Efficient Volumetric Method of Moments for Modeling Plasmonic Thin-Film Solar Cells with Periodic Structures

Metallic nanoparticles (NPs) support localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), which enable to concentrate sunlight at the active layer of solar cells. However, full-wave modeling of the plasmonic solar cells faces great challenges in terms of huge computational workload and bad matrix condition. It is tremendously difficult to accurately and efficiently simulate near-field multiple scattering effects from plasmonic NPs embedded into solar cells. In this work, a preconditioned volume integral equation (VIE) is proposed to model plasmonic organic solar cells (OSCs). The diagonal block preconditioner is applied to different material domains of the device structure. As a result, better convergence and higher computing efficiency are achieved. Moreover, the calculation is further accelerated by two-dimensional periodic Green's functions. Using the proposed method, the dependences of optical absorption on the wavelengths and incident angles are investigated. Angular responses of the plasmonic OSCs show the super-Lambertian absorption on the plasmon resonance but near-Lambertian absorption off the plasmon resonance. The volumetric method of moments and explored physical understanding are of great help to investigate the optical responses of OSCs.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

A new species of Polycelis (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Planariidae) from China

In this paper, a new species of Polycelis of the family Planariidae from China is described. Mature individuals have 80–140 eyespots; the testes are well-developed and most of them occupy the entire dorso-ventral space; the penis is a long cone with well-developed musculature; the boundary between the penis bulb and penis papilla is vague and the bulbar cavity is not observed; the bursal canal is surrounded by a well-developed coat of circular muscles, and a thin layer of longitudinal muscles. The karyotype shows a diploid complement of 38 chromosomes, with the formula 2n = 38 = 24m + 14sm

Domain Wall Conduction in Calcium-Modified Lead Titanate for Polarization Tunable Photovoltaic Devices

Ferroelectric domain wall (DW) conduction, confirmed in recent experiments, has attracted intense attention due to its promising applications in optoelec- tronic devices. Herein, we provide theoretical evidence of electric conduction in Pb0.8Ca0.2TiO3 (PCT) DWs. The separation of charge accumulation in DWs, corresponding to the electronic conduction-band minimum (CBM) and valence-band maximum (VBM), weakens the tendency for the electron-hole recombination, thereby providing more efficient channels for charge transfer. We fabricate PCT-based functional photovoltaic devices with polarization tunable charge transfer to exploit the combined conduction and ferroelectric properties of the DW. The photovoltaic performance of the devices can be regu- lated by the alternation of ferroelectric domains in PCT, caused by variation of the external poling. Our work broadens the applicability of DW conduction and may inspire the future design of high-performance materials in photovoltaic devices

Development of compress air transportation (CAT) for alternative energy utilization

Compress Air Transportation (CAT) is a new concept of transportation that utilizes air as the source of energy. Work on alternative power system for vehicle is becoming very important for the future due to combination of high prices on fuel, emission factor and also the source of the current energy will eventually run out. Several advantages for utilizing air as the source of energy compared to other alternative energy sources makes it become the subject for this project. In this project, a simple transportation utilizing air as the source of energy has been developed. The main component of the engine of the CAT is a device called the "Air Impact Wrench" which can be purchased from local stores. The CAT was tested and analyzed for further studies on expanding this new technology