron leakage and thus reduce the efficiency droop in high-power III-Nitride LEDs. Mitigation of the efficiency droop in III-Nitride LEDs may enable the pervasive market penetration of solid-state-lighting technologies in high-power lighting and illumination.

Theoretical analysis of improved efficiency of silicon-wafer solar cells with textured nanotriangular grating structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yaoju; Zheng, Jun; Zhao, Xuesong; Ruan, Xiukai; Cui, Guihua; Zhu, Haiyong; Dai, Yuxing

2018-03-01

A practical model of crystalline silicon-wafer solar cells is proposed in order to enhance the light absorption and improve the conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells. In the model, the front surface of the silicon photovoltaic film is designed to be a textured-triangular-grating (TTG) structure, and the ITO contact film and the antireflection coating (ARC) of glass are coated on the TTG surface of silicon solar cells. The optical absorption spectrum of solar cells are simulated by applying the finite difference time domain method. Electrical parameters of the solar cells are calculated using two models with and without carrier loss. The effect of structure parameters on the performance of the TTG cell is discussed in detail. It is found that the thickness (tg) of the ARC, period (p) of grating, and base angle (θ) of triangle have a crucial influence on the conversion efficiency. The optimal structure of the TTG cell is designed. The TTG solar cell can produce higher efficiency in a wide range of solar incident angle and the average efficiency of the optimal TTG cell over 7:30-16:30 time of day is 8% higher than that of the optimal plane solar cell. In addition, the study shows that the bulk recombination of carriers has an influence on the conversion efficiency of the cell, the conversion efficiency of the actual solar cell with carrier recombination is reduced by 20.0% of the ideal cell without carrier recombination.

Elucidating the charge carrier separation and working mechanism of CH3NH3PbI(3-x)Cl(x) perovskite solar cells.

PubMed

Edri, Eran; Kirmayer, Saar; Mukhopadhyay, Sabyasachi; Gartsman, Konstantin; Hodes, Gary; Cahen, David

2014-03-11

Developments in organic-inorganic lead halide-based perovskite solar cells have been meteoric over the last 2 years, with small-area efficiencies surpassing 15%. We address the fundamental issue of how these cells work by applying a scanning electron microscopy-based technique to cell cross-sections. By mapping the variation in efficiency of charge separation and collection in the cross-sections, we show the presence of two prime high efficiency locations, one at/near the absorber/hole-blocking-layer, and the second at/near the absorber/electron-blocking-layer interfaces, with the former more pronounced. This 'twin-peaks' profile is characteristic of a p-i-n solar cell, with a layer of low-doped, high electronic quality semiconductor, between a p- and an n-layer. If the electron blocker is replaced by a gold contact, only a heterojunction at the absorber/hole-blocking interface remains.

10.6% Certified Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells via Solvent-Polarity-Engineered Halide Passivation.

PubMed

Lan, Xinzheng; Voznyy, Oleksandr; García de Arquer, F Pelayo; Liu, Mengxia; Xu, Jixian; Proppe, Andrew H; Walters, Grant; Fan, Fengjia; Tan, Hairen; Liu, Min; Yang, Zhenyu; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sargent, Edward H

2016-07-13

Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells are solution-processed photovoltaics with broad spectral absorption tunability. Major advances in their efficiency have been made via improved CQD surface passivation and device architectures with enhanced charge carrier collection. Herein, we demonstrate a new strategy to improve further the passivation of CQDs starting from the solution phase. A cosolvent system is employed to tune the solvent polarity in order to achieve the solvation of methylammonium iodide (MAI) and the dispersion of hydrophobic PbS CQDs simultaneously in a homogeneous phase, otherwise not achieved in a single solvent. This process enables MAI to access the CQDs to confer improved passivation. This, in turn, allows for efficient charge extraction from a thicker photoactive layer device, leading to a certified solar cell power conversion efficiency of 10.6%, a new certified record in CQD photovoltaics.

Efficient mitochondrial biogenesis drives incomplete penetrance in Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy

PubMed Central

Iommarini, Luisa; Giordano, Luca; Maresca, Alessandra; Pisano, Annalinda; Valentino, Maria Lucia; Caporali, Leonardo; Liguori, Rocco; Deceglie, Stefania; Roberti, Marina; Fanelli, Francesca; Fracasso, Flavio; Ross-Cisneros, Fred N.; D’Adamo, Pio; Hudson, Gavin; Pyle, Angela; Yu-Wai-Man, Patrick; Chinnery, Patrick F.; Zeviani, Massimo; Salomao, Solange R.; Berezovsky, Adriana; Belfort, Rubens; Ventura, Dora Fix; Moraes, Milton; Moraes Filho, Milton; Barboni, Piero; Sadun, Federico; De Negri, Annamaria; Sadun, Alfredo A.; Tancredi, Andrea; Mancini, Massimiliano; d’Amati, Giulia; Loguercio Polosa, Paola; Cantatore, Palmiro

2014-01-01

Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy is a maternally inherited blinding disease caused as a result of homoplasmic point mutations in complex I subunit genes of mitochondrial DNA. It is characterized by incomplete penetrance, as only some mutation carriers become affected. Thus, the mitochondrial DNA mutation is necessary but not sufficient to cause optic neuropathy. Environmental triggers and genetic modifying factors have been considered to explain its variable penetrance. We measured the mitochondrial DNA copy number and mitochondrial mass indicators in blood cells from affected and carrier individuals, screening three large pedigrees and 39 independently collected smaller families with Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy, as well as muscle biopsies and cells isolated by laser capturing from post-mortem specimens of retina and optic nerves, the latter being the disease targets. We show that unaffected mutation carriers have a significantly higher mitochondrial DNA copy number and mitochondrial mass compared with their affected relatives and control individuals. Comparative studies of fibroblasts from affected, carriers and controls, under different paradigms of metabolic demand, show that carriers display the highest capacity for activating mitochondrial biogenesis. Therefore we postulate that the increased mitochondrial biogenesis in carriers may overcome some of the pathogenic effect of mitochondrial DNA mutations. Screening of a few selected genetic variants in candidate genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis failed to reveal any significant association. Our study provides a valuable mechanism to explain variability of penetrance in Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy and clues for high throughput genetic screening to identify the nuclear modifying gene(s), opening an avenue to develop predictive genetic tests on disease risk and therapeutic strategies. PMID:24369379

Adsorptive immobilization of a Pseudomonas strain on solid carriers for augmented decolourization in a chemostat bioreactor.

PubMed

Tse, Siu-Wah; Yu, Jian

2003-08-01

Pseudomonas GM3, a highly efficient strain in cleavage of azo bonds of synthetic dyes under anoxic conditions, was immobilized via adsorption on two types of carriers, porous glass beads and solid PVA particles. The cells were cultivated in a nutrient medium, adsorbed on sterile carriers, stabilized as biofilms in repeated batch cultures, and introduced into a chemostat activated sludge reactor for augmented decolourization. The microbial cells were quickly adsorbed and fixed on the PVA surface, compared to a slow and linear immobilization on the glass surface. The porous structure of glass beads provided shelter for the embedded cells, giving a high biomass loading or thick biofilm (13.3 mg VS ml-1 carrier) in comparison with PVA particles (4.8 mg VS ml-1 carrier), but the mass transfer of substrate in the biofilm became a significant limiting factorin the thicker biofilms (effectiveness factor eta = 0.31). The microbial decolourization rate per volume of carriers was 0.15 and 0.17 mg dye ml-1 of glass beads and PVA particles, respectively. In augmented decomposition of a recalcitrant azo dye (60 mg l-1), the immobilized Pseudomonas cells in porous glass beads gave a stable decolourization efficiency (80-81%), but cells fixed on solid PVA particles showed an initial high colour removal of 90% which then declined to a stable removal efficiency of 81%. In both cases, the colour removal efficiency of the chemostat bioreactor was increased from < 10% by an activated sludge to approximately 80% by the augmented system.

Biomimetics in drug delivery systems: A critical review.

PubMed

Sheikhpour, Mojgan; Barani, Leila; Kasaeian, Alibakhsh

2017-05-10

Today, the advanced drug delivery systems have been focused on targeted drug delivery fields. The novel drug delivery is involved with the improvement of the capacity of drug loading in drug carriers, cellular uptake of drug carriers, and the sustained release of drugs within target cells. In this review, six groups of therapeutic drug carriers including biomimetic hydrogels, biomimetic micelles, biomimetic liposomes, biomimetic dendrimers, biomimetic polymeric carriers and biomimetic nanostructures, are studied. The subject takes advantage of the biomimetic methods of productions or the biomimetic techniques for the surface modifications, similar to what accrues in natural cells. Moreover, the effects of these biomimetic approaches for promoting the drug efficiency in targeted drug delivery are visible. The study demonstrates that the fabrication of biomimetic nanocomposite drug carriers could noticeably promote the efficiency of drugs in targeted drug delivery systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells with Finely-Tuned Quantum Wells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varonides, Argyrios C.

The field of high efficiency (inorganic) photovoltaics (PV) is rapidly maturing in both efficiency goals and cover all cost reduction of fabrication. On one hand, know-how from space industry in new solar cell design configurations and on the other, fabrication cost reduction challenges for terrestrial uses of solar energy, have paved the way to a new generation of PV devices, capable of capturing most of the solar spectrum. For quite a while now, the goal of inorganic solar cell design has been the total (if possible) capture-absorption of the solar spectrum from a single solar cell, designed in such a way that a multiple of incident wavelengths could be simultaneously absorbed. Multi-absorption in device physics indicates parallel existence of different materials that absorb solar photons of different energies. Bulk solid state devices absorb at specific energy thresholds, depending on their respective energy gap (EG). More than one energy gaps would on principle offer new ways of photon absorption: if such a structure could be fabricated, two or more groups of photons could be absorbed simultaneously. The point became then what lattice-matched semiconductor materials could offer such multiple levels of absorption without much recombination losses. It was soon realized that such layer multiplicity combined with quantum size effects could lead to higher efficiency collection of photo-excited carriers. At the moment, the main reason that slows down quantum effect solar cell production is high fabrication cost, since it involves primarily expensive methods of multilayer growth. Existing multi-layer cells are fabricated in the bulk, with three (mostly) layers of lattice-matched and non-lattice-matched (pseudo-morphic) semiconductor materials (GaInP/InGaN etc), where photo-carrier collection occurs in the bulk of the base (coming from the emitter which lies right under the window layer). These carriers are given excess to conduction via tunnel junction (grown between at each interface and connecting the layers in series). This basic idea of a design has proven very successful in recent years, leading to solar cells of efficiency levels well above 30% (Fraunhofer Institute's multi-gap solar cell at 40.8%, and NREL's device at 40.2% respectively). Successful alloys have demonstrated high performance, such as InxGa1 - xP alloys (x (%) of gallium phosphide and (1 - x) (%) of indium phosphide). Other successful candidates, in current use and perpetual cell design consideration, are the lattice-matched GaAs/AlGaAs and InP/GaAs pairs or AlAs/GaAs/GaAs triple layers and alloys, which are heavily used in both solar and the electronics industry.

Comparative studies of efficiency droop in polar and non-polar InGaN quantum wells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davies, M. J.; Dawson, P.; Hammersley, S.

We report on a comparative study of efficiency droop in polar and non-polar InGaN quantum well structures at T = 10 K. To ensure that the experiments were carried out with identical carrier densities for any particular excitation power density, we used laser pulses of duration ∼100 fs at a repetition rate of 400 kHz. For both types of structures, efficiency droop was observed to occur for carrier densities of above 7 × 10{sup 11 }cm{sup −2 }pulse{sup −1} per quantum well; also both structures exhibited similar spectral broadening in the droop regime. These results show that efficiency droop is intrinsic in InGaN quantum wells, whether polar or non-polar,more » and is a function, specifically, of carrier density.« less

Polycation nanostructured lipid carrier, a novel nonviral vector constructed with triolein for efficient gene delivery.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhiwen; Sha, Xianyi; Shen, Anle; Wang, Yongzhong; Sun, Zhaogui; Gu, Zheng; Fang, Xiaoling

2008-06-06

A novel nonviral gene transfer vector was developed by modifying nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) with cetylated polyethylenimine (PEI). Polycation nanostructured lipid carrier (PNLC) was prepared using the emulsion-solvent evaporation method. Its in vitro gene transfer properties were evaluated in the human lung adenocarcinoma cell line SPC-A1 and Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Enhanced transfection efficiency of PNLC was observed after the addition of triolein to the PNLC formulation and the transfection efficiency of the optimized PNLC was comparable to that of Lipofectamine 2000. In the presence of 10% serum the transfection efficiency of the optimal PNLC was not significantly changed in either cell line, whereas that of Lipofectamine 2000 was greatly decreased in both. Thus, PNLC is an effective nonviral gene transfer vector and the gene delivery activity of PNLC was enhanced after triolein was included into the PNLC formulation.

Analysis of lasers as a solution to efficiency droop in solid-state lighting

DOE PAGES

Chow, Weng W.; Crawford, Mary H.

2015-10-06

This letter analyzes the proposal to mitigate the efficiency droop in solid-state light emitters by replacing InGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with lasers. The argument in favor of this approach is that carrier-population clamping after the onset of lasing limits carrier loss to that at threshold, while stimulated emission continues to grow with injection current. A fully quantized (carriers and light) theory that is applicable to LEDs and lasers (above and below threshold) is used to obtain a quantitative evaluation. The results confirm the potential advantage of higher laser output power and efficiency above lasing threshold, while also indicating disadvantages includingmore » low efficiency prior to lasing onset, sensitivity of lasing threshold to temperature, and the effects of catastrophic laser failure. As a result, a solution to some of these concerns is suggested that takes advantage of recent developments in nanolasers.« less

SELF-HEALING NANOMATERIALS: MULTIMILLION-ATOM REACTIVE MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hakamata, Tomoya; Shimamura, Kohei; Shimojo, Fuyuki

Organometal halide perovskites are attracting great attention as promising material for solar cells because of their high power conversion efficiency. The high performance has been attributed to the existence of free charge carriers and their large diffusion lengths, but the nature of carrier transport at the atomistic level remains elusive. Here, nonadiabatic quantum molecular dynamics simulations elucidate the mechanisms underlying the excellent free-carrier transport in CH 3NH 3PbI 3. Pb and I sublattices act as disjunct pathways for rapid and balanced transport of photoexcited electrons and holes, respectively, while minimizing efficiency-degrading charge recombination. On the other hand, CH 3NH 3more » sublattice quickly screens out electrostatic electron-hole attraction to generate free carriers within 1 ps. Together this nano-architecture lets photoexcited electrons and holes dissociate instantaneously and travel far away to be harvested before dissipated as heat. As a result, this work provides much needed structure-property relationships and time-resolved information that potentially lead to rational design of efficient solar cells.« less

Perovskite solar cells with CuSCN hole extraction layers yield stabilized efficiencies greater than 20%

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arora, Neha; Dar, M. Ibrahim; Hinderhofer, Alexander; Pellet, Norman; Schreiber, Frank; Zakeeruddin, Shaik Mohammed; Grätzel, Michael

2017-11-01

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with efficiencies greater than 20% have been realized only with expensive organic hole-transporting materials. We demonstrate PSCs that achieve stabilized efficiencies exceeding 20% with copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) as the hole extraction layer. A fast solvent removal method enabled the creation of compact, highly conformal CuSCN layers that facilitate rapid carrier extraction and collection. The PSCs showed high thermal stability under long-term heating, although their operational stability was poor. This instability originated from potential-induced degradation of the CuSCN/Au contact. The addition of a conductive reduced graphene oxide spacer layer between CuSCN and gold allowed PSCs to retain >95% of their initial efficiency after aging at a maximum power point for 1000 hours under full solar intensity at 60°C. Under both continuous full-sun illumination and thermal stress, CuSCN-based devices surpassed the stability of spiro-OMeTAD-based PSCs.

47 CFR 64.1505 - Restrictions on collect telephone calls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Restrictions on collect telephone calls. 64.1505 Section 64.1505 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS RULES RELATING TO COMMON CARRIERS Interstate Pay-Per-Call and Other...

Unified Electromagnetic-Electronic Design of Light Trapping Silicon Solar Cells

PubMed Central

Boroumand, Javaneh; Das, Sonali; Vázquez-Guardado, Abraham; Franklin, Daniel; Chanda, Debashis

2016-01-01

A three-dimensional unified electromagnetic-electronic model is developed in conjunction with a light trapping scheme in order to predict and maximize combined electron-photon harvesting in ultrathin crystalline silicon solar cells. The comparison between a bare and light trapping cell shows significant enhancement in photon absorption and electron collection. The model further demonstrates that in order to achieve high energy conversion efficiency, charge separation must be optimized through control of the doping profile and surface passivation. Despite having a larger number of surface defect states caused by the surface patterning in light trapping cells, we show that the higher charge carrier generation and collection in this design compensates the absorption and recombination losses and ultimately results in an increase in energy conversion efficiency. The fundamental physics behind this specific design approach is validated through its application to a 3 μm thick functional light trapping solar cell which shows 192% efficiency enhancement with respect to the bare cell of same thickness. Such a unified design approach will pave the path towards achieving the well-known Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit for c-Si in thin-film (<30 μm) geometries. PMID:27499446

Characterization of nano-bubbles as an oxygen carrier for in-situ bioremediation of organic pollutants in the subsurface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KIM, E.; Jung, J.; Kang, S.; Choi, Y.

2016-12-01

In-situ bioremediation using bubbles as an oxygen carrier has shown its applicability for aerobic biodegradation of organic pollutants in the subsurface. By recent progresses, generation of nano-sized bubbles is possible, which have enhanced oxygen transfer efficiencies due to their high interfacial area and stability. We are developing an in-situ bioremediation technique using nano-bubbles as an oxygen carrier. In this study, nano-bubbles were characterized for their size and oxygen supply capacity. Nano-bubbles were generated with pure oxygen and pure helium gas. The stable nano-bubbles suspended in water were sonicated to induce the bubbles to coalesce, making them to rise and be released out of the water. By removing the bubbles, the water volume was decreased by 0.006%. The gas released from the bubble suspension was collected to measure the amount of gas in the nano-bubbles. For sparingly soluble helium gas 17.9 mL/L was released from the bubble suspension, while for oxygen 46.2 mL/L was collected. For the oxygen nano-bubble suspension, it is likely that the release of dissolved oxygen (DO) contributed to the collected gas volume. After removing the oxygen nano-bubbles, 36.0 mg/L of DO was still present in water. Altogether, the oxygen nano-bubble suspension was estimated to have 66.2 mg/L of oxygen in a dissolved form and 25.6 mg/L as nano-bubbles. A high DO level in the water was possible because of their large Laplace pressure difference across the fluid interface. Applying Young-Laplace equation and ideal gas law, the bubble diameter was estimated to be approximately 10 nm, having an internal pressure of 323 atm. Considering the saturation DO of 8.26 mg/L for water in equilibrium with the atmosphere, the total oxygen content of 91.8 mg/L in the nano-bubble suspension suggests its great potential as an oxygen carrier. Studies are underway to verify the enhanced aerobic biodegradation of organic pollutants in soils by injecting nano-bubble suspensions.

Carrier collection losses in interface passivated amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neumüller, A., E-mail: alex.neumueller@next-energy.de; Sergeev, O.; Vehse, M.

In silicon thin-film solar cells the interface between the i- and p-layer is the most critical. In the case of back diffusion of photogenerated minority carriers to the i/p-interface, recombination occurs mainly on the defect states at the interface. To suppress this effect and to reduce recombination losses, hydrogen plasma treatment (HPT) is usually applied. As an alternative to using state of the art HPT we apply an argon plasma treatment (APT) before the p-layer deposition in n-i-p solar cells. To study the effect of APT, several investigations were applied to compare the results with HPT and no plasma treatmentmore » at the interface. Carrier collection losses in resulting solar cells were examined with spectral response measurements with and without bias voltage. To investigate single layers, surface photovoltage and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were conducted. The results with APT at the i/p-interface show a beneficial contribution to the carrier collection compared with HPT and no plasma treatment. Therefore, it can be concluded that APT reduces the recombination centers at the interface. Further, we demonstrate that carrier collection losses of thin-film solar cells are significantly lower with APT.« less

Carrier transport and luminescence properties of nanocomposites of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethyl hexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene] and dehydrated nanotubes titanic acid.

PubMed

Zhang, Ting; Xu, Zheng; Liu, Ran; Teng, Feng; Wang, Yongsheng; Xu, Xurong

2007-12-01

The carrier transport capability and luminescence efficiency of poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethyl hexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-PPV) films are enhanced by doping with dehydrated nanotubed titanic acid (DNTA). MEH-PPV molecules, either wrapped on the outer surface of or encapsulated into DNTA pores, have a more open, straighter conformation than undoped molecules, which induces a longer conjugated backbone and stronger interchain interactions, thereby, enhancing carrier mobility. MEH-PPV molecules within DNTA pores have higher exciton recombination efficiency owing to quantum confinement and the antenna effect.

Single-nanowire, low-bandgap hot carrier solar cells with tunable open-circuit voltage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limpert, Steven; Burke, Adam; Chen, I.-Ju; Anttu, Nicklas; Lehmann, Sebastian; Fahlvik, Sofia; Bremner, Stephen; Conibeer, Gavin; Thelander, Claes; Pistol, Mats-Erik; Linke, Heiner

2017-10-01

Compared to traditional pn-junction photovoltaics, hot carrier solar cells offer potentially higher efficiency by extracting work from the kinetic energy of photogenerated ‘hot carriers’ before they cool to the lattice temperature. Hot carrier solar cells have been demonstrated in high-bandgap ferroelectric insulators and GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures, but so far not in low-bandgap materials, where the potential efficiency gain is highest. Recently, a high open-circuit voltage was demonstrated in an illuminated wurtzite InAs nanowire with a low bandgap of 0.39 eV, and was interpreted in terms of a photothermoelectric effect. Here, we point out that this device is a hot carrier solar cell and discuss its performance in those terms. In the demonstrated devices, InP heterostructures are used as energy filters in order to thermoelectrically harvest the energy of hot electrons photogenerated in InAs absorber segments. The obtained photovoltage depends on the heterostructure design of the energy filter and is therefore tunable. By using a high-resistance, thermionic barrier, an open-circuit voltage is obtained that is in excess of the Shockley-Queisser limit. These results provide generalizable insight into how to realize high voltage hot carrier solar cells in low-bandgap materials, and therefore are a step towards the demonstration of higher efficiency hot carrier solar cells.

78 FR 72145 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of an Approved Information Collection...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-02

...: Training Certification for Drivers of Longer Combination Vehicles AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration [Docket No. FMCSA-2013... requests approval to renew the ICR entitled ``Training Certification for Drivers of Longer Combination...

78 FR 56983 - Agency Information Collection; Activity Under OMB Review: Foreign Air Carrier Application for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-16

...-month period, and certification of reciprocity from the carrier's homeland government. DOT analysts will... homeland government will afford reciprocity to U.S. carriers seeking authority for the similar fifth...

Enzyme immobilization techniques on poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) carrier with penicillin amidase as model.

PubMed

Drobník, J; Saudek, V; Svec, F; Kálal, J; Vojtísek, V; Bárta, M

1979-08-01

Two types of bead-form macroporous carriers based on glycidyl methacrylate with ethylene dimethacrylate copolymers were used for the immobilization of penicillin amidase either directly or after chemical modification. Direct binding through oxirane groups, which is equally efficient at pH 4.2 and 7, is relatively slow and brings about an activity loss at low enzyme concentrations. The most efficient immobilization was achieved on glutaraldehyde-activated amino carrier, irrespective of whether the amino groups were formed by ammonia or 1,6-diaminohexane treatment of the original oxirane carrier. Hydrazine treatment gave lower immobilization yields. The same is true of the azide method independent of the length of the spacer. Most enzyme activity was preserved by coupling the carbodiimide-activated enzyme to the carrier with alkyl or arylamino groups at the end of a longer substituent. Immobilization on diazo-modified carrier gave average results. Rapid immobilization by a lysine-modified phosgene-treated carrier resulted in an activity loss. It is suggested that multipoint and very tight attachment of the enzyme molecule to the matrix decreased the activity. The immobilized activity is quite stable in solution and very stable upon lyophilization with sucrose.

78 FR 14402 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of a Currently Approved Collection: Driver...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-05

... made available to State and Federal safety investigators on demand. Title: Driver Qualification Files... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration [Docket No. FMCSA 2013... Qualification Files AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT. ACTION: Notice and request...

Motor carrier safety performance profile.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-02-01

This report provides a summary of the safety performance of carriers across all the individual segments in the industry. It includes summaries for both for-hire and private carriers in each segment and is drawn from measures that are collected as par...

Evaluation of kenaf fibers as moving bed biofilm carriers in algal membrane photobioreactor.

PubMed

Derakhshan, Zahra; Mahvi, Amir Hossein; Ehrampoush, Mohammad Hassan; Ghaneian, Mohammad Taghi; Yousefinejad, Saeed; Faramarzian, Mohammad; Mazloomi, Seyed Mohammad; Dehghani, Mansooreh; Fallahzadeh, Hossein

2018-05-15

In this lab-scale study, the feasibility of using kenaf fibers as moving bed biofilm carriers in hybrid microalgal membrane photobioreactors (HMPBR) in organic matter and atrazine elimination from real secondary effluent was evaluated. For evaluating the kinetics of biofilm substrate consumption, an experimental model was proposed. Inoculation of wastewater samples with free carriers resulted in the greater removal of target pollutants. Removal efficiency of atrazine and chemical oxygen demand (COD) increased to 27% and 16%, with respect to the control, respectively. The total biomass accumulation in HMPBR exceeded 5g/L, and the microalgae tended to aggregate and attached to biofilm carriers. The removal efficiency of HMPBR improved significantly via inoculation of kenaf fiber carriers with bioremediation microalgal strains (p < 0.01). A lower stabilization ratio (VSS/TSS) was also recorded. The biomass in HMPBR included more lipids and carbohydrates. The results revealed that kenaf fibers could improve and upgrade the biological activity of different wastewater treatment applications, considering the great potential of biofilm carriers and their effluent quality. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bioreactors configured with distributors and carriers enhance the performance of continuous dark hydrogen fermentation.

PubMed

Lo, Yung-Chung; Lee, Kuo-Shing; Lin, Ping-Jei; Chang, Jo-Shu

2009-10-01

Anaerobic granular sludge bed (AnGSB) bioreactors were supplemented with activated carbon carriers and combined with distributors (e.g., acrylic resin board, stainless steel net and plastic net) installed at different locations to investigate the effect of distributor/carrier on biohydrogen production efficiency. The results show that plastic net stimulated the substrate/microorganisms contact and sludge granulation, thereby leading to a much better H(2) production performance when compared with those obtained from traditional CSTR. The highest H(2) production rate (7.89 L/h/L) and yield (3.42 mol H(2)/mol sucrose) were obtained when two pieces of plastic nets were installed at both 4 cm and 16 cm from the bottom of AnGSB without carrier addition and the bioreactor was operated at a HRT of 0.5h. For the AnGSB installed with two pieces of plastic net distributors, addition of carriers led to significant improvement on the H(2) production efficiency at a longer HRT (1-4h) when compared with the carrier-absent system.

Superficial photoluminescence and PV conversion of nanoscale Si-layered systems at 400 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznicki, Zbigniew T.; Meyrueis, Patrick; Sarrabayrouse, Gérard; Rousset, Bernard

2006-04-01

A surprising photovoltaic (PV) conversion at 400 nm has been observed in nanoscale Si-layered systems (ns-Si-ls) during spectral response measurements. In conventional solar cells the UV and blue PV conversion may be poor because of the surface recombination within a thin superficial layer. In multi-interface novel devices (MIND) containing ns-Si-ls this conversion is always negligible within an even thicker surface dead zone from which practically no free-carriers can be collected. So the measured 400 nm band PV conversion in MIND cells is totally inconsistent with usually observed effects. Another CE paradox concerns its inversely proportional variation versus incident flux intensity, lower the intensity higher the CE, which value can even exceed unity. This new effect is also localized at the superficial nanostratum and originates from postimplantation defects and nanostructures formed during the implantation process. A similar low energy free-carrier generation has been observed recently in MIND cells with buried ns-Si-ls having a relatively very thin superficial stratum because of an excellent electronic passivation. No available publication mentions such an effect despite extensive investigations on the subject of structural and optical properties of Si nanoparticles, Si nanolayers, new Si-based materials such as semiconductor silicides and the luminescence-center doped Si materials. In this work, the carrier collection properties of the superficial Si nanostratum are reported and discussed in detail in relation to incident flux intensity. An additional low energy generation was observed experimentally. The effect could have capital importance for a breakthrough in the PV conversion efficiency in Si solar cells with nanotransformations.

The ABC model of recombination reinterpreted: Impact on understanding carrier transport and efficiency droop in InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopkins, M. A.; Allsopp, D. W. E.; Kappers, M. J.; Oliver, R. A.; Humphreys, C. J.

2017-12-01

The efficiency of light emitting diodes (LEDs) remains a topic of great contemporary interest due to their potential to reduce the amount of energy consumed in lighting. The current consensus is that electrons and holes distribute themselves through the emissive region by a drift-diffusion process which results in a highly non-uniform distribution of the light emission and can reduce efficiency. In this paper, the measured variations in the external quantum efficiency of a range of InGaN/GaN LEDs with different numbers of quantum wells (QWs) are shown to compare closely with the predictions of a revised ABC model, in which it is assumed that the electrically injected electrons and holes are uniformly distributed through the multi-quantum well (MQW) region, or nearly so, and hence carrier recombination occurs equally in all the quantum wells. The implications of the reported results are that drift-diffusion plays a far lesser role in cross-well carrier transport than previously thought; that the dominant cause of efficiency droop is intrinsic to the quantum wells and that reductions in the density of non-radiative recombination centers in the MQW would enable the use of more QWs and thereby reduce Auger losses by spreading carriers more evenly across a wider emissive region.

A High-Power Broadband Terahertz Source Enabled by Three-Dimensional Light Confinement in a Plasmonic Nanocavity.

PubMed

Yardimci, Nezih Tolga; Cakmakyapan, Semih; Hemmati, Soroosh; Jarrahi, Mona

2017-06-23

The scope and potential uses of time-domain terahertz imaging and spectroscopy are mainly limited by the low optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiency of photoconductive terahertz sources. State-of-the-art photoconductive sources utilize short-carrier-lifetime semiconductors to recombine carriers that cannot contribute to efficient terahertz generation and cause additional thermal dissipation. Here, we present a novel photoconductive terahertz source that offers a significantly higher efficiency compared with terahertz sources fabricated on short-carrier-lifetime substrates. The key innovative feature of this source is the tight three-dimensional confinement of the optical pump beam around the terahertz nanoantennas that are used as radiating elements. This is achieved by means of a nanocavity formed by plasmonic structures and a distributed Bragg reflector. Consequently, almost all of the photo-generated carriers can be routed to the terahertz nanoantennas within a sub-picosecond time-scale. This results in a very strong, ultrafast current that drives the nanoantennas to produce broadband terahertz radiation. We experimentally demonstrate that this terahertz source can generate 4 mW pulsed terahertz radiation under an optical pump power of 720 mW over the 0.1-4 THz frequency range. This is the highest reported power level for terahertz radiation from a photoconductive terahertz source, representing more than an order of magnitude of enhancement in the optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiency compared with state-of-the-art photoconductive terahertz sources fabricated on short-carrier-lifetime substrates.

Efficient and Air-Stable Planar Perovskite Solar Cells Formed on Graphene-Oxide-Modified PEDOT:PSS Hole Transport Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Hui; Lin, Xuanhuai; Hou, Xian; Pan, Likun; Huang, Sumei; Chen, Xiaohong

2017-10-01

As a hole transport layer, PEDOT:PSS usually limits the stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) due to its hygroscopic nature and inability to block electrons. Here, a graphene-oxide (GO)-modified PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer was fabricated by spin-coating a GO solution onto the PEDOT:PSS surface. PSCs fabricated on a GO-modified PEDOT:PSS layer exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.34%, which is higher than 11.90% of PSCs with the PEDOT:PSS layer. Furthermore, the stability of the PSCs was significantly improved, with the PCE remaining at 83.5% of the initial PCE values after aging for 39 days in air. The hygroscopic PSS material at the PEDOT:PSS surface was partly removed during spin-coating with the GO solution, which improves the moisture resistance and decreases the contact barrier between the hole transport layer and perovskite layer. The scattered distribution of the GO at the PEDOT:PSS surface exhibits superior wettability, which helps to form a high-quality perovskite layer with better crystallinity and fewer pin holes. Furthermore, the hole extraction selectivity of the GO further inhibits the carrier recombination at the interface between the perovskite and PEDOT:PSS layers. Therefore, the cooperative interactions of these factors greatly improve the light absorption of the perovskite layer, the carrier transport and collection abilities of the PSCs, and especially the stability of the cells.

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Superstructures and multijunction cells for high efficiency energy conversion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wagner, M.; Leburton, J. P.

1985-01-01

Potential applications of superlattices to photovoltaic structures are discussed. A single-bandgap, multijunction cell with selective electrodes for lateral transport of collected carriers is proposed. The concept is based on similar doping superlattice (NIPI) structures. Computer simulations show that by reducing bulk recombination losses, the spectral response of such cells is enhanced, particularly for poor quality materials with short diffusion lengths. Dark current contributions of additional junctions result in a trade-off between short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage as the number of layers is increased. One or two extra junctions appear to be optimal.

InGaN-based thin film solar cells: Epitaxy, structural design, and photovoltaic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sang, Liwen; Liao, Meiyong; Koide, Yasuo; Sumiya, Masatomo

2015-03-01

InxGa1-xN, with the tunable direct bandgaps from ultraviolet to near infrared region, offers a promising candidate for the high-efficiency next-generation thin-film photovoltaic applications. Although the adoption of thick InGaN film as the active region is desirable to obtain efficient light absorption and carrier collection compared to InGaN/GaN quantum wells structure, the understanding on the effect from structural design is still unclear due to the poor-quality InGaN films with thickness and difficulty of p-type doping. In this paper, we comprehensively investigate the effects from film epitaxy, doping, and device structural design on the performances of the InGaN-based solar cells. The high-quality InGaN thick film is obtained on AlN/sapphire template, and p-In0.08Ga0.92N is achieved with a high hole concentration of more than 1018 cm-3. The dependence of the photovoltaic performances on different structures, such as active regions and p-type regions is analyzed with respect to the carrier transport mechanism in the dark and under illumination. The strategy of improving the p-i interface by using a super-thin AlN interlayer is provided, which successfully enhances the performance of the solar cells.

Insights into collaborative separation process of photogenerated charges and superior performance of solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Xiangyang, E-mail: lxy081276@126.com; Wang, Shun; Zheng, Haiwu

2016-07-25

ZnO nanowires/Cu{sub 4}Bi{sub 4}S{sub 9} (ZnO/CBS) and ZnO nanowires/CBS-graphene nanoplates (ZnO/CBS-GNs), as well as two types of solar cells were prepared. The photovoltaic responses of CBS-GNs and ZnO/CBS-GNs can be improved with incorporation of GNs. The transient surface photovoltage (TPV) can provide detailed information on the separation and transport of photogenerated carriers. The multichannel separation process from the TPVs indicates that the macro-photoelectric signals can be attributed to the photogenerated charges separated at the interface of CBS/GNs, rather than CBS/ZnO. The multi-interfacial recombination is the major carrier loss, and the hole selective p-V{sub 2}O{sub 5} can efficiently accelerate the chargemore » extraction to the external circuit. The ZnO/CBS-GNs cell exhibits the superior performance, and the highest efficiency is 10.9%. With the adequate interfaces of CBS/GNs, GNs conductive network, energy level matching, etc., the excitons can easily diffuse to the interface of CBS/GNs, and the separated electrons and holes can be collected quickly, inducing the high photoelectric properties. Here, a facile strategy for solid state solar cells with superior performance presents a potential application.« less

Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLC) as Vehicles for Topical Administration of Sesamol: In Vitro Percutaneous Absorption Study and Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity.

PubMed

Puglia, Carmelo; Lauro, Maria Rosaria; Offerta, Alessia; Crascì, Lucia; Micicchè, Lucia; Panico, Anna Maria; Bonina, Francesco; Puglisi, Giovanni

2017-03-01

Sesamol is a natural phenolic compound extracted from Sesamum indicum seed oil. Sesamol is endowed with several beneficial effects, but its use as a topical agent is strongly compromised by unfavorable chemical-physical properties. Therefore, to improve its characteristics, the aim of the present work was the formulation of nanostructured lipid carriers as drug delivery systems for topical administration of sesamol.Two different nanostructured lipid carrier systems have been produced based on the same solid lipid (Compritol® 888 ATO) but in a mixture with two different kinds of oil phase such as Miglyol® 812 (nanostructured lipid carrier-M) and sesame oil (nanostructured lipid carrier-PLUS). Morphology and dimensional distribution of nanostructured lipid carriers have been characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and photon correlation spectroscopy, respectively. The release pattern of sesamol from nanostructured lipid carriers was evaluated in vitro determining drug percutaneous absorption through excised human skin. Furthermore, an oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay was used to determine their antioxidant activity.From the results obtained, the method used to formulate nanostructured lipid carriers led to a homogeneous dispersion of particles in a nanometric range. Sesamol has been encapsulated efficiently in both nanostructured lipid carriers, with higher encapsulation efficiency values (> 90 %) when sesame oil was used as the oil phase (nanostructured lipid carrier-PLUS). In vitro evidences show that nanostructured lipid carrier dispersions were able to control the rate of sesamol diffusion through the skin, with respect to the reference formulations.Furthermore, the oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay pointed out an interesting and prolonged antioxidant activity of sesamol, especially when vehiculated by nanostructured lipid carrier-PLUS. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Poly(Amido Amine)s Containing Agmatine and Butanol Side Chains as Efficient Gene Carriers.

