Struggling with an Opportunity: The first 10 years with the EU for Central Europe and the Baltics - A few lessons. CEPS Essay No. 12, 2 May 2014

In 2004, ten new members joined the European Union, radically reshaping its geography and governance characteristics. Earlier expectations predicted a more gradual process of accession – like a more gradual earlier evolution had been expected for the new European currency that had been adopted in 1999 by no less than 11 members. But these were the times of euro-enthusiasm. In their new CEPS Essay, Kálmán Mizsei and Ádám Kullmann offer some interesting and instructive insights from the experience in the newest member states following their accession 10 years ago for improving the effectiveness with which the EU structural and cohesion funds are spent

Why so hard?: Rule-of-law, reform, and state sovereignty in Ukraine and Moldova

Unlike their luckier neighbors to the west, Ukraine and Moldova did not enjoy a convenient geographical location, a national consensus, a clear identity or the state traditions to make their transition effective after the meltdown of the Soviet empire. Their initial transformation was gradual, with leaders at the helm inherited from the communist past. Thus began an evolution, in many ways similar to that of many other CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries, that led to an oligarchic but pluralistic Ukrainian and a captured oligarchic Moldovan state. So far, reform efforts have not been successful, demonstrating the strength of the new systems that came into being. In Ukraine two revolutions aimed at radical reforms but the first one failed and so far the second did not deliver the kind of liberal state that demonstrators and Western partners expected alike. The case of Moldova is similar but here mistakes of the Western partners also contributed to the current, unreformed outcome. Increasingly, the issue centers around the rule-of-law, the establishment of a competent and independent judiciary – in a geopolitical space that could not be further away from what Luttwak 26 years ago imagined with his description of a transition to geoeconomics. In large parts of the world, including Eastern Europe, bad old traditional geopolitics is very much alive and shapes everyday life in the most dramatic way

Együtt-párologtatott négykomponensű félvezető vékonyréteg fotovoltaikus célra = Co-evaporated four-component semiconductor thin films for photovoltaics

A CIGS PV szerkezet kutatásának célja az együtt-párologtatásos előállításnál fellépő folyamatok megismerése; és az n-típusú puffer-réteg létrehozása vákuumtechnikailag zárt ciklusba rendezhető módon. Utóbbit az atomi réteg-leválasztási technika hazai bevezetésével oldottuk meg. Kb. 200 ciklusban Zn-és 2 at% Al prekurzor-technikával Al-mal adalékolt ZnO-rétegek üveg hordozón T= 210-220°C-on reprodukálhatóan kialakíthatók n=1,2•1021cm-3 adalékkoncentrációval, µ= 0.7 cm2/Vs mozgékonysággal ill. ρ≈2 mΩcm (1 ill. 7 mΩcm laterális és normális) vezetőképességgel. A CIGS rétegnövesztést ún. flash-párologtatásos módszerrel és utólagos szelenizációval vizsgáltuk. Ampullában, együttes párologtatással (T=500°C, t=15min) csak kalkopirit összetevők mutathatók ki, a hőkezelés csak a Ga-tartalmat befolyásolja. Az ideális CuIn0,8Ga0,2Se2 összetétel 10-15 perces hőkezeléssel beállítható a szokásos morfológiával, amit konformálisan fed be a kb. 40nm ALD pufferréteg . Üvegen, Mo-elektródra párologtatott (In, Ga) és porlasztott (Cu) fémösszetevők rétegsorrendjének szerepe döntő utólagosan szelenizált rétegszerkezeten. Felpárologtatott Se-forrás hőkezelésével (változó gőznyomáson) vákuumban a szelenizáció nem sikeres, de konstans gőznyomáson (ampullában) tökéletes, ha a fémrétegek sorrendje In, Ga, Cu. | The research on CuInGaSe2 (CIGS) thin film PV structures aimed at understanding of fundamental phenomena at the co-evaporation of the absorber layer; and the development of n-type buffer-layer by an integrable vacuum-method. Latter problem was solved by the adoption of the Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technique. In ca. 200 cycles of alternating Zn and ca. 2at% Al precursor pulses Al-doped ZnO layers on glass substrates could be formed reliably at T= 210-220°C with n=1,2•1021cm-3 doping concentration, µ= 0.7 cm2/Vs mobility and ρ≈2 mΩcm (1 vs. 7 mΩcm lateral and normal) resistivity. CIGS layer growth by the "flash-evaporation" method and with the post-selenisation of the metallic precursors was studied. Co-evaporation at T=500°C, t=15min results in solely chalcopyrite components, annealing time affects only the Ga-content in the layer. The composition CuIn0,8Ga0,2Se2 ideal for PV application can be set by an annealing for 10-15 min with the usual morphology, to be covered conformally by the ca. 40nm ALD buffer. The influence of the sequence of evaporated (In, Ga) and sputtered (Cu) metallic components on Mo-coated glass was studied by structural analyses on post-selenized d= 800…1200 nm layers. By the annealing of evaporated Se-source on top in vacuum (i.e. at varying Se vapour pressure) selenization was not successful. At constant vapour pressure (ampoule method) with a metal-layer order of In, Ga, Cu selenization is perfect