Optimization of high efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells using silane-plasma diagnostics

In silicon heterojunction solar cells, the passivation of the crystalline silicon wafer surfaces and fabrication of emitter and back surface field are all performed by intrinsic and doped amorphous silicon thin layers, usually deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Since the properties of materials deposited by PEVCD are directly linked to the plasma properties, plasma diagnostics are very useful tools to optimize such devices. A novel diagnostic has been developed to measure in-situ the molecular silane depletion fraction in the plasma during deposition. It is found that the silane depletion strongly depends on the process parameters, and appears to be a relevant parameter for the quality of the passivating layers. Good passivation is indeed obtained from highly depleted silane plasmas. Based on this, layers deposited in a large-area PECVD reactor working at very high frequency (40.68 MHz) were optimized for heterojunction solar cells. All other fabrication steps were also fully industry compatible, using sputtering for transparent conductive oxide layers and screenprinting for the front grid. The best 2 x 2 cm2 cell shows a high open-circuit voltage of 717 mV, yielding a conversion efficiency of 20.3% (aperture area). Keywords: Heterojunction, PECVD, High-Efficienc

Silane plasma diagnostics for high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells

In silicon heterojunction solar cells, the passivation of the crystalline silicon wafer surfaces and fabrication of emitter and back surface field are all performed by intrinsic and doped amorphous silicon thin layers, usually deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). By using in-situ diagnostics during PECVD, it is found that the passivation quality of such layers directly relate to the plasma conditions, especially on the silane depletion fraction. Good interface passivation is indeed obtained from highly-depleted silane plasmas. Based upon this finding, layers deposited in a large-area very high frequency (40.68 MHz) PECVD reactor were optimized for heterojunction solar cells, yielding Voc’s up to 727 mV and aperture efficiencies up to 20.7% on 4 cm2 cells

Design and manufacture of a bed supported tidal turbine model for blade and shaft load measurement in turbulent flow and waves

Laboratory testing of tidal turbine models is an essential tool to investigate hydrodynamic interactions between turbines and the flow. Such tests can be used to calibrate numerical models and to estimate rotor loading and wake development to inform the design of full scale machines and array layout. The details of the design and manufacturing techniques used to develop a highly instrumented turbine model are presented. The model has a 1.2 m diameter, three bladed horizontal axis rotor and is bottom mounted. Particular attention is given to the instrumentation which can measure streamwise root bending moment for each blade and torque and thrust for the overall rotor. The model is mainly designed to investigate blade and shaft loads due to both turbulence and waves. Initial results from tests in a 2 m deep by 4 m wide flume are also presented

A therapy parameter-based model for predicting blood glucose concentrations in patients with type 1 diabetes

In this paper, the problem of predicting blood glucose concentrations (BG) for the treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes, is addressed. Predicting BG is of very high importance as most treatments, which consist in exogenous insulin injections, rely on the availability of BG predictions. Many models that can be used for predicting BG are available in the literature. However, it is widely admitted that it is almost impossible to perfectly model blood glucose dynamics while still being able to identify model parameters using only blood glucose measurements. The main contribution of this work is to propose a simple and identiable linear dynamical model, which is based on the static prediction model of standard therapy. It is shown that the model parameters are intrinsically correlated with physician-set therapy parameters and that the reduction of the number of model parameters to identify leads to inferior data fits but to equivalent or slightly improved prediction capabilities compared to state-of-the-art models: a sign of an appropriate model structure and superior reliability. The validation of the proposed dynamic model is performed using data from the UVa simulator and real clinical data, and potential uses of the proposed model for state estimation and BG control are discussed

Sensitivity of L-band vegetation optical depth to carbon stocks in tropical forests: a comparison to higher frequencies and optical indices

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111303.Monitoring vegetation carbon in tropical regions is essential to the global carbon assessment and to evaluate the actions oriented to the reduction of forest degradation. Mainly, satellite optical vegetation indices and LiDAR data have been used to this purpose. These two techniques are limited by cloud cover and are sensitive only to the top of vegetation. In addition, the vegetation attenuation to the soil microwave emission, represented by the vegetation optical depth (VOD), has been applied for biomass estimation using frequencies ranging from 4 to 30¿GHz (C- to K-bands). Atmosphere is transparent to microwaves and their sensitivity to canopy layers depends on the frequency, with lower frequencies having greater penetration depths. In this regard, L-band VOD (1.4¿GHz) is expected to enhance the ability to estimate carbon stocks. This study compares the sensitivity of different VOD products (from L, C, and X-bands) and an optical vegetation index (EVI) to the above-ground carbon density (ACD). It quantifies the contribution of ACD and forest cover proportion to the VOD/EVI signals. The study is conducted in Peru, southern Colombia and Panama, where ACD maps have been derived from airborne LiDAR. Results confirm the enhanced sensitivity of L-band VOD to ACD when compared to higher frequency bands, and show that the sensitivity of all VOD bands decreases in the densest forests. ACD explains 34% and forest cover 30% of L-band VOD variance, and these proportions gradually decrease for EVI, C-, and X-band VOD, respectively. Results are consistent through different categories of altitude and carbon density. This pattern is found in most of the studied regions and in flooded forests. Results also show that C-, X-band VOD and EVI provide complementary information to L-band VOD, especially in flooded forests and in mountains, indicating that synergistic approaches could lead to improved retrievals in these regions. Although the assessment of vegetation carbon in the densest forests requires further research, results from this study support the use of new L-band VOD estimates for mapping the carbon of tropical forests.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Chaînes à liaisons complètes et mesures de Gibbs unidimensionnelles

On introduit un formalisme de mécanique statistique pour l'étude des processus stochastiques discrets(chaînes) pour lesquels on prouve : (i) des propriétés générales de chaînes extrémales, incluant la trivialité de la tribu queue, les corrélations à courtes portées, la réalisation via des limites à volumes infinis et l'ergodicité, (ii) deux nouvelles conditions pour l'unicité de la chaîne cohérente, (iii) des résultats de perte de mémoire et des propriétés de mélange pour des chaînes sous le régime de Dobrushin. On considère des systèmes à alphabet fini, pouvant avoir une grammaire. On établit des conditions pour qu'une chaîne définisse une mesure de Gibbs et vice-versa. On discute de l'équivalence des critères d'unicité pour les chaînes et les champs et on établit des bornes pour les taux de continuité des systèmes respectifs de probabilités conditionnelles. On prouve un théorème de (re)construction pour les spécifications en partant de conditionnement sur un site.ROUEN-BU Sciences (764512102) / SudocROUEN-BU Sciences Madrillet (765752101) / SudocTOULON-BU Centrale (830622101) / SudocROUEN-Bib.maths (764512206) / SudocSudocFranceF

Actualité du tétanos en France et dans les pays en voie de développement

AIX-MARSEILLE2-BU Pharmacie (130552105) / SudocSudocFranceF