PubMed

Won, Young-Wook; Ankoné, Marc; Engbersen, Johan F J; Feijen, Jan; Kim, Sung Wan

2016-04-01

A new type of bioreducible poly(amido amine) copolymer is synthesized by the Michael addition polymerization of cystamine bisacrylamide (CBA) with 4-aminobutylguanidine (agmatine, AGM) and 4-aminobutanol (ABOL). Since the positively charged guanidinium groups of AGM and the hydroxybutyl groups of ABOL in the side chains have shown to improve the overall transfection efficiency of poly(amido amine)s, it is hypothesized that poly(CBA-ABOL/AGM) synthesized at the optimal ratio of both components would result in high transfection efficiency and minimal toxicity. In this study, a series of the poly(CBA-ABOL/AGM) copolymers is synthesized as gene carriers. The polymers are characterized and luciferase transfection efficiencies of the polymers in various cell lines are investigated to select the ideal ratio between AGM and ABOL. The poly(CBA-ABOL/AGM) containing 80% AGM and 20% ABOL has shown the best transfection efficiency with the lowest cytotoxicity, indicating that this polymer is very promising as a potent and nontoxic gene carrier. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) as carriers for a spirooxazine dye and its effect on photochromic efficiency.

PubMed

Sun, Bo; Hou, Qingxi; He, Zhibin; Liu, Zehua; Ni, Yonghao

2014-10-13

Nanocrystalline cellulose (CNC) as a renewable/sustainable material, has received much attention. Herein we studied CNC as carriers for a hydrophobic spirooxazine (SO)-based dye, 1,3-dihydro-1,3,3-trimethylspiro[2H-indole-2,3'-[3H]naphtha[2,1-b][1,4]oxazine], which may have potential applications in reversible memory photo-devices, textiles, photo-sensitive paper coatings, and inkjet printing inks. Due to the high cost and water-insolubility of this dye, it is desirable to improve its coloration efficiency and water-dispersibility. The experimental approach was to use CNC as carriers for the SO dye, thus obtaining a stable photochromic dye in aqueous systems. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation confirmed that the SO dye adsorbed on the surface of the CNC, which functioned as carriers for the photochromic dye. An impregnation process was adopted to anchor the dye onto cellulosic paper. It was found that the use of CNC resulted in a significant improvement in the SO coloration efficiency. The color stability and fatigue resistance were also studied. The use of CNC as carriers for a hydrophobic compound, its enhancement of associated properties, and its subsequent application were demonstrated. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Direct Correlation of Excitonics with Efficiency in a Core-Shell Quantum Dot Solar Cell.

PubMed

Dana, Jayanta; Maiti, Sourav; Tripathi, Vaidehi S; Ghosh, Hirendra N

2018-02-16

Shell thickness dependent band-gap engineering of quasi type II core-shell material with higher carrier cooling time, lower interfacial defect states, and longer charge carrier recombination time can be a promising candidate for both photocatalysis and solar cell. In the present investigation, colloidal CdSe@CdS core-shells with different shell thickness (2, 4 and 6 monolayer CdS) were synthesized through hot injection method and have been characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) followed by steady state absorption and luminescence techniques. Ultrafast transient absorption (TA) studies suggest longer carrier cooling, lower interfacial surface states, and slower carrier recombination time in CdSe@CdS core-shell with increasing shell thickness. By TA spectroscopy, the role of CdS shell in power conversion efficiency (PCE) has been explained in detail. The measured PCE was found to initially increase and then decrease with increasing shell thickness. Shell thickness has been optimized to maximize the efficiency after correlating the shell controlled carrier cooling and recombination with PCE values and a maximum PCE of 3.88 % was obtained with 4 monolayers of CdS shell, which is found to be 57 % higher than compared to bare CdSe QDs. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-04

...This notice announces that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has forwarded the Information Collection Request (ICR), OMB control number 1652-0040, abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. TSA published a Federal Register notice, with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments, of the following collection of information on November 16, 2009, 74 FR 58969. TSA has not received any comments. The collections of information that make up this ICR involve five broad categories affecting airports, passenger aircraft operators, foreign air carriers, indirect air carriers operating under a security program, and all-cargo carriers. These five categories are: security programs, security threat assessments (STA), known shipper data via the Known Shipper Management System (KSMS), cargo screening reporting, and evidence of compliance recordkeeping.

76 FR 4362 - Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Air Cargo Security...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

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...This notice announces that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has forwarded the Information Collection Request (ICR), OMB control number 1652-0040, abstracted below, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. TSA published a Federal Register notice, with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments, of this collection of information on October 14, 2010, 75 FR 63192. TSA has not received any comments. The collections of information that make up this ICR involve five broad categories affecting airports, passenger aircraft operators, foreign air carriers, indirect air carriers operating under a security program, and all-cargo carriers. These five categories are: Security programs, security threat assessments (STA), known shipper data via the Known Shipper Management System (KSMS), cargo screening reporting, and evidence of compliance recordkeeping.

Lipid-based colloidal carriers for peptide and protein delivery – liposomes versus lipid nanoparticles

PubMed Central

Martins, Susana; Sarmento, Bruno; Ferreira, Domingos C; Souto, Eliana B

2007-01-01

This paper highlights the importance of lipid-based colloidal carriers and their pharmaceutical implications in the delivery of peptides and proteins for oral and parenteral administration. There are several examples of biomacromolecules used nowadays in the therapeutics, which are promising candidates to be delivered by means of liposomes and lipid nanoparticles, such as solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC). Several production procedures can be applied to achieve a high association efficiency between the bioactives and the carrier, depending on the physicochemical properties of both, as well as on the production procedure applied. Generally, this can lead to improved bioavailability, or in case of oral administration a more consistent temporal profile of absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Advantages and drawbacks of such colloidal carriers are also pointed out. This article describes strategies used for formulation of peptides and proteins, methods used for assessment of association efficiency and practical considerations regarding the toxicological concerns. PMID:18203427

Airlines Performance and Eflciency Evaluation using a MCDA Methodology. The Case for Low Cost Carriers vs Legacy Carriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miranda, Miguel; Baltazar, Maria E.; Silva, Jorge

2016-11-01

The air transport has suffered a remarkable transformation over the past decade. Thewaywe travel today is quite different from how we did ten years ago. Due to the rise of low cost carriers, the market of air transportation has been constantly changing and presently witnessing the transformation of legacy carriers in order to manage to continue operating. The main purpose of thiswork is to show the differences in efficiency for different performance areas on a case study comprised of six different airline carriers, legacy and low cost, using a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDA) tool - Measuring Attractiveness by a Category Based Evaluation Technique (MACBETH). With the results obtained in this study, it is expected to show the work that is being carried out to obtain a model that would measure the efficiency of one or various airline companies in a defined period of time, using a set of performance indicators, to which specialists in the area previously have given weights.

Effect of temperature on carrier formation efficiency in organic photovoltaic cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moritomo, Yutaka, E-mail: moritomo.yutaka.gf@u.tsukuba.ac.jp; Yonezawa, Kouhei; Yasuda, Takeshi

2014-08-18

The internal quantum efficiency (ϕ{sub IQ}) of an organic photovoltaic cell is governed by plural processes. Here, we propose that ϕ{sub IQ} can be experimentally decomposed into carrier formation (ϕ{sub CF}) and carrier transfer (ϕ{sub CT}) efficiencies. By combining femtosecond time-resolved and electrochemical spectroscopy, we clarified the effect of temperature on ϕ{sub CF} in a regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (rr-P3HT)/[6,6]-phenyl C{sub 61}-butyric acid methyl ester blend film. We found that ϕ{sub CF} (=0.55) at 80 K is the same as that (=0.55) at 300 K. The temperature insensitivity of ϕ{sub CF} indicates that the electron-hole pairs at the D/A interface are seldom subjected to coulombicmore » binding energy.« less

Abnormal crystal growth in CH 3NH 3PbI 3-xCl x using a multi-cycle solution coating process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dong, Qingfeng; Yuan, Yongbo; Shao, Yuchuan

2015-06-23

Recently, the efficiency of organolead trihalide perovskite solar cells has improved greatly because of improved material qualities with longer carrier diffusion lengths. Mixing chlorine in the precursor for mixed halide films has been reported to dramatically enhance the diffusion lengths of mixed halide perovskite films, mainly as a result of a much longer carrier recombination lifetime. Here we report that adding Cl containing precursor for mixed halide perovskite formation can induce the abnormal grain growth behavior that yields well-oriented grains accompanied by the appearance of some very large size grains. The abnormal grain growth becomes prominent only after multi-cycle coatingmore » of MAI : MACl blend precursor. The large grain size is found mainly to contribute to a longer carrier charge recombination lifetime, and thus increases the device efficiency to 18.9%, but without significantly impacting the carrier transport property. As a result, the strong correlation identified between material process and morphology provides guidelines for future material optimization and device efficiency enhancement.« less

Enhanced splicing correction effect by an oligo-aspartic acid-PNA conjugate and cationic carrier complexes.

PubMed

Bae, Yun Mi; Kim, Myung Hee; Yu, Gwang Sig; Um, Bong Ho; Park, Hee Kyung; Lee, Hyun-il; Lee, Kang Taek; Suh, Yung Doug; Choi, Joon Sig

2014-02-10

Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are synthetic structural analogues of DNA and RNA. They recognize specific cellular nucleic acid sequences and form stable complexes with complementary DNA or RNA. Here, we designed an oligo-aspartic acid-PNA conjugate and showed its enhanced delivery into cells with high gene correction efficiency using conventional cationic carriers, such as polyethylenimine (PEI) and Lipofectamine 2000. The negatively charged oligo-aspartic acid-PNA (Asp(n)-PNA) formed complexes with PEI and Lipofectamine, and the resulting Asp(n)-PNA/PEI and Asp(n)-PNA/Lipofectamine complexes were introduced into cells. We observed significantly enhanced cellular uptake of Asp(n)-PNA by cationic carriers and detected an active splicing correction effect even at nanomolar concentrations. We found that the splicing correction efficiency of the complex depended on the kind of the cationic carriers and on the number of repeating aspartic acid units. By enhancing the cellular uptake efficiency of PNAs, these results may provide a novel platform technology of PNAs as bioactive substances for their biological and therapeutic applications. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The roles of carrier concentration and interface, bulk, and grain-boundary recombination for 25% efficient CdTe solar cells

DOE PAGES

Kanevce, A.; Reese, Matthew O.; Barnes, T. M.; ...

2017-06-06

CdTe devices have reached efficiencies of 22% due to continuing improvements in bulk material properties, including minority carrier lifetime. Device modeling has helped to guide these device improvements by quantifying the impacts of material properties and different device designs on device performance. One of the barriers to truly predictive device modeling is the interdependence of these material properties. For example, interfaces become more critical as bulk properties, particularly, hole density and carrier lifetime, increase. We present device-modeling analyses that describe the effects of recombination at the interfaces and grain boundaries as lifetime and doping of the CdTe layer change. Themore » doping and lifetime should be priorities for maximizing open-circuit voltage (V oc) and efficiency improvements. However, interface and grain boundary recombination become bottlenecks for device performance at increased lifetime and doping levels. In conclusion, this work quantifies and discusses these emerging challenges for next-generation CdTe device efficiency.« less

Highly efficient low color temperature organic LED using blend carrier modulation layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, Yao-Ching; Chen, Szu-Hao; Shen, Shih-Ming; Wang, Ching-Chiun; Chen, Chien-Chih; Jou, Jwo-Huei

2012-10-01

Color temperature (CT) of light has great effect on human physiology and psychology, and low CT light, minimizing melatonin suppression and decreasing the risk of breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer. We demonstrates the incorporation of a blend carrier modulation interlayer (CML) between emissive layers to improve the device performance of low CT organic light emitting diodes, which exhibits an external quantum efficiency of 22.7% and 36 lm W-1 (54 cd A-1) with 1880 K at 100 cd m-2, or 20.8% and 29 lm W-1 (50 cd A-1) with 1940 K at 1000 cd m-2. The result shows a CT much lower than that of incandescent bulbs, which is 2500 K with 15 lmW-1 efficiency, and even as low as that of candles, which is 2000 K with 0.1 lmW-1. The high efficiency of the proposed device may be attributed to its CML, which helps effectively distribute the entering carriers into the available recombination zones.

Facilitated transport of small molecules and ions for energy-efficient membranes.

PubMed

Li, Yifan; Wang, Shaofei; He, Guangwei; Wu, Hong; Pan, Fusheng; Jiang, Zhongyi

2015-01-07

In nature, the biological membrane can selectively transport essential small molecules/ions through facilitated diffusion via carrier proteins. Intrigued by this phenomenon and principle, membrane researchers have successfully employed synthetic carriers and carrier-mediated reversible reactions to enhance the separation performance of synthetic membranes. However, the existing facilitated transport membranes as well as the relevant facilitated transport theories have scarcely been comprehensively reviewed in the literature. This tutorial review primarily covers the two aspects of facilitated transport theories: carrier-mediated transport mechanisms and facilitated transport chemistries, including the design and fabrication of facilitated transport membranes. The applications of facilitated transport membranes in energy-intensive membrane processes (gas separation, pervaporation, and proton exchange membrane fuel cells) have also been discussed. Hopefully, this review will provide guidelines for the future research and development of facilitated transport membranes with high energy efficiency.

Confinement of holes and electrons in blue organic light-emitting diodes with additional red emissive layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Jin Sung; Yoo, Seung Il; Kim, Jin Wook; Yoon, Geum Jae; Yi, Seungjun; Kim, Woo Young

2016-02-01

We used various emissive layer (EML) structures with ultrathin red EMLs to enhance the charge carrier balance and carrier recombination rate in blue PHOLED devices. These EML materials have different energy gaps between highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels. The ultrathin red EMLs, which were inserted in between the blue EMLs, effectively confined the charge carriers in EML, and increased the carrier recombination rate. The thickness of the individual EML was optimized, under 30 nm of the total thickness of EML. The blue PHOLEDs with ultrathin red EMLs achieved a luminous efficiency of 19.24 cd/A, which was 28.7% higher than those without ultrathin red EMLs, and the maximum external quantum efficiency was 11.81% at 500 cd/m2.

Augmenting drug–carrier compatibility improves tumour nanotherapy efficacy

PubMed Central

Zhao, Yiming; Fay, François; Hak, Sjoerd; Manuel Perez-Aguilar, Jose; Sanchez-Gaytan, Brenda L.; Goode, Brandon; Duivenvoorden, Raphaël; de Lange Davies, Catharina; Bjørkøy, Astrid; Weinstein, Harel; Fayad, Zahi A.; Pérez-Medina, Carlos; Mulder, Willem J. M.

2016-01-01

A major goal of cancer nanotherapy is to use nanoparticles as carriers for targeted delivery of anti-tumour agents. The drug–carrier association after intravenous administration is essential for efficient drug delivery to the tumour. However, a large number of currently available nanocarriers are self-assembled nanoparticles whose drug-loading stability is critically affected by the in vivo environment. Here we used in vivo FRET imaging to systematically investigate how drug–carrier compatibility affects drug release in a tumour mouse model. We found the drug's hydrophobicity and miscibility with the nanoparticles are two independent key parameters that determine its accumulation in the tumour. Next, we applied these findings to improve chemotherapeutic delivery by augmenting the parent drug's compatibility; as a result, we achieved better antitumour efficacy. Our results help elucidate nanomedicines' in vivo fate and provide guidelines for efficient drug delivery. PMID:27071376

Recombination Suppression in PbS Quantum Dot Heterojunction Solar Cells by Energy-Level Alignment in the Quantum Dot Active Layers.

PubMed

Ding, Chao; Zhang, Yaohong; Liu, Feng; Nakazawa, Naoki; Huang, Qingxun; Hayase, Shuzi; Ogomi, Yuhei; Toyoda, Taro; Wang, Ruixiang; Shen, Qing

2017-09-22

Using spatial energy-level gradient engineering with quantum dots (QDs) of different sizes to increase the generated carrier collection at the junction of a QD heterojunction solar cell (QDHSC) is a hopeful route for improving the energy-conversion efficiency. However, the results of current related research have shown that a variable band-gap structure in a QDHSC will create an appreciable increase, not in the illumination current density, but rather in the fill factor. In addition, there are a lack of studies on the mechanism of the effect of these graded structures on the photovoltaic performance of QDHSCs. This study presents the development of air atmosphere solution-processed TiO 2 /PbS QDs/Au QDHSCs by engineering the energy-level alignment (ELA) of the active layer via the use of a sorted order of differently sized QD layers (four QD sizes). In comparison to the ungraded device (without the ELA), the optimized graded architecture (containing the ELA) solar cells exhibited a great increase (21.4%) in short-circuit current density (J sc ). As a result, a J sc value greater than 30 mA/cm 2 has been realized in planar, thinner absorption layer (∼300 nm) PbS QDHSCs, and the open-circuit voltage (V oc ) and power-conversion efficiency (PCE) were also improved. Through characterization by the light intensity dependences of the J sc and V oc and transient photovoltage decay, we find that (i) the ELA structure, serving as an electron-blocking layer, reduces the interfacial recombination at the PbS/anode interface, and (ii) the ELA structure can drive more carriers toward the desirable collection electrode, and the additional carriers can fill the trap states, reducing the trap-assisted recombination in the PbS QDHSCs. This work has clearly elucidated the mechanism of the recombination suppression in the graded QDHSCs and demonstrated the effects of ELA structure on the improvement of J sc . The charge recombination mechanisms characterized in this work would be able to shed light on further improvements of QDHSCs, which could even benefit other types of solar cells.

Response of GaAs charge storage devices to transient ionizing radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hetherington, D. L.; Klem, J. F.; Hughes, R. C.; Weaver, H. T.

Charge storage devices in which non-equilibrium depletion regions represent stored charge are sensitive to ionizing radiation. This results since the radiation generates electron-hole pairs that neutralize excess ionized dopant charge. Silicon structures, such as dynamic RAM or CCD cells are particularly sensitive to radiation since carrier diffusion lengths in this material are often much longer than the depletion width, allowing collection of significant quantities of charge from quasi-neutral sections of the device. For GaAs the situation is somewhat different in that minority carrier diffusion lengths are shorter than in silicon, and although mobilities are higher, we expect a reduction of radiation sensitivity as suggested by observations of reduced quantum efficiency in GaAs solar cells. Dynamic memory cells in GaAs have potential increased retention times. In this paper, we report the response of a novel GaAs dynamic memory element to transient ionizing radiation. The charge readout technique is nondestructive over a reasonable applied voltage range and is more sensitive to stored charge than a simple capacitor.

Design and simulation of GaN based Schottky betavoltaic nuclear micro-battery.

PubMed

San, Haisheng; Yao, Shulin; Wang, Xiang; Cheng, Zaijun; Chen, Xuyuan

2013-10-01

The current paper presents a theoretical analysis of Ni-63 nuclear micro-battery based on a wide-band gap semiconductor GaN thin-film covered with thin Ni/Au films to form Schottky barrier for carrier separation. The total energy deposition in GaN was calculated using Monte Carlo methods by taking into account the full beta spectral energy, which provided an optimal design on Schottky barrier width. The calculated results show that an 8 μm thick Schottky barrier can collect about 95% of the incident beta particle energy. Considering the actual limitations of current GaN growth technique, a Fe-doped compensation technique by MOCVD method can be used to realize the n-type GaN with a carrier concentration of 1×10(15) cm(-3), by which a GaN based Schottky betavoltaic micro-battery can achieve an energy conversion efficiency of 2.25% based on the theoretical calculations of semiconductor device physics. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Open-Circuit Voltage Deficit, Radiative Sub-Bandgap States, and Prospects in Quantum Dot Solar Cells

PubMed Central

Chuang, Chia-Hao Marcus; Maurano, Andrea; Brandt, Riley E.; Hwang, Gyu Weon; Jean, Joel; Buonassisi, Tonio; Bulović, Vladimir; Bawendi, Moungi G.

2016-01-01

Quantum dot photovoltaics (QDPV) offer the potential for low-cost solar cells. To develop strategies for continued improvement in QDPVs, a better understanding of the factors that limit their performance is essential. Here, we study carrier recombination processes that limit the power conversion efficiency of PbS QDPVs. We demonstrate the presence of radiative sub-bandgap states and sub-bandgap state filling in operating devices by using photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) spectroscopy. These sub-bandgap states are most likely the origin of the high open-circuit-voltage (VOC) deficit and relatively limited carrier collection that have thus far been observed in QDPVs. Combining these results with our perspectives on recent progress in QDPV, we conclude that eliminating sub-bandgap states in PbS QD films has the potential to show a greater gain than may be attainable by optimization of interfaces between QDs and other materials. We suggest possible future directions that could guide the design of high-performance QDPVs. PMID:25927871

Global Analysis of Perovskite Photophysics Reveals Importance of Geminate Pathways

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Manger, Lydia H.; Rowley, Matthew B.; Fu, Yongping

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites demonstrate desirable photophysical behaviors and promising applications from efficient photovoltaics to lasing, but the fundamental nature of excited state species is still under debate. We also collected time-resolved photoluminescence of single-crystal nanoplates of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite (MAPbI3), with excitation over a range of fluences and repetition rates, to provide a more complete photophysical picture. A fundamentally different way of simulating the photophysics is developed that relies on unnormalized decays, global analysis over a large array of conditions, and inclusion of steady-state behavior; these details are critical to capturing observed behaviors. These additional constraints require inclusion ofmore » spatially-correlated pairs, along with free carriers and traps, demonstrating the importance of our comprehensive analysis. Modeling geminate and non-geminate pathways shows geminate processes are dominant at high carrier densities and early times. This combination of data and simulation provides a detailed picture of perovskite photophysics across multiple excitation regimes that was not previously available.« less

Global Analysis of Perovskite Photophysics Reveals Importance of Geminate Pathways

DOE PAGES

Manger, Lydia H.; Rowley, Matthew B.; Fu, Yongping; ...

2016-12-20

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites demonstrate desirable photophysical behaviors and promising applications from efficient photovoltaics to lasing, but the fundamental nature of excited state species is still under debate. We also collected time-resolved photoluminescence of single-crystal nanoplates of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite (MAPbI3), with excitation over a range of fluences and repetition rates, to provide a more complete photophysical picture. A fundamentally different way of simulating the photophysics is developed that relies on unnormalized decays, global analysis over a large array of conditions, and inclusion of steady-state behavior; these details are critical to capturing observed behaviors. These additional constraints require inclusion ofmore » spatially-correlated pairs, along with free carriers and traps, demonstrating the importance of our comprehensive analysis. Modeling geminate and non-geminate pathways shows geminate processes are dominant at high carrier densities and early times. This combination of data and simulation provides a detailed picture of perovskite photophysics across multiple excitation regimes that was not previously available.« less

Effects of sub-bandgap illumination on electrical properties and detector performances of CdZnTe:In

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Lingyan; Jie, Wanqi, E-mail: jwq@nwpu.edu.cn; Zha, Gangqiang, E-mail: zha-gq@hotmail.com

2014-06-09

The effects of sub-bandgap illumination on electrical properties of CdZnTe:In crystals and spectroscopic performances of the fabricated detectors were discussed. The excitation process of charge carriers through thermal and optical transitions at the deep trap could be described by the modified Shockley-Read-Hall model. The ionization probability of the deep donor shows an increase under illumination, which should be responsible for the variation of electrical properties within CdZnTe bulk materials with infrared (IR) irradiation. By applying Ohm's law, diffusion model and interfacial layer-thermionic-diffusion theory, we obtain the decrease of bulk resistivity and the increase of space charge density in the illuminatedmore » crystals. Moreover, the illumination induced ionization will further contribute to improving carrier transport property and charge collection efficiency. Consequently, the application of IR irradiation in the standard working environment is of great significance to improve the spectroscopic characteristics of CdZnTe radiation detectors.« less

77 FR 24506 - Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Air Cargo Security...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-24

...This notice announces that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has forwarded the Information Collection Request (ICR), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number 1652-0040, abstracted below to OMB for review and approval of an extension of the currently approved collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. TSA published a Federal Register notice, with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments, of the following collection of information on February 24, 2012, 77 FR 11145. TSA has not received any comments. The collection of information that make up this ICR involve five broad categories affecting airports, passenger aircraft operators, foreign air carriers, indirect air carriers and all-cargo carriers operating under a TSA-approved security program. These five categories are: Security programs, security threat assessments (STAs), known shipper data via the Known Shipper Management System (KSMS), cargo screening reporting, and evidence of compliance recordkeeping.

77 FR 57182 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of Currently-Approved Information Collection...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-17

... Request: Quarterly Report of Class I Motor Carriers of Property (Formerly OMB 2139-0002) AGENCY: Federal... approval. FMCSA requests approval to revise an ICR entitled, ``Quarterly Report of Class I Motor Carriers.... Comments should be addressed to the attention of the Desk Officer, Department of Transportation/Federal...

75 FR 81270 - Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Submitted for Review and Approval to the Office...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-27

... performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility...-of-return carriers (Interstate Common Line Support (ICLS)) to replace implicit support in interstate access charges with explicit support that is portable to all eligible telecommunications carriers. The...

77 FR 23792 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of Two Currently-Approved Information...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-20

... Collection Requests: Financial and Operating Statistics for Motor Carriers of Property AGENCY: Federal Motor... requests (ICRs) as follows: (1) OMB Control Number 2126-0032 entitled, ``Annual Report of Class I and Class II Motor Carriers of Property (formerly OMB 2139-0004),'' and (2) OMB Control Number 2126- 0033...

The importance of band tail recombination on current collection and open-circuit voltage in CZTSSe solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moore, James E.; Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907; Hages, Charles J.

2016-07-11

Cu{sub 2}ZnSn(S,Se){sub 4} (CZTSSe) solar cells typically exhibit high short-circuit current density (J{sub sc}), but have reduced cell efficiencies relative to other thin film technologies due to a deficit in the open-circuit voltage (V{sub oc}), which prevent these devices from becoming commercially competitive. Recent research has attributed the low V{sub oc} in CZTSSe devices to small scale disorder that creates band tail states within the absorber band gap, but the physical processes responsible for this V{sub oc} reduction have not been elucidated. In this paper, we show that carrier recombination through non-mobile band tail states has a strong voltage dependencemore » and is a significant performance-limiting factor, and including these effects in simulation allows us to simultaneously explain the V{sub oc} deficit, reduced fill factor, and voltage-dependent quantum efficiency with a self-consistent set of material parameters. Comparisons of numerical simulations to measured data show that reasonable values for the band tail parameters (characteristic energy, capture rate) can account for the observed low V{sub oc}, high J{sub sc}, and voltage dependent collection efficiency. These results provide additional evidence that the presence of band tail states accounts for the low efficiencies of CZTSSe solar cells and further demonstrates that recombination through non-mobile band tail states is the dominant efficiency limiting mechanism.« less

Titanium dioxide/silicon hole-blocking selective contact to enable double-heterojunction crystalline silicon-based solar cell

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nagamatsu, Ken A., E-mail: knagamat@princeton.edu; Man, Gabriel; Jhaveri, Janam

2015-03-23

In this work, we use an electron-selective titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}) heterojunction contact to silicon to block minority carrier holes in the silicon from recombining at the cathode contact of a silicon-based photovoltaic device. We present four pieces of evidence demonstrating the beneficial effect of adding the TiO{sub 2} hole-blocking layer: reduced dark current, increased open circuit voltage (V{sub OC}), increased quantum efficiency at longer wavelengths, and increased stored minority carrier charge under forward bias. The importance of a low rate of recombination of minority carriers at the Si/TiO{sub 2} interface for effective blocking of minority carriers is quantitatively described.more » The anode is made of a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) heterojunction to silicon which forms a hole selective contact, so that the entire device is made at a maximum temperature of 100 °C, with no doping gradients or junctions in the silicon. A low rate of recombination of minority carriers at the Si/TiO{sub 2} interface is crucial for effective blocking of minority carriers. Such a pair of complementary carrier-selective heterojunctions offers a path towards high-efficiency silicon solar cells using relatively simple and near-room temperature fabrication techniques.« less

Design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of plasmonic photoconductive terahertz emitters.

PubMed

Berry, Christopher; Hashemi, Mohammad Reza; Unlu, Mehmet; Jarrahi, Mona

2013-07-08

In this video article we present a detailed demonstration of a highly efficient method for generating terahertz waves. Our technique is based on photoconduction, which has been one of the most commonly used techniques for terahertz generation (1-8). Terahertz generation in a photoconductive emitter is achieved by pumping an ultrafast photoconductor with a pulsed or heterodyned laser illumination. The induced photocurrent, which follows the envelope of the pump laser, is routed to a terahertz radiating antenna connected to the photoconductor contact electrodes to generate terahertz radiation. Although the quantum efficiency of a photoconductive emitter can theoretically reach 100%, the relatively long transport path lengths of photo-generated carriers to the contact electrodes of conventional photoconductors have severely limited their quantum efficiency. Additionally, the carrier screening effect and thermal breakdown strictly limit the maximum output power of conventional photoconductive terahertz sources. To address the quantum efficiency limitations of conventional photoconductive terahertz emitters, we have developed a new photoconductive emitter concept which incorporates a plasmonic contact electrode configuration to offer high quantum-efficiency and ultrafast operation simultaneously. By using nano-scale plasmonic contact electrodes, we significantly reduce the average photo-generated carrier transport path to photoconductor contact electrodes compared to conventional photoconductors (9). Our method also allows increasing photoconductor active area without a considerable increase in the capacitive loading to the antenna, boosting the maximum terahertz radiation power by preventing the carrier screening effect and thermal breakdown at high optical pump powers. By incorporating plasmonic contact electrodes, we demonstrate enhancing the optical-to-terahertz power conversion efficiency of a conventional photoconductive terahertz emitter by a factor of 50 (10).

Desulfurization characteristics of rapidly hydrated sorbents with various adhesive carrier particles for a semidry CFB-FGD system.

PubMed

You, Changfu; Li, Yuan

2013-03-19

Semidry flue gas desulfurization (FGD) experiments were conducted using rapidly hydrated sorbents with four different adhesive carrier particles: circulation ash from a circulating fluidized bed boiler (CFBB circulation ash), fly ash from the first electrical field of the electrostatic precipitator of a circulating fluidized bed boiler (CFBB ESP ash), fly ash from a chain boiler (chain boiler ash), and river sand smaller than 1 mm. The influences of various adhesive carrier particles and operating conditions on the desulfurization characteristics of the sorbents were investigated, including sprayed water, reaction temperature, and the ratio of calcium to sulfur (Ca/S). The experimental results indicated that the rapidly hydrated sorbents had better desulfurization characteristics by using adhesive carrier particles which possessed better pore, adhesion, and fluidization characteristics. The desulfurization efficiency of the system increased as the reaction temperature decreased, it improved from 35% to 90% as the mass flow rate of the sprayed water increased from 0 to 10 kg/h, and it increased from 65.6% to 82.7% as Ca/S increased from 1.0 to 2.0. Based on these findings, a new semidry circulating fluidized bed (CFB)-FGD system using rapidly hydrated sorbent was developed. Using the rapidly hydrated sorbent, this system uses a cyclone separator instead of an ESP or a bag filter to recycle the sorbent particles, thereby decreasing the system flow resistance, saving investment and operating costs of the solids collection equipment.

InGaAs/GaAsP strain balanced multi-quantum wires grown on misoriented GaAs substrates for high efficiency solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alonso-Álvarez, D.; Thomas, T.; Führer, M.

Quantum wires (QWRs) form naturally when growing strain balanced InGaAs/GaAsP multi-quantum wells (MQW) on GaAs [100] 6° misoriented substrates under the usual growth conditions. The presence of wires instead of wells could have several unexpected consequences for the performance of the MQW solar cells, both positive and negative, that need to be assessed to achieve high conversion efficiencies. In this letter, we study QWR properties from the point of view of their performance as solar cells by means of transmission electron microscopy, time resolved photoluminescence and external quantum efficiency (EQE) using polarised light. We find that these QWRs have longermore » lifetimes than nominally identical QWs grown on exact [100] GaAs substrates, of up to 1 μs, at any level of illumination. We attribute this effect to an asymmetric carrier escape from the nanostructures leading to a strong 1D-photo-charging, keeping electrons confined along the wire and holes in the barriers. In principle, these extended lifetimes could be exploited to enhance carrier collection and reduce dark current losses. Light absorption by these QWRs is 1.6 times weaker than QWs, as revealed by EQE measurements, which emphasises the need for more layers of nanostructures or the use light trapping techniques. Contrary to what we expected, QWR show very low absorption anisotropy, only 3.5%, which was the main drawback a priori of this nanostructure. We attribute this to a reduced lateral confinement inside the wires. These results encourage further study and optimization of QWRs for high efficiency solar cells.« less

InGaAs/GaAsP strain balanced multi-quantum wires grown on misoriented GaAs substrates for high efficiency solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alonso-Álvarez, D.; Thomas, T.; Führer, M.; Hylton, N. P.; Ekins-Daukes, N. J.; Lackner, D.; Philipps, S. P.; Bett, A. W.; Sodabanlu, H.; Fujii, H.; Watanabe, K.; Sugiyama, M.; Nasi, L.; Campanini, M.

2014-08-01

Quantum wires (QWRs) form naturally when growing strain balanced InGaAs/GaAsP multi-quantum wells (MQW) on GaAs [100] 6° misoriented substrates under the usual growth conditions. The presence of wires instead of wells could have several unexpected consequences for the performance of the MQW solar cells, both positive and negative, that need to be assessed to achieve high conversion efficiencies. In this letter, we study QWR properties from the point of view of their performance as solar cells by means of transmission electron microscopy, time resolved photoluminescence and external quantum efficiency (EQE) using polarised light. We find that these QWRs have longer lifetimes than nominally identical QWs grown on exact [100] GaAs substrates, of up to 1 μs, at any level of illumination. We attribute this effect to an asymmetric carrier escape from the nanostructures leading to a strong 1D-photo-charging, keeping electrons confined along the wire and holes in the barriers. In principle, these extended lifetimes could be exploited to enhance carrier collection and reduce dark current losses. Light absorption by these QWRs is 1.6 times weaker than QWs, as revealed by EQE measurements, which emphasises the need for more layers of nanostructures or the use light trapping techniques. Contrary to what we expected, QWR show very low absorption anisotropy, only 3.5%, which was the main drawback a priori of this nanostructure. We attribute this to a reduced lateral confinement inside the wires. These results encourage further study and optimization of QWRs for high efficiency solar cells.

Effect of work of adhesion on deep bed filtration process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Przekop, Rafał; Jackiewicz, Anna; WoŻniak, Michał; Gradoń, Leon

2016-06-01

Collection of aerosol particles in the particular steps of the technology of their production, and purification of the air at the workplace and atmospheric environment, requires the efficient method of separation of particulate matter from the carrier gas. There are many papers published in last few years in which the deposition of particles on fibrous collectors is considered, Most of them assume that collisions between particle and collector surface is 100% effective. In this work we study the influence of particles and fiber properties on the deposition efficiency. For the purpose of this work the lattice-Boltzmann model describes fluid dynamics, while the solid particle motion is modeled by the Brownian dynamics. The interactions between particles and surface are modelled using energy balanced oscillatory model. The work of adhesion was estimated using Atomic Force Microscopy.

Effect of work of adhesion on deep bed filtration process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Przekop, Rafał; Jackiewicz, Anna; Gradoń, Leon

2016-06-08

Collection of aerosol particles in the particular steps of the technology of their production, and purification of the air at the workplace and atmospheric environment, requires the efficient method of separation of particulate matter from the carrier gas. There are many papers published in last few years in which the deposition of particles on fibrous collectors is considered, Most of them assume that collisions between particle and collector surface is 100% effective. In this work we study the influence of particles and fiber properties on the deposition efficiency. For the purpose of this work the lattice-Boltzmann model describes fluid dynamics,more » while the solid particle motion is modeled by the Brownian dynamics. The interactions between particles and surface are modelled using energy balanced oscillatory model. The work of adhesion was estimated using Atomic Force Microscopy.« less

Balance the Carrier Mobility To Achieve High Performance Exciplex OLED Using a Triazine-Based Acceptor.

