Limiting efficiencies of solar energy conversion and photo-detection via internal emission of hot electrons and hot holes in gold

We evaluate the limiting efficiency of full and partial solar spectrum harvesting via the process of internal photoemission in Au-semiconductor Schottky junctions. Our results based on the ab initio calculations of the electron density of states (e-DOS) reveal that the limiting efficiency of the full-spectrum Au converter based on hot electron injection is below 4%. This value is even lower than previously established limit based on the parabolic approximation of the Au electron energy bands. However, we predict limiting efficiency exceeding 10% for the hot holes collection through the Schottky junction between Au and p-type semiconductor. Furthermore, we demonstrate that such converters have more potential if used as a part of the hybrid system for harvesting high- and low-energy photons of the solar spectrum.Comment: Proc. SPIE 9608, Infrared Remote Sensing and Instrumentation XXIII, 960816 (September 1, 2015) 7 pages, 4 figure

Transforming Experience Good into Search Good: How Virtual Experience May Change the Internet Advertising Market

Prior research indicates that goods contain either search or experience attributes and those that are categorized as search goods may induce more product information search efforts prior to purchase. Considering the low search cost online, search goods could easily prompt even more search efforts. However the experiment results of this study indicate an interesting finding that seem to go against this projection by showing more search efforts (including online advertisements click-throughs and searching time) for experience goods than for search goods. Explanations to the finding which in part echoing Klein’s (1998) proposition of virtual experience are provided and implications for online advertising are drawn

Polaritonic Huang-Rhys Factor: Basic Concepts and Quantifying Light-Matter Interaction in Medium

Huang-Rhys (HR) factor, a dimensionless factor that characterizes electron-phonon coupling, has been extensively employed to investigate material properties in various fields. In the same spirit, we present a quantity called polaritonic HR factor to quantitatively describe the effects of (i) light-matter coupling induced by permanent dipoles and (ii) dipole self-energy. The former can be viewed as polaritonic displacements, while the latter is associated with the electronic coupling shift. In the framework of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics, the polaritonic HR factor, coupling shift, and modified light-matter coupling strength in an arbitrary dielectric environment can be evaluated without free parameters, whose magnitudes are in good agreement with the previous experimental results. In addition, polaritonic progression developed in our theory indicates that large polaritonic HR factors can result in light-matter decoupling, multipolariton formation, and non-radiative transition. We believe that this study provides a useful perspective to understand and quantify light-matter interaction in medium

Wide-Dynamic-Range Control of Quantum-Electrodynamic Electron Transfer Reactions in the Weak Coupling Regime

Catalyzing reactions effectively by vacuum fluctuations of electromagnetic fields is a significant challenge within the realm of chemistry. Different from most studies based on vibrational strong coupling, we introduce an innovative catalytic mechanism driven by weakly coupled polaritonic fields. Through the amalgamation of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics (QED) principles with Marcus electron transfer (ET) theory, our results reveal that ET reaction rates can be precisely modulated across a wide dynamic range by controlling the size and structure of nanocavities. Comparing to QED-driven radiative ET rates in free space, plasmonic cavities induce substantial rate enhancements spanning from orders of magnitude ranging from 10^3-fold to 10^1-fold. By contrast, Fabry-Perot cavities engender rate suppression spanning from 10^{-2}-fold to 10^{-1}-fold. This work overcomes the necessity of using strong light-matter interactions in QED chemistry, opening up a new era of manipulating QED-based chemical reactions in a wide dynamic range