Electron-Deficient N-Alkyloyl Derivatives of Thienopyrrole-4,6-dione Yield Efficient Polymer Solar Cells with Open-Circuit Voltages > 1 V

Poly(benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene–thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione) (PBDTTPD) polymer donors yield some of the highest open-circuit voltages (VOC, ca. 0.9 V) and fill factors (FF, ca. 70%) in conventional bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells with PCBM acceptors. Recent work has shown that the incorporation of ring substituents into the side chains of the BDT motifs in PBDTTPD can induce subtle variations in material properties, resulting in an increase of the BHJ device VOC to ∼1 V. In this contribution, we report on the synthesis of N-alkyloyl-substituted TPD motifs (TPD(CO)) and show that the electron-deficient motifs can further lower both the polymer LUMO and HOMO levels, yielding device VOC > 1 V (up to ca. 1.1 V) in BHJ solar cells with PCBM. Despite the high VOC achieved (i.e., low polymer HOMO), BHJ devices cast from TPD(CO)-based polymer donors can reach power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of up to 6.7%, making these promising systems for use in the high-band-gap cell of tandem solar cells

Accurate first principles detailed balance determination of Auger recombination and impact ionization rates in semiconductors

The technologically important problem of predicting Auger recombination lifetimes in semiconductors is addressed by means of a fully first--principles formalism. The calculations employ highly precise energy bands and wave functions provided by the full--potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) code based on the screened exchange local density approximation. The minority carrier Auger lifetime is determined by two closely related approaches: \emph{i}) a direct evaluation of the Auger rates within Fermi's Golden Rule, and \emph{ii}) an indirect evaluation, based on a detailed balance formulation combining Auger recombination and its inverse process, impact ionization, in a unified framework. Calculated carrier lifetimes determined with the direct and indirect methods show excellent consistency \emph{i}) between them for $n$-doped GaAs and \emph{ii}%) with measured values for GaAs and InGaAs. This demonstrates the validity and accuracy of the computational formalism for the Auger lifetime and indicates a new sensitive tool for possible use in materials performance optimization.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. accepte

Impact Ionization in ZnS

The impact ionization rate and its orientation dependence in k space is calculated for ZnS. The numerical results indicate a strong correlation to the band structure. The use of a q-dependent screening function for the Coulomb interaction between conduction and valence electrons is found to be essential. A simple fit formula is presented for easy calculation of the energy dependent transition rate.Comment: 9 pages LaTeX file, 3 EPS-figures (use psfig.sty), accepted for publication in PRB as brief Report (LaTeX source replaces raw-postscript file

Laser supported solid state absorption fronts in silica

We develop a model based on simulation and experiment that explains the behavior of solid-state laser-supported absorption fronts generated in fused silica during high intensity (up to 5GW/cm{sup 2}) laser exposure. We find that the absorption front velocity is constant in time and is nearly linear in laser intensity. Further, this model can explain the dependence of laser damage site size on these parameters. This behavior is driven principally by the temperature-activated deep sub band-gap optical absorptivity, free electron transport and thermal diffusion in defect-free silica for temperatures up to 15,000K and pressures < 15GPa. The regime of parameter space critical to this problem spans and extends that measured by other means. It serves as a platform for understanding general laser-matter interactions in dielectrics under a variety of conditions

A novel, aerosol-nanocrystal floating-gate device for non-volatile memory applications

This paper describes the fabrication, and structural and electrical characterization of a new, aerosol-nanocrystal floating-gate FET, aimed at non-volatile memory (NVM) applications. This aerosol-nanocrystal NVM device features program/erase characteristics comparable to conventional stacked gate NVM devices, excellent endurance (>l0^5 P/E cycles), and long-term non-volatility in spite of a thin bottom oxide (55-60Å). In addition, a very simple fabrication process makes this aerosol-nanocrystal NVM device a potential candidate for low cost NVM applications

Imaging of joints with laser‐based photoacoustic tomography: An animal study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134964/1/mp4166.pd

The effect of lattice temperature on surface damage in fused silica optics

We examine the effect of lattice temperature on the probability of surface damage initiation for 355nm, 7ns laser pulses for surface temperatures below the melting point to temperatures well above the melting point of fused silica. At sufficiently high surface temperatures, damage thresholds are dramatically reduced. Our results indicate a temperature activated absorption and support the idea of a lattice temperature threshold of surface damage. From these measurements, we estimate the temperature dependent absorption coefficient for intrinsic silica

Impact ionization in GaAs: a screened exchange density functional approach

Results are presented of a fully ab-initio calculation of impact ionization rates in GaAs within the density functional theory framework, using a screened-exchange formalism and the highly precise all-electron full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method. The calculated impact ionization rates show a marked orientation dependence in {\bf k} space, indicating the strong restrictions imposed by the conservation of energy and momentum. This anisotropy diminishes as the impacting electron energy increases. A Keldysh type fit performed on the energy-dependent rate shows a rather soft edge and a threshold energy greater than the direct band gap. The consistency with available Monte Carlo and empirical pseudopotential calculations shows the reliability of our approach and paves the way to ab-initio calculations of pair production rates in new and more complex materials.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Pump and probe damage testing for investigation of transient material modifications associated with laser damage in optical materials

Laser-induced breakdown in the bulk of transparent dielectric materials is associated with the generation of extreme localized conditions of temperatures and pressures. In this work, we perform pump and probe damage testing experiments to investigate the evolution of transient absorption by the host material arising from modifications following confined laser energy deposition in fused silica and DKDP materials. Specifically, we measure the size of the damage sites observed in the region of spatial overlap between the pump and probe pulses versus probe time delay and energy. Results of this proof-of-principle experimental work confirm that material modifications under extreme conditions created during a damage event include transient optical absorption. In addition, we found that the relaxation times of the induced absorption are very distinct for DKDP and SiO{sub 2} even under identical excitation conditions, on the order of 100 ns and 100 {micro}s, respectively