PubMed

Hung, Wen-Yi; Chiang, Pin-Yi; Lin, Shih-Wei; Tang, Wei-Chieh; Chen, Yi-Ting; Liu, Shih-Hung; Chou, Pi-Tai; Hung, Yi-Tzu; Wong, Ken-Tsung

2016-02-01

A star-shaped 1,3,5-triazine/cyano hybrid molecule CN-T2T was designed and synthesized as a new electron acceptor for efficient exciplex-based OLED emitter by mixing with a suitable electron donor (Tris-PCz). The CN-T2T/Tris-PCz exciplex emission shows a high ΦPL of 0.53 and a small ΔET-S = -0.59 kcal/mol, affording intrinsically efficient fluorescence and highly efficient exciton up-conversion. The large energy level offsets between Tris-PCz and CN-T2T and the balanced hole and electron mobility of Tris-PCz and CN-T2T, respectively, ensuring sufficient carrier density accumulated in the interface for efficient generation of exciplex excitons. Employing a facile device structure composed as ITO/4% ReO3:Tris-PCz (60 nm)/Tris-PCz (15 nm)/Tris-PCz:CN-T2T(1:1) (25 nm)/CN-T2T (50 nm)/Liq (0.5 nm)/Al (100 nm), in which the electron-hole capture is efficient without additional carrier injection barrier from donor (or acceptor) molecule and carriers mobilities are balanced in the emitting layer, leads to a highly efficient green exciplex OLED with external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 11.9%. The obtained EQE is 18% higher than that of a comparison device using an exciplex exhibiting a comparable ΦPL (0.50), in which TCTA shows similar energy levels but higher hole mobility as compared with Tris-PCz. Our results clearly indicate the significance of mobility balance in governing the efficiency of exciplex-based OLED. Exploiting the Tris-PCz:CN-T2T exciplex as the host, we further demonstrated highly efficient yellow and red fluorescent OLEDs by doping 1 wt % Rubrene and DCJTB as emitter, achieving high EQE of 6.9 and 9.7%, respectively.

Characterization and modeling of 1.3 micron indium arsenide quantum dot lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dikshit, Amit A.

2006-12-01

Quantum-dot (QD) lasers have the potential to offer superior characteristics compared to currently used QW lasers in optical fiber communications. In this work we have performed modeling and characterization of QD lasers with an aim to understand the physics in order to design better lasers in the future. A comprehensive analytical model is built which explains the observed temperature sensitivity of threshold current in QD lasers. The model shows that the ratio of excitons and free carriers is important to accurately model the carrier distribution and hence temperature performance of QD lasers. To understand the recombination mechanisms in QD lasers, carrier lifetime measurements were performed along with advanced numerical rate equation modeling. The carrier lifetime measurements were performed using the small-signal optical response and impedance technique. The rate equation models were then used to extract the recombination coefficients in QD lasers which represent the strength of various recombination mechanisms. Using these measurements and the rate equation models it is shown that Auger recombination is the dominant contribution to current and comprises approximately 80% of current at threshold. Further, we investigated the origin of the low injection efficiencies observed in QD lasers using a rate equation model that included the effect of inhomogeneous broadening. It is shown that the observed low injection efficiencies are likely a consequence of the cavity length vs. slope efficiency measurement technique, and therefore do not represent the intrinsic or true injection efficiencies in QD lasers. The limitation of this commonly used technique arises from the carrier occupation of non-lasing states in the inhomogeneously broadened QD ensemble.

Flexible and High-Performance All-2D Photodetector for Wearable Devices.

PubMed

Yao, Jiandong; Yang, Guowei

2018-05-01

Emerging novel applications at the forefront of innovation horizon raise new requirements including good flexibility and unprecedented properties for the photoelectronic industry. On account of diversity in transport and photoelectric properties, 2D layered materials have proven as competent building blocks toward next-generation photodetectors. Herein, an all-2D Bi 2 Te 3 -SnS-Bi 2 Te 3 photodetector is fabricated with pulsed-laser deposition. It is sensitive to broadband wavelength from ultraviolet (370 nm) to near-infrared (808 nm). In addition, it exhibits great durability to bend, with intact photoresponse after 100 bend cycles. Upon 370 nm illumination, it achieves a high responsivity of 115 A W -1 , a large external quantum efficiency of 3.9 × 10 4 %, and a superior detectivity of 4.1 × 10 11 Jones. They are among the best figures-of-merit of state-of-the-art 2D photodetectors. The synergistic effect of SnS's strong light-matter interaction, efficient carrier separation of Bi 2 Te 3 -SnS interface, expedite carrier injection across Bi 2 Te 3 -SnS interface, and excellent carrier collection of Bi 2 Te 3 topological insulator electrodes accounts for the superior photodetection properties. In summary, this work depicts a facile all-in-one fabrication strategy toward a Bi 2 Te 3 -SnS-Bi 2 Te 3 photodetector. More importantly, it reveals a novel all-2D concept for construction of flexible, broadband, and high-performance photoelectronic devices by integrating 2D layered metallic electrodes and 2D layered semiconducting channels. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Chemically Modified Metal Oxide Nanostructure for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Gongming

Hydrogen gas is chemical fuel with high energy density, and represents a clean, renewable and carbon-free burning fuel, which has the potential to solve the more and more urgent energy crisis in today's society. Inspired by natural photosynthesis, artificial photosynthesis to generate hydrogen energy has attracted a lot of attentions in the field of chemistry, physics and material. Photoelectrochemical water splitting based on semiconductors represents a green and low cost method to generate hydrogen fuel. However, the current overall efficiency of solar to hydrogen is quite low, due to some intrinsic limitations such as bandgap, diffusion distance, carrier lifetime and photostability of semiconductors. Although nanostructured semiconductors can improve their photoelectrochemical water splitting performance to some extent, by increasing electrolyte accessible area and shortening minority carrier diffusion distance, nanostructure engineering cannot change their intrinsic electronic properties. Recent development in chemically modified nanostructures such as surface catalyst decoration, element doping, plasmonic modification and interfacial hetero-junction design have led to significant advancement in the photoelectrochemical water splitting, by improving surface reaction kinetics and charge separation, transportation and collection efficiency. In this thesis, I will give a detailed discussion on the chemically modified metal oxide nanostructures for photoelectrocemical hydrogen generation, with a focus on the element doping, hydrogen treatment and catalyst modification. I have demonstrated nitrogen doping on ZnO and Ti doping on hematite can improve their photoelectrochemical performance. In addition, we found hydrogen treatment is a general and effective method to improve the photocatalytic performance, by increasing their carrier desities. Hydrogen treatment has been demonstrated on TiO2, WO3 and BiVO4. In the end, we also used electrochemical catalyt to modify these metal oxide photoelectrode for waste water treatment and chemical fuel generation.

Cationic DOPC-Detergent Conjugates for Safe and Efficient in Vitro and in Vivo Nucleic Acid Delivery.

PubMed

Pierrat, Philippe; Casset, Anne; Didier, Pascal; Kereselidze, Dimitri; Lux, Marie; Pons, Françoise; Lebeau, Luc

2016-09-15

The ability of a nonviral nucleic acid carrier to deliver its cargo to cells with low associated toxicity is a critical issue for clinical applications of gene therapy. We describe biodegradable cationic DOPC-C12 E4 conjugates in which transfection efficiency is based on a Trojan horse strategy. In situ production of the detergent compound C12 E4 through conjugate hydrolysis within the acidic endosome compartment was expected to promote endosome membrane destabilization and subsequent release of the lipoplexes into cytosol. The transfection efficiency of the conjugates has been assessed in vitro, and associated cytotoxicity was determined. Cellular uptake and intracellular distribution of the lipoplexes have been investigated. The results show that direct conjugation of DOPC with C12 E4 produces a versatile carrier that can deliver both DNA and siRNA to cells in vitro with high efficiency and low cytotoxicity. SAR studies suggest that this compound might represent a reasonable compromise between the membrane activity of the released detergent and susceptibility of the conjugate to degradation enzymes in vitro. Although biodegradability of the conjugates had low impact on carrier efficiency in vitro, it proved critical in vivo. Significant improvement of transgene expression was obtained in the mouse lung tuning biodegradability of the carrier. Importantly, this also allowed reduction of the inflammatory response that invariably characterizes cationic-lipid-mediated gene transfer in animals. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Fully Depleted Ti-Nb-Ta-Zr-O Nanotubes: Interfacial Charge Dynamics and Solar Hydrogen Production.

PubMed

Chiu, Yi-Hsuan; Lai, Ting-Hsuan; Chen, Chun-Yi; Hsieh, Ping-Yen; Ozasa, Kazunari; Niinomi, Mitsuo; Okada, Kiyoshi; Chang, Tso-Fu Mark; Matsushita, Nobuhiro; Sone, Masato; Hsu, Yung-Jung

2018-05-01

Poor kinetics of hole transportation at the electrode/electrolyte interface is regarded as a primary cause for the mediocre performance of n-type TiO 2 photoelectrodes. By adopting nanotubes as the electrode backbone, light absorption and carrier collection can be spatially decoupled, allowing n-type TiO 2 , with its short hole diffusion length, to maximize the use of the available photoexcited charge carriers during operation in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Here, we presented a delicate electrochemical anodization process for the preparation of quaternary Ti-Nb-Ta-Zr-O mixed-oxide (denoted as TNTZO) nanotube arrays and demonstrated their utility in PEC water splitting. The charge-transfer dynamics for the electrodes was investigated using time-resolved photoluminescence, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and the decay of open-circuit voltage analysis. Data reveal that the superior photoactivity of TNTZO over pristine TiO 2 originated from the introduction of Nd, Ta, and Zr elements, which enhanced the amount of accessible charge carriers, modified the electronic structure, and improved the hole injection kinetics for expediting water splitting. By modulating the water content of the electrolyte employed in the anodization process, the wall thickness of the grown TNTZO nanotubes can be reduced to a size smaller than that of the depletion layer thickness, realizing a fully depleted state for charge carriers to further advance the PEC performance. Hydrogen evolution tests demonstrate the practical efficacy of TNTZO for realizing solar hydrogen production. Furthermore, with the composition complexity and fully depleted band structure, the present TNTZO nanotube arrays may offer a feasible and universal platform for the loading of other semiconductors to construct a sophisticated heterostructure photoelectrode paradigm, in which the photoexcited charge carriers can be entirely utilized for efficient solar-to-fuel conversion.

Hybrid Perovskites for Photovoltaics: Charge-Carrier Recombination, Diffusion, and Radiative Efficiencies.

PubMed

Johnston, Michael B; Herz, Laura M

2016-01-19

Photovoltaic (PV) devices that harvest the energy provided by the sun have great potential as renewable energy sources, yet uptake has been hampered by the increased cost of solar electricity compared with fossil fuels. Hybrid metal halide perovskites have recently emerged as low-cost active materials in PV cells with power conversion efficiencies now exceeding 20%. Rapid progress has been achieved over only a few years through improvements in materials processing and device design. In addition, hybrid perovskites appear to be good light emitters under certain conditions, raising the prospect of applications in low-cost light-emitting diodes and lasers. Further optimization of such hybrid perovskite devices now needs to be supported by a better understanding of how light is converted into electrical currents and vice versa. This Account provides an overview of charge-carrier recombination and mobility mechanisms encountered in such materials. Optical-pump-terahertz-probe (OPTP) photoconductivity spectroscopy is an ideal tool here, because it allows the dynamics of mobile charge carriers inside the perovskite to be monitored following excitation with a short laser pulse whose photon energy falls into the range of the solar spectrum. We first review our insights gained from transient OPTP and photoluminescence spectroscopy on the mechanisms dominating charge-carrier recombination in these materials. We discuss that mono-molecular charge-recombination predominantly originates from trapping of charges, with trap depths being relatively shallow (tens of millielectronvolts) for hybrid lead iodide perovskites. Bimolecular recombination arises from direct band-to-band electron-hole recombination and is found to be in significant violation of the simple Langevin model. Auger recombination exhibits links with electronic band structure, in accordance with its requirement for energy and momentum conservation for all charges involved. We further discuss charge-carrier mobility values extracted from OPTP measurements and their dependence on perovskite composition and morphology. The significance of the reviewed charge-carrier recombination and mobility parameters is subsequently evaluated in terms of the charge-carrier diffusion lengths and radiative efficiencies that may be obtained for such hybrid perovskites. We particularly focus on calculating such quantities in the limit of ultra-low trap-related recombination, which has not yet been demonstrated but could be reached through further advances in material processing. We find that for thin films of hybrid lead iodide perovskites with typical charge-carrier mobilities of ∼30cm(2)/(V s), charge-carrier diffusion lengths at solar (AM1.5) irradiation are unlikely to exceed ∼10 μm even if all trap-related recombination is eliminated. We further examine the radiative efficiency for hybrid lead halide perovskite films and show that if high efficiencies are to be obtained for intermediate charge-carrier densities (n ≈ 10(14) cm(-3)) trap-related recombination lifetimes will have to be enhanced well into the microsecond range.

Effect of Surface Properties on Liposomal siRNA Delivery

PubMed Central

Xia, Yuqiong; Tian, Jie; Chen, Xiaoyuan

2015-01-01

Liposomes are one of the most widely investigated carriers for siRNA delivery. The surface properties of liposomal carriers, including the surface charge, PEGylation, and ligand modification can significantly affect the gene silencing efficiency. Three barriers of systemic siRNA delivery (long blood circulation, efficient tumor penetration and efficient cellular uptake/endosomal escape) are analyzed on liposomal carriers with different surface charges, PEGylations and ligand modifications. Cationic formulations dominate siRNA delivery and neutral formulations also have good performance while anionic formulations are generally not proper for siRNA delivery. The PEG dilemma (prolonged blood circulation vs. reduced cellular uptake/endosomal escape) and the side effect of repeated PEGylated formulation (accelerated blood clearance) were discussed. Effects of ligand modification on cationic and neutral formulations were analyzed. Finally, we summarized the achievements in liposomal siRNA delivery, outlined existing problems and provided some future perspectives. PMID:26695117

Mesoporous Bamboo Charcoal Nanoparticles as a New Near-Infrared Responsive Drug Carrier for Imaging-Guided Chemotherapy/Photothermal Synergistic Therapy of Tumor.

PubMed

Dong, Xinghua; Yin, Wenyan; Yu, Jie; Dou, Ruixia; Bao, Tao; Zhang, Xiao; Yan, Liang; Yong, Yuan; Su, Chunjian; Wang, Qing; Gu, Zhanjun; Zhao, Yuliang

2016-07-01

Near-infrared-(NIR)-light-triggered photothermal nanocarriers have attracted much attention for the construction of more smart and effective therapeutic platforms in nanomedicine. Here, a multifunctional drug carrier based on a low cost, natural, and biocompatible material, bamboo charcoal nanoparticles (BCNPs), which are prepared by the pyrolysis of bamboo followed by physical grinding and ultrasonication is reported. The as-prepared BCNPs with porous structure possess not only large surface areas for drug loading but also an efficient photothermal effect, making them become both a suitable drug carrier and photothermal agent for cancer therapy. After loading doxorubicin (DOX) into the BCNPs, the resulting DOX-BCNPs enhance drug potency and more importantly can overcome the drug resistance of DOX in a MCF-7 cancer cell model by significantly increasing cellular uptake while remarkably decreasing drug efflux. The in vivo synergistic effect of combining chemotherapy and photothermal therapy in this drug delivery system is also demonstrated. In addition, the BCNPs enhance optoacoustic imaging contrast due to their high NIR absorbance. Collectively, it is demonstrated that the BCNP drug delivery system constitutes a promising and effective nanocarrier for simultaneous bioimaging and chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy of cancer. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Inverted organic electronic and optoelectronic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Small, Cephas E.

The research and development of organic electronics for commercial application has received much attention due to the unique properties of organic semiconductors and the potential for low-cost high-throughput manufacturing. For improved large-scale processing compatibility and enhanced device stability, an inverted geometry has been employed for devices such as organic light emitting diodes and organic photovoltaic cells. These improvements are attributed to the added flexibility to incorporate more air-stable materials into the inverted device geometry. However, early work on organic electronic devices with an inverted geometry typically showed reduced device performance compared to devices with a conventional structure. In the case of organic light emitting diodes, inverted devices typically show high operating voltages due to insufficient carrier injection. Here, a method for enhancing hole injection in inverted organic electronic devices is presented. By incorporating an electron accepting interlayer into the inverted device, a substantial enhancement in hole injection efficiency was observed as compared to conventional devices. Through a detailed carrier injection study, it is determined that the injection efficiency enhancements in the inverted devices are due to enhanced charge transfer at the electron acceptor/organic semiconductor interface. A similar situation is observed for organic photovoltaic cells, in which devices with an inverted geometry show limited carrier extraction in early studies. In this work, enhanced carrier extraction is demonstrated for inverted polymer solar cells using a surface-modified ZnO-polymer composite electron-transporting layer. The insulating polymer in the composite layer inhibited aggregation of the ZnO nanoparticles, while the surface-modification of the composite interlayer improved the electronic coupling with the photoactive layer. As a result, inverted polymer solar cells with power conversion efficiencies of over 8% were obtained. To further study carrier extraction in inverted polymer solar cells, the active layer thickness dependence of the efficiency was investigated. For devices with active layer thickness < 200 nm, power conversion efficiencies over 8% was obtained. This result is important for demonstrating improved large-scale processing compatibility. Above 200 nm, significant reduction in cell efficiency were observed. A detailed study of the loss processes that contributed to the reduction in efficiency for thick-film devices are presented.

Bimolecular recombination quenching in Langmuir Blodgett multilayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, J. E.; Jeong, I. S.; Scott, K.; Donovan, K. J.; Wilson, E. G.

2000-11-01

A model is developed that describes bimolecular recombination of photogenerated carriers in two dimensional systems. Carriers are free to diffuse in two dimensions and undergo bimolecular recombination, while drifting under the influence of an electric field in the third dimension. The model describes a competition between carrier loss due to transiting and loss due to bimolecular recombination. This model of recombination quenching is then used to obtain information on microscopic parameters associated with photogeneration efficiency and charge transport in organic quantum wells formed from Langmuir Blodgett films of conjugated molecules. The ratio of the intralayer to interlayer tunneling rates is found along with the quantum efficiency for photocarrier generation for two bis-phthalocyanine amphiphilic molecules.

Gas separation using ultrasound and light absorption

DOEpatents

Sinha, Dipen N [Los Alamos, NM

2012-07-31

An apparatus and method for separating a chosen gas from a mixture of gases having no moving parts and utilizing no chemical processing is described. The separation of particulates from fluid carriers thereof has been observed using ultrasound. In a similar manner, molecular species may be separated from carrier species. It is also known that light-induced drift may separate light-absorbing species from carrier species. Therefore, the combination of temporally pulsed absorption of light with ultrasonic concentration is expected to significantly increase the efficiency of separation by ultrasonic concentration alone. Additionally, breaking the spatial symmetry of a cylindrical acoustic concentrator decreases the spatial distribution of the concentrated particles, and increases the concentration efficiency.

Augmenting drug–carrier compatibility improves tumour nanotherapy efficacy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, Yiming; Fay, Francois; Hak, Sjoerd

A major goal of cancer nanotherapy is to use nanoparticles as carriers for targeted delivery of anti-tumour agents. The drug–carrier association after intravenous administration is essential for efficient drug delivery to the tumour. However, a large number of currently available nanocarriers are self-assembled nanoparticles whose drug-loading stability is critically affected by the in vivo environment. Here we used in vivo FRET imaging to systematically investigate how drug–carrier compatibility affects drug release in a tumour mouse model. We found the drug’s hydrophobicity and miscibility with the nanoparticles are two independent key parameters that determine its accumulation in the tumour. Next, wemore » applied these findings to improve chemotherapeutic delivery by augmenting the parent drug’s compatibility; as a result, we achieved better antitumour efficacy. Lastly, our results help elucidate nanomedicines’ in vivo fate and provide guidelines for efficient drug delivery.« less

The effects of interfacial recombination and injection barrier on the electrical characteristics of perovskite solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Lin Xing; Wang, Zi Shuai; Huang, Zengguang; Sha, Wei E. I.; Wang, Haoran; Zhou, Zhen

2018-02-01

Charge carrier recombination in the perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has a deep influence on the electrical performance, such as open circuit voltage, short circuit current, fill factor and ultimately power conversion efficiency. The impacts of injection barrier, recombination channels, doping properties of carrier transport layers and light intensity on the performance of PSCs are theoretically investigated by drift-diffusion model in this work. The results indicate that due to the injection barrier at the interfaces of perovskite and carrier transport layer, the accumulated carriers modify the electric field distribution throughout the PSCs. Thus, a zero electric field is generated at a specific applied voltage, with greatly increases the interfacial recombination, resulting in a local kink of current density-voltage (J-V) curve. This work provides an effective strategy to improve the efficiency of PSCs by pertinently reducing both the injection barrier and interfacial recombination.

Augmenting drug–carrier compatibility improves tumour nanotherapy efficacy

DOE PAGES

Zhao, Yiming; Fay, Francois; Hak, Sjoerd; ...

2016-04-13

A major goal of cancer nanotherapy is to use nanoparticles as carriers for targeted delivery of anti-tumour agents. The drug–carrier association after intravenous administration is essential for efficient drug delivery to the tumour. However, a large number of currently available nanocarriers are self-assembled nanoparticles whose drug-loading stability is critically affected by the in vivo environment. Here we used in vivo FRET imaging to systematically investigate how drug–carrier compatibility affects drug release in a tumour mouse model. We found the drug’s hydrophobicity and miscibility with the nanoparticles are two independent key parameters that determine its accumulation in the tumour. Next, wemore » applied these findings to improve chemotherapeutic delivery by augmenting the parent drug’s compatibility; as a result, we achieved better antitumour efficacy. Lastly, our results help elucidate nanomedicines’ in vivo fate and provide guidelines for efficient drug delivery.« less

Emergence and Utility of Nonspherical Particles in Biomedicine

PubMed Central

Fish, Margaret B.; Thompson, Alex J.; Fromen, Catherine A.; Eniola-Adefeso, Omolola

2016-01-01

The importance of the size of targeted, spherical drug carriers has been previously explored and reviewed. Particle shape has emerged as an equally important parameter in determining the in vivo journey and efficiency of drug carrier systems. Researchers have invented techniques to better control the geometry of particles of many different materials, which have allowed for exploration of the role of particle geometry in the phases of drug delivery. The important biological processes include clearance by the immune system, trafficking to the target tissue, margination to the endothelial surface, interaction with the target cell, and controlled release of a payload. The review of current literature herein supports that particle shape can be altered to improve a system’s targeting efficiency. Non-spherical particles can harness the potential of targeted drug carriers by enhancing targeted site accumulation while simultaneously decreasing side effects and mitigating some limitations faced by spherical carriers. PMID:27182109

Radiation effects studies for the high-resolution spectrograph

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, L. C.; Becher, J.

1982-01-01

The generation and collection of charge carriers created during the passage of energetic protons through a silicon photodiode array are modeled. Pulse height distributions of noise charge collected during exposure of a digicon type diode array to 21 and 75 MeV protons were obtained. The magnitude of charge collected by a diode from each proton event is determined not only by diffusion, but by statistical considerations involving the ionization process itself. Utilizing analytical solutions to the diffusion equation for transport of minority carriers, together with the Vavilov theory of energy loss fluctuations in thin absorbers, simulations of the pulse height spectra which follow the experimental distributions fairly well are presented and an estimate for the minority carrier diffusion length L sub d is provided.

Single crystalline CH 3NH 3PbI 3 self-grown on FTO/TiO 2 substrate for high efficiency perovskite solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, Jinjin; Kong, Guoli; Chen, Shulin

In this work, we developed an innovative approach to self-grow single crystalline CH 3NH 3PbI 3 directly on polycrystalline FTO/TiO 2 substrate, with which n-i-p type of perovskite solar cells were fabricated. The single crystalline nature of CH 3NH 3PbI 3 has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and it is observed that they possess smaller optic band gap and longer carrier life time. Highly efficient charge extractions occur at the interface between electron collecting TiO 2 and photo-harvesting CH 3NH 3PbI 3, resulting in a maximum short-circuit current density of 24.40 mA/cm 2. Themore » champion cell possesses a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 8.78%, and there are still substantial room for further improvement, making it promising for the perovskite solar cell applications.« less

Enhanced power conversion efficiency in InGaN-based solar cells via graded composition multiple quantum wells.

PubMed

Tsai, Yu-Lin; Wang, Sheng-Wen; Huang, Jhih-Kai; Hsu, Lung-Hsing; Chiu, Ching-Hsueh; Lee, Po-Tsung; Yu, Peichen; Lin, Chien-Chung; Kuo, Hao-Chung

2015-11-30

This work demonstrates the enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQWs) solar cells with gradually decreasing indium composition in quantum wells (GQWs) toward p-GaN as absorber. The GQW can improve the fill factor from 42% to 62% and enhance the short current density from 0.8 mA/cm² to 0.92 mA/cm², as compares to the typical MQW solar cells. As a result, the PCE is boosted from 0.63% to 1.11% under AM1.5G illumination. Based on simulation and experimental results, the enhanced PCE can be attributed to the improved carrier collection in GQW caused by the reduction of potential barriers and piezoelectric polarization induced fields near the p-GaN layer. The presented concept paves a way toward highly efficient InGaN-based solar cells and other GaN-related MQW devices.

Single crystalline CH 3NH 3PbI 3 self-grown on FTO/TiO 2 substrate for high efficiency perovskite solar cells

DOE PAGES

Zhao, Jinjin; Kong, Guoli; Chen, Shulin; ...

2017-08-21

In this work, we developed an innovative approach to self-grow single crystalline CH 3NH 3PbI 3 directly on polycrystalline FTO/TiO 2 substrate, with which n-i-p type of perovskite solar cells were fabricated. The single crystalline nature of CH 3NH 3PbI 3 has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy, and it is observed that they possess smaller optic band gap and longer carrier life time. Highly efficient charge extractions occur at the interface between electron collecting TiO 2 and photo-harvesting CH 3NH 3PbI 3, resulting in a maximum short-circuit current density of 24.40 mA/cm 2. Themore » champion cell possesses a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 8.78%, and there are still substantial room for further improvement, making it promising for the perovskite solar cell applications.« less

GaAs Solar Cells Grown on Unpolished, Spalled Ge Substrates: Preprint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cavalli, Alessandro; Johnston, Steven; Sulas, Dana

Decreasing the cost of single-crystal substrates by wafer reuse techniques has long been sought for III-V solar cells. Controlled spalling of III-V devices is a possible pathway for epitaxial liftoff, which would help reduce costs, but chemo- mechanical polishing after liftoff tends to limit the potential cost savings. Growth on an unpolished spalled surface would be an additional step toward lower costs, but it is crucial to show high efficiency solar cell devices on these unprocessed substrates. In this study, we spalled 2-inch Ge wafers using a Ni stressor layer, and then grew GaAs solar cells by HVPE on themore » spalled Ge surface without any other surface treatment. We show a 12.8% efficient single-junction device, without anti-reflection coating, with quantum efficiency very close to identical devices grown by HVPE on non-spalled GaAs substrates. Demonstrating a high carrier collection on unpolished spalled wafers is a step toward reducing substrate-related liftoff and reuse costs.« less

76 FR 66132 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Travel Service Provider and Carrier Service Provider...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-25

... for Travel Service Provider and Carrier Service Provider Submission AGENCY: Office of Foreign Assets... soliciting comments concerning OFAC's Travel Service Provider and Carrier Service Provider information... the public via regulations.gov or upon request, without change and including any personal information...

CdS/TiO2 photoanodes via solution ion transfer method for highly efficient solar hydrogen generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishna Karuturi, Siva; Yew, Rowena; Reddy Narangari, Parvathala; Wong-Leung, Jennifer; Li, Li; Vora, Kaushal; Tan, Hark Hoe; Jagadish, Chennupati

2018-03-01

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) is a unique semiconducting material for solar hydrogen generation applications with a tunable, narrow bandgap that straddles water redox potentials. However, its potential towards efficient solar hydrogen generation has not yet been realized due to low photon-to-current conversions, high charge carrier recombination and the lack of controlled preparation methods. In this work, we demonstrate a highly efficient CdS/TiO2 heterostructured photoelectrode using atomic layer deposition and solution ion transfer reactions. Enabled by the well-controlled deposition of CdS nanocrystals on TiO2 inverse opal (TiIO) nanostructures using the proposed method, a saturation photocurrent density of 9.1 mA cm-2 is realized which is the highest ever reported for CdS-based photoelectrodes. We further demonstrate that the passivation of a CdS surface with an ultrathin amorphous layer (˜1.5 nm) of TiO2 improves the charge collection efficiency at low applied potentials paving the way for unassisted solar hydrogen generation.

New high-efficiency silicon solar cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daud, T.; Crotty, G. T.

1985-01-01

A design for silicon solar cells was investigated as an approach to increasing the cell open-circuit voltage and efficiency for flat-plate terrestrial photovoltaic applications. This deviates from past designs, where either the entire front surface of the cell is covered by a planar junction or the surface is textured before junction formation, which results in an even greater (up to 70%) junction area. The heavily doped front region and the junction space charge region are potential areas of high recombination for generated and injected minority carriers. The design presented reduces junction area by spreading equidiameter dot junctions across the surface of the cell, spaced about a diffusion length or less from each other. Various dot diameters and spacings allowed variations in total junction area. A simplified analysis was done to obtain a first-order design optimization. Efficiencies of up to 19% can be obtained. Cell fabrication involved extra masking steps for selective junction diffusion, and made surface passivation a key element in obtaining good collection. It also involved photolithography, with line widths down to microns. A method is demonstrated for achieving potentially high open-circuit voltages and solar-cell efficiencies.

Efficient Steplike Carrier Multiplication in Percolative Networks of Epitaxially Connected PbSe Nanocrystals.

PubMed

Kulkarni, Aditya; Evers, Wiel H; Tomić, Stanko; Beard, Matthew C; Vanmaekelbergh, Daniel; Siebbeles, Laurens D A

2018-01-23

Carrier multiplication (CM) is a process in which a single photon excites two or more electrons. CM is of interest to enhance the efficiency of a solar cell. Until now, CM in thin films and solar cells of semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) has been found at photon energies well above the minimum required energy of twice the band gap. The high threshold of CM strongly limits the benefits for solar cell applications. We show that CM is more efficient in a percolative network of directly connected PbSe NCs. The CM threshold is at twice the band gap and increases in a steplike fashion with photon energy. A lower CM efficiency is found for a solid of weaker coupled NCs. This demonstrates that the coupling between NCs strongly affects the CM efficiency. According to device simulations, the measured CM efficiency would significantly enhance the power conversion efficiency of a solar cell.

Photoinduced Field-Effect Passivation from Negative Carrier Accumulation for High-Efficiency Silicon/Organic Heterojunction Solar Cells.

PubMed

Liu, Zhaolang; Yang, Zhenhai; Wu, Sudong; Zhu, Juye; Guo, Wei; Sheng, Jiang; Ye, Jichun; Cui, Yi

2017-12-26

Carrier recombination and light management of the dopant-free silicon/organic heterojunction solar cells (HSCs) based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) are the critical factors in developing high-efficiency photovoltaic devices. However, the traditional passivation technologies can hardly provide efficient surface passivation on the front surface of Si. In this study, a photoinduced electric field was induced in a bilayer antireflective coating (ARC) of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) films, due to formation of an accumulation layer of negative carriers (O 2 - species) under UV (sunlight) illumination. This photoinduced field not only suppressed the silicon surface recombination but also enhanced the built-in potential of HSCs with 84 mV increment. In addition, this photoactive ARC also displayed the outstanding light-trapping capability. The front PEDOT:PSS/Si HSC with the saturated O 2 - received a champion PCE of 15.51% under AM 1.5 simulated sunlight illumination. It was clearly demonstrated that the photoinduced electric field was a simple, efficient, and low-cost method for the surface passivation and contributed to achieve a high efficiency when applied in the Si/PEDOT:PSS HSCs.

Hot Carrier-Based Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion.

PubMed

St-Gelais, Raphael; Bhatt, Gaurang Ravindra; Zhu, Linxiao; Fan, Shanhui; Lipson, Michal

2017-03-28

Near-field thermophotovoltaics (NFTPV) is a promising approach for direct conversion of heat to electrical power. This technology relies on the drastic enhancement of radiative heat transfer (compared to conventional blackbody radiation) that occurs when objects at different temperatures are brought to deep subwavelength distances (typically <100 nm) from each other. Achieving such radiative heat transfer between a hot object and a photovoltaic (PV) cell could allow direct conversion of heat to electricity with a greater efficiency than using current solid-state technologies (e.g., thermoelectric generators). One of the main challenges in the development of this technology, however, is its incompatibility with conventional silicon PV cells. Thermal radiation is weak at frequencies larger than the ∼1.1 eV bandgap of silicon, such that PV cells with lower excitation energies (typically 0.4-0.6 eV) are required for NFTPV. Using low bandgap III-V semiconductors to circumvent this limitation, as proposed in most theoretical works, is challenging and therefore has never been achieved experimentally. In this work, we show that hot carrier PV cells based on Schottky junctions between silicon and metallic films could provide an attractive solution for achieving high efficiency NFTPV electricity generation. Hot carrier science is currently an important field of research and several approaches are investigated for increasing the quantum efficiency (QE) of hot carrier generation beyond conventional Fowler model predictions. If the Fowler limit can indeed be overcome, we show that hot carrier-based NFTPV systems-after optimization of their thermal radiation spectrum-could allow electricity generation with up to 10-30% conversion efficiencies and 10-500 W/cm 2 generated power densities (at 900-1500 K temperatures). We also discuss how the unique properties of thermal radiation in the extreme near-field are especially well suited for investigating recently proposed approaches for high QE hot carrier junctions. We therefore expect our work to be of interest for the field of hot carrier science and-by relying solely on conventional thin film materials-to provide a path for the experimental demonstration of NFTPV energy conversion.

1998 NASA Review: Center for Space Telemetering and Telecommunication Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cunningham, Garry

1998-01-01

The following topics are included in the conference proceedings following the program overview: (1) Coding and Carrier Recovery Techniques; (2) Carrier Frequency Estimation Under Unknown Doppler Shifts; (3) Small Satellite Experiments; (4) Bandwidth Efficient Modulation/Equalization Techniques.

Microbial community and removal of nitrogen via the addition of a carrier in a pilot-scale duckweed-based wastewater treatment system.

PubMed

Zhao, Yonggui; Fang, Yang; Jin, Yanling; Huang, Jun; Ma, Xinrong; He, Kaize; He, Zhiming; Wang, Feng; Zhao, Hai

2015-03-01

Carriers were added to a pilot-scale duckweed-based (Lemna japonica 0223) wastewater treatment system to immobilize and enhance microorganisms. This system and another parallel duckweed system without carriers were operated for 1.5 years. The results indicated the addition of the carrier did not significantly affect the growth and composition of duckweed, the recovery of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and CO2 or the removal of TP. However, it significantly improved the removal efficiency of TN and NH4(+)-N (by 19.97% and 15.02%, respectively). The use of 454 pyrosequencing revealed large differences of the microbial communities between the different components within a system and similarities within the same components between the two systems. The carrier biofilm had the highest bacterial diversity and relative abundance of nitrifying bacteria (3%) and denitrifying bacteria (24% of Rhodocyclaceae), which improved nitrogen removal of the system. An efficient N-removal duckweed system with enhanced microorganisms was established. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Effect of free and polymer carrier encapsulated doxorubicin towards HCT116 cells of human colorectal carcinoma].

PubMed

Sen'kiv, Iu V; Heffeter, P; Riabtseva, A O; Boĭko, N M; Mitina, N Ie; Zaichenko, O S; Berger, W; Stoĭka, R S

2013-01-01

Development of novel nanoscale functionalized carriers is nowadays one of the most urgent problems in cancer treatment. The aim of our study was to compare the antineoplastic effect of free doxorubicin and its complex with a nanoscale polymeric carrier towards HTC116 colorectal carcinoma cells. It was established that application of the complex of poly(5-tret-butylperoxy)-5-methyl-1-hexene-3-in-co-glycydyl metacrylat)-graft-polyethyleneglycol (poly(VEP-GMA-PEG)-graft-PEG), where VEP--5-tret-butylperoxy)-5-methyl-1-hexene-3-in; GMA--glycydyl metacrylat; graft-PEG--graft-polyethyleneglycol accordingly, functionalized with phosphatidylcholine for doxorubicin delivery increased 10 times the efficiency of cytotoxic action of this drug, as compared wich such efficiency in case of the action of free doxorubicin. The encapsulated form of doxorubicin caused more intensive cleavage of the reparation enzyme PARP and longer delay in G2/M cell cycle arrest, compared to such effects of free doxorubicin. The developed carrier itself is non-toxic to the used mammalian cells and does not cause impairment in their cell cycle. A deletion in both alleles of p53 gene did not affect the antineoplastic action of doxorubicin that was immobilized on the nanoscale carrier. Thus, p53-dependent signaling pathways are not involved in the cytotoxic action of doxorubicin-carrier complex. It is suggested that novel nanoscale polymeric carrier poly(VEP-GMA-PEG)-graft-PEG functionalized with phosphatidylcholine could be a promising carrier for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs.

High efficiency carrier multiplication in PbSe nanocrystals: implications for solar energy conversion.

PubMed

Schaller, R D; Klimov, V I

2004-05-07

We demonstrate for the first time that impact ionization (II) (the inverse of Auger recombination) occurs with very high efficiency in semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs). Interband optical excitation of PbSe NCs at low pump intensities, for which less than one exciton is initially generated per NC on average, results in the formation of two or more excitons (carrier multiplication) when pump photon energies are more than 3 times the NC band gap energy. The generation of multiexcitons from a single photon absorption event is observed to take place on an ultrafast (picosecond) time scale and occurs with up to 100% efficiency depending upon the excess energy of the absorbed photon. Efficient II in NCs can be used to considerably increase the power conversion efficiency of NC-based solar cells.

One-step Conjugation of Glycyrrhetinic Acid to Cationic Polymers for High-performance Gene Delivery to Cultured Liver Cell.

