Dynamically Assisted Schwinger Effect at Strong Coupling with Its Holographic Extension

At strong-coupling and weak-field limit, the scalar Schwinger effect is studied by the field-theoretical method of worldline instantons for dynamic fields of single-pulse and sinusoidal types. By examining the Wilson loop along the closed instanton path, corrections to the results obtained from weak-coupling approximations are discovered. They show that this part of contribution for production rate becomes dominant as Keldysh parameter increases, it makes the consideration at strong coupling turn out to be indispensable for dynamic fields. Moreover a breaking of weak-field condition similar to constant field also happens around the critical field, defined as a point of vacuum cascade. In order to make certain whether the vacuum cascade occurs beyond the weak-field condition, following Semenoff and Zarembo's proposal, the Schwinger effects of dynamic fields are studied with an $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang--Mills theory in the Coulomb phase. With the help of the gauge/gravity duality, the vacuum decay rate is evaluated by the string action with instanton worldline as boundary, which is located on a probe D3-brane. The corresponding classical worldsheets are estimated by perturbing the integrable case of a constant field.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, two columns. Revision according to review. Appendices for proofs adde

Asynchronous Photoexcited Electronic and Structural Relaxation in Lead-Free Perovskites

Vacancy-ordered lead-free perovskites with more-stable crystalline structures have been intensively explored as the alternatives for resolving the toxic and long-term stability issues of lead halide perovskites (LHPs). The dispersive energy bands produced by the closely packed halide octahedral sublattice in these perovskites are meanwhile anticipated to facility the mobility of charge carriers. However, these perovskites suffer from unexpectedly poor charge carrier transport. To tackle this issue, we have employed the ultrafast, elemental-specific X-ray transient absorption (XTA) spectroscopy to directly probe the photoexcited electronic and structural dynamics of a prototypical vacancy-ordered lead-free perovskite (Cs3Bi2Br9). We have discovered that the photogenerated holes quickly self-trapped at Br centers, simultaneously distorting the local lattice structure, likely forming small polarons in the configuration of Vk center (Br2– dimer). More significantly, we have found a surprisingly long-lived, structural distorted state with a lifetime of ∼59 μs, which is ∼3 orders of magnitude slower than that of the charge carrier recombination. Such long-lived structural distortion may produce a transient “background” under continuous light illumination, influencing the charge carrier transport along the lattice framework

Microstructure Evolution of AlSi10Mg(Cu) Alloy Related to Isothermal Exposure

The mechanical properties and corrosion resistance changes of AlSi10Mg(Cu) alloy under different isothermal exposure conditions have been investigated by tensile experiments and electrochemical testing. The results show that isothermal exposure has a significant influence on the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Tensile strength is more sensitive to the higher exposure temperature, while the corrosion resistance is greater affected by the lower exposure temperature and shorter time. Microstructure evolution of AlSi10Mg(Cu) alloy related to different isothermal exposure condition has also been studied by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicate that the isothermal exposure changed the type and density of nanoscale precipitates in the alloy, which in turn induced the change of performance of the alloy

Probing the Multiexcitonic Dynamics in CsPbI₃ Nanocrystals across the Temperature-Induced Reversible Phase Transitions

CsPbI3 nanocrystals (CPI NCs) have become a trending research topic due to their impressive potential in functional optoelectronic devices and optical gain applications. Their optical responses are governed by carrier dynamics, which is greatly influenced by temperature and corresponding phase structure due to the effects of inherently electron-phonon coupling. Notably, CPI NCs have been identified to adopt an unexpectedly stable cubic phase from room temperature to liquid helium temperature. Here, using in situ cryogenic electron diffraction measurements, it is unambiguously demonstrated that CPI NCs undergo consecutive cubic-tetragonal-orthorhombic phase transitions from 298 to 100 K. The corresponding temperature-dependent multiexcitonic dynamics are investigated in each phase by combining time-resolved photoluminescence and transient absorption spectroscopy. In addition to the temperature dependency, the lifetime of both excitons and biexcitons evidently depends on the phase structures of the CPI NCs, highlighting the crucial effect of crystal structure on the carrier dynamics. Moreover, the biexciton binding energy increases with higher crystal symmetry due to the decrease of the dielectric constant. The findings shed light on the structural phase transition and its relationship to the carrier dynamics in all-inorganic perovskite NCs, which provides critical insight into the structure-performance relationship in CPI NCs for promising applications in optoelectronic devices.</p

