Search results for "layer"
showing 10 items of 2667 documents
Detailed balance analysis of area de-coupled double tandem photovoltaic modules
2015
Published version of an article in the journal: Applied Physics Letters. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4906602 This paper describes how layers of area de-coupled top and bottom cells in photovoltaic tandem modules can increase the efficiency of two-terminal tandem devices. The point of the area de-coupling is to allow the number of top cells to differ from the number of bottom cells. Within each of the layers, the cells can be horizontally series-connected and the layers can then be currentor voltage-matched with each other in a tandem module. Using detailed balance modeling, it is shown that two-terminal tandem modules of this type can achieve the same t…
Blistering mechanisms of atomic-layer-deposited AlN and Al2O3 films
2017
Blistering of protective, structural, and functional coatings is a reliability risk pestering films ranging from elemental to ceramic ones. The driving force behind blistering comes from either excess hydrogen at the film-substrate interface or stress-driven buckling. Contrary to the stress-driven mechanism, the hydrogen-initiated one is poorly understood. Recently, it was shown that in the bulk Al-Al2O3 system, the blistering is preceded by the formation of nano-sized cavities on the substrate. The stress-and hydrogen-driven mechanisms in atomic-layer-deposited (ALD) films are explored here. We clarify issues in the hydrogen-related mechanism via high-resolution microscopy and show that at…
Enhanced operational stability through interfacial modification by active encapsulation of perovskite solar cells
2020
Encapsulates are, in general, the passive components of any photovoltaic device that provides the required shielding from the externally stimulated degradation. Here we provide comprehensive physical insight depicting a rather non-trivial active nature, in contrast to the supposedly passive, atomic layer deposition (ALD) grown Al2O3 encapsulate layer on the hybrid perovskite [(FA0.83MA0.17)0.95Cs0.05PbI2.5Br0.5] photovoltaic device having the configuration: glass/FTO/SnO2/perovskite/spiro-OMeTAD/Au/(±) Al2O3. By combining various electrical characterization techniques, our experimental observations indicate that the ALD chemistry produces considerable enhancement of the electronic conductiv…
The Engineering of Hot Carbon Nanotubes with a Focused Electron Beam
2004
Single-wall and multiwall carbon nanotubes at high temperature are irradiated with the focused electron beam in an electron microscope. Nanotubes can be tailored with monolayer precision, and new morphologies of nanotubes are created. Atoms from layers of multiwall tubes can be removed and the tubes can be bent by a predefined angle. Bundles of single-wall tubes are transformed locally to multiwall tubes with coherent transition between the two modifications.
Efficient Optical Amplification in a Sandwich-Type Active-Passive Polymer Waveguide Containing Perylenediimides
2017
Polymer waveguides doped with luminescent materials serve as a suitable flexible platform for active elements (lasers and amplifiers) in on-chip optical circuits. However, at present, the best parameters (lowest thresholds) achieved with these devices are obtained with the use of the stripe excitation technique in the framework of which external illumination of an active material along the whole length of the waveguide is realized that is not convenient for the waveguide on-chip integration and requires high peak energies due to the large excitation area. In the present work, an elegant method is proposed to overcome this obstacle and provide efficient active material pumping along the whol…
Simulation of surface-modified porous silicon photonic crystals for biosensing applications
2012
In this work realistic biosensing structures based on the integration of porous silicon photonic crystals with polymer coating technology are presented. Microcavities and rugate filters are chosen as the photonic crystal configuration. The deposition of a polymer layer on the pore walls of these structures is proposed to improve the selectivity and sensitivity of the sensing function. A complete effective refractive index model including the polymer layer, the target and external effects like silicon oxidation has been developed in order to accurately simulate the structures. It is expected that the proposed structures could be used as low cost, highly integrated and highly sensitive biolog…
Microstructuring of phospholipid bilayers on gold surfaces by micromolding in capillaries
2005
Microstructuring of lipid bilayers on gold surfaces was achieved by micromolding in capillaries employing chemically modified polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Microfluidic networks of PDMS were prepared by micromolding and functionalized with thiol end-groups using 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane. The PDMS stamps were firmly attached to the gold substrate via quasi-covalent linkage providing a tight seal, a prerequisite for establishing individual addressable capillaries. Bilayers composed of POPC/POPG were subsequently prepared on microstructured self assembly monolayers of 11-amino-1-undecanethiol via strong electrostatic interactions. This way it is possible to generate individually address…
Influence of ZnO/graphene nanolaminate periodicity on their structural and mechanical properties
2018
International audience; Structural, electronic and mechanical properties of ZnO/Graphene (ZnO/G) nanolaminates fabricated by low temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) were investigated. We performed scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), Raman spectroscopy, X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nanoindentation to characterize the ZnO/G nanolaminates. The main structural and mechanical parameters of ZnO/G nanolaminates were calculated. The obtained results were analyzed and interpreted taking into account mechanical interaction and charge effects occurring at the …
Polyelectrolyte Brushes Grafted at the Air/Water Interface
1997
A new approach for the study of grafted polyelectrolytes is investigated: monolayers at the air/water interface of block copolymers consisting of a liquid hydrophobic and a polyelectrolyte block. ...
Shear-aligned block copolymer monolayers as seeds to control the orientational order in cylinder-forming block copolymer thin films
2016
We study the dynamics of coarsening of a cylinder-forming block copolymer thin film deposited on a prepatterned substrate made of a well-ordered block copolymer monolayer. During thermal annealing the shear-aligned bottom layer drives extinction of the disclinations and promotes a strong orientational correlation, disturbed only by dislocations and undulations along the cylinders of the minority phase. The thin film bilayer system remains stable during annealing, in agreement with self-consistent field theory results that indicate that although the thickness of a stack of two monolayers is not at the optimum thickness condition, it is very close to equilibrium. Phase field simulations indic…