PubMed

Cong, Yue; Shi, Bingyang; Lu, Yiqing; Wen, Shihui; Chung, Roger; Jin, Dayong

2016-02-23

Gene therapies represent a promising therapeutic route for liver cancers, but major challenges remain in the design of safe and efficient gene-targeting delivery systems. For example, cationic polymers show good transfection efficiency as gene carriers, but are hindered by cytotoxicity and non-specific targeting. Here we report a versatile method of one-step conjugation of glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) to reduce cytotoxicity and improve the cultured liver cell -targeting capability of cationic polymers. We have explored a series of cationic polymer derivatives by coupling different ratios of GA to polypropylenimine (PPI) dendrimer. These new gene carriers (GA-PPI dendrimer) were systematically characterized by UV-vis,(1)H NMR titration, electron microscopy, zeta potential, dynamic light-scattering, gel electrophoresis, confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. We demonstrate that GA-PPI dendrimers can efficiently load and protect pDNA, via formation of nanostructured GA-PPI/pDNA polyplexes. With optimal GA substitution degree (6.31%), GA-PPI dendrimers deliver higher liver cell transfection efficiency (43.5% vs 22.3%) and lower cytotoxicity (94.3% vs 62.5%, cell viability) than the commercial bench-mark DNA carrier bPEI (25 kDa) with cultured liver model cells (HepG2). There results suggest that our new GA-PPI dendrimer are a promising candidate gene carrier for targeted liver cancer therapy.

One-step Conjugation of Glycyrrhetinic Acid to Cationic Polymers for High-performance Gene Delivery to Cultured Liver Cell

PubMed Central

Cong, Yue; Shi, Bingyang; Lu, Yiqing; Wen, Shihui; Chung, Roger; Jin, Dayong

2016-01-01

Gene therapies represent a promising therapeutic route for liver cancers, but major challenges remain in the design of safe and efficient gene-targeting delivery systems. For example, cationic polymers show good transfection efficiency as gene carriers, but are hindered by cytotoxicity and non-specific targeting. Here we report a versatile method of one-step conjugation of glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) to reduce cytotoxicity and improve the cultured liver cell -targeting capability of cationic polymers. We have explored a series of cationic polymer derivatives by coupling different ratios of GA to polypropylenimine (PPI) dendrimer. These new gene carriers (GA-PPI dendrimer) were systematically characterized by UV-vis,1H NMR titration, electron microscopy, zeta potential, dynamic light-scattering, gel electrophoresis, confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. We demonstrate that GA-PPI dendrimers can efficiently load and protect pDNA, via formation of nanostructured GA-PPI/pDNA polyplexes. With optimal GA substitution degree (6.31%), GA-PPI dendrimers deliver higher liver cell transfection efficiency (43.5% vs 22.3%) and lower cytotoxicity (94.3% vs 62.5%, cell viability) than the commercial bench-mark DNA carrier bPEI (25kDa) with cultured liver model cells (HepG2). There results suggest that our new GA-PPI dendrimer are a promising candidate gene carrier for targeted liver cancer therapy. PMID:26902258

[Rapid startup and nitrogen removal characteristic of anaerobic ammonium oxidation reactor in packed bed biofilm reactor with suspended carrier].

PubMed

Chen, Sheng; Sun, De-zhi; Yu, Guang-lu

2010-03-01

Packed bed biofilm reactor with suspended carrier was used to cultivate ANAMMOX bacteria with sludge inoculums from WWTP secondary settler. The startup of ANAMMOX reactor was comparatively studied using high nitrogen loading method and low nitrogen loading method with aerobically biofilmed on the carrier, and the nitrogen removal characteristic was further investigated. The results showed that the reactor could be started up successfully within 90 days using low nitrogen loading method, the removal efficiencies of ammonium and nitrite were nearly 100% and the TN removal efficiencywas over 75% , however, the high nitrogen loading method was proved unsuccessfully for startup of ANAMMOX reactor probably because of the inhibition effect of high concentration of ammonium and nitrite. The pH value of effluent was slightly higher than the influent and the pH value can be used as an indicator for the process of ANAMMOX reaction. The packed bed ANAMMOX reactor with suspended carrier showed good characteristics of high nitrogen loading and high removal efficiency, 100% of removal efficiency could be achieved when the influent ammonium and nitrite concentration was lower than 800 mg/L.

Optimization of LDL targeted nanostructured lipid carriers of 5-FU by a full factorial design.

PubMed

Andalib, Sare; Varshosaz, Jaleh; Hassanzadeh, Farshid; Sadeghi, Hojjat

2012-01-01

Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) are a mixture of solid and liquid lipids or oils as colloidal carrier systems that lead to an imperfect matrix structure with high ability for loading water soluble drugs. The aim of this study was to find the best proportion of liquid and solid lipids of different types for optimization of the production of LDL targeted NLCs used in carrying 5-Fu by the emulsification-solvent evaporation method. The influence of the lipid type, cholesterol or cholesteryl stearate for targeting LDL receptors, oil type (oleic acid or octanol), lipid and oil% on particle size, surface charge, drug loading efficiency, and drug released percent from the NLCs were studied by a full factorial design. The NLCs prepared by 54.5% cholesterol and 25% of oleic acid, showed optimum results with particle size of 105.8 nm, relatively high zeta potential of -25 mV, drug loading efficiency of 38% and release efficiency of about 40%. Scanning electron microscopy of nanoparticles confirmed the results of dynamic light scattering method used in measuring the particle size of NLCs. The optimization method by a full factorial statistical design is a useful optimization method for production of nanostructured lipid carriers.

Effective Charge Carrier Utilization in Photocatalytic Conversions.

PubMed

Zhang, Peng; Wang, Tuo; Chang, Xiaoxia; Gong, Jinlong

2016-05-17

Continuous efforts have been devoted to searching for sustainable energy resources to alleviate the upcoming energy crises. Among various types of new energy resources, solar energy has been considered as one of the most promising choices, since it is clean, sustainable, and safe. Moreover, solar energy is the most abundant renewable energy, with a total power of 173 000 terawatts striking Earth continuously. Conversion of solar energy into chemical energy, which could potentially provide continuous and flexible energy supplies, has been investigated extensively. However, the conversion efficiency is still relatively low since complicated physical, electrical, and chemical processes are involved. Therefore, carefully designed photocatalysts with a wide absorption range of solar illumination, a high conductivity for charge carriers, a small number of recombination centers, and fast surface reaction kinetics are required to achieve a high activity. This Account describes our recent efforts to enhance the utilization of charge carriers for semiconductor photocatalysts toward efficient solar-to-chemical energy conversion. During photocatalytic reactions, photogenerated electrons and holes are involved in complex processes to convert solar energy into chemical energy. The initial step is the generation of charge carriers in semiconductor photocatalysts, which could be enhanced by extending the light absorption range. Integration of plasmonic materials and introduction of self-dopants have been proved to be effective methods to improve the light absorption ability of photocatalysts to produce larger amounts of photogenerated charge carriers. Subsequently, the photogenerated electrons and holes migrate to the surface. Therefore, acceleration of the transport process can result in enhanced solar energy conversion efficiency. Different strategies such as morphology control and conductivity improvement have been demonstrated to achieve this goal. Fine-tuning of the morphology of nanostructured photocatalysts can reduce the migration distance of charge carriers. Improving the conductivity of photocatalysts by using graphitic materials can also improve the transport of charge carriers. Upon charge carrier migration, electrons and holes also tend to recombine. The suppression of recombination can be achieved by constructing heterojunctions that enhance charge separation in the photocatalysts. Surface states acting as recombination centers should also be removed to improve the photocatalytic efficiency. Moreover, surface reactions, which are the core chemical processes during the solar energy conversion, can be enhanced by applying cocatalysts as well as suppressing side reactions. All of these strategies have been proved to be essential for enhancing the activities of semiconductor photocatalysts. It is hoped that delicate manipulation of photogenerated charge carriers in semiconductor photocatalysts will hold the key to effective solar-to-chemical energy conversion.

Highly efficient blue and warm white organic light-emitting diodes with a simplified structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiang-Long; Ouyang, Xinhua; Chen, Dongcheng; Cai, Xinyi; Liu, Ming; Ge, Ziyi; Cao, Yong; Su, Shi-Jian

2016-03-01

Two blue fluorescent emitters were utilized to construct simplified organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and the remarkable difference in device performance was carefully illustrated. A maximum current efficiency of 4.84 cd A-1 (corresponding to a quantum efficiency of 4.29%) with a Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) coordinate of (0.144, 0.127) was achieved by using N,N-diphenyl-4″-(1-phenyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-[1, 1‧:4‧, 1″-terphenyl]-4-amine (BBPI) as a non-doped emission layer of the simplified blue OLEDs without carrier-transport layers. In addition, simplified fluorescent/phosphorescent (F/P) hybrid warm white OLEDs without carrier-transport layers were fabricated by utilizing BBPI as (1) the blue emitter and (2) the host of a complementary yellow phosphorescent emitter (PO-01). A maximum current efficiency of 36.8 cd A-1 and a maximum power efficiency of 38.6 lm W-1 were achieved as a result of efficient energy transfer from the host to the guest and good triplet exciton confinement on the phosphorescent molecules. The blue and white OLEDs are among the most efficient simplified fluorescent blue and F/P hybrid white devices, and their performance is even comparable to that of most previously reported complicated multi-layer devices with carrier-transport layers.

Light Extraction From Solution-Based Processable Electrophosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krummacher, Benjamin C.; Mathai, Mathew; So, Franky; Choulis, Stelios; Choong, And-En, Vi

2007-06-01

Molecular dye dispersed solution processable blue emitting organic light-emitting devices have been fabricated and the resulting devices exhibit efficiency as high as 25 cd/A. With down-conversion phosphors, white emitting devices have been demonstrated with peak efficiency of 38 cd/A and luminous efficiency of 25 lm/W. The high efficiencies have been a product of proper tuning of carrier transport, optimization of the location of the carrier recombination zone and, hence, microcavity effect, efficient down-conversion from blue to white light, and scattering/isotropic remission due to phosphor particles. An optical model has been developed to investigate all these effects. In contrast to the common misunderstanding that light out-coupling efficiency is about 22% and independent of device architecture, our device data and optical modeling results clearly demonstrated that the light out-coupling efficiency is strongly dependent on the exact location of the recombination zone. Estimating the device internal quantum efficiencies based on external quantum efficiencies without considering the device architecture could lead to erroneous conclusions.

A preliminary study for the production of high specific activity radionuclides for nuclear medicine obtained with the isotope separation on line technique.

PubMed

Borgna, F; Ballan, M; Corradetti, S; Vettorato, E; Monetti, A; Rossignoli, M; Manzolaro, M; Scarpa, D; Mazzi, U; Realdon, N; Andrighetto, A

2017-09-01

Radiopharmaceuticals represent a fundamental tool for nuclear medicine procedures, both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The present work aims to explore the Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) technique for the production of carrier-free radionuclides for nuclear medicine at SPES, a nuclear physics facility under construction at INFN-LNL. Stable ion beams of strontium, yttrium and iodine were produced using the SPES test bench (Front-End) to simulate the production of 89 Sr, 90 Y, 125 I and 131 I and collected with good efficiency on suitable targets. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 24877 - Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Submitted for Review and Approval to the Office...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-03

.... Carriers must follow the principles described in section 64.901. Carriers subject to section 64.901 are... format and standard procedures specified in Responsible Accounting Officer (RAO) Letter 19. RAO Letter 26... pursuant to the Accounting Safeguards Order (FCC 96- 490). The CAM is reviewed by the Commission to ensure...

MoS2: a two-dimensional hole-transporting material for high-efficiency, low-cost perovskite solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohnehpoushi, Saman; Nazari, Pariya; Abdollahi Nejand, Bahram; Eskandari, Mehdi

2018-05-01

In this work MoS2 thin film was studied as a potential two-dimensional (2D) hole-transporting material for fabrication of low-cost, durable and efficient perovskite solar cells. The thickness of MoS2 was studied as a potential factor in reaching high power conversion efficiency in perovskite solar cells. The thickness of the perovskite layer and the different metal back contacts gave distinct photovoltaic properties to the designed cells. The results show that a single sheet of MoS2 could considerably improve the power conversion efficacy of the device from 10.41% for a hole transport material (HTM)-free device to 20.43% for a device prepared with a 0.67 nm thick MoS2 layer as a HTM. On the back, Ag and Al collected the carriers more efficiently than Au due to the value of their metal contact work function with the TiO2 conduction band. The present work proposes a new architecture for the fabrication of low-cost, durable and efficient perovskite solar cells made from a low-cost and robust inorganic HTM and electron transport material.

MoS2: a two-dimensional hole-transporting material for high-efficiency, low-cost perovskite solar cells.

PubMed

Kohnehpoushi, Saman; Nazari, Pariya; Nejand, Bahram Abdollahi; Eskandari, Mehdi

2018-05-18

In this work MoS 2 thin film was studied as a potential two-dimensional (2D) hole-transporting material for fabrication of low-cost, durable and efficient perovskite solar cells. The thickness of MoS 2 was studied as a potential factor in reaching high power conversion efficiency in perovskite solar cells. The thickness of the perovskite layer and the different metal back contacts gave distinct photovoltaic properties to the designed cells. The results show that a single sheet of MoS 2 could considerably improve the power conversion efficacy of the device from 10.41% for a hole transport material (HTM)-free device to 20.43% for a device prepared with a 0.67 nm thick MoS 2 layer as a HTM. On the back, Ag and Al collected the carriers more efficiently than Au due to the value of their metal contact work function with the TiO 2 conduction band. The present work proposes a new architecture for the fabrication of low-cost, durable and efficient perovskite solar cells made from a low-cost and robust inorganic HTM and electron transport material.

77 FR 2077 - Intent To Request Renewal From OMB of One Current Public Collection of Information: Rail...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-13

... carriers, including each carrier operating light rail or heavy rail transit service on track that is part of the general railroad system of transportation and rail transit systems. Also, these persons are... any threat information. In addition, freight railroad carriers and the affected shippers and receivers...

75 FR 4521 - Uniform Carrier Registration Plan Board of Directors; Request for Nominations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-28

... Comment on Motor Carrier Industry Nominations to the Board of Directors. SUMMARY: The FMCSA solicits nominations and applications from interested persons to serve as motor carrier industry representatives on the... industry. The UCRA governs the registration and the collection and distribution of fees paid by for- hire...

75 FR 5099 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Visa Waiver Program Carrier Agreement (Form I-775)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-01

... Activities: Visa Waiver Program Carrier Agreement (Form I-775) AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection... and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act: Visa Waiver... other technological techniques or other forms of information. Title: Visa Waiver Program Carrier...

Smart roadside initiative gap analysis : trucking technology literature review.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-04-01

The Smart Roadside Initiative (SRI) was designed to breakdown information silos at the roadside in order to improve motor carrier safety and mobility, as well as the operational efficiency of motor carriers and the public-sector agencies that regulat...

Recombination activity associated with thermal donor generation in monocrystalline silicon and effect on the conversion efficiency of heterojunction solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomassini, M.; Veirman, J.; Varache, R.; Letty, E.; Dubois, S.; Hu, Y.; Nielsen, Ø.

2016-02-01

The recombination properties of the carrier lifetime-limiting center formed during the generation of oxygen-related thermal donors (so called "old" thermal donors) in n-type Czochralski silicon were determined over a wide range of thermal donors' concentrations. The procedure involved (1) determining the various energy levels associated with dopants with the help of temperature Hall effect measurements, (2) clarifying which energy level limits the carrier lifetime by temperature lifetime spectroscopy, and (3) determining the recombination parameters of the involved defect from room-temperature carrier lifetime curves. Our results support the fact that a deep energy level in the range of 0.2-0.3 eV below the conduction band limits the carrier lifetime. The second family of thermal donors, featuring bistable properties, was tentatively identified as the corresponding defect. From the obtained experimental data, the influence of the defect on the amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell conversion efficiency was simulated. It is observed that for extended donor generation, the carrier lifetime is reduced by orders-of-magnitude, leading to unacceptable losses in photovoltaic conversion efficiency. A key result is that even for samples with thermal donor concentrations of 1015 cm-3—often met in seed portions of commercial ingots—simulations reveal efficiency losses greater than 1% absolute for state-of-the-art cells, in agreement with recent experimental studies from our group. This result indicates to crystal growers the importance to mitigate the formation of thermal donors or to develop cost-effective processes to suppress them at the ingot/wafer scale. This is even more critical as ingot cool-down is likely to be slower for future larger ingots, thus promoting the formation of thermal donors.

Effect of doping on room temperature carrier escape mechanisms in InAs/GaAs quantum dot p-i-n junction photovoltaic cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sellers, D. G.; Chen, E. Y.; Doty, M. F.

2016-05-21

We investigate the effect of doping on the mechanisms of carrier escape from intermediate states in delta-doped InAs/GaAs intermediate band solar cells. The intermediate states arise from InAs quantum dots embedded in a GaAs p-i-n junction cell. We find that doping the sample increases the number of excited-state carriers participating in a cycle of trapping and carrier escape via thermal, optical, and tunneling mechanisms. However, we find that the efficiency of the optically-driven carrier escape mechanism is independent of doping and remains small.

Influence of excitons interaction with charge carriers on photovoltaic parameters in organic solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Głowienka, Damian; Szmytkowski, Jędrzej

2018-03-01

We report on theoretical analysis of excitons annihilation on charge carriers in organic solar cells. Numerical calculations based on transient one-dimensional drift-diffusion model have been carried out. An impact of three quantities (an annihilation rate constant, an exciton mobility and a recombination reduction factor) on current density and concentrations of charge carriers and excitons is investigated. Finally, we discuss the influence of excitons interaction with electrons and holes on four photovoltaic parameters (a short-circuit current, an open-circuit voltage, a fill factor and a power conversion efficiency). The conclusion is that the annihilation process visibly decreases the efficiency of organic photocells, if the annihilation rate constant is greater than 10-15m3s-1 .

2016 SmartWay Multimodal Carrier Tool Demonstration

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EPA presentation provides information on the SmartWay Transport Partnership Multimodal Tool; carrier categories, emission metrics, performance reports, completing the tool, data collection and usage, and the 2016 schedule.

Optimization of structural and growth parameters of metamorphic InGaAs photovoltaic converters grown by MOCVD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rybalchenko, D. V.; Mintairov, S. A.; Salii, R. A.

Metamorphic Ga{sub 0.76}In{sub 0.24}As heterostructures for photovoltaic converters are grown by the MOCVD (metal–organic chemical vapor deposition) technique. It is found that, due to the valence-band offset at the p-In{sub 0.24}Al{sub 0.76}As/p-In{sub 0.24}Ga{sub 0.76}As (wide-gap window/emitter) heterointerface, a potential barrier for holes arises as a result of a low carrier concentration in the wide-gap material. The use of an InAlGaAs solid solution with an Al content lower than 40% makes it possible to raise the hole concentration in the widegap window up ~9 × 10{sup 18} cm{sup –3} and completely remove the potential barrier, thereby reducing the series resistance ofmore » the device. The parameters of an GaInAs metamorphic buffer layer with a stepwise In content profile are calculated and its epitaxial growth conditions are optimized, which improves carrier collection from the n-GaInAs base region and provides a quantum efficiency of 83% at a wavelength of 1064 nm. Optimization of the metamorphic heterostructure of the photovoltaic converter results in that its conversion efficiency for laser light with a wavelength of 1064 nm is 38.5%.« less

Enhanced hot-carrier cooling and ultrafast spectral diffusion in strongly coupled PbSe quantum-dot solids.

PubMed

Gao, Yunan; Talgorn, Elise; Aerts, Michiel; Trinh, M Tuan; Schins, Juleon M; Houtepen, Arjan J; Siebbeles, Laurens D A

2011-12-14

PbSe quantum-dot solids are of great interest for low cost and efficient photodetectors and solar cells. We have prepared PbSe quantum-dot solids with high charge carrier mobilities using layer-by-layer dip-coating with 1,2-ethanediamine as substitute capping ligands. Here we present a time and energy resolved transient absorption spectroscopy study on the kinetics of photogenerated charge carriers, focusing on 0-5 ps after photoexcitation. We compare the observed carrier kinetics to those for quantum dots in dispersion and show that the intraband carrier cooling is significantly faster in quantum-dot solids. In addition we find that carriers diffuse from higher to lower energy sites in the quantum-dot solid within several picoseconds.

Motor Carrier Efficiency Study Phase I

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-02-01

The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU, Public Law 109-59), Section 5503, set aside funding to examine the application of wireless technology to improve the safety and efficiency of trucki...

Decision feedback loop for tracking a polyphase modulated carrier

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, M. K. (Inventor)

1974-01-01

A multiple phase modulated carrier tracking loop for use in a frequency shift keying system is described in which carrier tracking efficiency is improved by making use of the decision signals made on the data phase transmitted in each T-second interval. The decision signal is used to produce a pair of decision-feedback quadrature signals for enhancing the loop's performance in developing a loop phase error signal.

Dry powder inhaler formulation of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles via electrostatically-driven nanoparticle assembly onto microscale carrier particles.

PubMed

Yang, Yue; Cheow, Wean Sin; Hadinoto, Kunn

2012-09-15

Lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles have emerged as promising nanoscale carriers of therapeutics as they combine the attractive characteristics of liposomes and polymers. Herein we develop dry powder inhaler (DPI) formulation of hybrid nanoparticles composed of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and soybean lecithin as the polymer and lipid constituents, respectively. The hybrid nanoparticles are transformed into inhalable microscale nanocomposite structures by a novel technique based on electrostatically-driven adsorption of nanoparticles onto polysaccharide carrier particles, which eliminates the drawbacks of conventional techniques based on controlled drying (e.g. nanoparticle-specific formulation, low yield). First, we engineer polysaccharide carrier particles made up of chitosan cross-linked with tripolyphosphate and dextran sulphate to exhibit the desired aerosolization characteristics and physical robustness. Second, we investigate the effects of nanoparticle to carrier mass ratio and salt inclusion on the adsorption efficiency, in terms of the nanoparticle loading and yield, from which the optimal formulation is determined. Desorption of the nanoparticles from the carrier particles in phosphate buffer saline is also examined. Lastly, we characterize aerosolization efficiency of the nanocomposite product in vitro, where the emitted dose and respirable fraction are found to be comparable to the values of conventional DPI formulations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Improved Perturb and Observe Algorithm for Photovoltaic Motion Carriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Lele; Xu, Wei; Li, Liming; Zheng, Shubin

2018-03-01

An improved perturbation and observation algorithm for photovoltaic motion carriers is proposed in this paper. The model of the proposed algorithm is given by using Lambert W function and tangent error method. Moreover, by using matlab and experiment of photovoltaic system, the tracking performance of the proposed algorithm is tested. And the results demonstrate that the improved algorithm has fast tracking speed and high efficiency. Furthermore, the energy conversion efficiency by the improved method has increased by nearly 8.2%.

Analysis of uniformity of as prepared and irradiated S.I. GaAs radiation detectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nava, F.; Vanni, P.; Canali, C.

1998-06-01

SI (semi-insulating) LEC (Liquid Encapsulated Czochralsky) GaAs (gallium arsenide) Schottky barrier detectors have been irradiated with high energy protons (24 GeV/c, fluence up to 16.45 {times} 10{sup 13} p/cm{sup 2}). The detectors have been characterized in terms of I/V curves, charge collection efficiency (cce) for incident 5.48 MeV {alpha}-, 2 MeV proton and minimum ionizing {beta}-particles and of cce maps by microprobe technique IBIC (Ion Beam Induced Charge). At the highest fluence a significant degradation of the electron and hole collection efficiencies and a remarkable improvement of the Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) energy resolution have been measured with {alpha}-more » and proton particles. Furthermore, the reduction in the cce is greater than the one measured with {beta}-particles and the energy resolution worsens with increasing the applied bias, V{sub a}, above the voltage V{sub d} necessary to extend the electric field al the way to the ohmic contact. On the contrary, in the unirradiated detectors the charge collection efficiencies with {alpha}-, {beta}- and proton particles are quite similar and the energy resolution improves with increasing V{sub a} > V{sub d}. IBIC spectra and IBIC space maps obtained by scanning a focused (8 {micro}m{sup 2}) 2 MeV proton microbeam on front (Schottky) and back (ohmic) contacts, support the observed electric field dependence of the energy resolution both in unirradiated and most irradiated detectors. The results obtained let them explain the effect of the electric field strength and the plasma on the collection of the charge carriers and the FWHM energy resolution.« less

Significant performance enhancement in photoconductive terahertz optoelectronics by incorporating plasmonic contact electrodes.

PubMed

Berry, C W; Wang, N; Hashemi, M R; Unlu, M; Jarrahi, M

2013-01-01

Even though the terahertz spectrum is well suited for chemical identification, material characterization, biological sensing and medical imaging, practical development of these applications has been hindered by attributes of existing terahertz optoelectronics. Here we demonstrate that the use of plasmonic contact electrodes can significantly mitigate the low-quantum efficiency performance of photoconductive terahertz optoelectronics. The use of plasmonic contact electrodes offers nanoscale carrier transport path lengths for the majority of photocarriers, increasing the number of collected photocarriers in a subpicosecond timescale and, thus, enhancing the optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiency of photoconductive terahertz emitters and the detection sensitivity of photoconductive terahertz detectors. We experimentally demonstrate 50 times higher terahertz radiation powers from a plasmonic photoconductive emitter in comparison with a similar photoconductive emitter with non-plasmonic contact electrodes, as well as 30 times higher terahertz detection sensitivities from a plasmonic photoconductive detector in comparison with a similar photoconductive detector with non-plasmonic contact electrodes.

Water-Vapor-Mediated Close-Spaced Vapor Transport Growth of Epitaxial Gallium Indium Phosphide Films on Gallium Arsenide Substrates

DOE PAGES

Greenaway, Ann L.; Bachman, Benjamin F.; Boucher, Jason W.; ...

2018-01-12

Ga 1–xIn xP is a technologically important III–V ternary semiconductor widely utilized in commercial and record-efficiency solar cells. We report the growth of Ga 1–xIn xP by water-vapor-mediated close-spaced vapor transport. Because growth of III–V semiconductors in this system is controlled by diffusion of metal oxide species, we find that congruent transport from the mixed powder source requires complete annealing to form a single alloy phase. Growth from a fully alloyed source at water vapor concentrations of ~7000 ppm in H 2 at 850 °C affords smooth films with electron mobility of 1070 cm 2 V –1 s –1 andmore » peak internal quantum efficiency of ~90% for carrier collection in a nonaqueous photoelectrochemical test cell.« less

Water-Vapor-Mediated Close-Spaced Vapor Transport Growth of Epitaxial Gallium Indium Phosphide Films on Gallium Arsenide Substrates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenaway, Ann L.; Bachman, Benjamin F.; Boucher, Jason W.

Ga 1–xIn xP is a technologically important III–V ternary semiconductor widely utilized in commercial and record-efficiency solar cells. We report the growth of Ga 1–xIn xP by water-vapor-mediated close-spaced vapor transport. Because growth of III–V semiconductors in this system is controlled by diffusion of metal oxide species, we find that congruent transport from the mixed powder source requires complete annealing to form a single alloy phase. Growth from a fully alloyed source at water vapor concentrations of ~7000 ppm in H 2 at 850 °C affords smooth films with electron mobility of 1070 cm 2 V –1 s –1 andmore » peak internal quantum efficiency of ~90% for carrier collection in a nonaqueous photoelectrochemical test cell.« less

14 CFR 158.47 - Collection of PFC's on tickets issued outside the U.S.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... required to collect a PFC on air travel tickets issued on its own ticket stock unless it serves a point or... this section, unless the itinerary is for travel wholly within the U.S. Air carriers and foreign air carriers must comply with § 158.45 where the itinerary is for travel wholly within the U.S. regardless of...

49 CFR 375.705 - If a shipment is transported on more than one vehicle, what charges may I collect at delivery?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false If a shipment is transported on more than one vehicle, what charges may I collect at delivery? 375.705 Section 375.705 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY...

Activated carbon fiber felt and polymer fiber as biofilm carrier in a modified University of Cape Town process for sewage treatment.

PubMed

Zhou, Dongkai

2013-01-01

Biofilms on fiber-based carriers have attracted much concern in wastewater treatment processes recently. In this study: (1) a novel sandwich structure fiber-based biofilm carrier was produced, which consisted of an inner core composed of polyacrylonitrile-based activated carbon fiber felt (PAN-ACFF) and an outer coat made of polyester reticular cloth with polypropylene fiber loops; (2) the novel carrier was filled in a step-feeding pilot-scale modified University of Cape Town process (MUCT) for sewage treatment; the MUCT contained a series of pre-anoxic/anaerobic/anoxic-1/anoxic-2/oxic tanks, wherein nitrification liquor was recycled to the anoxic-2 tank and an extra liquor return from the anoxic-1 to the pre-anoxic tank was set up; and (3) the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were continuously tested for two periods as operational parameters alternated. The optimum values were collected in Period II, when the influent loads were 2,100.6 ± 120.3 gCOD/(d m(3)), 205.5 ± 20.4 gTN/(d m(3)), 39.9 ± 3.9 gTP/(d m(3)), the removal percentages were 93.1 ± 1.1% of COD, 39.4 ± 3.5% of TN, and 84.6 ± 3.4% of TP. For COD, NH4(+)-N, and TP, the specific removal loads of filler were 291.5 ± 18.2, 22.9 ± 3.1, 4.8 ± 0.5 (g d)/kg.

Improving the AOAC use-dilution method by establishing a minimum log density value for test microbes on inoculated carriers.

PubMed

Tomasino, Stephen F; Pines, Rebecca M; Hamilton, Martin A

2009-01-01

The AOAC Use-Dilution methods, 955.14 (Salmonella enterica), 955.15 (Staphylococcus aureus), and 964.02 (Pseudomonas aeruginosa), are used to measure the efficacy of disinfectants on hard inanimate surfaces. The methods do not provide procedures to assess log density of the test microbe on inoculated penicylinders (carrier counts). Without a method to measure and monitor carrier counts, the associated efficacy data may not be reliable and repeatable. This report provides a standardized procedure to address this method deficiency. Based on carrier count data collected by four laboratories over an 8 year period, a minimum log density value is proposed to qualify the test results. Carrier count data were collected concurrently with 242 Use-Dilution tests. The tests were conducted on products bearing claims against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus with and without an organic soil load (OSL) added to the inoculum (as specified on the product label claim). Six carriers were assayed per test for a total of 1452 carriers. All 242 mean log densities were at least 6.0 (geometric mean of 1.0 x 10(6) CFU/carrier). The mean log densities did not exceed 7.5 (geometric mean of 3.2 x 10(7) CFU/carrier). For all microbes and OSL treatments, the mean log density (+/- SEM) was 6.7 (+/- 0.07) per carrier (a geometric mean of 5.39 x 10(6) CFU/carrier). The mean log density for six carriers per test showed good repeatability (0.29) and reproducibility (0.32). A minimum mean log density of 6.0 is proposed as a validity requirement for S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The minimum level provides for the potential inherent variability that may be experienced by a wide range of laboratories and the slight effect due to the addition of an OSL. A follow-up report is planned to present data to support the carrier count procedure and carrier counts for S. enterica.

Novel guanidinylated bioresponsive poly(amidoamine)s designed for short hairpin RNA delivery

PubMed Central

Yu, Jiankun; Zhang, Jinmin; Xing, Haonan; Sun, Yanping; Yang, Zhen; Yang, Tianzhi; Cai, Cuifang; Zhao, Xiaoyun; Yang, Li; Ding, Pingtian

2016-01-01

Two different disulfide (SS)-containing poly(amidoamine) (PAA) polymers were constructed using guanidino (Gua)-containing monomers (ie, arginine [Arg] and agmatine [Agm]) and N,N′-cystamine bisacrylamide (CBA) by Michael-addition polymerization. In order to characterize these two Gua-SS-PAA polymers and investigate their potentials as short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-delivery carriers, pSilencer 4.1-CMV FANCF shRNA was chosen as a model plasmid DNA to form complexes with these two polymers. The Gua-SS-PAAs and plasmid DNA complexes were determined with particle sizes less than 90 nm and positive ζ-potentials under 20 mV at nucleic acid:polymer weight ratios lower than 1:24. Bioresponsive release of plasmid DNA was observed from both newly constructed complexes. Significantly lower cytotoxicity was observed for both polymer complexes compared with polyethylenimine and Lipofectamine 2000, two widely used transfection reagents as reference carriers. Arg-CBA showed higher transfection efficiency and gene-silencing efficiency in MCF7 cells than Agm-CBA and the reference carriers. In addition, the cellular uptake of Arg-CBA in MCF7 cells was found to be higher and faster than Agm-CBA and the reference carriers. Similarly, plasmid DNA transport into the nucleus mediated by Arg-CBA was more than that by Agm-CBA and the reference carriers. The study suggested that guanidine and carboxyl introduced into Gua-SS-PAAs polymers resulted in a better nuclear localization effect, which played a key role in the observed enhancement of transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity. Overall, two newly synthesized Gua-SS-PAAs polymers demonstrated great potential to be used as shRNA carriers for gene-therapy applications. PMID:27994462

2017 SmartWay Multimodal Carrier Tool Demonstration

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EPA presentation provides information on the SmartWay Multimodal Carrier Tool: its background and development, participation in the program, application process, emission metrics, tool demonstration, data collection, and schedule for 2017.

Genome sequences of seven foot-and-mouth disease virus isolates collected from serial samples from one persistently infected carrier cow in Vietnam

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Several FMDV carrier cattle were identified in Vietnam by recovery of infectious virus from oropharyngeal fluid. This report contains the first near-complete genome sequences of seven viruses isolated from a single carrier animal over the course of one year. Understanding within-host viral evolution...

Tunnel and field effect carrier ballistics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaiser, William J. (Inventor); Bell, L. Douglas (Inventor)

1989-01-01

Methods and apparatus for interacting carriers with a structure of matter employ an electrode for emitting said carriers at a distance from a surface of that structure, and cause such carriers to travel along ballistic trajectories inside that structure by providing along the mentioned distance a gap for performance of a process selected from the group of carrier tunneling and field emission and injecting carriers emitted by the mentioned electrode and that process ballistically into the structure through the gap and the mentioned surface. The carriers are collected or analyzed after their travel along ballistic trajectories in the structure of matter. Pertinent information on the inside of the structure is obtained by conducting inside that structure what conventionally would have been considered external ballistics, while performing the carrier-propelling internal ballistics conversely outside that structure.

High-efficiency treatment of PTA wastewater using a biogas jet assisted anaerobic fluidized bed reactor.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Feng, Yangyang; Chen, Yingwen; Li, Peiwen; Zhu, Shemin; Shen, Shubao

2018-02-05

In this paper, a new type of biogas jet assisted anaerobic fluidized bed reactor loaded with a polypropylene carrier has been proposed. There was a clear improvement in the fluidized state due to the biogas assisted input when the gas/water ratio was set at 1:3 with a suitable carrier loading of 60%. When the circulating water flow is 30 L/min assisted with biogas 10 L/min, the mixing time shortens from 26 to 18 s. The performance of anaerobic biodegradation on wastewater treatment was improved largely. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and terepthallic acid removal efficiencies were at 85.4% and 84%, respectively, at hydraulic retention time of 20 h, even when the influent COD concentration was as high as 4224 mg/L. In addition, plenty of microorganisms, attached to the carriers and assumed to be the reason behind the organic biodegradation efficiency of the proposed system, were observed using scanning electron microscopy.

Can quantum coherent solar cells break detailed balance?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirk, Alexander P.

2015-07-01

Carefully engineered coherent quantum states have been proposed as a design attribute that is hypothesized to enable solar photovoltaic cells to break the detailed balance (or radiative) limit of power conversion efficiency by possibly causing radiative recombination to be suppressed. However, in full compliance with the principles of statistical mechanics and the laws of thermodynamics, specially prepared coherent quantum states do not allow a solar photovoltaic cell—a quantum threshold energy conversion device—to exceed the detailed balance limit of power conversion efficiency. At the condition given by steady-state open circuit operation with zero nonradiative recombination, the photon absorption rate (or carrier photogeneration rate) must balance the photon emission rate (or carrier radiative recombination rate) thus ensuring that detailed balance prevails. Quantum state transitions, entropy-generating hot carrier relaxation, and photon absorption and emission rate balancing are employed holistically and self-consistently along with calculations of current density, voltage, and power conversion efficiency to explain why detailed balance may not be violated in solar photovoltaic cells.

Electron-irradiated n+-Si as hole injection tunable anode of organic light-emitting diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Y. Z.; Wang, Z. L.; Wang, Y. Z.; Luo, H.; Xu, W. J.; Ran, G. Z.; Qin, G. G.

2013-01-01

Traditionally, n-type silicon is not regarded as a good anode of organic light emitting diode (OLED) due to the extremely low hole concentration in it; however, when doped with Au element which acts as carrier generation centers, it can be, as shown in our previous work. In this study, we demonstrate a new kind of carrier generation centers in n+-type silicon, which are the defects produced by 5 MeV electron irradiation. The density of carrier generation centers in the irradiated n+-Si anode can be controlled by tuning the electron irradiation time, and thus hole injection current in the OLEDs with the irradiated n+-Si anode can be optimized, leading to their much higher maximum efficiencies than those of the OLEDs with non-irradiated n+-Si anode. For a green phosphorescent OLED with the irradiated n+-Si anode, the current efficiency and power efficiency reach up to 12.1 cd/A and 4.2 lm/W, respectively.

