Realistic simulation of metal nanoparticles on solar cells

[EN] We present a strategy for simulating the scattering effect of an array of self-aggregated (SA) metal nanoparticles (NPs) on the light absorption in solar cells. We include size and shape effects of the NPs, the effect of a layered substrate and the effect of the interaction between NPs. The simulation relies on realistic characterization by SEM microscopy of the random NP arrays. Time and memory limitations of numerical approaches are overcome using semianalytical expressions. Size and shape considerations deal with truncated-sphere shapes by using a polarisability tensor. This is a development of other models leading to equivalent dipoles from the external source and the radiated fields from the rest of NPs. Once an equivalent array of 3-D dipoles is found, the total electromagnetic field and optical simulations are performed. The general trends show good agreement with experimental measurements. A critical analysis of the model is presented, and some improvement strategies are discussed for future studies.The authors would like to thank the R&D fellowship FPI-UPV (P.A.I.D. program of the Universitat Politècnica de València) and the EU-COST project “MultiscaleSolar” (MP1406) and Dr. Stéphane Collin from the Laboratory of Photonics and Nanostructures (CNRS-LPN) for helpful discussions and SEM characterisation.Cortés Juan, F.; Espinosa Soria, A.; Connolly, JP.; Sánchez Plaza, G.; Hugonin, J.; Sanchis Kilders, P. (2015). Realistic simulation of metal nanoparticles on solar cells. Energy Procedia. 84:204-213. doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2015.12.315S2042138

Observations of four-wave mixing in slow-light silicon photonic crystal waveguides

Four-wave mixing is observed in a silicon W1 photonic crystal waveguide. The dispersion dependence of the idler conversion efficiency is measured and shown to be enhanced at wavelengths exhibiting slow group velocities. A 12-dB increase in the conversion efficiency is observed. Concurrently, a decrease in the conversion bandwidth is observed due to the increase in group velocity dispersion in the slow-light regime. The experimentally observed conversion efficiencies agree with the numerically modeled results.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Kenneth Martin : a spare austerity

The invitation to write this essay came from Alan Haydon and Jenny Lomax, curators of 'Kenneth Martin & Mary Martin: Constructed Works', a landmark exhibition that examines the development of these two major figures in the history of British abstract art. The curators asked Hugonin to explore parallels between his own paintings and Kenneth Martin’s late series ‘Chance, Order, Change.’ His text, although short, was an important practice-led contribution to a catalogue that gave the views of contemporary artists priority over historical information. Haydon’s and Lomax’s idea was to juxtapose the constructivism of both artists (including Kenneth Martin’s kinetic mobile sculptures and Mary Martin’s relief sculptures and architectural maquettes) and Hugonin’s writing responded to the sense of occasion created by this joint exhibition of two influential artists. In his essay the researcher argues that Kenneth Martin was a particularly inventive user of number-oriented methods. Hugonin explores a favourite work ‘Chance, Order, Change 27 (Green) History Painting’ (1983) contrasting Martin’s approach with his own experience of the creative interaction of intuition and logic. The research embedded in the essay arises from a series of experiments that resulted in a major series of new paintings: Untitled XII (02-05), XIII (03-05), XIV (05), and XV (06-07). This last work is illustrated alongside Hugonin’s text. Hugonin is a visiting professor in the division of visual arts and his theoretical engagement with the nature of systems-based art practices has provided supervisory support for an AHRC funded doctoral project by Lavell entitled: ‘The Power of Naming: what happens when an artist incorporates forensic science methodology into his studio practice?’ This practice-led PhD contrasts, but also tries to reconcile, certain creative resemblances between systems art and obsessive serial offence. Hugonin is part of Lavell’s interdisciplinary supervision team which includes both criminologists and fine artists

