3,953 research outputs found
Photocurrent Enhancement by Spontaneous Formation of a p n Junction in Calcium Doped Bismuth Vanadate Photoelectrodes
The application of bismuth vanadate BiVO4 photoelectrodes for solar water splitting is hindered by the poor carrier transport. To overcome this, multiple donor doping strategies e.g. dual doping, gradient doping have been explored. Here, we show for the first time the successful introduction of calcium Ca as an acceptor type dopant into BiVO4 photoelectrodes. Interestingly, instead of generating cathodic photocurrents, the Ca doped BiVO4 photoelectrodes show anodic photocurrents with an enhanced carrier separation efficiency. Hard X ray photoelectron spectroscopy HAXPES shows that this enhancement is caused by out diffusion of Ca during the deposition process, which spontaneously creates a p n junction within the BiVO4 layer. Overall, a significant two fold improvement of the AM1.5 photocurrent is obtained upon Ca doping. This study highlights the importance of controlled doping beyond simply modifying carrier concentration and may enable new device architectures in photoelectrode material
Shock dynamics of phase diagrams
A thermodynamic phase transition denotes a drastic change of state of a physical system due to a continuous change of thermodynamic variables, as for instance pressure and temperature. The classical van der Waals equation of state is the simplest model that predicts the occurrence of a critical point associated with the gas-liquid phase transition. Nevertheless, below the critical temperature, theoretical predictions of the van der Waals theory significantly depart from the observed physical behaviour. We develop a novel approach to classical thermodynamics based on the solution of Maxwell relations for a generalised family of nonlocal entropy functions. This theory provides an exact mathematical description of discontinuities of the order parameter within the phase transition region, it explains the universal form of the equations of state and the occurrence of triple points in terms of the dynamics of nonlinear shock wave fronts
Fine root dynamics in Slovenian beech forests in relation to soil temperature and water availability
Diffusion Anomaly in an Associating Lattice Gas Model
We investigate the relation between thermodynamic and dynamic properties of
an associating lattice gas (ALG) model. The ALG combines a two dimensional
lattice gas with particles interacting through a soft core potential and
orientational degrees of freedom. From the competition between the directional
attractive forces and the soft core potential results two liquid phases, double
criticality and density anomaly. We study the mobility of the molecules in this
model by calculating the diffusion constant at a constant temperature, . We
show that has a maximum at a density and a minimum at a
density . Between these densities the diffusivity
differs from the one expected for normal liquids. We also show that in the
pressure-temperature phase-diagram the line of extrema in diffusivity is close
to the liquid-liquid critical point and it is inside the temperature of maximum
density (TMD) line.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure
New Dimensions for Wound Strings: The Modular Transformation of Geometry to Topology
We show, using a theorem of Milnor and Margulis, that string theory on
compact negatively curved spaces grows new effective dimensions as the space
shrinks, generalizing and contextualizing the results in hep-th/0510044.
Milnor's theorem relates negative sectional curvature on a compact Riemannian
manifold to exponential growth of its fundamental group, which translates in
string theory to a higher effective central charge arising from winding
strings. This exponential density of winding modes is related by modular
invariance to the infrared small perturbation spectrum. Using self-consistent
approximations valid at large radius, we analyze this correspondence explicitly
in a broad set of time-dependent solutions, finding precise agreement between
the effective central charge and the corresponding infrared small perturbation
spectrum. This indicates a basic relation between geometry, topology, and
dimensionality in string theory.Comment: 28 pages, harvmac big. v2: references and KITP preprint number added,
minor change
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