Hot Charge Carrier Transmission from Plasmonic Nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christopher, Phillip; Moskovits, Martin

2017-05-01

Surface plasmons have recently been harnessed to carry out processes such as photovoltaic current generation, redox photochemistry, photocatalysis, and photodetection, all of which are enabled by separating energetic (hot) electrons and holes—processes that, previously, were the domain of semiconductor junctions. Currently, the power conversion efficiencies of systems using plasmon excitation are low. However, the very large electron/hole per photon quantum efficiencies observed for plasmonic devices fan the hope of future improvements through a deeper understanding of the processes involved and through better device engineering, especially of critical interfaces such as those between metallic and semiconducting nanophases (or adsorbed molecules). In this review, we focus on the physics and dynamics governing plasmon-derived hot charge carrier transfer across, and the electronic structure at, metal-semiconductor (molecule) interfaces, where we feel the barriers contributing to low efficiencies reside. We suggest some areas of opportunity that deserve early attention in the still-evolving field of hot carrier transmission from plasmonic nanostructures to neighboring phases.

Hot carrier multiplication on graphene/TiO2 Schottky nanodiodes

PubMed Central

Lee, Young Keun; Choi, Hongkyw; Lee, Hyunsoo; Lee, Changhwan; Choi, Jin Sik; Choi, Choon-Gi; Hwang, Euyheon; Park, Jeong Young

2016-01-01

Carrier multiplication (i.e. generation of multiple electron–hole pairs from a single high-energy electron, CM) in graphene has been extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally, but direct application of hot carrier multiplication in graphene has not been reported. Here, taking advantage of efficient CM in graphene, we fabricated graphene/TiO2 Schottky nanodiodes and found CM-driven enhancement of quantum efficiency. The unusual photocurrent behavior was observed and directly compared with Fowler’s law for photoemission on metals. The Fowler’s law exponent for the graphene-based nanodiode is almost twice that of a thin gold film based diode; the graphene-based nanodiode also has a weak dependence on light intensity—both are significant evidence for CM in graphene. Furthermore, doping in graphene significantly modifies the quantum efficiency by changing the Schottky barrier. The CM phenomenon observed on the graphene/TiO2 nanodiodes can lead to intriguing applications of viable graphene-based light harvesting. PMID:27271245

Embedded Metal Electrode for Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanowire Solar Cells.

PubMed

Um, Han-Don; Choi, Deokjae; Choi, Ahreum; Seo, Ji Hoon; Seo, Kwanyong

2017-06-27

We demonstrate here an embedded metal electrode for highly efficient organic-inorganic hybrid nanowire solar cells. The electrode proposed here is an effective alternative to the conventional bus and finger electrode which leads to a localized short circuit at a direct Si/metal contact and has a poor collection efficiency due to a nonoptimized electrode design. In our design, a Ag/SiO 2 electrode is embedded into a Si substrate while being positioned between Si nanowire arrays underneath poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), facilitating suppressed recombination at the Si/Ag interface and notable improvements in the fabrication reproducibility. With an optimized microgrid electrode, our 1 cm 2 hybrid solar cells exhibit a power conversion efficiency of up to 16.1% with an open-circuit voltage of 607 mV and a short circuit current density of 34.0 mA/cm 2 . This power conversion efficiency is more than twice as high as that of solar cells using a conventional electrode (8.0%). The microgrid electrode significantly minimizes the optical and electrical losses. This reproducibly yields a superior quantum efficiency of 99% at the main solar spectrum wavelength of 600 nm. In particular, our solar cells exhibit a significant increase in the fill factor of 78.3% compared to that of a conventional electrode (61.4%); this is because of the drastic reduction in the metal/contact resistance of the 1 μm-thick Ag electrode. Hence, the use of our embedded microgrid electrode in the construction of an ideal carrier collection path presents an opportunity in the development of highly efficient organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells.

14 CFR 158.69 - Recordkeeping and auditing: Collecting carriers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... audit shall be performed by an accredited independent public accountant and may be of limited scope. The accountant shall express an opinion on the fairness and reasonableness of the carrier's procedures for...

14 CFR 158.69 - Recordkeeping and auditing: Collecting carriers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... audit shall be performed by an accredited independent public accountant and may be of limited scope. The accountant shall express an opinion on the fairness and reasonableness of the carrier's procedures for...

A novel liquid organic hydrogen carrier system based on catalytic peptide formation and hydrogenation

PubMed Central

Hu, Peng; Fogler, Eran; Diskin-Posner, Yael; Iron, Mark A.; Milstein, David

2015-01-01

Hydrogen is an efficient green fuel, but its low energy density when stored under high pressure or cryogenically, and safety issues, presents significant disadvantages; hence finding efficient and safe hydrogen carriers is a major challenge. Of special interest are liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs), which can be readily loaded and unloaded with considerable amounts of hydrogen. However, disadvantages include high hydrogen pressure requirements, high reaction temperatures for both hydrogenation and dehydrogenation steps, which require different catalysts, and high LOHC cost. Here we present a readily reversible LOHC system based on catalytic peptide formation and hydrogenation, using an inexpensive, safe and abundant organic compound with high potential capacity to store and release hydrogen, applying the same catalyst for loading and unloading hydrogen under relatively mild conditions. Mechanistic insight of the catalytic reaction is provided. We believe that these findings may lead to the development of an inexpensive, safe and clean liquid hydrogen carrier system. PMID:25882348

Biofiltration of ammonia gas with sponge cubes coated with mixtures of activated carbon and zeolite.

PubMed

Kim, H; Xi, Q; Kim, Y J; Chung, S

2002-08-01

Removal of ammonia gas was investigated using a biofilter system packed with small cubes of polyurethane sponge that were coated with a powder mixture of activated carbon and natural zeolite. Experimental tests and measurements include removal efficiency, pH, metabolic products of ammonia and kinetic analysis. A removal efficiency over 90% can be obtained with ammonia concentrations below 150 ppm and at contact times above 23 sec.The ammonia adsorbing power of the present biocarrier can protect the biofilter system from a high ammonia shock loading in the feed. The maximum removal rate, Vm, obtained from the kinetic analysis is 8.47 g N (kg carrier)(-1) day(-1) and the saturation constant Ks is 50.36 ppm. Nitrite is produced dominantly during the entire experiments. The cell number of nitrifying bacteria is 1.58 x 10( cell (g carrier)(-1). The present synthetic bio-carrier is considered to be one of the best among bio-carriers that have been used for the biofiltration of ammonia.

Distillation and detection of SO2 using a microfluidic chip.

PubMed

Ju, Wei-Jhong; Fu, Lung-Ming; Yang, Ruey-Jen; Lee, Chia-Lun

2012-02-07

A miniaturized distillation system is presented for separating sulfurous acid (H(2)SO(3)) into sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) and water (H(2)O). The major components of the proposed system include a microfluidic distillation chip, a power control module, and a carrier gas pressure control module. The microfluidic chip is patterned using a commercial CO(2) laser and comprises a serpentine channel, a heating zone, a buffer zone, a cooling zone, and a collection tank. In the proposed device, the H(2)SO(3) solution is injected into the microfluidic chip and is separated into SO(2) and H(2)O via an appropriate control of the distillation time and temperature. The gaseous SO(2) is then transported into the collection chamber by the carrier gas and is mixed with DI water. Finally, the SO(2) concentration is deduced from the absorbance measurements obtained using a spectrophotometer. The experimental results show that a correlation coefficient of R(2) = 0.9981 and a distillation efficiency as high as 94.6% are obtained for H(2)SO(3) solutions with SO(2) concentrations in the range of 100-500 ppm. The SO(2) concentrations of two commercial red wines are successfully detected using the developed device. Overall, the results presented in this study show that the proposed system provides a compact and reliable tool for SO(2) concentration measurement purposes.

Distinct enhancement of sub-bandgap photoresponse through intermediate band in high dose implanted ZnTe:O alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jing; Ye, Jiandong; Ren, Fangfang; Tang, Dongming; Yang, Yi; Tang, Kun; Gu, Shulin; Zhang, Rong; Zheng, Youdou

2017-03-01

The demand for high efficiency intermediate band (IB) solar cells is driving efforts in producing high quality IB photovoltaic materials. Here, we demonstrate ZnTe:O highly mismatched alloys synthesized by high dose ion implantation and pulsed laser melting exhibiting optically active IB states and efficient sub-gap photoresponse, as well as investigate the effect of pulsed laser melting on the structural and optical recovery in detail. The structural evolution and vibrational dynamics indicates a significant structural recovery of ZnTe:O alloys by liquid phase epitaxy during pulsed laser melting process, but laser irradiation also aggravates the segregation of Te in ZnTe:O alloys. A distinct intermediate band located at 1.8 eV above valence band is optically activated as evidenced by photoluminescence, absorption and photoresponse characteristics. The carrier dynamics indicates that carriers in the IB electronic states have a relatively long lifetime, which is beneficial for the fast separation of carriers excited by photons with sub-gap energy and thus the improved overall conversion efficiency. The reproducible capability of implantation and laser annealing at selective area enable the realization of high efficient lateral junction solar cells, which can ensure extreme light trapping and efficient charge separation.

Analysis of the Connectivity and Centralization of Regional Air Freight Networks.

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-08-01

economic efficiency. Pegrum char- acterized the CAB’s ratemaking policy as thirty years of in- decision. In surveys comparing regulated and unregulated b...cipants in the air freight system are basically the shippers, the surface carriers, and the air carriers. Air freight forwarders are "indirect carriers...aircraft characteristics which I will raise the break-even load factor are its shape and design density. Aircraft fuselages are basically cylindrical

Direct Free Carrier Photogeneration in Single Layer and Stacked Organic Photovoltaic Devices.

PubMed

Chandran, Hrisheekesh Thachoth; Ng, Tsz-Wai; Foo, Yishu; Li, Ho-Wa; Qing, Jian; Liu, Xiao-Ke; Chan, Chiu-Yee; Wong, Fu-Lung; Zapien, Juan Antonio; Tsang, Sai-Wing; Lo, Ming-Fai; Lee, Chun-Sing

2017-06-01

High performance organic photovoltaic devices typically rely on type-II P/N junctions for assisting exciton dissociation. Heremans and co-workers recently reported a high efficiency device with a third organic layer which is spatially separated from the active P/N junction; but still contributes to the carrier generation by passing its energy to the P/N junction via a long-range exciton energy transfer mechanism. In this study the authors show that there is an additional mechanism contributing to the high efficiency. Some bipolar materials (e.g., subnaphthalocyanine chloride (SubNc) and subphthalocyanine chloride (SubPc)) are observed to generate free carriers much more effectively than typical organic semiconductors upon photoexcitation. Single-layer devices with SubNc or SubPc sandwiched between two electrodes can give power conversion efficiencies 30 times higher than those of reported single-layer devices. In addition, internal quantum efficiencies (IQEs) of bilayer devices with opposite stacking sequences (i.e., SubNc/SubPc vs SubPc/SubNc) are found to be the sum of IQEs of single layer devices. These results confirm that SubNc and SubPc can directly generate free carriers upon photoexcitation without assistance from a P/N junction. These allow them to be stacked onto each other with reversible sequence or simply stacking onto another P/N junction and contribute to the photocarrier generation. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Basic aspects for improving the energy conversion efficiency of hetero-junction organic photovoltaic cells.

PubMed

Ryuzaki, Sou; Onoe, Jun

2013-01-01

Hetero-junction organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells consisting of donor (D) and acceptor (A) layers have been regarded as next-generation PV cells, because of their fascinating advantages, such as lightweight, low fabrication cost, resource free, and flexibility, when compared to those of conventional PV cells based on silicon and semiconductor compounds. However, the power conversion efficiency (η) of the OPV cells has been still around 8%, though more than 10% efficiency has been required for their practical use. To fully optimize these OPV cells, it is necessary that the low mobility of carriers/excitons in the OPV cells and the open circuit voltage (V OC), of which origin has not been understood well, should be improved. In this review, we address an improvement of the mobility of carriers/excitons by controlling the crystal structure of a donor layer and address how to increase the V OC for zinc octaethylporphyrin [Zn(OEP)]/C60 hetero-junction OPV cells [ITO/Zn(OEP)/C60/Al]. It was found that crystallization of Zn(OEP) films increases the number of inter-molecular charge transfer (IMCT) excitons and enlarges the mobility of carriers and IMCT excitons, thus significantly improving the external quantum efficiency (EQE) under illumination of the photoabsorption band due to the IMCT excitons. Conversely, charge accumulation of photo-generated carriers in the vicinity of the donor/acceptor (D/A) interface was found to play a key role in determining the V OC for the OPV cells.

A High-Power Broadband Terahertz Source Enabled by Three-Dimensional Light Confinement in a Plasmonic Nanocavity

DOE PAGES

Yardimci, Nezih Tolga; Cakmakyapan, Semih; Hemmati, Soroosh; ...

2017-06-23

The scope and potential uses of time-domain terahertz imaging and spectroscopy are mainly limited by the low optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiency of photoconductive terahertz sources. State-of-theart photoconductive sources utilize short-carrier-lifetime semiconductors to recombine carriers that cannot contribute to efficient terahertz generation and cause additional thermal dissipation. Here, we present a novel photoconductive terahertz source that offers a significantly higher efficiency compared with terahertz sources fabricated on short-carrier-lifetime substrates. The key innovative feature of this source is the tight three-dimensional confinement of the optical pump beam around the terahertz nanoantennas that are used as radiating elements. This is achieved by means ofmore » a nanocavity formed by plasmonic structures and a distributed Bragg reflector. Consequently, almost all of the photo-generated carriers can be routed to the terahertz nanoantennas within a sub-picosecond time-scale. This results in a very strong, ultrafast current that drives the nanoantennas to produce broadband terahertz radiation. We experimentally demonstrate that this terahertz source can generate 4 mW pulsed terahertz radiation under an optical pump power of 720 mW over the 0.1–4 THz frequency range. This is the highest reported power level for terahertz radiation from a photoconductive terahertz source, representing more than an order of magnitude of enhancement in the optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiency compared with state-of-the-art photoconductive terahertz sources fabricated on shortcarrier- lifetime substrates.« less

Basic aspects for improving the energy conversion efficiency of hetero-junction organic photovoltaic cells

PubMed Central

Ryuzaki, Sou; Onoe, Jun

2013-01-01

Hetero-junction organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells consisting of donor (D) and acceptor (A) layers have been regarded as next-generation PV cells, because of their fascinating advantages, such as lightweight, low fabrication cost, resource free, and flexibility, when compared to those of conventional PV cells based on silicon and semiconductor compounds. However, the power conversion efficiency (η) of the OPV cells has been still around 8%, though more than 10% efficiency has been required for their practical use. To fully optimize these OPV cells, it is necessary that the low mobility of carriers/excitons in the OPV cells and the open circuit voltage (V OC), of which origin has not been understood well, should be improved. In this review, we address an improvement of the mobility of carriers/excitons by controlling the crystal structure of a donor layer and address how to increase the V OC for zinc octaethylporphyrin [Zn(OEP)]/C60 hetero-junction OPV cells [ITO/Zn(OEP)/C60/Al]. It was found that crystallization of Zn(OEP) films increases the number of inter-molecular charge transfer (IMCT) excitons and enlarges the mobility of carriers and IMCT excitons, thus significantly improving the external quantum efficiency (EQE) under illumination of the photoabsorption band due to the IMCT excitons. Conversely, charge accumulation of photo-generated carriers in the vicinity of the donor/acceptor (D/A) interface was found to play a key role in determining the V OC for the OPV cells. PMID:23853702

Ant groups optimally amplify the effect of transiently informed individuals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gelblum, Aviram; Pinkoviezky, Itai; Fonio, Ehud; Ghosh, Abhijit; Gov, Nir; Feinerman, Ofer

2015-07-01

To cooperatively transport a large load, it is important that carriers conform in their efforts and align their forces. A downside of behavioural conformism is that it may decrease the group's responsiveness to external information. Combining experiment and theory, we show how ants optimize collective transport. On the single-ant scale, optimization stems from decision rules that balance individuality and compliance. Macroscopically, these rules poise the system at the transition between random walk and ballistic motion where the collective response to the steering of a single informed ant is maximized. We relate this peak in response to the divergence of susceptibility at a phase transition. Our theoretical models predict that the ant-load system can be transitioned through the critical point of this mesoscopic system by varying its size; we present experiments supporting these predictions. Our findings show that efficient group-level processes can arise from transient amplification of individual-based knowledge.

Charge transport properties of intrinsic layer in diamond vertical pin diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimaoka, Takehiro; Kuwabara, Daisuke; Hara, Asuka; Makino, Toshiharu; Tanaka, Manobu; Koizumi, Satoshi

2017-05-01

Diamond is hoped to be utilized in ultimate power electronic devices exhibiting ultra-high blocking voltages. For practical device formation, it is important to characterize the electric properties to precisely simulate carrier transport and to practically design optimum device structures. In this study, we experimentally evaluated the charge transport properties of intrinsic layers in diamond vertical pin diodes using alpha-particle induced charge distribution measurements. The charge collection efficiencies were 98.1 ± 0.6% for a {111} pin diode and 96.9 ± 0.6% for a {100} pin diode, which means that almost all generated charges are collected accordingly equivalent to conventional Silicon pin photodiodes. Mobility-lifetime (μτ) products of holes were (2.2 ± 0.3) × 10-6 cm2/V for {111} and (1.8 ± 0.1) × 10-5 cm2/V for {100} diamond pin diodes.

Ant groups optimally amplify the effect of transiently informed individuals

PubMed Central

Gelblum, Aviram; Pinkoviezky, Itai; Fonio, Ehud; Ghosh, Abhijit; Gov, Nir; Feinerman, Ofer

2015-01-01

To cooperatively transport a large load, it is important that carriers conform in their efforts and align their forces. A downside of behavioural conformism is that it may decrease the group's responsiveness to external information. Combining experiment and theory, we show how ants optimize collective transport. On the single-ant scale, optimization stems from decision rules that balance individuality and compliance. Macroscopically, these rules poise the system at the transition between random walk and ballistic motion where the collective response to the steering of a single informed ant is maximized. We relate this peak in response to the divergence of susceptibility at a phase transition. Our theoretical models predict that the ant-load system can be transitioned through the critical point of this mesoscopic system by varying its size; we present experiments supporting these predictions. Our findings show that efficient group-level processes can arise from transient amplification of individual-based knowledge. PMID:26218613

Efficient Steplike Carrier Multiplication in Percolative Networks of Epitaxially Connected PbSe Nanocrystals

DOE PAGES

Kulkarni, Aditya; Evers, Wiel H.; Tomic, Stanko; ...

2017-12-14

Here, carrier multiplication (CM) is a process in which a single photon excites two or more electrons. CM is of interest to enhance the efficiency of a solar cell. Until now, CM in thin films and solar cells of semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) has been found at photon energies well above the minimum required energy of twice the band gap. The high threshold of CM strongly limits the benefits for solar cell applications. We show that CM is more efficient in a percolative network of directly connected PbSe NCs. The CM threshold is at twice the band gap and increases inmore » a steplike fashion with photon energy. A lower CM efficiency is found for a solid of weaker coupled NCs. This demonstrates that the coupling between NCs strongly affects the CM efficiency. According to device simulations, the measured CM efficiency would significantly enhance the power conversion efficiency of a solar cell.« less

Synthesis, characterization and in vitro cytotoxicity analysis of a novel cellulose based drug carrier for the controlled delivery of 5-fluorouracil, an anticancer drug

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anirudhan, Thayyath S.; Nima, Jayachandran; Divya, Peethambaran L.

2015-11-01

The present investigation concerns the development and evaluation of a novel drug delivery system, aminated-glycidylmethacrylate grafted cellulose-grafted polymethacrylic acid-succinyl cyclodextrin (Cell-g-(GMA/en)-PMA-SCD) for the controlled release of 5-Fluorouracil, an anticancer drug. The prepared drug carrier was characterized by FT-IR, XRD and SEM techniques. Binding kinetics and isotherm studies of 5-FU onto Cell-g-(GMA/en)-PMA-SCD were found to follow pseudo-second-order and Langmuir model respectively. Maximum binding capacity of drug carrier was found to be 149.09 mg g-1 at 37 °C. Swelling studies, in vitro release kinetics, drug loading efficiency and encapsulation efficiency of Cell-g-(GMA/en)-PMA-SCD were studied. The release kinetics was analyzed using Ritger-Peppas equation at pH 7.4. Cytotoxicity analysis on MCF-7 (human breast carcinoma) cells indicated that the drug carrier shows sustained and controlled release of drug to the target site. Hence, it is evident from this investigation that Cell-g-(GMA/en)-PMA-SCD could be a promising carrier for 5-FU.

Pravastatin chitosan nanogels-loaded erythrocytes as a new delivery strategy for targeting liver cancer.

PubMed

Harisa, Gamaleldin I; Badran, Mohamed M; AlQahtani, Saeed A; Alanazi, Fars K; Attia, Sabry M

2016-01-01

Chitosan nanogels (CNG) are developed as one of the most promising carriers for cancer targeting. However, these carriers are rapidly eliminated from circulation by reticuloendothelial system (RES), which limits their application. Therefore, erythrocytes (ER) loaded CNG as multifunctional carrier may overcome the massive elimination of nanocarriers by RES. In this study, erythrocytes loaded pravastatin-chitosan nanogels (PR-CNG-ER) were utilized as a novel drug carrier to target liver cancer. Thus, PR-CNG formula was developed in nanosize, with good entrapment efficiency, drug loading and sustained release over 48 h. Then, PR-CNG loaded into ER were prepared by hypotonic preswelling technique. The resulting PR-CNG-ER showed 36.85% of entrapment efficiency, 66.82% of cell recovery and release consistent to that of hemoglobin over 48 h. Moreover, PR-CNG-ER exhibited negative zeta potential, increasing of hemolysis percent, marked phosphatidylserine exposure and stomatocytes shape compared to control unloaded erythrocytes. PR-CNG-ER reduced cells viability of HepG2 cells line by 28% compared to unloaded erythrocytes (UER). These results concluded that PR-CNG-ER are promising drug carriers to target liver cancer.

Pravastatin chitosan nanogels-loaded erythrocytes as a new delivery strategy for targeting liver cancer

PubMed Central

Harisa, Gamaleldin I.; Badran, Mohamed M.; AlQahtani, Saeed A.; Alanazi, Fars K.; Attia, Sabry M.

2015-01-01

Chitosan nanogels (CNG) are developed as one of the most promising carriers for cancer targeting. However, these carriers are rapidly eliminated from circulation by reticuloendothelial system (RES), which limits their application. Therefore, erythrocytes (ER) loaded CNG as multifunctional carrier may overcome the massive elimination of nanocarriers by RES. In this study, erythrocytes loaded pravastatin–chitosan nanogels (PR–CNG–ER) were utilized as a novel drug carrier to target liver cancer. Thus, PR–CNG formula was developed in nanosize, with good entrapment efficiency, drug loading and sustained release over 48 h. Then, PR–CNG loaded into ER were prepared by hypotonic preswelling technique. The resulting PR–CNG–ER showed 36.85% of entrapment efficiency, 66.82% of cell recovery and release consistent to that of hemoglobin over 48 h. Moreover, PR–CNG–ER exhibited negative zeta potential, increasing of hemolysis percent, marked phosphatidylserine exposure and stomatocytes shape compared to control unloaded erythrocytes. PR–CNG–ER reduced cells viability of HepG2 cells line by 28% compared to unloaded erythrocytes (UER). These results concluded that PR–CNG–ER are promising drug carriers to target liver cancer. PMID:26903771

Enhanced transfection by antioxidative polymeric gene carrier that reduces polyplex-mediated cellular oxidative stress.

PubMed

Lee, Min Sang; Kim, Nak Won; Lee, Kyuri; Kim, Hongtae; Jeong, Ji Hoon

2013-06-01

To test the hypothesis in which polyplex-induced oxidative stress may affect overall transfection efficiency, an antioxidative transfection system minimizing cellular oxidative stress was designed for enhanced transfection. An amphiphilic copolymer (PEI-PLGA) was synthesized and used as a micelle-type gene carrier containing hydrophobic antioxidant, α-tocopherol. Cellular oxidative stress and the change of mitochondrial membrane potential after transfection was measured by using a fluorescent probe (H₂DCFDA) and lipophilic cationic probe (JC-1), respectively. Transfection efficiency was determined by measuring a reporter gene (luciferase) expression level. The initial transfection study with conventional PEI/plasmid DNA polyplex showed significant generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The PEI-PLGA copolymer successfully carried out the simultaneous delivery of α-tocopherol and plasmid DNA (PEI-PLGA/Toco/pDNA polyplex) into cells, resulting in a significant reduction in cellular ROS generation after transfection and helped to maintain the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ). In addition, the transfection efficiency was dramatically increased using the antioxidative transfection system. This work showed that oxidative stress would be one of the important factors that should be considered in designing non-viral gene carriers and suggested a possible way to reduce the carrier-mediated oxidative stress, which consequently leads to enhanced transfection.

Perovskite-sensitized solar cells-based Ga-TiO2 nanodiatom-like photoanode: the improvement of performance by perovskite crystallinity refinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umar, Akrajas Ali; Al-She'irey, Altaf Yahya Ahmed; Rahman, Mohd Yusri Abd; Salleh, Muhamad Mat; Oyama, Munetaka

2018-05-01

The structure and crystallinity of the photoactive materials in solar cell determines the exciton formation, carrier's recombination, life-time and transportation in the devices. Here, we report that enhanced charge transportation, internal quantum efficiency and the carrier life-time can be achieved by modifying the structure, morphology of the organic perovskite thin film, enabling the improvement of the solar cell performance. The thin film structure modification was achieved via a thermal annealing in vacuum. In typical procedure, the power conversion efficiency of the PSC device can be upgraded from 0.5 to 2.9%, which is approximately 6 times increment, when the surface structure disorders are limited in the organic perovskite thin film. By optimizing the organic perovskite loading on the Ga-TiO2 diatom-like nanostructures photoanode and combining with a fine control of organic perovskite thin film structure, power conversion efficiency as high as 6.58% can be generated from the device. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and current-voltage analysis in the dark indicated that this process has effectively augmented the carrier life-time and limited the carrier recombination, enhancing the overall performance of the solar cell device. The preparation process and mechanism of the device performance improvement will be discussed.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in GaN/InGaN multiple quantum wells nanorods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Weijian; Wen, Xiaoming; Latzel, Michael; Yang, Jianfeng; Huang, Shujuan; Shrestha, Santosh; Patterson, Robert; Christiansen, Silke; Conibeer, Gavin

2018-01-01

GaN/InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQW) is a promising material for high-efficiency solid-state lighting. Ultrafast optical pump-probe spectroscopy is an important characterization technique for examining fundamental phenomena in semiconductor nanostructure with sub-picosecond resolution. In this study, ultrafast exciton and charge carrier dynamics in GaN/InGaN MQW planar layer and nanorod are investigated using femtosecond transient absorption (TA) techniques at room temperature. Here nanorods are fabricated by etching the GaN/InGaN MQW planar layers using nanosphere lithography and reactive ion etching. Photoluminescence efficiency of the nanorods have been proved to be much higher than that of the planar layers, but the mechanism of the nanorod structure improvement of PL efficiency is not adequately studied. By comparing the TA profile of the GaN/InGaN MQW planar layers and nanorods, the impact of surface states and nanorods lateral confinement in the ultrafast carrier dynamics of GaN/InGaN MQW is revealed. The nanorod sidewall surface states have a strong influence on the InGaN quantum well carrier dynamics. The ultrafast relaxation processes studied in this GaN/InGaN MQW nanostructure is essential for further optimization of device application.

Comparison of CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, ABCB1, and SLCO1B1 gene-polymorphism frequency in Russian and Nanai populations

PubMed Central

Sychev, Dmitrij Alekseevitch; Shuev, Grigorij Nikolaevich; Suleymanov, Salavat Shejhovich; Ryzhikova, Kristina Anatol’evna; Mirzaev, Karin Badavievich; Grishina, Elena Anatol’evna; Snalina, Natalia Evgenievna; Sozaeva, Zhannet Alimovna; Grabuzdov, Anton Mikhailovich; Matsneva, Irina Andreevna

2017-01-01

Background The efficiency and safety of drug therapy depends on the peculiarities of functioning of the P450 cytochrome group and transporting proteins. There are significant differences for single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequency. Materials and methods We studied the peculiarities of P450 cytochrome polymorphisms, SLCO1B1 transporting protein, and P-glycoprotein carriage in healthy volunteers in the Nanai ethnic group living in Russia, and compared them to the carriage of SNPs in the Russian population according to literature data. Results After performing the real-time polymerase chain reactions on the samples from 70 healthy volunteers from the Nanai group, for the CYP2C9*2C430T polymorphism we determined 70 CC-genotype carriers. As for the CYP2C9*3A1075C polymorphism, we found 62 AA-genotype carriers and eight AC-genotype carriers. For the CYP2C19*2G681A polymorphism, we determined 39 GG-genotype carriers and 28 GA-genotype carriers, for the CYP2C19*3G636A polymorphism 58 GG-genotype carriers and 12 GA-genotype carriers, and for the CYP2C19*17C806T polymorphism 67 CC-genotype carriers and three CT-genotype carriers. For the CYP2D6*4G1846A polymorphism, the GG genotype had 68 carriers, and the GA genotype two carriers. For the ABCB1*6C3435T polymorphism, there were 19 CC-genotype carriers and 39 CT-genotype carriers. For the SLCO1B1*5T521C polymorphism, the TT genotype had 41 carriers and the CT genotype 25 carriers. The distribution of genotypes fitted the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium for all the polymorphisms, except those of CYP2C9*2. There were also significant differences in allele frequencies for some polymorphisms between the Nanais and the Russians. Conclusion In the Nanai population, there are polymorphisms connected with the decrease in safety and efficiency of drug therapy. Studying the ethnic differences might influence the determination of priority in the introduction of pharmacogenetic tests in clinical practice in different regions of Russia. PMID:28435307

Analysis of the attainable efficiency of a direct-bandgap betavoltaic element

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sachenko, A. V.; Shkrebtii, A. I.; Korkishko, R. M.; Kostylyov, V. P.; Kulish, M. R.; Sokolovskyi, I. O.; Evstigneev, M.

2015-11-01

Conversion of energy of beta-particles into electric energy in a p-n junction based on direct-bandgap semiconductors, such as GaAs, is analyzed considering realistic semiconductor system parameters. An expression for the collection coefficient, Q, of the electron-hole pairs generated by beta-electrons is derived taking into account the existence of the dead layer. We show that the collection coefficient of beta-electrons emitted by a 3H-source to a GaAs p-n junction is close to 1 in a broad range of electron lifetimes in the junction, ranging from 10-9to 10-7 s. For the combination 147Pm/GaAs, Q is relatively large (≥slant 0.4) only for quite long lifetimes (about 10-7 s) and large thicknesses (about 100 μm) of GaAs p-n junctions. For realistic lifetimes of minority carriers and their diffusion coefficients, the open-circuit voltage realized due to the irradiation of a GaAs p-n junction by beta-particles is obtained. The attainable beta-conversion efficiency η in the case of a 3H/GaAs combination is found to exceed that of the 147Pm/GaAs combination.

Trapping in irradiated p +-n-n - silicon sensors at fluences anticipated at the HL-LHC outer tracker

DOE PAGES

Adam, W.

2016-04-22

The degradation of signal in silicon sensors is studied under conditions expected at the CERN High-Luminosity LHC. 200μm thick n-type silicon sensors are irradiated with protons of different energies to fluences of up to 3 x 10 15 neq/cm 2. Pulsed red laser light with a wavelength of 672 nm is used to generate electron-hole pairs in the sensors. The induced signals are used to determine the charge collection efficiencies separately for electrons and holes drifting through the sensor. The effective trapping rates are extracted by comparing the results to simulation. The electric field is simulated using Synopsys device simulationmore » assuming two effective defects. The generation and drift of charge carriers are simulated in an independent simulation based on PixelAV. The effective trapping rates are determined from the measured charge collection efficiencies and the simulated and measured time-resolved current pulses are compared. Furthermore, the effective trapping rates determined for both electrons and holes are about 50% smaller than those obtained using standard extrapolations of studies at low fluences and suggests an improved tracker performance over initial expectations.« less

SELEX-Based Screening of Exosome-Tropic RNA.

PubMed

Yamashita, Takuma; Shinotsuka, Haruka; Takahashi, Yuki; Kato, Kana; Nishikawa, Makiya; Takakura, Yoshinobu

2017-01-01

Cell-derived nanosized vesicles or exosomes are expected to become delivery carriers for functional RNAs, such as small interfering RNA (siRNA). A method to efficiently load functional RNAs into exosomes is required for the development of exosome-based delivery carriers of functional RNAs. However, there is no method to find exosome-tropic exogenous RNA sequences. In this study, we used a systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) method to screen exosome-tropic RNAs that can be used to load functional RNAs into exosomes by conjugation. Pooled single stranded 80-base RNAs, each of which contains a randomized 40-base sequence, were transfected into B16-BL6 murine melanoma cells and exosomes were collected from the cells. RNAs extracted from the exosomes were subjected to next round of SELEX. Cloning and sequencing of RNAs in SELEX-screened RNA pools showed that 29 of 56 clones had a typical RNA sequence. The sequence found by SELEX was enriched in exosomes after transfection to B16-BL6 cells. The results show that the SELEX-based method can be used for screening of exosome-tropic RNAs.

Rationalization of a nanoparticle-based nicotine nanovaccine as an effective next-generation nicotine vaccine: A focus on hapten localization.

PubMed

Zhao, Zongmin; Hu, Yun; Harmon, Theresa; Pentel, Paul; Ehrich, Marion; Zhang, Chenming

2017-09-01

A lipid-polymeric hybrid nanoparticle-based next-generation nicotine nanovaccine was rationalized in this study to combat nicotine addiction. A series of nanovaccines, which had nicotine-haptens localized on carrier protein (LPKN), nanoparticle surface (LPNK), or both (LPNKN), were designed to study the impact of hapten localization on their immunological efficacy. All three nanovaccines were efficiently taken up and processed by dendritic cells. LPNKN induced a significantly higher immunogenicity against nicotine and a significantly lower anti-carrier protein antibody level compared to LPKN and LPNK. Meanwhile, it was found that the anti-nicotine antibodies elicited by LPKN and LPNKN bind nicotine stronger than those elicited by LPKN, and LPNK and LPNKN resulted in a more balanced Th1-Th2 immunity than LPKN. Moreover, LPNKN exhibited the best ability to block nicotine from entering the brain of mice. Collectively, the results demonstrated that the immunological efficacy of the hybrid nanoparticle-based nicotine vaccine could be enhanced by modulating hapten localization, providing a promising strategy to combatting nicotine addiction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

77 FR 11145 - Intent to Request Renewal From OMB of One Current Public Collection of Information: Air Cargo...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-24

...The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) invites public comment on one currently approved Information Collection Request (ICR), OMB control number 1652-0040, abstracted below that we will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. This ICR involves five broad categories of affected populations: airports, passenger aircraft operators, foreign air carriers, indirect air carriers operating under a security program, and all-cargo carriers. The collections of information that make up this ICR are security programs, security threat assessments (STA), known shipper data via the Known Shipper Management System (KSMS), Air Cargo Data Management System (ACDMS), Cargo Reporting Tool for cargo screening reporting, and evidence of compliance recordkeeping. TSA seeks continued OMB approval in order to secure passenger aircraft carrying cargo as authorized in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act.

Tool Demo Webinar: 2017 SmartWay Air Carrier Tool Demonstration

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EPA presentation provides information on the SmartWay Air Carrier Tool: its background and development, participation in the program, application process, emission metrics, tool demonstration, data collection, and schedule for 2017.

The chemical enhancement of the triboelectric separation of coal from pyrite and ash: A novel approach for electrostatic separation of mineral matter from coal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gustafson, R.M.; DiMare, S.; Sabatini, J.