James Hugonin and Howard Skempton

This output demonstrates Hugonin’s long-term interest in collaborating with musicians (e.g. Gavin Bryars at Tate St. Ives in the last RAE). Hugonin and his current collaborator, the composer Howard Skempton, were invited to develop an exhibition-performance for Ingleby Gallery by the director, Richard Ingleby. This follows the success of ‘Late Mix: Hugonin Portrait’, performed at the Sage Gateshead during the researcher’s curatorial project at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (see output 2 above). This Hugonin-Skempton project in Edinburgh was part of a series of thirty two-person exhibitions that responded to conversations between different art forms (e.g. Richard Forster and Richard Artschwager; Francesca Woodman and Richard Serra) The music in this output was performed in the earlier Sage version by members the Northern Sinfonia (7th June 2006). On that occasion the accompanying programme also included works by Arvo Part, Steve Reich, Morton Feldman and Lou Harrison. Hugonin draws many parallels between his own practice and developments in contemporary music over the past three decades. There are interesting correspondences between his process-oriented approach and the composition and performance of minimalist works by American composers such as Steve Reich and Morton Feldman. The research that informs this output questions the independence of visual and performing arts practitioner when the creators are bound by a shared interest in formal structure and rhythmic systems. At Ingleby Gallery the collaborators juxtaposed visual and musical manifestations of their left-handedness. This collaboration with Skempton is the latest, and most experimental manifestation of Hugonin’s professional association with the Ingleby Gallery which has led to the sale of works to renowned collectors of contemporary art such Stuart Carey Welch (USA) and David Coe (Australia)

Fieldnotes and sketchbooks : challenging the boundaries between descriptions and processes of describing

This exhibition was curated by the anthropologists Tim Ingold (Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen) and Wendy Gunn (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Creativity and Practice Group, University of Dundee and University of Aberdeen 2002-2005). The curators invited Hugonin to participate in an AHRC funded project that explored the diverse relations of notebooks and preparatory work to finished artworks. It was the researcher’s use of invented rule systems that interested the two anthropologists. Hugonin was selected as the exhibition’s leading representative of painting processes, David Nash represented the working procedures of sculptors. For more information on ‘Fieldnotes and sketchbooks’ see: www.abdn.ac.uk/creativityandpractice/background.shtml The curators are working on a book (2008) based on the exhibition with the international academic publishers Peter Lang Publishers (Bern and New York), which will feature Hugonin’s contribution to Fieldnotes and sketchbooks.’ When participating in this project, Hugonin became particularly interested in the project’s treatment of fine art practice as a form of research. This was the first time he had collected together his own ‘fieldnotes and sketchbooks’ and related their contents to his own development as an artist. As a result, Hugonin used the ideas developed in this output to provide research-route seminars in the MA Art Practice studio practice module. He has also provided supervisory advice for Bosch’s AHRC doctoral project: ‘The Artist and Corporate Identity: exploring strategic identity awareness in fine art practice’ (see Dorsett’s output 3 above). This doctoral study makes a phenomenology study of studio environments in order to identify the strategic processes at work amongst practitioners

James Hugonin and Ian Stephenson

This research output was initiated by Hugonin who wanted explore the relationship between his own work and that of his tutor on the MA Course at Chelsea School of Art, Ian Stephenson (1934 – 2000). The result was a curatorial project, organized in conjunction with De La Warr Pavilion and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, in which Hugonin selected works by Stephenson from 1967-72, the point when his approach to painting was hugely influential to a generation of young artists at the beginning of their careers. These studio visits were arranged by BALTIC as part of their Education programme and a filmed interview with Hugonin by Gary Malkin (BALTIC curator) is available at archive.balticmill.com. A monograph has been published by De La Warr Pavillion: ‘And our eyses scan time,’ includes essays by the musician Paul Hillier (Dappled Things) and the art historian Chris Yetton (The Abstract Ideal and the Sensual World). In developing the themes for this exhibition, Hugonin examined the sense of regional identity that links him to Stephenson. Both are from the North East and both dedicated themselves to the advance of abstract painting in Britain. The researcher has developed ideas of place and commitment in a series of public seminars in his studio that explored the role of location in non-representational art practices. Hugonin is very interested in the optimum sense of association that artworks achieve at their site of production. This dilutes in galleries

Building with colour

Building with Colour examines the use of colour in the work of seven contemporary artists, some very well-known and established, and others from a younger generation at the beginning of their careers: Helen Baker, Siân Bowen, James Hugonin, James Johnson-Perkins, Claire Morgan, Tuesday Nesbitt , Duncan Newton, and Sean Scully. Full colour illustrations of their work are accompanied by biographical notes and three essays. Helen Baker, the curator of the exhibition, discusses the material presence of colour in making paintings; Chris Yetton analyses the fascinating working practices and ideas of James Hugonin, based on a systematic, but poetic use of colour marks; and Malcolm Gee considers the structuring and signifying nature of colour in modern art