Search results for "silicon"
showing 10 items of 1391 documents
Temperature profiles of field-aged multicrystalline silicon photovoltaic modules affected by microcracks
2021
In this work, the temperature sensitivities of field-aged multicrystalline silicon PV modules affected by microcracks are investigated. It is found that the temperature coefficient of efficiency of all modules has increased more than 10 times over the 20 years period, mainly due to a degradation in the temperature coefficients of fill factor. Temperature coefficient of efficiency of PV modules affected by microcracks changed from -0.44 %/ °C to -1.51 %/°C under solar irradiance conditions at 1010 - 1030 W/m2. Inconsistent values for the Evans–Floschuetz efficiency ratio versus temperature plots for the microcrack affected modules were also observed.
Effect of the surrounding aeration on microcapillary electrochemical cell experiments
2008
In the microelectrochemical capillary cell technique a silicone rubber gasket is used to avoid any electrolyte leakage between the pulled glass capillary and the working electrode (the metallic tested material). In this study, it is demonstrated that the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is strongly affected by the use of the silicone rubber. Experiments under a surrounding argon gas shielding of the pulled capillary in contact with the metallic surface have been performed showing a large effect on the ORR. Considering the high permeation rate of oxygen through silicone, the decrease of the reaction rate observed experimentally was validated by FEM modelling assuming that the air/silicone/wat…
The lateral variation of solid state reactions at surfaces studied by means of photoemission electron microscopy: formation of titanium silicides
2001
The alloying and oxygen reduction at titanium silicon interfaces were studied by means of photoemission microscopy. The microscopic chemical composition of the sample surface was characterised by means of imaging X-ray absorption. The silicide formation was studied at clean and oxidised silicon substrates both covered with micron-sized titanium patterns.
Microscopic defects and impurity analyses of multicrystalline silicon solar cells from different manufacturing routes
2013
It is important to fully understand the physical behavior of solar cells made by materials from alternative process routes. Solar cells from Elkem Solar Grade Silicon and standard polysilicon have been investigated with light beam induced current and electroluminescence imaging. The low efficiency regions have been further analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy under different imaging modes. It was found that cell regions of low performance had undergone plastic deformations resulting in the creation of crystalline defects appearing as subgrain patterns. Similar patterns were observed in both ESS™ and standard polysilicon. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron backscatte…
The LOFT mission concept: a status update
2016
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, >8m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolut…
On erbium lattice location in ion implanted Si0.75Ge0.25 alloy
2003
A high crystalline quality Si0.75Ge0.25 alloy layer grown by chemical vapor deposition was implanted with 70 keV Er+ ions to a fluence of 1015 cm−2 at temperature of 550 °C. The implantation was found to result in an Er depth distribution with 1 at. % maximum concentration 30 nm beneath the surface. The location of the erbium atoms in the host matrix lattice is derived through computer simulation of experimental axial channeling angular scans measured by in situ Rutherford backscattering/channeling spectrometry. Using computer code FLUX 7.7 it is shown that 60% of the implanted erbium atoms are located at ytterbium sites, 10% at tetrahedral sites, and the remainder are associated with rando…
Microstructure of Fe–ZrSiO4 solid solutions prepared from gels
2012
Abstract Microstructural changes associated with chemical and structural evolution from gels to Fe x –ZrSiO 4 solid solutions are reported. Mineralizer-free Fe x –ZrSiO 4 gels in the compositional range 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15 were prepared by sol–gel liquid-phase route from mixtures of alkoxides of silicon and zirconium, and iron (III) acetylacetonate, and annealed at different temperatures and/or times. The first step on the whole process to the final Fe x –ZrSiO 4 solid solutions was the formation of aggregated of tetragonal Fe-doped ZrO 2 nanocrystals with diameters smaller than 50 nm. At this stage the tetragonal Fe–ZrO 2 were embedded in amorphous silica resulting nanocomposite materials. The …
eISP: a Programmable Processing Architecture for Smart Phone Image Enhancement
2009
4 pages; Today's smart phones, with their embedded high-resolution video sensors, require computing capacities that are too high to easily meet stringent silicon area and power consumption requirements (some one and a half square millimeters and half a watt) especially when programmable components are used. To develop such capacities, integrators still rely on dedicated low resolution video processing components, whose drawback is low flexibility. With this in mind, our paper presents eISP {--} a new, fully programmable Embedded Image Signal Processor architecture, now validated in {TSMC 65nm} technology to achieve a capacity of {16.8 GOPs} at {233 MHz}, for {1.5 mm$^2$} of silicon area and…
LOFT: the Large Observatory For X-ray Timing
2012
The LOFT mission concept is one of four candidates selected by ESA for the M3 launch opportunity as Medium Size missions of the Cosmic Vision programme. The launch window is currently planned for between 2022 and 2024. LOFT is designed to exploit the diagnostics of rapid X-ray flux and spectral variability that directly probe the motion of matter down to distances very close to black holes and neutron stars, as well as the physical state of ultra-dense matter. These primary science goals will be addressed by a payload composed of a Large Area Detector (LAD) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM). The LAD is a collimated (<1 degree field of view) experiment operating in the energy range 2-50 keV,…
Single-mode room-temperature emission with a silicon rod lattice
2006
The authors experimentally evidence an increase of light emission efficiency at room temperature in a silicon-on-insulator photonic crystal. The photonic crystal is made of a triangular lattice of silicon rods and operates as a single-mode light extractor. It exhibits a luminescence intensity two orders of magnitude higher than silicon-on-insulator substrate. In light of photoluminescence experiments, emission diagram measurements, and finite difference time domain calculations, they identify the different optical properties of the photonic crystal and they demonstrate the existence of at least a fivefold emission efficiency enhancement per surface unit.