1992-02-01

Arthur D. Little, Inc., under contract to the US DOE Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, has developed a triboelectric separation device for coal beneficiation, that employs an entrained-flow, rotating-cylinder concept. The described apparatus has been used to test the efficacy of chemical pretreatment and in-situ treatment of coal on separation efficiency. Coal particle entrainment is achieved with gaseous carbon dioxide and particle collection is accomplished by an electrostatic plate separator. The triboelectric separation device incorporates instrumentation for the direct measurement of charge in the dilute-phase particle stream. Some of the pretreatment materials investigated under this project to modify the surface chargingmore » characteristics of the coal included oleic acid, sodium oleate, quinoline and dicyclohexylamine. Ammonia and sulfur dioxide at a concentration up to 1000 ppM was used for in-situ treatment of the coal, with carbon dioxide as the carrier/inerting gas. Nitrogen was used earlier in the test program as the carrier/inerting gas for the coal, but a severe arcing problem was encountered in the electrostatic collector with nitrogen as the carrier gas. This problem did not occur when carbon dioxide was used. The report covers the chemical treatment employed, and summarizes and interprets the results achieved. In addition, an economic analysis of a full scale system based on this concept is presented.« less

Evaluation of Trichodysplasia Spinulosa-Associated Polyomavirus Capsid Protein as a New Carrier for Construction of Chimeric Virus-Like Particles Harboring Foreign Epitopes

PubMed Central

Gedvilaite, Alma; Kucinskaite-Kodze, Indre; Lasickiene, Rita; Timinskas, Albertas; Vaitiekaite, Ausra; Ziogiene, Danguole; Zvirbliene, Aurelija

2015-01-01

Recombinant virus-like particles (VLPs) represent a promising tool for protein engineering. Recently, trichodysplasia spinulosa-associated polyomavirus (TSPyV) viral protein 1 (VP1) was efficiently produced in yeast expression system and shown to self-assemble to VLPs. In the current study, TSPyV VP1 protein was exploited as a carrier for construction of chimeric VLPs harboring selected B and T cell-specific epitopes and evaluated in comparison to hamster polyomavirus VP1 protein. Chimeric VLPs with inserted either hepatitis B virus preS1 epitope DPAFR or a universal T cell-specific epitope AKFVAAWTLKAAA were produced in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Target epitopes were incorporated either at the HI or BC loop of the VP1 protein. The insertion sites were selected based on molecular models of TSPyV VP1 protein. The surface exposure of the insert positions was confirmed using a collection of monoclonal antibodies raised against the intact TSPyV VP1 protein. All generated chimeric proteins were capable to self-assemble to VLPs, which induced a strong immune response in mice. The chimeric VLPs also activated dendritic cells and T cells as demonstrated by analysis of cell surface markers and cytokine production profiles in spleen cell cultures. In conclusion, TSPyV VP1 protein represents a new potential carrier for construction of chimeric VLPs harboring target epitopes. PMID:26230706

Slowing hot-carrier relaxation in graphene using a magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plochocka, P.; Kossacki, P.; Golnik, A.; Kazimierczuk, T.; Berger, C.; de Heer, W. A.; Potemski, M.

2009-12-01

A degenerate pump-probe technique is used to investigate the nonequilibrium carrier dynamics in multilayer graphene. Two distinctly different dynamics of the carrier relaxation are observed. A fast relaxation (˜50fs) of the carriers after the initial effect of phase-space filling followed by a slower relaxation (˜4ps) due to thermalization. Both relaxation processes are less efficient when a magnetic field is applied at low temperatures which is attributed to the suppression of the electron-electron Auger scattering due to the nonequidistant Landau-level spacing of the Dirac fermions in graphene.

Comparison of methods to detect Pasteurella multocida in carrier waterfowl

USGS Publications Warehouse

Samuel, M.D.; Shadduck, D.J.; Goldberg, Diana R.; Johnson, W.P.

2003-01-01

We conducted laboratory challenge trials using mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) to compare methods for detecting carriers of Pasteurella multocida, the bacterium that causes avian cholera, in wild birds. Birds that survived the initial infection were euthanized at 2-4 wk intervals up to 14 wk post challenge. Isolates of P. multocida were obtained at necropsy from 23% of the birds that survived initial infection. We found that swab samples (oral, cloacal, nasal, eye, and leg joint) were most effective for detecting carrier birds up to 14 wk post infection. No detectable differences in isolation were observed for samples stored in either 10% dimethysulfoxide or brain heart infusion broth. The frequency of detecting carriers in our challenge trials appeared to be related to mortality rates observed during the trial, but was not related to a number of other factors including time after challenge, time delays in collecting tissues postmortem, and route of infection. In our trials, there was little association between antibody levels and carrier status. We concluded that swabs samples collected from recently dead birds, stored in liquid nitrogen, and processed using selective broth provide a feasible field method for detecting P. multocida carriers in wild waterfowl.

Dopant incorporation in Al0.9Ga0.1As0.06Sb0.94 grown by molecular beam epitaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patra, Saroj Kumar; Tran, Thanh-Nam; Vines, Lasse; Kolevatov, Ilia; Monakhov, Edouard; Fimland, Bjørn-Ove

2017-04-01

Incorporation of beryllium (Be) and tellurium (Te) dopants in epitaxially grown Al0.9Ga0.1As0.06Sb0.94 layers was investigated. Carrier concentrations and mobilities of the doped layers were obtained from room temperature Hall effect measurements, and dopant densities from secondary ion mass spectrometry depth profiling. An undoped Al0.3Ga0.7As cap layer and side wall passivation were used to reduce oxidation and improve accuracy in Hall effect measurements. The measurements on Be-doped samples revealed high doping efficiency and the carrier concentration varied linearly with dopant density up to the highest Be dopant density of 2.9 × 1019 cm-3, whereas for Te doped samples the doping efficiency was in general low and the carrier concentration saturated for Te-dopant densities above 8.0 × 1018 cm-3. The low doping efficiency in Te-doped Al0.9Ga0.1As0.06Sb0.94 layer was studied by deep-level transient spectroscopy, revealing existence of deep trap levels and related DX-centers which explains the low doping efficiency.

Wire Array Solar Cells: Fabrication and Photoelectrochemical Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spurgeon, Joshua Michael

Despite demand for clean energy to reduce our addiction to fossil fuels, the price of these technologies relative to oil and coal has prevented their widespread implementation. Solar energy has enormous potential as a carbon-free resource but is several times the cost of coal-produced electricity, largely because photovoltaics of practical efficiency require high-quality, pure semiconductor materials. To produce current in a planar junction solar cell, an electron or hole generated deep within the material must travel all the way to the junction without recombining. Radial junction, wire array solar cells, however, have the potential to decouple the directions of light absorption and charge-carrier collection so that a semiconductor with a minority-carrier diffusion length shorter than its absorption depth (i.e., a lower quality, potentially cheaper material) can effectively produce current. The axial dimension of the wires is long enough for sufficient optical absorption while the charge-carriers are collected along the shorter radial dimension in a massively parallel array. This thesis explores the wire array solar cell design by developing potentially low-cost fabrication methods and investigating the energy-conversion properties of the arrays in photoelectrochemical cells. The concept was initially investigated with Cd(Se, Te) rod arrays; however, Si was the primary focus of wire array research because its semiconductor properties make low-quality Si an ideal candidate for improvement in a radial geometry. Fabrication routes for Si wire arrays were explored, including the vapor-liquid-solid growth of wires using SiCl4. Uniform, vertically aligned Si wires were demonstrated in a process that permits control of the wire radius, length, and spacing. A technique was developed to transfer these wire arrays into a low-cost, flexible polymer film, and grow multiple subsequent arrays using a single Si(111) substrate. Photoelectrochemical measurements on Si wire array/polymer composite films showed that their energy-conversion properties were comparable to those of an array attached to the growth substrate. High quantum efficiencies were observed relative to the packing density of the wires, particularly with illumination at high angles of incidence. The results indicate that an inexpensive, solid-state Si wire array solar cell is possible, and a plan is presented to develop one.

Formation of p-n-p junction with ionic liquid gate in graphene

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

He, Xin; Tang, Ning, E-mail: ntang@pku.edu.cn, E-mail: geweikun@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn, E-mail: bshen@pku.edu.cn; Duan, Junxi

2014-04-07

Ionic liquid gating is a technique which is much more efficient than solid gating to tune carrier density. To observe the electronic properties of such a highly doped graphene device, a top gate made of ionic liquid has been used. By sweeping both the top and back gate voltage, a p-n-p junction has been created. The mechanism of forming the p-n-p junction has been discussed. Tuning the carrier density by ionic liquid gate can be an efficient method to be used in flexible electronics.

Quantum and Carbon Nanomaterials | Chemistry and Nanoscience Research |

Science.gov Websites

acceptors in composites with thiophene-based conjugated polymers, ultimately determining that the free interface to efficiently dissociate excitons and spatially separate long-lived free carriers, but pointed toward a dependence of the free-carrier yield on the energetic driving force at the interface. By tuning

Dependence of the photovoltaic performance of pseudomorphic InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well solar cells on the active region thickness

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mukhtarova, Anna; Valdueza-Felip, Sirona; Redaelli, Luca

2016-04-18

We investigate the photovoltaic performance of pseudomorphic In{sub 0.1}Ga{sub 0.9}N/GaN multiple-quantum well (MQW) solar cells as a function of the total active region thickness. An increase in the number of wells from 5 to 40 improves the short-circuit current and the open-circuit voltage, resulting in a 10-fold enhancement of the overall conversion efficiency. Further increasing the number of wells leads to carrier collection losses due to an incomplete depletion of the active region. Capacitance-voltage measurements point to a hole diffusion length of 48 nm in the MQW region.

Charge carrier transport and injection across organic heterojunctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsang, Sai Wing

The discovery of highly efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in the 1980s has stimulated extensive research on organic semiconductors and devices. Underlying this breakthrough is the realization of the organic heterojunction (OH). Besides OLEDs, the implementation of the OH also significantly improves the power conversion efficiency in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs). The continued technological advancements in organic electronic devices depend on the accumulation of knowledge of the intrinsic properties of organic materials and related interfaces. Among them, charge-carrier transport and carrier injection are two key factors that govern the performance of a device. This thesis mainly focuses on the charge carrier injection and transport at organic heterojunctions. The carrier transport properties of different organic materials used in this study are characterized by time-of-flight (TOF) and admittance spectroscopy (AS). An injection model is formulated by considering the carrier distribution at both sides of the interface. Using a steady-state simulation approach, the effect of accumulated charges on energy level alignment at OH is revealed. Instead of a constant injection barrier, it is found that the barrier varies with applied voltage. Moreover, an escape probability function in the injection model is modified by taking into account the total hopping rate and available hopping sites at the interface. The model predicts that the injection current at low temperature can be dramatically modified by an extremely small density of deep trap states. More importantly, the temperature dependence of the injection current is found to decrease with increasing barrier height. This suggests that extracting the barrier height from the J vs 1/T plot, as commonly employed in the literature, is problematic. These theoretical predictions are confirmed by a series of experiments on heterojunction devices with various barrier heights. In addition, the presence of deep trap states is also consistent with carrier mobility measurements at low temperature. From the point of view of application, an interface chemical doping method is proposed to engineer the carrier injection at an organic heterojunction. It is found that the injection current can be effectively increased or suppressed by introducing a thin (2 nm) doped organic layer at the interface. This technique is further extended to study the impact of an injection barrier at the OH, in OLEDs, on device performance. It is shown that a 0.3 eV injection barrier at the OH, that is normally negligible at metal/organic interface, can reduce the device efficiency by 25%. This is explained by the carrier distribution in the density-of-states at the OH. Furthermore, the carrier transport properties in a bulk heterojunction system are investigated. The bulk heterojunction consists of an interpenetrating network of a polymeric electron donor and a molecular electron acceptor. This material system has been studied in the last few years as an attractive power conversion efficiency (5% under AM 1.5) of OPV cells has been demonstrated. It is found that the electron mobility is greatly dependent on the thermal treatment of the film. Interfacial dipole effect at the heterojunction between the donor and the acceptor is proposed to be the determining factor that alters the carrier mobility in different nanoscale structures.

76 FR 80375 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Screening Requirements for Carriers

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-23

... keepers from the collection of information (a total capital/startup costs and operations and maintenance... information collection with no change to the burden hours or to the information collected. Type of Review...

Engineering of lead chalcogenide nanostructures for carrier multiplication: Core/shell, 1D, and 2D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Qianglu

Near infrared emitting semiconductors have been used widely in industry especially in solar-cell fabrications. The efficiency of single junction solar-cell can reach the Shockley-Queisser limit by using optimum band gap material such as silicon and cadmium telluride. The theoretical efficiency can be further enhanced through carrier multiplication, in which a high energy photon is absorbed and more than one electron-hole pair can be generated, reaching more than 100% quantum efficiency in the high energy region of sunlight. The realization of more than unity external quantum efficiency in lead selenide quantum dots solar cell has motivated vast investigation on lowering the carrier multiplication threshold and further improving the efficiency. This dissertation focuses on synthesis of lead chalcogenide nanostructures for their optical spectroscopy studies. PbSe/CdSe core/shell quantum dots were synthesized by cation exchange to obtain thick shells (up to 14 monolayers) for studies of visible and near infrared dual band emissions and carrier multiplication efficiency. By examining the reaction mechanism, a thermodynamic and a kinetic model are introduced to explain the vacancy driven cation exchange. As indicated by the effective mass model, PbSe/CdSe core/shell quantum dots has quasi-type-II band alignment, possessing electron delocalized through the entire quantum dot and hole localized in the core, which breaks down the symmetry of energy levels in the conduction and valence band, leading to hot-hole-assisted efficient multi-exciton generation and a lower carrier multiplication threshold to the theoretical value. For further investigation of carrier multiplication study, PbTe, possessing the highest efficiency among lead chalcogenides due to slow intraband cooling, is synthesized in one-dimensional and two-dimensional nanostructures. By using dodecanethiol as the surfactant, PbTe NRs can be prepared with high uniformity in width and resulted in fine quantum confinement features. The reaction can be explained by a soft-template assisted process, in which the lamellar lead-thiolate precursor transforms into rod-shape micelle in the existence of telluride anions by electrostatic attraction. Fine tuning the reaction condition by changing the solvent to oleylamine, lead telluride nanowires with length up to 200 nm can be prepared, which bundled together because of the strong dipole-dipole attraction between nanowires. Decreasing the amount of surfactant dodecanethiol in the synthesis produces lead telluride nanorings, which formed by attaching four small particles together, leaving the center void. To prepare two-dimensional nanoplatelets, mixture ligands containing two amines with different carbon chain length were used, which initiate oriented attachment of the nanoparticles to form square-shape nanoplatelets. By further adopting stronger binding ligands such as phosphonic acid, PbTe nanoplatelets with micrometer lateral dimension were prepared with extremely sharp near infrared photoluminescence (less than 40 meV), which has never be achieved in quantum dots and other nanostructures.

Production of ammonia from plasma-catalytic decomposition of urea: Effects of carrier gas composition.

PubMed

Fan, Xing; Li, Jian; Qiu, Danqi; Zhu, Tianle

2018-04-01

Effects of carrier gas composition (N 2 /air) on NH 3 production, energy efficiency regarding NH 3 production and byproducts formation from plasma-catalytic decomposition of urea were systematically investigated using an Al 2 O 3 -packed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor at room temperature. Results show that the presence of O 2 in the carrier gas accelerates the conversion of urea but leads to less generation of NH 3 . The final yield of NH 3 in the gas phase decreased from 70.5%, 78.7%, 66.6% and 67.2% to 54.1%, 51.7%, 49.6% and 53.4% for applied voltages of 17, 19, 21 and 23kV, respectively when air was used as the carrier gas instead of N 2 . From the viewpoint of energy savings, however, air carrier gas is better than N 2 due to reduced energy consumption and increased energy efficiency for decomposition of a fixed amount of urea. Carrier gas composition has little influence on the major decomposition pathways of urea under the synergetic effects of plasma and Al 2 O 3 catalyst to give NH 3 and CO 2 as the main products. Compared to a small amount of N 2 O formed with N 2 as the carrier gas, however, more byproducts including N 2 O and NO 2 in the gas phase and NH 4 NO 3 in solid deposits were produced with air as the carrier gas, probably due to the unproductive consumption of NH 3 , the possible intermediate HNCO and even urea by the abundant active oxygen species and nitrogen oxides generated in air-DBD plasma. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Dual-functionalized graphene oxide for enhanced siRNA delivery to breast cancer cells.

PubMed

Imani, Rana; Shao, Wei; Taherkhani, Samira; Emami, Shahriar Hojjati; Prakash, Satya; Faghihi, Shahab

2016-11-01

The aim of this study is to improve hydrocolloid stability and siRNA transfection ability of a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) based nano-carrier using a phospholipid-based amphiphilic polymer (PL-PEG) and cell penetrating peptide (CPPs). The dual functionalized nano-carrier is comprehensively characterized for its chemical structure, size, surface charge and morphology as well as thermal stability. The nano-carrier cytocompatibility, siRNA condensation ability both in the presence and absence of enzyme, endosomal buffering capacity, cellular uptake and intracellular localization are also assessed. The siRNA loaded nano-carrier is used for internalization to MCF-7 cells and its gene silencing ability is compared with AllStars Hs Cell Death siRNA as a model gene. The nano-carrier remains stable in biological solution, exhibits excellent cytocompatibility, retards the siRNA migration and protects it against enzyme degradation. The buffering capacity analysis shows that incorporation of the peptide in nano-carrier structure would increase the resistance to endo/lysosomal like acidic condition (pH 6-4) The functionalized nano-carrier which is loaded with siRNA in an optimal N:P ratio presents superior internalization efficiency (82±5.1% compared to HiPerFect(®)), endosomal escape quality and capable of inducing cell death in MCF-7 cancer cells (51±3.1% compared to non-treated cells). The success of siRNA-based therapy is largely dependent on the safe and efficient delivery system, therefore; the dual functionalized rGO introduced here could have a great potential to be used as a carrier for siRNA delivery with relevancy in therapeutics and clinical applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Borehole Heat Exchanger Systems: Hydraulic Conductivity and Frost-Resistance of Backfill Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anbergen, Hauke; Sass, Ingo

2016-04-01

Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems are economic solutions for both, domestic heating energy supply, as well as underground thermal energy storage (UTES). Over the past decades the technology developed to complex, advanced and highly efficient systems. For an efficient operation of the most common type of UTES, borehole heat exchanger (BHE) systems, it is necessary to design the system for a wide range of carrier fluid temperatures. During heat extraction, a cooled carrier fluid is heated up by geothermal energy. This collected thermal energy is energetically used by the heat pump. Thereby the carrier fluid temperature must have a lower temperature than the surrounding underground in order to collect heat energy. The steeper the thermal gradient, the more energy is transferred to the carrier fluid. The heat injection case works vice versa. For fast and sufficient heat extraction, even over long periods of heating (winter), it might become necessary to run the BHE with fluid temperatures below 0°C. As the heat pump runs periodically, a cyclic freezing of the pore water and corresponding ice-lens growth in the nearfield of the BHE pipes becomes possible. These so called freeze-thaw-cycles (FTC) are a critical state for the backfill material, as the sealing effect eventually decreases. From a hydrogeological point of view the vertical sealing of the BHE needs to be secured at any time (e.g. VDI 4640-2, Draft 2015). The vertical hydraulic conductivity of the BHE is influenced not only by the permeability of the grouting material itself, but by the contact area between BHE pipes and grout. In order to assess the sealing capacity of grouting materials a laboratory testing procedure was developed that measures the vertical hydraulic conductivity of the system BHE pipe and grout. The key features of the procedure are: • assessment of the systeḿs hydraulic conductivity • assessment of the systeḿs hydraulic conductivity after simulation of freeze-thaw-cycle • constant radial stress boundary conditions (sigma 2 = sigma 3 = constant) • radial freezing from inside out, following the in-situ freezing direction The results differ substantially from prior test procedures (such as standardized frost tests for concrete or soft soils). Concentric frost-induced cracking was observed. The cracking pattern is in good agreement with cryostatic suction processes and frost heave in fine grained soils. The hydraulic conductivity of the system depends on the composition of the grout. With the developed testing device (and procedure) a unified and independent assessment and quality control becomes feasible. Adequate materials for advanced shallow geothermal systems can be clearly identified.

Disrupted functional and structural networks in cognitively normal elderly subjects with the APOE ɛ4 allele.

PubMed

Chen, Yaojing; Chen, Kewei; Zhang, Junying; Li, Xin; Shu, Ni; Wang, Jun; Zhang, Zhanjun; Reiman, Eric M

2015-03-13

As the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ɛ4 allele is a major genetic risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD), which has been suggested as a disconnection syndrome manifested by the disruption of white matter (WM) integrity and functional connectivity (FC), elucidating the subtle brain structural and functional network changes in cognitively normal ɛ4 carriers is essential for identifying sensitive neuroimaging based biomarkers and understanding the preclinical AD-related abnormality development. We first constructed functional network on the basis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and a structural network on the basis of diffusion tensor image. Using global, local and nodal efficiencies of these two networks, we then examined (i) the differences of functional and WM structural network between cognitively normal ɛ4 carriers and non-carriers simultaneously, (ii) the sensitivity of these indices as biomarkers, and (iii) their relationship to behavior measurements, as well as to cholesterol level. For ɛ4 carriers, we found reduced global efficiency significantly in WM and marginally in FC, regional FC dysfunctions mainly in medial temporal areas, and more widespread for WM network. Importantly, the right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG.R) was the only region with simultaneous functional and structural damage, and the nodal efficiency of PHG.R in WM network mediates the APOE ɛ4 effect on memory function. Finally, the cholesterol level correlated with WM network differently than with the functional network in ɛ4 carriers. Our results demonstrated ɛ4-specific abnormal structural and functional patterns, which may potentially serve as biomarkers for early detection before the onset of the disease.

Versatile control of metal-assisted chemical etching for vertical silicon microwire arrays and their photovoltaic applications

PubMed Central

Um, Han-Don; Kim, Namwoo; Lee, Kangmin; Hwang, Inchan; Hoon Seo, Ji; Yu, Young J.; Duane, Peter; Wober, Munib; Seo, Kwanyong

2015-01-01

A systematic study was conducted into the use of metal-assisted chemical etching (MacEtch) to fabricate vertical Si microwire arrays, with several models being studied for the efficient redox reaction of reactants with silicon through a metal catalyst by varying such parameters as the thickness and morphology of the metal film. By optimizing the MacEtch conditions, high-quality vertical Si microwires were successfully fabricated with lengths of up to 23.2 μm, which, when applied in a solar cell, achieved a conversion efficiency of up to 13.0%. These solar cells also exhibited an open-circuit voltage of 547.7 mV, a short-circuit current density of 33.2 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 71.3% by virtue of the enhanced light absorption and effective carrier collection provided by the Si microwires. The use of MacEtch to fabricate high-quality Si microwires therefore presents a unique opportunity to develop cost-effective and highly efficient solar cells. PMID:26060095

H2 evolution at Si-based metal-insulator-semiconductor photoelectrodes enhanced by inversion channel charge collection and H spillover.

PubMed

Esposito, Daniel V; Levin, Igor; Moffat, Thomas P; Talin, A Alec

2013-06-01

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting represents a promising route for renewable production of hydrogen, but trade-offs between photoelectrode stability and efficiency have greatly limited the performance of PEC devices. In this work, we employ a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) photoelectrode architecture that allows for stable and efficient water splitting using narrow bandgap semiconductors. Substantial improvement in the performance of Si-based MIS photocathodes is demonstrated through a combination of a high-quality thermal SiO2 layer and the use of bilayer metal catalysts. Scanning probe techniques were used to simultaneously map the photovoltaic and catalytic properties of the MIS surface and reveal the spillover-assisted evolution of hydrogen off the SiO2 surface and lateral photovoltage driven minority carrier transport over distances that can exceed 2 cm. The latter finding is explained by the photo- and electrolyte-induced formation of an inversion channel immediately beneath the SiO2/Si interface. These findings have important implications for further development of MIS photoelectrodes and offer the possibility of highly efficient PEC water splitting.

Effects of sodium and potassium on the photovoltaic performance of CIGS solar cells

DOE PAGES

Raguse, John M.; Muzzillo, Christopher P.; Sites, James R.; ...

2016-11-17

Here, the deliberate introduction of K and Na into Cu(In, Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) absorbers was investigated by varying a combination of an SiO 2 diffusion barrier, coevaporation of KF with the CIGS absorber, and a KF postdeposition treatment (PDT). Devices made with no diffusion barrier and KF coevaporation treatment exhibited the highest photovoltaic conversion efficiency with the smallest overall distribution in key current density-voltage (J-V) performance metrics. Out-diffusion of Na and K from the substrate, KF coevaporation, and KF PDT all increased carrier concentration, open-circuit voltage, fill factor, and power conversion efficiency. Quantum-efficiency analysis of devices highlighted the greatest lossmore » in the short-circuit current density due to incomplete absorption and collection. Secondary ion mass spectrometry illustrated the efficacy of the SiO 2 film as a sodium and potassium diffusion barrier, as well as their relative concentration in the absorber. Introduction of KF appeared to enhance diffusion of Na from the substrate, in agreement with previous studies.« less

Microscopic observation of carrier-transport dynamics in quantum-structure solar cells using a time-of-flight technique

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Toprasertpong, Kasidit; Fujii, Hiromasa; Sugiyama, Masakazu

2015-07-27

In this study, we propose a carrier time-of-flight technique to evaluate the carrier transport time across a quantum structure in an active region of solar cells. By observing the time-resolved photoluminescence signal with a quantum-well probe inserted under the quantum structure at forward bias, the carrier transport time can be efficiently determined at room temperature. The averaged drift velocity shows linear dependence on the internal field, allowing us to estimate the quantum structure as a quasi-bulk material with low effective mobility containing the information of carrier dynamics. We show that this direct and real-time observation is more sensitive to carriermore » transport than other conventional techniques, providing better insights into microscopic carrier transport dynamics to overcome a device design difficulty.« less

14 CFR 158.53 - Collection compensation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) Collection, Handling, and Remittance of PFC's § 158.53 Collection compensation. (a) As compensation for collecting, handling, and remitting the PFC revenue, the collecting air carrier is entitled to: (1) $0.11 of each PFC collected. (2) Any interest or other investment...

14 CFR 158.53 - Collection compensation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

...) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) Collection, Handling, and Remittance of PFC's § 158.53 Collection compensation. (a) As compensation for collecting, handling, and remitting the PFC revenue, the collecting air carrier is entitled to: (1) $0.11 of each PFC collected. (2) Any interest or other investment...

14 CFR 158.53 - Collection compensation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) Collection, Handling, and Remittance of PFC's § 158.53 Collection compensation. (a) As compensation for collecting, handling, and remitting the PFC revenue, the collecting air carrier is entitled to: (1) $0.11 of each PFC collected. (2) Any interest or other investment...

14 CFR 158.53 - Collection compensation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

...) AIRPORTS PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFC'S) Collection, Handling, and Remittance of PFC's § 158.53 Collection compensation. (a) As compensation for collecting, handling, and remitting the PFC revenue, the collecting air carrier is entitled to: (1) $0.11 of each PFC collected. (2) Any interest or other investment...

A study on using fireclay as a biomass carrier in an activated sludge system.

PubMed

Tilaki, Ramazan Ali Dianati

2011-01-01

By adding a biomass carrier to an activated sludge system, the biomass concentration will increase, and subsequently the organic removal efficiency will be enhanced. In this study, the possibility of using excess sludge from ceramic and tile manufacturing plants as a biomass carrier was investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of using fireclay as a biomass carrier on biomass concentration, organic removal and nitrification efficiency in an activated sludge system. Experiments were conducted by using a bench scale activated sludge system operating in batch and continuous modes. Artificial simulated wastewater was made by using recirculated water in a ceramic manufacturing plant. In the continuous mode, hydraulic detention time in the aeration reactor was 8 and 22 h. In the batch mode, aeration time was 8 and 16 h. Fireclay doses were 500, 1,400 and 2,250 mg l(-1), and were added to the reactors in each experiment separately. The reactor with added fireclay was called a Hybrid Biological Reactor (HBR). A reactor without added fireclay was used as a control. Efficiency parameters such as COD, MLVSS and nitrate were measured in the control and HBR reactors according to standard methods. The average concentration of biomass in the HBR reactor was greater than in the control reactor. The total biomass concentration in the HBR reactor (2.25 g l(-1) fireclay) in the continuous mode was 3,000 mg l(-1) and in the batch mode was 2,400 mg l(-1). The attached biomass concentration in the HBR reactor (2.25 g l(-1) fireclay) in the continuous mode was 1,500 mg l(-1) and in the batch mode was 980 mg l(-1). Efficiency for COD removal in the HBR and control reactor was 95 and 55%, respectively. In the HBR reactor, nitrification was enhanced, and the concentration of nitrate was increased by 80%. By increasing the fireclay dose, total and attached biomass was increased. By adding fireclay as a biomass carrier, the efficiency of an activated sludge system to treat wastewater from ceramic manufacturing plants was increased.

Positively Charged Nanostructured Lipid Carriers and Their Effect on the Dissolution of Poorly Soluble Drugs.

PubMed

Choi, Kyeong-Ok; Choe, Jaehyeog; Suh, Seokjin; Ko, Sanghoon

2016-05-20

The objective of this study is to develop suitable formulations to improve the dissolution rate of poorly water soluble drugs. We selected lipid-based formulation as a drug carrier and modified the surface using positively charged chitosan derivative (HTCC) to increase its water solubility and bioavailability. Chitosan and HTCC-coated lipid particles had higher zeta-potential values than uncoated one over the whole pH ranges and improved encapsulation efficiency. In vitro drug release showed that all NLC formulations showed higher in vitro release efficiency than drug particle at pH 7.4. Furthermore, NLC formulation prepared with chitosan or HTCC represented good sustained release property. The results indicate that chitosan and HTCC can be excellent formulating excipients of lipid-based delivery carrier for improving poorly water soluble drug delivery.

Internal quantum efficiency and carrier dynamics in semipolar (2021) InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Okur, Serdal; Nami, Mohsen; Rishinaramangalam, Ashwin K.

Here, the internal quantum efficiencies (IQE) and carrier lifetimes of semipolar (more » $$20\\bar{2}$$$\\bar{1}$$) InGaN/GaN LEDs with different active regions are measured using temperature-dependent, carrier-density-dependent, and time-resolved photoluminescence. Three active regions are investigated: one 12-nm-thick single quantum well (SQW), two 6-nm-thick QWs, and three 4-nm-thick QWs. The IQE is highest for the 12-nm-thick SQW and decreases as the well width decreases. The radiative lifetimes are similar for all structures, while the nonradiative lifetimes decrease as the well width decreases. The superior IQE and longer nonradiative lifetime of the SQW structure suggests using thick SQW active regions for high brightness semipolar ($$20\\bar{2}$$$\\bar{1}$$) LEDs.« less

Internal quantum efficiency and carrier dynamics in semipolar (2021) InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes

DOE PAGES

Okur, Serdal; Nami, Mohsen; Rishinaramangalam, Ashwin K.; ...

2017-01-26

Here, the internal quantum efficiencies (IQE) and carrier lifetimes of semipolar (more » $$20\\bar{2}$$$\\bar{1}$$) InGaN/GaN LEDs with different active regions are measured using temperature-dependent, carrier-density-dependent, and time-resolved photoluminescence. Three active regions are investigated: one 12-nm-thick single quantum well (SQW), two 6-nm-thick QWs, and three 4-nm-thick QWs. The IQE is highest for the 12-nm-thick SQW and decreases as the well width decreases. The radiative lifetimes are similar for all structures, while the nonradiative lifetimes decrease as the well width decreases. The superior IQE and longer nonradiative lifetime of the SQW structure suggests using thick SQW active regions for high brightness semipolar ($$20\\bar{2}$$$\\bar{1}$$) LEDs.« less

Efficient, flexible and mechanically robust perovskite solar cells on inverted nanocone plastic substrates.

PubMed

Tavakoli, Mohammad Mahdi; Lin, Qingfeng; Leung, Siu-Fung; Lui, Ga Ching; Lu, Hao; Li, Liang; Xiang, Bin; Fan, Zhiyong

2016-02-21

Utilization of nanostructures on photovoltaic devices can significantly improve the device energy conversion efficiency by enhancing the device light harvesting capability as well as carrier collection efficiency. However, improvements in device mechanical robustness and reliability, particularly for flexible devices, have rarely been reported with in-depth understanding. In this work, we fabricated efficient, flexible and mechanically robust organometallic perovskite solar cells on plastic substrates with inverted nanocone (i-cone) structures. Compared with the reference cell that was fabricated on a flat substrate, it was shown that the device power conversion efficiency could be improved by 37%, and reached up to 11.29% on i-cone substrates. More interestingly, it was discovered that the performance of an i-cone device remained more than 90% of the initial value even after 200 mechanical bending cycles, which is remarkably better than for the flat reference device, which degraded down to only 60% in the same test. Our experiments, coupled with mechanical simulation, demonstrated that a nanostructured template can greatly help in relaxing stress and strain upon device bending, which suppresses crack nucleation in different layers of a perovskite solar cell. This essentially leads to much improved device reliability and robustness and will have significant impact on practical applications.

Achieving shared efficiencies through cooperative implementation : commercial vehicle electronic screening

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-01-01

This brochure discusses how electronic screening of commercial vehicles can aid both state agencies and motor carriers. Benefits include: enhancing enforcement, increasing operations efficiency reducing pollution levels, promotes economic viability a...

Achieving shared efficiencies through cooperative implementation : commercial vehicle electronic screening

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-01-01

This brochure discusses how electronic screening of commercial vehicles can aid both state agencies and motor carriers. Benefits include: enhancing enforcement, increasing operations efficiency reducing pollution levels, promoting economic viability ...

Enhanced planar perovskite solar cell efficiency and stability using a perovskite/PCBM heterojunction formed in one step.

PubMed

Zhou, Long; Chang, Jingjing; Liu, Ziye; Sun, Xu; Lin, Zhenhua; Chen, Dazheng; Zhang, Chunfu; Zhang, Jincheng; Hao, Yue

2018-02-08

Perovskite/PCBM heterojunctions are efficient for fabricating perovskite solar cells with high performance and long-term stability. In this study, an efficient perovskite/PCBM heterojunction was formed via conventional sequential deposition and one-step formation processes. Compared with conventional deposition, the one-step process was more facile, and produced a perovskite thin film of substantially improved quality due to fullerene passivation. Moreover, the resulting perovskite/PCBM heterojunction exhibited more efficient carrier transfer and extraction, and reduced carrier recombination. The perovskite solar cell device based on one-step perovskite/PCBM heterojunction formation exhibited a higher maximum PCE of 17.8% compared with that from the conventional method (13.7%). The device also showed exceptional stability, retaining 83% of initial PCE after 60 days of storage under ambient conditions.

Doping-enhanced radiative efficiency enables lasing in unpassivated GaAs nanowires

PubMed Central

Burgess, Tim; Saxena, Dhruv; Mokkapati, Sudha; Li, Zhe; Hall, Christopher R.; Davis, Jeffrey A.; Wang, Yuda; Smith, Leigh M.; Fu, Lan; Caroff, Philippe; Tan, Hark Hoe; Jagadish, Chennupati

2016-01-01

Nanolasers hold promise for applications including integrated photonics, on-chip optical interconnects and optical sensing. Key to the realization of current cavity designs is the use of nanomaterials combining high gain with high radiative efficiency. Until now, efforts to enhance the performance of semiconductor nanomaterials have focused on reducing the rate of non-radiative recombination through improvements to material quality and complex passivation schemes. Here we employ controlled impurity doping to increase the rate of radiative recombination. This unique approach enables us to improve the radiative efficiency of unpassivated GaAs nanowires by a factor of several hundred times while also increasing differential gain and reducing the transparency carrier density. In this way, we demonstrate lasing from a nanomaterial that combines high radiative efficiency with a picosecond carrier lifetime ready for high speed applications. PMID:27311597

Carrier transport and emission efficiency in InGaN quantum-dot based light-emitting diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barettin, Daniele; Auf der Maur, Matthias; di Carlo, Aldo; Pecchia, Alessandro; Tsatsulnikov, Andrei F.; Lundin, Wsevolod V.; Sakharov, Alexei V.; Nikolaev, Andrei E.; Korytov, Maxim; Cherkashin, Nikolay; Hÿtch, Martin J.; Karpov, Sergey Yu

2017-07-01

We present a study of blue III-nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with multiple quantum well (MQW) and quantum dot (QD) active regions (ARs), comparing experimental and theoretical results. The LED samples were grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy, utilizing growth interruption in the hydrogen/nitrogen atmosphere and variable reactor pressure to control the AR microstructure. Realistic configuration of the QD AR implied in simulations was directly extracted from HRTEM characterization of the grown QD-based structures. Multi-scale 2D simulations of the carrier transport inside the multiple QD AR have revealed a non-trivial pathway for carrier injection into the dots. Electrons and holes are found to penetrate deep into the multi-layer AR through the gaps between individual QDs and get into the dots via their side edges rather than via top and bottom interfaces. This enables a more homogeneous carrier distribution among the dots situated in different layers than among the laterally uniform quantum well (QWs) in the MQW AR. As a result, a lower turn-on voltage is predicted for QD-based LEDs, as compared to MQW ones. Simulations did not show any remarkable difference in the efficiencies of the MQW and QD-based LEDs, if the same recombination coefficients are utilized, i.e. a similar crystal quality of both types of LED structures is assumed. Measurements of the current-voltage characteristics of LEDs with both kinds of the AR have shown their close similarity, in contrast to theoretical predictions. This implies the conventional assumption of laterally uniform QWs not to be likely an adequate approximation for the carrier transport in MQW LED structures. Optical characterization of MQW and QD-based LEDs has demonstrated that the later ones exhibit a higher efficiency, which could be attributed to better crystal quality of the grown QD-based structures. The difference in the crystal quality explains the recently observed correlation between the growth pressure of LED structures and their efficiency and should be taken into account while further comparing performances of MQW and QD-based LEDs. In contrast to experimental results, our simulations did not reveal any advantages of using QD-based ARs over the MQW ones, if the same recombination constants are assumed for both cases. This fact demonstrates importance of accounting for growth-dependent factors, like crystal quality, which may limit the device performance. Nevertheless, a more uniform carrier injection into multi-layer QD ARs predicted by modeling may serve as the basis for further improvement of LED efficiency by lowering carrier density in individual QDs and, hence, suppressing the Auger recombination losses.

Carrier transport and emission efficiency in InGaN quantum-dot based light-emitting diodes.

