NIGHT: a compact, near-infrared, high-resolution spectrograph to survey helium in exoplanet systems

Among highly irradiated exoplanets, some have been found to undergo significant hydrodynamic expansion traced by atmospheric escape. To better understand these processes in the context of planetary evolution, we propose NIGHT (the Near-Infrared Gatherer of Helium Transits). NIGHT is a high-resolution spectrograph dedicated to surveying and temporally monitoring He I triplet absorption at 1083nm in stellar and planetary atmospheres. In this paper, we outline our scientific objectives, requirements, and cost-efficient design. Our simulations, based on previous detections and modelling using the current exoplanet population, determine our requirements and survey targets. With a spectral resolution of 70,000 on a 2-meter telescope, NIGHT can accurately resolve the helium triplet and detect 1% peak absorption in 118 known exoplanets in a single transit. Additionally, it can search for three-sigma temporal variations of 0.4% in 66 exoplanets in-between two transits. These are conservative estimates considering the ongoing detections of transiting planets amenable to atmospheric characterisation. We find that instrumental stability at 40m/s, less stringent than for radial velocity monitoring, is sufficient for transmission spectroscopy in He I. As such, NIGHT can utilize mostly off-the-shelf components, ensuring cost-efficiency. A fibre-fed system allows for flexibility as a visitor instrument on a variety of telescopes, making it ideal for follow-up observations after JWST or ground-based detections. Over a few years of surveying, NIGHT could offer detailed insights into the mechanisms shaping the hot Neptune desert and close-in planet population by significantly expanding the statistical sample of planets with known evaporating atmospheres. First light is expected in 2024.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figures, this manuscript has been accepted for publication in MNRAS. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PD

Characterization of silicon heterojunctions for solar cells

Conductive-probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM) measurements reveal the existence of a conductive channel at the interface between p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) as well as at the interface between n-type a-Si:H and p-type c-Si. This is in good agreement with planar conductance measurements that show a large interface conductance. It is demonstrated that these features are related to the existence of a strong inversion layer of holes at the c-Si surface of (p) a-Si:H/(n) c-Si structures, and to a strong inversion layer of electrons at the c-Si surface of (n) a-Si:H/(p) c-Si heterojunctions. These are intimately related to the band offsets, which allows us to determine these parameters with good precision

Techno-economic assessment of CO2 quality effect on its storage and transport: CO2QUEST: An overview of aims, objectives and main findings

This paper provides an overview of the aims, objectives and the main findings of the CO2QUEST FP7 collaborative project, funded by the European Commission and designed to address the fundamentally important and urgent issues regarding the impact of the typical impurities in CO2 streams captured from fossil fuel power plants and other CO2 intensive industries on their safe and economic pipeline transportation and storage. The main features and results recorded from some of the unique test facilities constructed as part of the project are presented. These include an extensively instrumented realistic-scale test pipeline for conducting pipeline rupture and dispersion tests in China, an injection test facility in France to study the mobility of trace metallic elements contained in a CO2 stream following injection near a shallow-water qualifier and fluid/rock interactions and well integrity experiments conducted using a fully instrumented deep-well CO2/impurities injection test facility in Israel. The above, along with the various unique mathematical models developed, provide the fundamentally important tools needed to define impurity tolerance levels, mixing protocols and control measures for pipeline networks and storage infrastructure, thus contributing to the development of relevant standards for the safe design and economic operation of CCS

Interfaces rodoviário-urbanas no processo de produção das cidades: estudo de caso do contorno rodoviário de João Pessoa, PB, Brasil

As rodovias desempenham função importante no processo de estruturação das cidades, por facilitar os deslocamentos interurbanos. No entanto, quando absorvidas pela malha urbana de uma cidade, essas rodovias desenvolvem dinâmicas particulares com o espaço intraurbano no qual estão inseridas, com alterações na acessibilidade, na morfologia e no uso e ocupação da terra urbana. Com base nesse contexto, este artigo tem por objetivo analisar as dinâmicas entre a implantação do contorno rodoviário da BR-230 e o processo de produção do espaço intraurbano da cidade de João Pessoa-PB, entre os anos de 1963 e 2013, em termos de morfologia, uso e ocupação do solo urbano. O método empregado foi o da Lógica Evolutiva do Tecido Urbano, que divide a evolução urbana em três estágios: superação de limites, crescimento e combinação/conflitos. O método foi associado a ferramentas analíticas, como a Sintaxe Espacial e softwares de Sistema de Informação Geográfica. Os resultados mostram que a rodovia impulsionou o espraiamento da cidade para o setor sul e produziu uma malha urbana tentacular, onde também se identificou o padrão de crescimento horizontal e fragmentado, alterações na acessibilidade, uso do solo e na segregação socioespacial

Influence of the undoped a Si H buffer layer on a Si H c Si heterojunctions from planar conductance and lifetime measurements

International audienceIn highly efficient amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction (a-Si:H/c-Si) solar cells, the c-Si wafer is passivated by a nanometer-thin buffer layer, which is undoped amorphous silicon. Here, we report on the systematic measurement of the passivation quality (minority carrier effective lifetime) by photo-conductance decay and of the band bending in c-Si using the planar conductance technique. The thickness of the buffer layers is varied. An analytical model to calculate the band bending in c-Si is presented; it aids in understanding the influence of the buffer layer on the band bending. We find that when the buffer layer thickness increases the passivation quality increases and the band bending decreases. Therefore, we suggest that an optimum has to be found to reach good interface defect passivation and a high band bending

Deep defects and their electron capture cross sections in polymorphous silicon-germanium thin films

International audienc