Effects of Hydrogenation on the Corrosion Behavior of Zircaloy-4

Hydrogen plays an important role in the corrosion of zirconium alloys, and the degree of influence highly depends on the alloy composition and conditions. In this work, the effects of hydrogenation on the corrosion behavior of Zircaloy-4 in water containing 3.5 ppm Li + 1000 ppm B at 360 °C/18.6 MPa were investigated. The results revealed that hydrogenation can shorten the corrosion transition time and increase the corrosion rates of Zircaloy-4. The higher corrosion rates can be ascribed to the larger stress in the oxide film of hydrogenated samples, which can accelerate the evolution of the microstructure of the oxide film. In addition, we also found that hydrogenation has little effect on the t-ZrO2 content in the oxide film and there is no direct correspondence between the t-ZrO2 content and the corrosion resistance of the Zircaloy-4

Optimizing the quasi-equilibrium state of hot carriers in all-inorganic lead halide perovskite nanocrystals through Mn doping : fundamental dynamics and device perspectives

Hot carrier (HC) cooling accounts for the significant energy loss in lead halide perovskite (LHP) solar cells. Here, we study HC relaxation dynamics in Mn-doped LHP CsPbI3 nanocrystals (NCs), combining transient absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We demonstrate that Mn2+ doping (1) enlarges the longitudinal optical (LO)-acoustic phonon bandgap, (2) enhances the electron-LO phonon coupling strength, and (3) adds HC relaxation pathways via Mn orbitals within the bands. The spectroscopic study shows that the HC cooling process is decelerated after doping under band-edge excitation due to the dominant phonon bandgap enlargement. When the excitation photon energy is larger than the optical bandgap and the Mn2+ transition gap, the doping accelerates the cooling rate owing to the dominant effect of enhanced carrier-phonon coupling and relaxation pathways. We demonstrate that such a phenomenon is optimal for the application of hot carrier solar cells. The enhanced electron-LO phonon coupling and accelerated cooling of high-temperature hot carriers efficiently establish a high-temperature thermal quasi-equilibrium where the excessive energy of the hot carriers is transferred to heat the cold carriers. On the other hand, the enlarged phononic band-gap prevents further cooling of such a quasi-equilibrium, which facilitates the energy conversion process. Our results manifest a straightforward methodology to optimize the HC dynamics for hot carrier solar cells by element doping. This journal i

Carbon-Based CsPbBr₃ Perovskite Solar Cells: All-Ambient Processes and High Thermal Stability

The device instability has been an important issue for hybrid organic–inorganic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs). This work intends to address this issue by exploiting inorganic perovskite (CsPbBr₃) as light absorber, accompanied by replacing organic hole transport materials (HTM) and the metal electrode with a carbon electrode. All the fabrication processes (including those for CsPbBr₃ and the carbon electrode) in the PSCs are conducted in ambient atmosphere. Through a systematical optimization on the fabrication processes of CsPbBr₃ film, carbon-based PSCs (C-PSCs) obtained the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of about 5.0%, a relatively high value for inorganic perovskite-based PSCs. More importantly, after storage for 250 h at 80 °C, only 11.7% loss in PCE is observed for CsPbBr₃ C-PSCs, significantly lower than that for popular CH₃NH₃PbI₃ C-PSCs (59.0%) and other reported PSCs, which indicated a promising thermal stability of CsPbBr₃ C-PSCs

Controlled synthesis of highly stable lead-free bismuth halide perovskite nanocrystals : tructures and photophysics

Recently, cesium bismuth halide perovskites have emerged as potential substitutes to their counterparts, cesium lead halide perovskites, owing to their low toxicity. However, the photophysics of cesium-bismuth halides nanocrystals (NCs) have not yet been fully rationalized because their structures remain highly debated. The ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption along with other photophysical properties such as the nature and lifetime of the excited states vary considerably across the previous reports. Here, we successfully synthesize pure Cs3BiBr6 and Cs3Bi2Br9 NCs via a modified hot-injection method, where the structure can be easily controlled by tuning the reaction temperature. The UV-vis absorption spectrum of the pure Cs3Bi2Br9 NCs features two characteristic peaks originating from the absorption of the first exciton and second exciton, respectively, which ultimately clarifies the debate in the previous reports. Using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, we systematically investigate the excited state dynamics of the Cs3Bi2Br9 NCs and reveal that the photoexcited carriers undergo a self-trapping process within 3 ps after excitation. More intriguingly, the Cs3Bi2Br9 NCs prepared by this method show much better photostability than those prepared by the ligand-assisted reprecipitation process. Photodetectors based on these Cs3Bi2Br9 NCs show a sensitive light response, demonstrating the definite potential for breakthrough optoelectronic applications. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]