PubMed

Barettin, Daniele; Auf der Maur, Matthias; di Carlo, Aldo; Pecchia, Alessandro; Tsatsulnikov, Andrei F; Lundin, Wsevolod V; Sakharov, Alexei V; Nikolaev, Andrei E; Korytov, Maxim; Cherkashin, Nikolay; Hÿtch, Martin J; Karpov, Sergey Yu

2017-07-07

We present a study of blue III-nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with multiple quantum well (MQW) and quantum dot (QD) active regions (ARs), comparing experimental and theoretical results. The LED samples were grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy, utilizing growth interruption in the hydrogen/nitrogen atmosphere and variable reactor pressure to control the AR microstructure. Realistic configuration of the QD AR implied in simulations was directly extracted from HRTEM characterization of the grown QD-based structures. Multi-scale 2D simulations of the carrier transport inside the multiple QD AR have revealed a non-trivial pathway for carrier injection into the dots. Electrons and holes are found to penetrate deep into the multi-layer AR through the gaps between individual QDs and get into the dots via their side edges rather than via top and bottom interfaces. This enables a more homogeneous carrier distribution among the dots situated in different layers than among the laterally uniform quantum well (QWs) in the MQW AR. As a result, a lower turn-on voltage is predicted for QD-based LEDs, as compared to MQW ones. Simulations did not show any remarkable difference in the efficiencies of the MQW and QD-based LEDs, if the same recombination coefficients are utilized, i.e. a similar crystal quality of both types of LED structures is assumed. Measurements of the current-voltage characteristics of LEDs with both kinds of the AR have shown their close similarity, in contrast to theoretical predictions. This implies the conventional assumption of laterally uniform QWs not to be likely an adequate approximation for the carrier transport in MQW LED structures. Optical characterization of MQW and QD-based LEDs has demonstrated that the later ones exhibit a higher efficiency, which could be attributed to better crystal quality of the grown QD-based structures. The difference in the crystal quality explains the recently observed correlation between the growth pressure of LED structures and their efficiency and should be taken into account while further comparing performances of MQW and QD-based LEDs. In contrast to experimental results, our simulations did not reveal any advantages of using QD-based ARs over the MQW ones, if the same recombination constants are assumed for both cases. This fact demonstrates importance of accounting for growth-dependent factors, like crystal quality, which may limit the device performance. Nevertheless, a more uniform carrier injection into multi-layer QD ARs predicted by modeling may serve as the basis for further improvement of LED efficiency by lowering carrier density in individual QDs and, hence, suppressing the Auger recombination losses.

Hot carrier-assisted intrinsic photoresponse in graphene.

PubMed

Gabor, Nathaniel M; Song, Justin C W; Ma, Qiong; Nair, Nityan L; Taychatanapat, Thiti; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Levitov, Leonid S; Jarillo-Herrero, Pablo

2011-11-04

We report on the intrinsic optoelectronic response of high-quality dual-gated monolayer and bilayer graphene p-n junction devices. Local laser excitation (of wavelength 850 nanometers) at the p-n interface leads to striking six-fold photovoltage patterns as a function of bottom- and top-gate voltages. These patterns, together with the measured spatial and density dependence of the photoresponse, provide strong evidence that nonlocal hot carrier transport, rather than the photovoltaic effect, dominates the intrinsic photoresponse in graphene. This regime, which features a long-lived and spatially distributed hot carrier population, may offer a path to hot carrier-assisted thermoelectric technologies for efficient solar energy harvesting.

A Novel Conductive Mesoporous Layer with a Dynamic Two-Step Deposition Strategy Boosts Efficiency of Perovskite Solar Cells to 20.

PubMed

Sun, Haoxuan; Deng, Kaimo; Zhu, Yayun; Liao, Min; Xiong, Jie; Li, Yanrong; Li, Liang

2018-05-22

Lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with the high power conversion efficiency (PCE) typically use mesoporous metal oxide nanoparticles as the scaffold and electron-transport layers. However, the traditional mesoporous layer suffers from low electron conductivity and severe carrier recombination. Here, antimony-doped tin oxide nanorod arrays are proposed as novel transparent conductive mesoporous layers in PSCs. Such a mesoporous layer improves the electron transport as well as light utilization. To resolve the common problem of uneven growth of perovskite on rough surface, the dynamic two-step spin coating strategy is proposed to prepare highly smooth, dense, and crystallized perovskite films with micrometer-scale grains, largely reducing the carrier recombination ratio. The conductive mesoporous layer and high-quality perovskite film eventually render the PSC with a remarkable PCE of 20.1% with excellent reproducibility. These findings provide a new avenue to further design high-efficiency PSCs from the aspect of carrier transport and recombination. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Efficient Carrier Multiplication in Colloidal Silicon Nanorods

DOE PAGES

Stolle, Carl Jackson; Lu, Xiaotang; Yu, Yixuan; ...

2017-08-01

In this study, auger recombination lifetimes, absorption cross sections, and the quantum yields of carrier multiplication (CM), or multiexciton generation (MEG), were determined for solvent-dispersed silicon (Si) nanorods using transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS). Nanorods with an average diameter of 7.5 nm and aspect ratios of 6.1, 19.3, and 33.2 were examined. Colloidal Si nanocrystals of similar diameters were also studied for comparison. The nanocrystals and nanorods were passivated with organic ligands by hydrosilylation to prevent surface oxidation and limit the effects of surface trapping of photoexcited carriers. All samples used in the study exhibited relatively efficient photoluminescence. The Auger lifetimesmore » increased with nanorod length, and the nanorods exhibited higher CM quantum yield and efficiency than the nanocrystals with a similar band gap energy E g. Beyond a critical length, the CM quantum yield decreases. Finally, nanorods with the aspect ratio of 19.3 had the highest CM quantum yield of 1.6 ± 0.2 at 2.9E g, which corresponded to a multiexciton yield that was twice as high as observed for the spherical nanocrystals.« less

42 CFR 421.205 - Termination by the Secretary.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... for termination. The Secretary may terminate a contract with a carrier at any time if he or she... performed its function in a manner inconsistent with the effective and efficient administration of the... intent to terminate the contract, the carrier may request a hearing within 20 days after the date on the...

Comparison of CDMA and FDMA for the MobileStar(sm) system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jacobs, I. M.; Gilhousen, K. S.; Weaver, L. A.; Renshaw, K.; Murphy, T.

1988-01-01

Spread-spectrum code division multiple access (CDMA) and single channel per carrier frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems are compared for spectrum efficiency. CDMA is shown to have greater maximum throughput than FDMA for the MobileStar(sm) system which uses digital voice activated carriers and directive circularly polarized satellite antennas.

Intermodal airport-to-city-center passenger transportation at the 20 largest U.S. air carrier airports : the past, present, and future

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-01-01

The 20 largest U.S. air carrier airports handle close to 60 percent of all the passengers enplaned in the United States. While the intra-airport movement of these passengers has become more efficient in recent years, the most difficult and challengin...

37 CFR 360.15 - Separate claims required.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... SUBMISSION OF ROYALTY CLAIMS FILING OF CLAIMS TO ROYALTY FEES COLLECTED UNDER COMPULSORY LICENSE Satellite... license and satellite carrier compulsory license royalty fees during the same month of July, that party... both cable and satellite carrier royalty fees will be dismissed. ...

Feelings Associated with Being a Carrier and Characteristics of Reproductive Decision Making in Women Known to Be Carriers of X-linked Conditions.

PubMed

Kay, Elizabeth; Kingston, Helen

2002-03-01

Qualitative data were collected from 14 women known to be carriers of an X-linked condition associated with 'serious' disability on feelings about being a carrier and impact on reproductive decisions. Guilt and responsibility were commonly expressed by carriers about issues surrounding pregnancy. Personal experience of the condition influenced their approach to reproductive decisions. Those who had lived with an affected brother were more concrete in their decisions to avoid having an affected child compared to those with less personal experience of the condition. It is concluded that feelings of guilt associated with difficult reproductive decisions are reflected in the strong sense of responsibility attached to being a carrier. Personal experience of the condition has a clear influence on reproductive decisions of X-linked carriers.

Resonant tunneling diodes as energy-selective contacts used in hot-carrier solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Takeda, Yasuhiko, E-mail: takeda@mosk.tytlabs.co.jp; Sugimoto, Noriaki; Ichiki, Akihisa

2015-09-28

Among the four features unique to hot-carrier solar cells (HC-SCs): (i) carrier thermalization time and (ii) carrier equilibration time in the absorber, (iii) energy-selection width and (iv) conductance of the energy-selective contacts (ESCs), requisites of (i)-(iii) for high conversion efficiency have been clarified. We have tackled the remaining issues related to (iv) in the present study. The detailed balance model of HC-SC operation has been improved to involve a finite value of the ESC conductance to find the required values, which in turn has been revealed to be feasible using resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) consisting of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs)more » and quantum wells (QWs) by means of a formulation to calculate the conductance of the QD- and QW-RTDs derived using the rigorous solutions of the effective-mass Hamiltonians. Thus, all of the four requisites unique to HC-SCs to achieve high conversion efficiency have been elucidated, and the two requisites related to the ESCs can be fulfilled using the QD- and QW-RTDs.« less

Slow cooling and efficient extraction of C-exciton hot carriers in MoS2 monolayer

PubMed Central

Wang, Lei; Wang, Zhuo; Wang, Hai-Yu; Grinblat, Gustavo; Huang, Yu-Li; Wang, Dan; Ye, Xiao-Hui; Li, Xian-Bin; Bao, Qiaoliang; Wee, AndrewThye-Shen; Maier, Stefan A; Chen, Qi-Dai; Zhong, Min-Lin; Qiu, Cheng-Wei; Sun, Hong-Bo

2017-01-01

In emerging optoelectronic applications, such as water photolysis, exciton fission and novel photovoltaics involving low-dimensional nanomaterials, hot-carrier relaxation and extraction mechanisms play an indispensable and intriguing role in their photo-electron conversion processes. Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides have attracted much attention in above fields recently; however, insight into the relaxation mechanism of hot electron-hole pairs in the band nesting region denoted as C-excitons, remains elusive. Using MoS2 monolayers as a model two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide system, here we report a slower hot-carrier cooling for C-excitons, in comparison with band-edge excitons. We deduce that this effect arises from the favourable band alignment and transient excited-state Coulomb environment, rather than solely on quantum confinement in two-dimension systems. We identify the screening-sensitive bandgap renormalization for MoS2 monolayer/graphene heterostructures, and confirm the initial hot-carrier extraction for the C-exciton state with an unprecedented efficiency of 80%, accompanied by a twofold reduction in the exciton binding energy. PMID:28054546

Micelle-like Nanoparticles as Carriers for DNA and siRNA

PubMed Central

Navarro, Gemma; Pan, Jiayi; Torchilin, Vladimir P.

2015-01-01

Gene therapy represents a potential efficient approach of disease prevention and therapy. However, due to their poor in vivo stability, gene molecules need to be associated with delivery systems to overcome extracellular and intracellular barriers and allow access to the site of action. Cationic polymeric nanoparticles are popular carriers for small interfering RNA (siRNA) and DNA-based therapeutics for which efficient and safe delivery are important factors that need to be optimized. Micelle-like nanoparticles (MNP) (half micelles, half polymeric nanoparticles) can overcome some of the disadvantages of such cationic carriers by unifying in one single carrier the best of both delivery systems. In this review, we will discuss how the unique properties of MNP including self-assembly, condensation and protection of nucleic acids, improved cell association and gene transfection, and low toxicity may contribute to the successful application of siRNA- and DNA-based therapeutics into the clinic. Recent developments of MNP involving the addition of stimulus-sensitive functions to respond specifically to pathological or externally applied “triggers” (e.g., temperature, pH or enzymatic catalysis, light, or magnetic fields) will be discussed. Finally, we will overview the use of MNP as two-in-one carriers for the simultaneous delivery of different agents (small molecules, imaging agents) and nucleic acid combinations. PMID:25557580

Nano-biomimetic carriers are implicated in mechanistic evaluation of intracellular gene delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alipour, Mohsen; Hosseinkhani, Saman; Sheikhnejad, Reza; Cheraghi, Roya

2017-01-01

Several tissue specific non-viral carriers have been developed for gene delivery purposes. However, the inability to escape endosomes, undermines the efficacy of these carriers. Researchers inspired by HIV and influenza virus, have randomly used Gp41 and H5WYG fusogenic peptides in several gene delivery systems without any rational preference. Here for the first time, we have genetically engineered two Nano-biomimetic carriers composed of either HWYG (HNH) or Gp41 (GNH) that precisely provide identical conditions for the study and evaluation of these fusogenic peptides. The luciferase assay demonstrated a two-fold higher transfection efficiency of HNH compared to GNH. These nanocarriers also displayed equivalent properties in terms of DNA binding ability and DNA protection against serum nucleases and formed similar nanoparticles in terms of surface charge and size. Interestingly, hemolysis and cellular analysis demonstrated both of nanoparticles internalized into cells in similar rate and escaped from endosome with different efficiency. Furthermore, the structural analysis revealed the mechanisms responsible for the superior endosomal escaping capability of H5WYG. In conclusion, this study describes the rationale for using H5WYG peptide to deliver nucleic acids and suggests that using nano-biomimetic carriers to screen different endosomal release peptides, improves gene delivery significantly.

Box-Behnken study design for optimization of bicalutamide-loaded nanostructured lipid carrier: stability assessment.

PubMed

Kudarha, Ritu; Dhas, Namdev L; Pandey, Abhijeet; Belgamwar, Veena S; Ige, Pradum P

2015-01-01

Bicalutamide (BCM) is an anti-androgen drug used to treat prostate cancer. In this study, nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) were chosen as a carrier for delivery of BCM using Box-Behnken (BB) design for optimizing various quality attributes such as particle size and entrapment efficiency which is very critical for efficient drug delivery and high therapeutic efficacy. Stability of formulated NLCs was assessed with respect to storage stability, pH stability, hemolysis, protein stability, serum protein stability and accelerated stability. Hot high-pressure homogenizer was utilized for formulation of BCM-loaded NLCs. In BB response surface methodology, total lipid, % liquid lipid and % soya lecithin was selected as independent variable and particle size and %EE as dependent variables. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was done for morphological study of NLCs. Differential scanning calorimeter and X-ray diffraction study were used to study crystalline and amorphous behavior. Analysis of design space showed that process was robust with the particle size less than 200 nm and EE up to 78%. Results of stability studies showed stability of carrier in various storage conditions and in different pH condition. From all the above study, it can be concluded that NLCs may be suitable carrier for the delivery of BCM with respect to stability and quality attributes.

A novel grating-imaging method to measure carrier diffusion coefficient in graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ke; Wang, Yaguo; Akinwande, Deji; Bank, Seth; Lin, Jung-Fu

Similar to carrier mobility, carrier diffusion coefficient in graphene determines the response rate of future graphene-based electronics. Here we present a simple, sensitive and non-destructive technique integrated with ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy to measure carrier diffusion in CVD-grown graphene. In the method, the pump and the probe beams pass through the same area of a photomask with metal strips i.e. a transmission amplitude grating, and get diffracted. The diffracted light is collected by an objective lens and focused onto the sample to generate carrier density grating. Relaxation of this carrier density grating is governed by both carrier recombination and carrier diffusion in the sample. Transient transmission change of the probe beams, which reflects this relaxation process, is recorded. The measured diffusion coefficients of multilayer and monolayer CVD-grown graphene are 2000cm2/s and 10000cm2/s, respectively, comparable with the reported values of epitaxial graphene and reduced graphene. This transmission grating technique can be used to measure carrier dynamics in versatile 2D materials.

Frequency Dependent Harmonic Powers in a Modified Uni-Traveling Carrier (MUTC) Photodetector

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-27

Naval Research Laboratory Washington, DC 20375-5320 NRL/MR/5651--17-9712 Frequency Dependent Harmonic Powers in a Modified Uni- Traveling Carrier...burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing...Modified Uni- Traveling Carrier (MUTC) Photodetector Yue Hu,* Meredith N. Hutchinson, and Curtis R. Menyuk* Naval Research Laboratory 4555 Overlook

Supported black phosphorus nanosheets as hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst achieving 5.4% energy conversion efficiency at 353 K.

PubMed

Tian, Bin; Tian, Bining; Smith, Bethany; Scott, M C; Hua, Ruinian; Lei, Qin; Tian, Yue

2018-04-11

Solar-driven water splitting using powdered catalysts is considered as the most economical means for hydrogen generation. However, four-electron-driven oxidation half-reaction showing slow kinetics, accompanying with insufficient light absorption and rapid carrier combination in photocatalysts leads to low solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency. Here, we report amorphous cobalt phosphide (Co-P)-supported black phosphorus nanosheets employed as photocatalysts can simultaneously address these issues. The nanosheets exhibit robust hydrogen evolution from pure water (pH = 6.8) without bias and hole scavengers, achieving an apparent quantum efficiency of 42.55% at 430 nm and energy conversion efficiency of over 5.4% at 353 K. This photocatalytic activity is attributed to extremely efficient utilization of solar energy (~75% of solar energy) by black phosphorus nanosheets and high-carrier separation efficiency by amorphous Co-P. The hybrid material design realizes efficient solar-to-chemical energy conversion in suspension, demonstrating the potential of black phosphorus-based materials as catalysts for solar hydrogen production.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tong, Tao; Letoquin, Ronan; Keller, Bernd

An LED lamp or bulb is disclosed that comprises a light source, a heat sink structure and a remote planar phosphor carrier having at least one conversion material. The phosphor carrier can be remote to the light sources and mounted to the heat sink so that heat from the phosphor carrier spreads into the heat sink. The phosphor carrier can comprise a thermally conductive transparent material and a phosphor layer, with an LED based light source mounted to the heat sink such that light from the light source passes through the phosphor carrier. At least some of the LED lightmore » is converted by the phosphor carrier, with some lamp embodiments emitting a white light combination of LED and phosphor light. The phosphor arranged according to the present invention can operate at lower temperature to thereby operate at greater phosphor conversion efficiency and with reduced heat related damage to the phosphor.« less

Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Loaded with Baicalin: An Efficient Carrier for Enhanced Antidiabetic Effects

PubMed Central

Shi, Feng; Wei, Zheng; Zhao, Yingying; Xu, Ximing

2016-01-01

Context: Recent studies have demonstrated that baicalin has antihyperglycemic effects by inhibiting lipid peroxidation. Baicalin is low hydrophilic and poorly absorbed after oral administration. Thus, a suitable formulation is highly desired to overcome the disadvantages of baicalin. Objective: The objective of this work was to prepare baicalin-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (B-NLCs) for enhanced antidiabetic effects. Materials and Methods: B-NLCs were prepared by high-pressure homogenization method using Precirol as the solid lipid and Miglyol as the liquid lipid. The properties of the NLCs, such as particle size, zeta potential (ZP), and drug encapsulation efficiency (EE), were investigated. The morphology of NLCs was observed by transmission electron microscopy. In addition, drug release and antidiabetic activity were also studied. Results: The results revealed that B-NLCs particles were uniformly in the nanosize range and of spherical morphology with a mean size of 92 ± 3.1 nm, a ZP of −31.35 ± 3.08 mV, and an EE of 85.29 ± 3.42%. Baicalin was released from NLCs in a sustained manner. In addition, B-NLCs showed a significantly higher antidiabetic efficacy compared with baicalin. Conclusion: B-NLCs described in this study are well-suited for the delivery of baicalin. SUMMARY Currently, herbal medicines have attracted increasing attention as a complementary approach for type 2 diabetesBaicalin has antihyperglycemic effects by inhibiting lipid peroxidationA suitable formulation is highly desired to overcome the disadvantages (poor solubility and low bioavailability) of baicalinNanostructured lipid carriers could enhance the antidiabetic effects of baicalin. Abbreviations used: B-NLCs: Baicalin-Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers, B-SUS: Baicalin Water Suspension, EE: Encapsulation Efficiency, FBG: Fasting Blood Glucose, HbAlc: Glycosylated Hemoglobin, HPLC: High-performance Liquid Chromatography; NLCs: Nanostructured Lipid Carriers, PI: Polydispersity Index, SD: Sprague-Dawley, SLNs: Solid lipid nanoparticles, STZ: Streptozotocin, TC: Total cholesterol, TEM: Transmission Electron Microscope, TG: Total Triglyceride, ZP: Zeta Potential. PMID:27601850

Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Loaded with Baicalin: An Efficient Carrier for Enhanced Antidiabetic Effects.

PubMed

Shi, Feng; Wei, Zheng; Zhao, Yingying; Xu, Ximing

2016-01-01

Recent studies have demonstrated that baicalin has antihyperglycemic effects by inhibiting lipid peroxidation. Baicalin is low hydrophilic and poorly absorbed after oral administration. Thus, a suitable formulation is highly desired to overcome the disadvantages of baicalin. The objective of this work was to prepare baicalin-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (B-NLCs) for enhanced antidiabetic effects. B-NLCs were prepared by high-pressure homogenization method using Precirol as the solid lipid and Miglyol as the liquid lipid. The properties of the NLCs, such as particle size, zeta potential (ZP), and drug encapsulation efficiency (EE), were investigated. The morphology of NLCs was observed by transmission electron microscopy. In addition, drug release and antidiabetic activity were also studied. The results revealed that B-NLCs particles were uniformly in the nanosize range and of spherical morphology with a mean size of 92 ± 3.1 nm, a ZP of -31.35 ± 3.08 mV, and an EE of 85.29 ± 3.42%. Baicalin was released from NLCs in a sustained manner. In addition, B-NLCs showed a significantly higher antidiabetic efficacy compared with baicalin. B-NLCs described in this study are well-suited for the delivery of baicalin. Currently, herbal medicines have attracted increasing attention as a complementary approach for type 2 diabetesBaicalin has antihyperglycemic effects by inhibiting lipid peroxidationA suitable formulation is highly desired to overcome the disadvantages (poor solubility and low bioavailability) of baicalinNanostructured lipid carriers could enhance the antidiabetic effects of baicalin. Abbreviations used: B-NLCs: Baicalin-Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers, B-SUS: Baicalin Water Suspension, EE: Encapsulation Efficiency, FBG: Fasting Blood Glucose, HbAlc: Glycosylated Hemoglobin, HPLC: High-performance Liquid Chromatography; NLCs: Nanostructured Lipid Carriers, PI: Polydispersity Index, SD: Sprague-Dawley, SLNs: Solid lipid nanoparticles, STZ: Streptozotocin, TC: Total cholesterol, TEM: Transmission Electron Microscope, TG: Total Triglyceride, ZP: Zeta Potential.

Standardized system for quantifying residual dirt on medical appliances cleansed in hospital washers--disinfectors: dirt detection by different methods.

PubMed

Sigler, K; Gásková, D; Chládková, K; Knebl, R; Wimmer, T; Vacata, V; Gebel, J

2003-01-01

An easy-to construct, easy-to-operate standardized system was developed for determining the residual biological contamination of surgical instruments, endoscopes and other medical appliances subjected to hospital cleansing and/or disinfection. It consists of standard-sized pieces of glass, metal or endoscope plastic--dirt carriers--either bare or enclosed in truncated Eppendorf caps to simulate hard-to-access conditions. The surface of the carriers is covered with model dirt simulating biological contamination and the carriers are then affixed to sturdy metal holders. Conventional model dirt were found to peel or flake off the carrier surface, lowering the precision of residual soil determination. A newly developed model dirt consisting of liver mash, lactose and sunflower oil and exhibiting low tendency to peel off surfaces was therefore used. The whole setup was subjected to chemical or enzymic cleansing programs at elevated temperature in hospital washer-disinfectors of two types, and the residual dirt after cleansing was determined by three methods. The method using toxicant-doped dirt that quenches the luminescence of an indicator bacterium Photobacterium phosphoreum gave satisfactory data under laboratory conditions but with hospital-washed samples it exhibited excessive fluctuations caused by bacterium--dirt interactions and by physical influences. Both other methods gave better results but displayed some process sensitivity. The luciferin-luciferase-based ATP bioluminescence assay sometimes gave low or even negative dirt level values and showed a low effect of reduced dirt accessibility on cleansing of metal carriers. The Bradford protein assay showed about equal cleansing efficiency for both easily and poorly accessible carriers after enzymic cleansing. Our system can be used for determining low levels of residual contamination of medical appliances after cleansing/disinfection and assessing the efficiency of commercial washer-disinfectors; its efficiency can be further increased by using a cleansing process-insensitive method for soil detection and quantification.

Recent developments in anticancer drug delivery using cell penetrating and tumor targeting peptides.

PubMed

Dissanayake, Shama; Denny, William A; Gamage, Swarna; Sarojini, Vijayalekshmi

2017-03-28

Efficient intracellular trafficking and targeted delivery to the site of action are essential to overcome the current drawbacks of cancer therapeutics. Cell Penetrating Peptides (CPPs) offer the possibility of efficient intracellular trafficking, and, therefore the development of drug delivery systems using CPPs as cargo carriers is an attractive strategy to address the current drawbacks of cancer therapeutics. Additionally, the possibility of incorporating Tumor Targeting Peptides (TTPs) into the delivery system provides the necessary drug targeting effect. Therefore the conjugation of CPPs and/or TTPs with therapeutics provides a potentially efficient method of improving intracellular drug delivery mechanisms. Peptides used as cargo carriers in DDS have been shown to enhance the cellular uptake of drugs and thereby provide an efficient therapeutic benefit over the drug on its own. After providing a brief overview of various drug targeting approaches, this review focusses on peptides as carriers and targeting moieties in drug-peptide covalent conjugates and summarizes the most recent literature examples where CPPs on their own or CPPs together with TTPs have been conjugated to anticancer drugs such as Doxorubicin, Methotrexate, Paclitaxel, Chlorambucil etc. A short section on CPPs used in multicomponent drug delivery systems is also included. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The influence of random indium alloy fluctuations in indium gallium nitride quantum wells on the device behavior

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Tsung-Jui; Wu, Yuh-Renn, E-mail: yrwu@ntu.edu.tw; Shivaraman, Ravi

2014-09-21

In this paper, we describe the influence of the intrinsic indium fluctuation in the InGaN quantum wells on the carrier transport, efficiency droop, and emission spectrum in GaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs). Both real and randomly generated indium fluctuations were used in 3D simulations and compared to quantum wells with a uniform indium distribution. We found that without further hypothesis the simulations of electrical and optical properties in LEDs such as carrier transport, radiative and Auger recombination, and efficiency droop are greatly improved by considering natural nanoscale indium fluctuations.

Measurement of N-Type 6H SiC Minority-Carrier Diffusion Lengths by Electron Bombardment of Schottky Barriers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hubbard, S. M.; Tabib-Azar, M.; Balley, S.; Rybickid, G.; Neudeck, P.; Raffaelle, R.

2004-01-01

Minority-Carrier diffusion lengths of n-type 6H-SiC were measured using the electron-beam induced current (EBIC) technique. Experimental values of primary beam current, EBIC, and beam voltage were obtained for a variety of SIC samples. This data was used to calculate experimental diode efficiency vs. beam voltage curves. These curves were fit to theoretically calculated efficiency curves, and the diffusion length and metal layer thickness were extracted. The hole diffusion length in n-6H SiC ranged from 0.93 +/- 0.15 microns.

Quantitative experimental assessment of hot carrier-enhanced solar cells at room temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Dac-Trung; Lombez, Laurent; Gibelli, François; Boyer-Richard, Soline; Le Corre, Alain; Durand, Olivier; Guillemoles, Jean-François

2018-03-01

In common photovoltaic devices, the part of the incident energy above the absorption threshold quickly ends up as heat, which limits their maximum achievable efficiency to far below the thermodynamic limit for solar energy conversion. Conversely, the conversion of the excess kinetic energy of the photogenerated carriers into additional free energy would be sufficient to approach the thermodynamic limit. This is the principle of hot carrier devices. Unfortunately, such device operation in conditions relevant for utilization has never been evidenced. Here, we show that the quantitative thermodynamic study of the hot carrier population, with luminance measurements, allows us to discuss the hot carrier contribution to the solar cell performance. We demonstrate that the voltage and current can be enhanced in a semiconductor heterostructure due to the presence of the hot carrier population in a single InGaAsP quantum well at room temperature. These experimental results substantiate the potential of increasing photovoltaic performances in the hot carrier regime.

Accurate radiation temperature and chemical potential from quantitative photoluminescence analysis of hot carrier populations.

PubMed

Gibelli, François; Lombez, Laurent; Guillemoles, Jean-François

2017-02-15

In order to characterize hot carrier populations in semiconductors, photoluminescence measurement is a convenient tool, enabling us to probe the carrier thermodynamical properties in a contactless way. However, the analysis of the photoluminescence spectra is based on some assumptions which will be discussed in this work. We especially emphasize the importance of the variation of the material absorptivity that should be considered to access accurate thermodynamical properties of the carriers, especially by varying the excitation power. The proposed method enables us to obtain more accurate results of thermodynamical properties by taking into account a rigorous physical description and finds direct application in investigating hot carrier solar cells, which are an adequate concept for achieving high conversion efficiencies with a relatively simple device architecture.

77 FR 22630 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-16

... one of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov . Follow the... templates for use by U.S. airports); 30.5 hours for U.S. carriers (Average of 30 minutes per U.S. carrier to...

77 FR 18304 - Agency Information Collection; Activity Under OMB Review; Report of Financial and Operating...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-27

... Operating Statistics for Large Certificated Air Carriers AGENCY: Research & Innovative Technology... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Research & Innovative Technology Administration [Docket ID Number... Operating Statistics for Large Certificated Air Carriers. Form No.: BTS Form 41. Type Of Review...

Cylindrical Organic Solar Cells with Carbon Nanotube Charge Collectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakhidov, Dante; Lou, Raymond; Ravi, Nav; Mielczarek, Kamil; Cook, Alexander

2009-10-01

Traditional organic photovoltaic devices (OPV) are built on a flat glass substrates coated by ITO. The maximum area covered by the solar cells is limited to a two dimensional plane. Moreover the light absorption is not maximized for a very thin photoactive layer. We suggest here a cylindrical design which has a vertical structure of optical fiber coated by OPV, with light incident from the side and from edge. The sunlight, entering via a smaller area is captured into optical fiber, which allows more sunlight to be absorbed by a cylindrical OPV overcoating with multiple reflections inside the optical fiber. Instead of using brittle ITO as a hole collecting layer in the cylindrical OPV, transparent sheets of multi-walled carbon nanotubes are applied. Their highly conductive nature and 3-D collection of carriers from the P3HT/PCBM photoactive layer allows for increased efficiency over a planar geometry while keeping the device transparent. Aluminum is used as the electron collecting layer and as a cylindrical mirror. [4pt] [1] Ulbricht, et.al, phys. stat. sol. (b) 243, No. 13, 3528 - 3532 (2006) / DOI 10.1002/pssb.200669181

Microfluidic distillation chip for methanol concentration detection.

PubMed

Wang, Yao-Nan; Liu, Chan-Chiung; Yang, Ruey-Jen; Ju, Wei-Jhong; Fu, Lung-Ming

2016-03-17

An integrated microfluidic distillation system is proposed for separating a mixed ethanol-methanol-water solution into its constituent components. The microfluidic chip is fabricated using a CO2 laser system and comprises a serpentine channel, a boiling zone, a heating zone, and a cooled collection chamber filled with de-ionized (DI) water. In the proposed device, the ethanol-methanol-water solution is injected into the microfluidic chip and driven through the serpentine channel and into the collection chamber by means of a nitrogen carrier gas. Following the distillation process, the ethanol-methanol vapor flows into the collection chamber and condenses into the DI water. The resulting solution is removed from the collection tank and reacted with a mixed indicator. Finally, the methanol concentration is inversely derived from the absorbance measurements obtained using a spectrophotometer. The experimental results show the proposed microfluidic system achieves an average methanol distillation efficiency of 97%. The practicality of the proposed device is demonstrated by detecting the methanol concentrations of two commercial fruit wines. It is shown that the measured concentration values deviate by no more than 3% from those obtained using a conventional bench top system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Useful Life Prediction for Payload Carrier Hardware

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ben-Arieh, David

2002-01-01

The Space Shuttle has been identified for use through 2020. Payload carrier systems will be needed to support missions through the same time frame. To support the future decision making process with reliable systems, it is necessary to analyze design integrity, identify possible sources of undesirable risk and recognize required upgrades for carrier systems. This project analyzed the information available regarding the carriers and developed the probability of becoming obsolete under different scenarios. In addition, this project resulted in a plan for an improved information system that will improve monitoring and control of the various carriers. The information collected throughout this project is presented in this report as process flow, historical records, and statistical analysis.

Microscopic origins of the terahertz carrier relaxation and cooling dynamics in graphene

PubMed Central

Mihnev, Momchil T.; Kadi, Faris; Divin, Charles J.; Winzer, Torben; Lee, Seunghyun; Liu, Che-Hung; Zhong, Zhaohui; Berger, Claire; de Heer, Walt A.; Malic, Ermin; Knorr, Andreas; Norris, Theodore B.

2016-01-01

The ultrafast dynamics of hot carriers in graphene are key to both understanding of fundamental carrier–carrier interactions and carrier–phonon relaxation processes in two-dimensional materials, and understanding of the physics underlying novel high-speed electronic and optoelectronic devices. Many recent experiments on hot carriers using terahertz spectroscopy and related techniques have interpreted the variety of observed signals within phenomenological frameworks, and sometimes invoke extrinsic effects such as disorder. Here, we present an integrated experimental and theoretical programme, using ultrafast time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy combined with microscopic modelling, to systematically investigate the hot-carrier dynamics in a wide array of graphene samples having varying amounts of disorder and with either high or low doping levels. The theory reproduces the observed dynamics quantitatively without the need to invoke any fitting parameters, phenomenological models or extrinsic effects such as disorder. We demonstrate that the dynamics are dominated by the combined effect of efficient carrier–carrier scattering, which maintains a thermalized carrier distribution, and carrier–optical–phonon scattering, which removes energy from the carrier liquid. PMID:27221060

Identification of carriers among individuals recruited in the typhoid registry in Malaysia using stool culture, polymerase chain reaction, and dot enzyme immunoassay as detection tools.

PubMed

Chua, Ang Lim; Aziah, Ismail; Balaram, Prabha; Bhuvanendran, Saatheeyavaane; Anthony, Amy Amilda; Mohmad, Siti Norazura; Nasir, Norhafiza M; Hassan, Haslizai; Naim, Rochman; Meran, Lila P; Hussin, Hani M; Ismail, Asma

2015-03-01

Chronic carriers of Salmonella Typhi act as reservoirs for the organism and become the agents of typhoid outbreaks in a community. In this study, chronic carriers in Kelantan, Malaysia were first identified using the culture and polymerase chain reaction method. Then, a novel serological tool, designated Typhidot-C, was evaluated in retrospect using the detected individuals as control positives. Chronic carriage positive by the culture and polymerase chain reaction method was recorded at 3.6% (4 out of 110) among individuals who previously had acute typhoid fever and a 9.4% (10 out of 106) carriage rate was observed among food handlers screened during outbreaks. The Typhidot-C assay was able to detect all these positive carriers showing its potential as a viable carrier screening tool and can be used for efficient detection of typhoid carriers in an endemic area. These findings were used to establish the first carrier registry for S Typhi carriers in Malaysia. © 2012 APJPH.

Variation of the external quantum efficiency with temperature and current density in red, blue, and deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Park, Jun Hyuk; Lee, Jong Won; Kim, Dong Yeong

The temperature-dependent external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) were investigated for a 620 nm AlGaInP red light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a 450 nm GaInN blue LED, and a 285 nm AlGaN deep-ultraviolet (DUV) LED. We observed distinct differences in the variation of the EQE with temperature and current density for the three types of LEDs. Whereas the EQE of the AlGaInP red LED increases as temperature decreases below room temperature, the EQEs of GaInN blue and AlGaN DUV LEDs decrease for the same change in temperature in a low-current density regime. The free carrier concentration, as determined from the dopant ionization energy, shows a strong material-system-specificmore » dependence, leading to different degrees of asymmetry in carrier concentration for the three types of LEDs. We attribute the EQE variation of the red, blue, and DUV LEDs to the different degrees of asymmetry in carrier concentration, which can be exacerbated at cryogenic temperatures. As for the EQE variation with temperature in a high-current density regime, the efficiency droop for the AlGaInP red and GaInN blue LEDs becomes more apparent as temperature decreases, due to the deterioration of the asymmetry in carrier concentration. However, the EQE of the AlGaN DUV LED initially decreases, then reaches an EQE minimum point, and then increases again due to the field-ionization of acceptors by the Poole-Frenkel effect. The results elucidate that carrier transport phenomena allow for the understanding of the droop phenomenon across different material systems, temperatures, and current densities.« less

Evolved phase separation toward balanced charge transport and high efficiency in polymer solar cells.

PubMed

Fan, Haijun; Zhang, Maojie; Guo, Xia; Li, Yongfang; Zhan, Xiaowei

2011-09-01

Understanding effect of morphology on charge carrier transport within polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction is necessary to develop high-performance polymer solar cells. In this work, we synthesized a new benzodithiophene-based polymer with good self-organization behavior as well as favorable morphology evolution of its blend films with PC(71)BM under improved processing conditions. Charge carrier transport behavior of blend films was characterized by space charge limited current method. Evolved blend film morphology by controlling blend composition and additive content gradually reaches an optimized state, featured with nanoscale fibrilla polymer phase in moderate size and balanced mobility ratio close to 1:1 for hole and electron. This optimized morphology toward more balanced charge carrier transport accounts for the best power conversion efficiency of 3.2%, measured under simulated AM 1.5 solar irradiation 100 mW/cm(2), through enhancing short circuit current and reducing geminate recombination loss.

Impact of charge transport on current–voltage characteristics and power-conversion efficiency of organic solar cells

PubMed Central

Würfel, Uli; Neher, Dieter; Spies, Annika; Albrecht, Steve

2015-01-01

This work elucidates the impact of charge transport on the photovoltaic properties of organic solar cells. Here we show that the analysis of current–voltage curves of organic solar cells under illumination with the Shockley equation results in values for ideality factor, photocurrent and parallel resistance, which lack physical meaning. Drift-diffusion simulations for a wide range of charge-carrier mobilities and illumination intensities reveal significant carrier accumulation caused by poor transport properties, which is not included in the Shockley equation. As a consequence, the separation of the quasi Fermi levels in the organic photoactive layer (internal voltage) differs substantially from the external voltage for almost all conditions. We present a new analytical model, which considers carrier transport explicitly. The model shows excellent agreement with full drift-diffusion simulations over a wide range of mobilities and illumination intensities, making it suitable for realistic efficiency predictions for organic solar cells. PMID:25907581

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Peijun; Xia, Yi; Gong, Jue

Solution-processable metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) offer great promise for efficient light harvesting and emitting devices due to their long carrier lifetime and superior carrier transport characteristics. Ferroelectric effects, a hallmark of traditional oxide perovskites, was proposed to be a mechanism to suppress carrier recombination and enhance charge transport in MHPs, but the existence and influence of such polar order is still of considerable debate. Here we performed transient reflection measurements on single crystals of both inorganic and organic-inorganic (hybrid) MHPs over a range of temperatures, and demonstrate significant phonon softening in the cubic phases close to the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transition temperatures.more » Such phonon softening indicates the formation of polar domains, which grow in size upon cooling and can persist in the low-temperature tetragonal and orthorhombic phases. Our results link the extraordinary electronic properties of MHPs to the spontaneous polarizations which can contribute to more efficient charge separation and characteristics of an indirect bandgap.« less

Perspective on the prospects of a carrier multiplication nanocrystal solar cell.

PubMed

Nair, Gautham; Chang, Liang-Yi; Geyer, Scott M; Bawendi, Moungi G

2011-05-11

This article presents a perspective on the experimental and theoretical work to date on the efficiency of carrier multiplication (CM) in colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs). Early reports on CM in NCs suggested large CM efficiency enhancements. However, recent experiments have shown that CM in nanocrystalline samples is not significantly stronger, and often is weaker, than in the parent bulk when compared on an absolute photon energy basis. This finding is supported by theoretical consideration of the CM process and the competing intraband relaxation. We discuss the experimental artifacts that may have led to the apparently strong CM estimated in early reports. The finding of bulklike CM in NCs suggests that the main promise of quantum confinement is to boost the photovoltage at which carriers can be extracted. With this in mind, we discuss research directions that may result in effective use of CM in a solar cell.

Methane biofiltration using autoclaved aerated concrete as the carrier material.

PubMed

Ganendra, Giovanni; Mercado-Garcia, Daniel; Hernandez-Sanabria, Emma; Boeckx, Pascal; Ho, Adrian; Boon, Nico

2015-09-01

The methane removal capacity of mixed methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) culture in a biofilter setup using autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) as a highly porous carrier material was tested. Batch experiment was performed to optimize MOB immobilization on AAC specimens where optimum methane removal was obtained when calcium chloride was not added during bacterial inoculation step and 10-mm-thick AAC specimens were used. The immobilized MOB could remove methane at low concentration (~1000 ppmv) in a biofilter setup for 127 days at average removal efficiency (RE) of 28.7 %. Unlike a plug flow reactor, increasing the total volume of the filter by adding a biofilter in series did not result in higher total RE. MOB also exhibited a higher abundance at the bottom of the filter, in proximity with the methane gas inlet where a high methane concentration was found. Overall, an efficient methane biofilter performance could be obtained using AAC as the carrier material.

Multiple exciton generation for photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution reactions with quantum yields exceeding 100%

DOE PAGES

Yan, Yong; Crisp, Ryan W.; Gu, Jing; ...

2017-04-03

Multiple exciton generation (MEG) in quantum dots (QDs) has the potential to greatly increase the power conversion efficiency in solar cells and in solar-fuel production. During the MEG process, two electron-hole pairs (excitons) are created from the absorption of one high-energy photon, bypassing hot-carrier cooling via phonon emission. Here we demonstrate that extra carriers produced via MEG can be used to drive a chemical reaction with quantum efficiency above 100%. We developed a lead sulfide (PbS) QD photoelectrochemical cell that is able to drive hydrogen evolution from aqueous Na 2S solution with a peak external quantum efficiency exceeding 100%. QDmore » photoelectrodes that were measured all demonstrated MEG when the incident photon energy was larger than 2.7 times the bandgap energy. Finally, our results demonstrate a new direction in exploring high-efficiency approaches to solar fuels.« less

Diffusion engineering of ions and charge carriers for stable efficient perovskite solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Enbing; Chen, Han; Xie, Fengxian; Wu, Yongzhen; Chen, Wei; Su, Yanjie; Islam, Ashraful; Grätzel, Michael; Yang, Xudong; Han, Liyuan

2017-06-01

Long-term stability is crucial for the future application of perovskite solar cells, a promising low-cost photovoltaic technology that has rapidly advanced in the recent years. Here, we designed a nanostructured carbon layer to suppress the diffusion of ions/molecules within perovskite solar cells, an important degradation process in the device. Furthermore, this nanocarbon layer benefited the diffusion of electron charge carriers to enable a high-energy conversion efficiency. Finally, the efficiency on a perovskite solar cell with an aperture area of 1.02 cm2, after a thermal aging test at 85 °C for over 500 h, or light soaking for 1,000 h, was stable of over 15% during the entire test. The present diffusion engineering of ions/molecules and photo generated charges paves a way to realizing long-term stable and highly efficient perovskite solar cells.

Carriers of the astronomical 2175 ? extinction feature

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bradley, J; Dai, Z; Ernie, R

2004-07-20

The 2175 {angstrom} extinction feature is by far the strongest spectral signature of interstellar dust observed by astronomers. Forty years after its discovery the origin of the feature and the nature of the carrier remain controversial. The feature is enigmatic because although its central wavelength is almost invariant its bandwidth varies strongly from one sightline to another, suggesting multiple carriers or a single carrier with variable properties. Using a monochromated transmission electron microscope and valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy we have detected a 5.7 eV (2175 {angstrom}) feature in submicrometer-sized interstellar grains within interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the stratosphere.more » The carriers are organic carbon and amorphous silicates that are abundant and closely associated with one another both in IDPs and in the interstellar medium. Multiple carriers rather than a single carrier may explain the invariant central wavelength and variable bandwidth of the astronomical 2175 {angstrom} feature.« less

LyP-1 ultrasonic microbubbles targeting to cancer cell as tumor bio-acoustics markers or drug carriers: targeting efficiency evaluation in, microfluidic channels.

PubMed

Li, Xiang; Jin, Qiaofeng; Chen, Tan; Zhang, Baoyue; Zheng, Rongqin; Wang, Zhanhui; Zheng, Hairong

2009-01-01

Using ultrasonic contrast microbubbles as acoustic biomarkers and drug carrier vehicles by conjugating tumor specific antibody to microbubbles has shown great potential in ultrasonic tumor molecular imaging or drug-delivery and therapy. Microbubble probe targeting efficiency is one of the major challenges. In this study, we developed a novel method to evaluate the targeting capability and efficiency of microbubbles to cells, and more specifically, microbubbles binding LyP-1 (a cyclic nonapeptide acid peptide) target to cancer cell within a microfluidic system. The micro cell sieves within the microfludic channels could trap the tumor cells and enhance the microbubble's interaction with the cell. Assisted with the controllable fluid shear stress, the microbubble's targeting to the cell and the corresponding affinity efficiency could be quantitatively evaluated under a florescent microscope. The system provides a useful low-cost high efficient in vitro platform for studying microbubble-cell interaction for ultrasonic tumor molecular imaging or drug-delivery and therapy.

Quantitative Analysis of the Efficiency of OLEDs.

PubMed

Sim, Bomi; Moon, Chang-Ki; Kim, Kwon-Hyeon; Kim, Jang-Joo

2016-12-07

We present a comprehensive model for the quantitative analysis of factors influencing the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) as a function of the current density. The model takes into account the contribution made by the charge carrier imbalance, quenching processes, and optical design loss of the device arising from various optical effects including the cavity structure, location and profile of the excitons, effective radiative quantum efficiency, and out-coupling efficiency. Quantitative analysis of the efficiency can be performed with an optical simulation using material parameters and experimental measurements of the exciton profile in the emission layer and the lifetime of the exciton as a function of the current density. This method was applied to three phosphorescent OLEDs based on a single host, mixed host, and exciplex-forming cohost. The three factors (charge carrier imbalance, quenching processes, and optical design loss) were influential in different ways, depending on the device. The proposed model can potentially be used to optimize OLED configurations on the basis of an analysis of the underlying physical processes.

Photon and carrier management design for nonplanar thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide photovoltaics

DOEpatents

Atwater, Harry A.; Callahan, Dennis; Bukowsky, Colton

2017-11-21

Photovoltaic structures are disclosed. The structures can comprise randomly or periodically structured layers, a dielectric layer to reduce back diffusion of charge carriers, and a metallic layer to reflect photons back towards the absorbing semiconductor layers. This design can increase efficiency of photovoltaic structures. The structures can be fabricated by nanoimprint.

76 FR 13272 - Columbia & Cowlitz Railway, LLC-Corporate Family Transaction Exemption-Patriot Woods Railroad, LLC

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-10

... auxiliary and temporary storage tracks, in Cowlitz County, Wash. CLC and Woods are Class III rail carriers... intended to result in more efficient and lower cost operations. \\1\\ See Tenn. S. R.R.--Continuance in... for transactions under Sec. Sec. 11324 and 11325 that involve only Class III rail carriers...

The chemical enhancement of the triboelectric separation of coal from pyrite and ash: A novel approach for electrostatic separation of mineral matter from coal. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gustafson, R.M.; DiMare, S.; Sabatini, J.

1992-02-01

Arthur D. Little, Inc., under contract to the US DOE Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, has developed a triboelectric separation device for coal beneficiation, that employs an entrained-flow, rotating-cylinder concept. The described apparatus has been used to test the efficacy of chemical pretreatment and in-situ treatment of coal on separation efficiency. Coal particle entrainment is achieved with gaseous carbon dioxide and particle collection is accomplished by an electrostatic plate separator. The triboelectric separation device incorporates instrumentation for the direct measurement of charge in the dilute-phase particle stream. Some of the pretreatment materials investigated under this project to modify the surface chargingmore » characteristics of the coal included oleic acid, sodium oleate, quinoline and dicyclohexylamine. Ammonia and sulfur dioxide at a concentration up to 1000 ppM was used for in-situ treatment of the coal, with carbon dioxide as the carrier/inerting gas. Nitrogen was used earlier in the test program as the carrier/inerting gas for the coal, but a severe arcing problem was encountered in the electrostatic collector with nitrogen as the carrier gas. This problem did not occur when carbon dioxide was used. The report covers the chemical treatment employed, and summarizes and interprets the results achieved. In addition, an economic analysis of a full scale system based on this concept is presented.« less

Antimicrobial Efficacy of Octenidine Hydrochloride and Calcium Hydroxide with and Without a Carrier: A Broth Dilution Analysis.

PubMed

Varghese, Vinaya Susan; Uppin, Veerendra; Bhat, Kishore; Pujar, Madhu; Hooli, Amruta B; Kurian, Nirmal

2018-01-01

An efficient antimicrobial agent action is required for a predetermined time period for absolute elimination of root canal microbes. Till date, there is limited or no data on the antimicrobial effect of octenidine as an intracanal medicament with chitosan (CTS) as a carrier against Candida albicans and Enterococcus faecalis . The aim of this microbiological study was to compare the antimicrobial efficacy of octenidine hydrochloride (OHC) and calcium hydroxide (Ca[OH] 2 ) as intracanal medicaments, both independently and along with CTS as a carrier molecule against the common resistant endodontic pathogens. A total of 160 single-rooted anterior teeth were selected, root canal preparation was done, and teeth were divided into two groups and contaminated with C. albicans and E. faecalis , which were further divided into four test groups each according to intracanal medicaments used. CTS was used as a vehicle for OHC and Ca(OH) 2 and antimicrobial assessment was performed on day 2 and day 7 following broth dilution method. Dentine samples were collected after each time interval, and the number of colony-forming units was determined. All four medicaments used in this study showed antifungal and antibacterial activity that diminished from day 2 to day 7. Group I (OHC alone) and Group IV (Ca[OH] 2 alone) showed significant antimicrobial activity against C. albicans and E. faecalis , respectively, than the other groups. A combination of OHC + CTS and Ca(OH) 2 + CTS produced inferior results than that of the medicaments used alone.

ZnO-based semiconductors with tunable band gap for solar sell applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Itagaki, N.; Matsushima, K.; Yamashita, D.; Seo, H.; Koga, K.; Shiratani, M.

2014-03-01

In this study, we discuss the potential advantages of a new ZnO-based semiconductor, ZnInON (ZION), for application in multi quantum-well (MQW) photovoltaics. ZION is a pseudo-binary alloy of ZnO and InN, which has direct and tunable band gaps over the entire visible spectrum. It was found from simulation results that owing to the large piezoelectric constant, the spatial overlap of the electron and hole wave functions in the QWs is significantly small on the order of 10-2, where the strong piezoelectric field enhances the separation of photo generated carriers. As a result, ZION QWs have low carrier recombination rate of 1014-1018 cm-3s-1, which is much lower than that in conventional QWs such as InGaAs/GaAs QW (1019 cm-3s-1) and InGaN/GaN QW (1018-1018 cm-3s-1). The long carrier life time in ZION QWs (˜1μs) should enable the extraction of photo-generated carriers from well layers before the recombination, and thus increase Voc and Jsc. These simulation results are consistent with our experimental data showing that both Voc and Jsc of a p-i-n solar cell with strained ZION MQWs and thus the efficiency were increased by the superimposition of laser light with lower photon energy than the band gap energy of the QWs. Since the laser light contributed not to carrier generation but to the carrier extraction from the QWs, and no increase in Voc and Jsc was observed for relaxed ZION MQWs, the improvement in the efficiency was attributed to the long carrier lifetime in the strained ZION QWs.

The Rotational Excitation Temperature of the 6614 DIB Carrier

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cami, J.; Salama, F.; Jimenez-Vicente, J.; Galazutdinov, G.; Krelowski, J.

2004-01-01

Analysis of high spectral resolution observations of the lambda6614 DIB line profile show systematic variations in the positions of the peaks in the substructure of the profile. These variations can only be understood in the framework of rotational contours of large molecules, where the variations are caused by changes in the rotational excitation temperature. We show that the rotational excitation temperature for the DIB carrier is of the order 10-40 K - much lower than the gas kinetic temperature - indicating that for this particular DIB carrier angular momentum buildup is not very efficient. The rotational constant indicates that the carrier of this DIB is smaller than previously assumed:7-22 C atoms, depending on the geometry.

Fully solution-processing route toward highly transparent polymer solar cells.

PubMed

Guo, Fei; Kubis, Peter; Stubhan, Tobias; Li, Ning; Baran, Derya; Przybilla, Thomas; Spiecker, Erdmann; Forberich, Karen; Brabec, Christoph J

2014-10-22

We report highly transparent polymer solar cells using metallic silver nanowires (AgNWs) as both the electron- and hole-collecting electrodes. The entire stack of the devices is processed from solution using a doctor blading technique. A thin layer of zinc oxide nanoparticles is introduced between photoactive layer and top AgNW electrode which plays decisive roles in device functionality: it serves as a mechanical foundation which allows the solution-deposition of top AgNWs, and more importantly it facilitates charge carriers extraction due to the better energy level alignment and the formation of ohmic contacts between the active layer/ZnO and ZnO/AgNWs. The resulting semitransparent polymer:fullerene solar cells showed a power conversion efficiency of 2.9%, which is 72% of the efficiency of an opaque reference device. Moreover, an average transmittance of 41% in the wavelength range of 400-800 nm is achieved, which is of particular interest for applications in transparent architectures.

Inertial aided cycle slip detection and identification for integrated PPP GPS and INS.

PubMed

Du, Shuang; Gao, Yang

2012-10-25

The recently developed integrated Precise Point Positioning (PPP) GPS/INS system can be useful to many applications, such as UAV navigation systems, land vehicle/machine automation and mobile mapping systems. Since carrier phase measurements are the primary observables in PPP GPS, cycle slips, which often occur due to high dynamics, signal obstructions and low satellite elevation, must be detected and repaired in order to ensure the navigation performance. In this research, a new algorithm of cycle slip detection and identification has been developed. With the aiding from INS, the proposed method jointly uses WL and EWL phase combinations to uniquely determine cycle slips in the L1 and L2 frequencies. To verify the efficiency of the algorithm, both tactical-grade and consumer-grade IMUs are tested by using a real dataset collected from two field tests. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm can efficiently detect and identify the cycle slips and subsequently improve the navigation performance of the integrated system.

Simple processing of back-contacted silicon heterojunction solar cells using selective-area crystalline growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomasi, Andrea; Paviet-Salomon, Bertrand; Jeangros, Quentin; Haschke, Jan; Christmann, Gabriel; Barraud, Loris; Descoeudres, Antoine; Seif, Johannes Peter; Nicolay, Sylvain; Despeisse, Matthieu; de Wolf, Stefaan; Ballif, Christophe

2017-04-01

For crystalline-silicon solar cells, voltages close to the theoretical limit are nowadays readily achievable when using passivating contacts. Conversely, maximal current generation requires the integration of the electron and hole contacts at the back of the solar cell to liberate its front from any shadowing loss. Recently, the world-record efficiency for crystalline-silicon single-junction solar cells was achieved by merging these two approaches in a single device; however, the complexity of fabricating this class of devices raises concerns about their commercial potential. Here we show a contacting method that substantially simplifies the architecture and fabrication of back-contacted silicon solar cells. We exploit the surface-dependent growth of silicon thin films, deposited by plasma processes, to eliminate the patterning of one of the doped carrier-collecting layers. Then, using only one alignment step for electrode definition, we fabricate a proof-of-concept 9-cm2 tunnel-interdigitated back-contact solar cell with a certified conversion efficiency >22.5%.

Simulation of the β-voltaic effect in silicon pin structures irradiated with electrons from a nickel-63 β source

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nagornov, Yu. S., E-mail: Nagornov.Yuri@gmail.com; Murashev, V. N.

2016-01-15

The prospects of β voltaics as electric-power sources for semiconductor circuits are considered. Experimental studies show that charging of the surface and a decrease in the electrovoltaic power are important. Simulation of the β-voltaic effect induced by electrons from a nickel-63 source on silicon pin structures is performed; it is shown that the coefficient of the collection of generated charge carriers can be as high as 13%. The dose dependences of the performance efficiency of silicon β-voltaic structures are determined for the case of irradiation with α particles and γ-ray photons; it is shown that 1.3 × 10{sup 14} andmore » 10{sup 20} cm{sup –2}, respectively, are the threshold doses, above which a rapid decrease in efficiency occurs. The optimal parameters of microchannel structures in β-voltaic electronics, in which the width of the channels and the distance between them correspond to 3 and 10 μm, are determined.« less

Transparent ohmic contacts for solution-processed, ultrathin CdTe solar cells

DOE PAGES

Kurley, J. Matthew; Panthani, Matthew G.; Crisp, Ryan W.; ...

2016-12-19

Recently, solution-processing became a viable route for depositing CdTe for use in photovoltaics. Ultrathin (~500 nm) solar cells have been made using colloidal CdTe nanocrystals with efficiencies exceeding 12% power conversion efficiency (PCE) demonstrated by using very simple device stacks. Further progress requires an effective method for extracting charge carriers generated during light harvesting. Here, we explored solution-based methods for creating transparent Ohmic contacts to the solution-deposited CdTe absorber layer and demonstrated molecular and nanocrystal approaches to Ohmic hole-extracting contacts at the ITO/CdTe interface. Furthermore, we used scanning Kelvin probe microscopy to further show how the above approaches improved carriermore » collection by reducing the potential drop under reverse bias across the ITO/CdTe interface. Other methods, such as spin-coating CdTe/A 2CdTe 2 (A = Na, K, Cs, N 2H 5), can be used in conjunction with current/light soaking to improve PCE further.« less

Polyelectrolyte capsules as carriers for growth factor inhibitor delivery to hepatocellular carcinoma.

PubMed

Baldassarre, Francesca; Vergaro, Viviana; Scarlino, Flavia; De Santis, Flavia; Lucarelli, Giovanna; Torre, Antonio Della; Ciccarella, Giuseppe; Rinaldi, Ross; Giannelli, Gianluigi; Leporatti, Stefano

2012-05-01

The efficient internalization of TGF-beta inhibitor-loaded polyelectrolyte capsules and particles is studied in two HCC cell lines. Two polyelectrolyte pairs (biocompatible but not degradable and biodegradable crosslinked with gluteraldehyde) are employed for coating. The capsules are characterized by SEM. LY is successfully loaded inside the core and embedded between polymer layers. MS is used to quantify the loading efficiency by comparing post-loading and core-loading methods, since both coated templates and hollow shells are used as carriers. CLSM confirms dissolution of the pre-formed multilayer upon enzymatic degradation as the method of release, and migration assays demonstrate a higher inhibition efficiency of TGF-beta in tailored biodegradable capsules compared to free LY administration. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

76 FR 62086 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Entry and Manifest of Merchandise Free of Duty, Carrier...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-06

... respondents or record keepers from the collection of information (a total capital/startup costs and operations... collected. Type of Review: Extension (without change). Affected Public: Businesses. Estimated Number of...

78 FR 59365 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Entry and Manifest of Merchandise Free of Duty, Carrier...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-26

... respondents or record keepers from the collection of information (a total capital/startup costs and operations... to the information being collected. Type of Review: Extension (without change). Affected Public...

High Performance Organic Materials and Devices

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-31

on this material exhibited external quantum efficiency of 2.48% and electroluminescence efficiency as high as 3.33 cd/A. 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16...International de L’Eclairage coordinate at (0.164, 0.188). The external quantum efficiency of 2.48% and electroluminescence efficiency as high as 3.33 cd...more than 90% absorption in active layer, and highly balanced carrier transport. 4 5. High efficient blue- electroluminescence device shows maximum

Mannosylated protamine as a novel DNA vaccine carrier for effective induction of anti-tumor immune responses.

PubMed

Zeng, Zhaoyan; Dai, Shuang; Jiao, Yan; Jiang, Lei; Zhao, Yuekui; Wang, Bo; Zong, Li

2016-06-15

Gene immunotherapy has been developed as a promising strategy for inhibition of tumor growth. In the study, mannosylated protamine sulphate (MPS) was used as a novel DNA vaccine carrier to enhance transfection efficiency and anti-tumor immune responses. Anti-GRP DNA vaccine (pGRP) was selected as a model gene and condensed by MPS to form MPS/pGRP nanoparticles. The cellular uptake and transfection efficiency of MPS/pGRP nanoparticles in macrophages were evaluated. The effect of the nanoparticles in enhancing GRP-specific humoral immune response was then evaluated by nasal vaccination of nanoparticles in mice. The results demonstrated that both the cellular uptake and transfection efficiency of MPS nanoparticles in macrophages were higher than those of protamine nanoparticles. MPS/pGRP nanoparticles stimulated the production of higher titers (3.9×10(3)) of specific antibodies against GRP than those of protamine/pGRP nanoparticles (6.4×10(2), p<0.01) and intramuscular injection pGRP solution (2.5×10(3), p<0.05). Furthermore, the inhibitory rate in MPS/pGRP nanoparticles group (65.80%) was significantly higher than that in protamine/pGRP nanoparticles group (35.13%) and pGRP solution group (43.39%). Hence, it is evident that MPS is an efficient targeting gene delivery carrier which could improve in vitro transfection efficiency as well as anti-tumor immunotherapy in mice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nonuniform Effect of Carrier Separation Efficiency and Light Absorption in Type-II Perovskite Nanowire Solar Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Weiping; He, Jialun; Cao, Yiyan; Kong, Lijing; Zheng, Xuanli; Wu, Yaping; Chen, Xiaohong; Li, Shuping; Wu, Zhiming; Kang, Junyong

2017-03-01

Coaxial structures exhibit great potential for the application of high-efficiency solar cells due to the novel mechanism of radial charge separation. Here, we intensively investigate the nonuniform effect of carrier separation efficiency (CSE) and light absorption in perovskite-based type-II coaxial nanowire solar cells (ZnO/CH3NH3PbI3). Results show that the CSE rapidly decreases along the radial direction in the shell, and the value at the outer side becomes extremely low for the thick shell. Besides, the position of the main light absorption gradually moves to the outer side with the increase of the shell thickness. As a result, the external quantum efficiency shows a positional dependence with a maximal value close to the border of the nanowire. Eventually, in our case, it is found that the maximal power conversion efficiency of the solar cells reduces from 19.5 to 17.9% under the effect of the nonuniformity of CSE and light absorption. This work provides a basis for the design of high-efficiency solar cells, especially type-II nanowire solar cells.

Nonuniform Effect of Carrier Separation Efficiency and Light Absorption in Type-II Perovskite Nanowire Solar Cells.

PubMed

Wang, Weiping; He, Jialun; Cao, Yiyan; Kong, Lijing; Zheng, Xuanli; Wu, Yaping; Chen, Xiaohong; Li, Shuping; Wu, Zhiming; Kang, Junyong

2017-12-01

Coaxial structures exhibit great potential for the application of high-efficiency solar cells due to the novel mechanism of radial charge separation. Here, we intensively investigate the nonuniform effect of carrier separation efficiency (CSE) and light absorption in perovskite-based type-II coaxial nanowire solar cells (ZnO/CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 ). Results show that the CSE rapidly decreases along the radial direction in the shell, and the value at the outer side becomes extremely low for the thick shell. Besides, the position of the main light absorption gradually moves to the outer side with the increase of the shell thickness. As a result, the external quantum efficiency shows a positional dependence with a maximal value close to the border of the nanowire. Eventually, in our case, it is found that the maximal power conversion efficiency of the solar cells reduces from 19.5 to 17.9% under the effect of the nonuniformity of CSE and light absorption. This work provides a basis for the design of high-efficiency solar cells, especially type-II nanowire solar cells.

[Comparison between porous polymer carrier and activated carbon carrier used for treating organic wastewater in anaerobic fluidized-bed reactor].

PubMed

Yang, P; Fang, Z; Shi, Y

2001-01-01

A comparative performance between porous polymer carriers (HP) and granular activated carbon carriers (GAC) in anaerobic fluidied-bed reactors was undertaken to evaluate their characters. The results showed that the COD removal and the biogas volume yield rate were 84% and 16.5 m3/(m3.d) respectively when HP was used as carrier to treat synthetic wastewater, at the top COD organic load rate of 65.5 kg/(m3.d), however those were 74.2% and 14.5% respectively for GAC carrier at the top load rate of 63.25 kg/(m3.d). The COD removal and biogas volume yield rate were 64.7%-54.5% and 1.89-2.7 m3/(m3.d) respectively when HP was used as carriers to treat straw pulping wastewater, at the load rate of 14.5-36.15 kg/(m3.d), and those were 61.0%-52.1% and 0.73-2.0 m3/(m3.d) respectively for GAC carriers at the load rate 9.16-19.06 kg/(m3.d). The study revealed that the HP carriers reactor is more efficient than the GAC carriers reactor in microbial immobilization and the wastewater treatment.

77 FR 29445 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of a Currently Approved Collection; Training...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-17

... model curriculum (``Truck Safety: Information on Driver Training,'' Report of the U.S. General... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration [Docket No. FMCSA-2012-0129] Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of a Currently Approved Collection; Training...

Evaluation and Preliminary Results of the New USNO PPS Timing Receiver

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-11-01

timing receiver, one may currently obtain raw pseudorange and carrier-phase data by periodically downloading such data from a flashcard . Several...preliminary experiments have been performed using data collected from the prototype TTR- 12 receivers’ flashcards and geodetic GPS carrier-phase techniques

77 FR 47918 - Information Collection Activities (Released Rates)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-10

... decision in Released Rates of Motor Common Carriers of Household Goods, Docket No. RR 999 (Amendment No. 5... loss or damage that occurs during interstate household-good moves. See Safe, Accountable, Flexible... elects anything other than full-value protection. See Released Rates of Motor Common Carriers of...

47 CFR 36.381 - Carrier access charge billing and collecting expense.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROPERTY COSTS, REVENUES, EXPENSES, TAXES AND RESERVES FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES 1 Operating Expenses and Taxes Customer Operations Expenses § 36.381 Carrier access charge billing and... in a particular state, one-half of such expense shall be apportioned to interstate operations. If no...

Sequential soil transport and its influence on the spatial organisation of collective digging in leaf-cutting ants.

PubMed

Pielström, Steffen; Roces, Flavio

2013-01-01

The Chaco leaf-cutting ant Atta vollenweideri (Forel) inhabits large and deep subterranean nests composed of a large number of fungus and refuse chambers. The ants dispose of the excavated soil by forming small pellets that are carried to the surface. For ants in general, the organisation of underground soil transport during nest building remains completely unknown. In the laboratory, we investigated how soil pellets are formed and transported, and whether their occurrence influences the spatial organisation of collective digging. Similar to leaf transport, we discovered size matching between soil pellet mass and carrier mass. Workers observed while digging excavated pellets at a rate of 26 per hour. Each excavator deposited its pellets in an individual cluster, independently of the preferred deposition sites of other excavators. Soil pellets were transported sequentially over 2 m, and the transport involved up to 12 workers belonging to three functionally distinct groups: excavators, several short-distance carriers that dropped the collected pellets after a few centimetres, and long-distance, last carriers that reached the final deposition site. When initiating a new excavation, the proportion of long-distance carriers increased from 18% to 45% within the first five hours, and remained unchanged over more than 20 hours. Accumulated, freshly-excavated pellets significantly influenced the workers' decision where to start digging in a choice experiment. Thus, pellets temporarily accumulated as a result of their sequential transport provide cues that spatially organise collective nest excavation.

Mean carrier transport properties and charge collection dynamics of single-crystal, natural type IIa diamonds from ion-induced conductivity measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Han, Sung Su

1993-09-01

Ion-induced conductivity has been used to investigate the detector characteristics of diamond detectors. Both integrated-charge, and time-resolved current measurements were performed to examine the mean carrier transport properties of diamond and the dynamics of charge collection under highly-localized and high-density excitation conditions. The integrated-charge measurements were conducted with a standard pulse-counting system with 241Am radioactivity as the excitation source for the detectors. The time-resolved current measurements were performed using a 70 GHz random sampling oscilloscope with the detectors incorporated into high-speed microstrip transmission lines and the excitation source for these measurements was an ion beam of either 5-MeV He +more » or 10-MeV Si 3+. The detectors used in both experiments can be described as metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) devices where a volume of the detector material is sandwiched between two metal plates. A charge collection model was developed to interpret the integrated-charge measurements which enabled estimation of the energy required to produce an electron-hole pair (ϵ di) and the mean carrier transport properties in diamond, such as carrier mobility and lifetime, and the behavior of the electrical contacts to diamond.« less

Plasmon enhanced water splitting mediated by hybrid bimetallic Au-Ag core-shell nanostructures.

PubMed

Erwin, William R; Coppola, Andrew; Zarick, Holly F; Arora, Poorva; Miller, Kevin J; Bardhan, Rizia

2014-11-07

In this work, we employed wet chemically synthesized bimetallic Au-Ag core-shell nanostructures (Au-AgNSs) to enhance the photocurrent density of mesoporous TiO2 for water splitting and we compared the results with monometallic Au nanoparticles (AuNPs). While Au-AgNSs incorporated photoanodes give rise to 14× enhancement in incident photon to charge carrier efficiency, AuNPs embedded photoanodes result in 6× enhancement. By varying nanoparticle concentration in the photoanodes, we observed ∼245× less Au-AgNSs are required relative to AuNPs to generate similar photocurrent enhancement for solar fuel conversion. Power-dependent measurements of Au-AgNSs and AuNPs showed a first order dependence to incident light intensity, relative to half-order dependence for TiO2 only photoanodes. This indicated that plasmonic nanostructures enhance charge carriers formed on the surface of the TiO2 which effectively participate in photochemical reactions. Our experiments and simulations suggest the enhanced near-field, far-field, and multipolar resonances of Au-AgNSs facilitating broadband absorption of solar radiation collectively gives rise to their superior performance in water splitting.

Carriers of the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy MYBPC3 mutation are characterized by reduced myocardial efficiency in the absence of hypertrophy and microvascular dysfunction.

PubMed

Timmer, Stefan A J; Germans, Tjeerd; Brouwer, Wessel P; Lubberink, Mark; van der Velden, Jolanda; Wilde, Arthur A M; Christiaans, Imke; Lammertsma, Adriaan A; Knaapen, Paul; van Rossum, Albert C

2011-12-01

Next to left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by microvascular dysfunction and reduced myocardial external efficiency (MEE). Insights into the presence of these abnormalities as early markers of disease are of clinical importance in risk stratification, and development of therapeutic approaches. Therefore, the aim was to investigate myocardial perfusion and energetics in genotype-positive, phenotype-negative HCM subjects (carriers). Fifteen carriers of an MYBPC3 mutation underwent [(15)O]water positron emission tomography (PET) to assess myocardial blood flow (MBF). [(11)C]acetate PET was performed to obtain myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO(2)). By use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging, LV volumes and mass were defined to calculate MEE, i.e. the ratio between external work and MVO(2). Eleven healthy, genotype-negative, family relatives underwent similar scanning protocols to serve as a control group. Left ventricular mass was comparable between carriers and controls (93 ± 25 vs. 99 ± 21 g, P= 0.85), as was MBF at rest (1.19 ± 0.34 vs. 1.18 ± 0.32 mL min(-1) g(-1), P= 0.92), and during hyperaemia (3.87 ± 0.75 vs. 3.96 ± 0.86 mL min(-1) g(-1), P= 0.77). Myocardial oxygen consumption averaged 0.137 ± 0.057 mL min(-1) g(-1) in carriers and was not significantly different from controls (0.125 ± 0.043 mL min(-1) g(-1), P= 0.29). Cardiac work, however, was slightly reduced in carriers (7398 ± 1384 vs. 9139 ± 2484 mmHg mL in controls, P= 0.08). As a consequence, MEE was significantly decreased in carriers (27 ± 10 vs. 36 ± 8% in controls, P= 0.02). Carriers display reduced myocardial work generation in relation to oxygen consumption, in the absence of hypertrophy and flow abnormalities. Hence, impaired myocardial energetics may constitute a primary component of HCM pathogenesis.

Simplified energy-balance model for pragmatic multi-dimensional device simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Duckhyun; Fossum, Jerry G.

1997-11-01

To pragmatically account for non-local carrier heating and hot-carrier effects such as velocity overshoot and impact ionization in multi-dimensional numerical device simulation, a new simplified energy-balance (SEB) model is developed and implemented in FLOODS[16] as a pragmatic option. In the SEB model, the energy-relaxation length is estimated from a pre-process drift-diffusion simulation using the carrier-velocity distribution predicted throughout the device domain, and is used without change in a subsequent simpler hydrodynamic (SHD) simulation. The new SEB model was verified by comparison of two-dimensional SHD and full HD DC simulations of a submicron MOSFET. The SHD simulations yield detailed distributions of carrier temperature, carrier velocity, and impact-ionization rate, which agree well with the full HD simulation results obtained with FLOODS. The most noteworthy feature of the new SEB/SHD model is its computational efficiency, which results from reduced Newton iteration counts caused by the enhanced linearity. Relative to full HD, SHD simulation times can be shorter by as much as an order of magnitude since larger voltage steps for DC sweeps and larger time steps for transient simulations can be used. The improved computational efficiency can enable pragmatic three-dimensional SHD device simulation as well, for which the SEB implementation would be straightforward as it is in FLOODS or any robust HD simulator.

Organic Spin-Valves and Beyond: Spin Injection and Transport in Organic Semiconductors and the Effect of Interfacial Engineering.

PubMed

Jang, Hyuk-Jae; Richter, Curt A

2017-01-01

Since the first observation of the spin-valve effect through organic semiconductors, efforts to realize novel spintronic technologies based on organic semiconductors have been rapidly growing. However, a complete understanding of spin-polarized carrier injection and transport in organic semiconductors is still lacking and under debate. For example, there is still no clear understanding of major spin-flip mechanisms in organic semiconductors and the role of hybrid metal-organic interfaces in spin injection. Recent findings suggest that organic single crystals can provide spin-transport media with much less structural disorder relative to organic thin films, thus reducing momentum scattering. Additionally, modification of the band energetics, morphology, and even spin magnetic moment at the metal-organic interface by interface engineering can greatly impact the efficiency of spin-polarized carrier injection. Here, progress on efficient spin-polarized carrier injection into organic semiconductors from ferromagnetic metals by using various interface engineering techniques is presented, such as inserting a metallic interlayer, a molecular self-assembled monolayer (SAM), and a ballistic carrier emitter. In addition, efforts to realize long spin transport in single-crystalline organic semiconductors are discussed. The focus here is on understanding and maximizing spin-polarized carrier injection and transport in organic semiconductors and insight is provided for the realization of emerging organic spintronics technologies. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.