336 research outputs found

    CMOS-compatible metal-stabilized nanostructured Si as anodes for lithium-ion microbatteries

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    The properties of fully complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible metal-coated nanostructured silicon anodes for Li-ion microbatteries have been studied. The one-dimensional nanowires on black silicon (nb-Si) were prepared by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching and the metal (Au and Cu) coatings by successive magnetron sputtering technique. The Cu-coated nb-Si show the most promising electrochemical performance enhancements for the initial specific capacity as well as their cyclability compared to pristine nb-Si. The electrochemical and microstructural properties before and after cycling of the metal-coated nb-Si compared to their pristine counterparts are discussed in detail

    Light-trapping structures for planar solar cells inspired by transformation optics

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    Optimal light absorption is decisive in obtaining high-efficiency solar cells. An established, if not to say the established, approach is to texture the interface of the light-absorbing layer with a suitable microstructure. However, structuring the light-absorbing layer is detrimental concerning its electrical properties due to an increased surface recombination rate (owing to enlarged surface area and surface defects) caused by the direct patterning process itself. This effect lowers the efficiency of the final solar cells. To circumvent this drawback, this work theoretically explores a transformation optics (TrO) inspired approach to map the nanopatterned texture onto a planar equivalent. This offers a pattern with the same optical functionality but with much improved electrical properties. Schwarz-Christoffel mappings are used for ensuring conformality of the maps. It leads to planar, inhomogeneous, dielectric-only materials for the light trapping structure to be placed on top of the planar light-absorbing layer. Such a design strategy paves a way towards a novel approach for implementing light-trapping structures into planar solar cells

    Optical extinction due to intrinsic structural variations of photonic crystals

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    Unavoidable variations in size and position of the building blocks of photonic crystals cause light scattering and extinction of coherent beams. We present a new model for both 2 and 3-dimensional photonic crystals that relates the extinction length to the magnitude of the variations. The predicted lengths agree well with our new experiments on high-quality opals and inverse opals, and with literature data analyzed by us. As a result, control over photons is limited to distances up to 50 lattice parameters (15μ\sim 15 \mum) in state-of-the-art structures, thereby impeding large-scale applications such as integrated circuits. Conversely, scattering in photonic crystals may lead to novel physics such as Anderson localization and non-classical diffusion.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Changes include: added Lagendijk as author; simplified and generalized the tex

    Organic film thickness influence on the bias stress instability in Sexithiophene Field Effect Transistors

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    In this paper, the dynamics of bias stress phenomenon in Sexithiophene (T6) Field Effect Transistors (FETs) has been investigated. T6 FETs have been fabricated by vacuum depositing films with thickness from 10 nm to 130 nm on Si/SiO2 substrates. After the T6 film structural analysis by X-Ray diffraction and the FET electrical investigation focused on carrier mobility evaluation, bias stress instability parameters have been estimated and discussed in the context of existing models. By increasing the film thickness, a clear correlation between the stress parameters and the structural properties of the organic layer has been highlighted. Conversely, the mobility values result almost thickness independent

    Tailored Light Scattering through Hyperuniform Disorder in Self-Organized Arrays of High-Index Nanodisks

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    Arrays of nanoparticles exploited in light scattering applications commonly only feature either a periodic or a rather random arrangement of its constituents. For the periodic case, light scattering is mostly governed by the strong spatial correlations of the arrangement, expressed by the structure factor. For the random case, structural correlations cancel each other out and light scattering is mostly governed by the scattering properties of the individual scatterer, expressed by the form factor. In contrast to these extreme cases, it is shown here that hyperuniform disorder in self-organized large-area arrays of high refractive index nanodisks enables both structure and form factor to impact the resulting scattering pattern, offering novel means to tailor light scattering. The scattering response from the authors’ nearly hyperuniform interfaces can be exploited in a large variety of applications and constitutes a novel class of advanced optical materials

    Определение эффективности нейтронного детектора из пластического сцинтиллятора o100?200 мм

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    Рассчитывается и экспериментально проверяется эффективность детектора. к нейтронам сверхвысоких (десятки и сотни МэВ) энергий

    Ferroelectric Nanotubes

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    We report the independent invention of ferroelectric nanotubes from groups in several countries. Devices have been made with three different materials: lead zirconate-titanate PbZr1-xTixO3 (PZT); barium titanate BaTiO3; and strontium bismuth tantalate SrBi2Ta2O9 (SBT). Several different deposition techniques have been used successfully, including misted CSD (chemical solution deposition) and pore wetting. Ferroelectric hysteresis and high optical nonlinearity have been demonstrated. The structures are analyzed via SEM, TEM, XRD, AFM (piezo-mode), and SHG. Applications to trenching in Si dynamic random access memories, ink-jet printers, and photonic devices are discussed. Ferroelectric filled pores as small as 20 nm in diameter have been studied

    An Assessment of the Economic Viability of Engine Wash Procedures on the Lifecycle Cost of an Aircraft Fleet

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    Aircraft operators find themselves in an environment in which the economic and ecological pressure on companies is constantly increasing. To address this, significant improvements of aircraft efficiency are necessary. One way to reduce both operating cost and the environmental impact is to regularly perform on-wing engine washes which reduce the exhaust gas temperature as well as improve aircraft fuel consumption. To estimate the lifecycle impact of engine cleaning procedures, a variety of factors must be taken into account, ranging from environmental to operational. The lifecycle costing method developed by DLR, known as LYFE (Lifecycle Cash Flow Environment), enables the consideration of various factors to investigate the impact of engine washes over the lifetime of an aircraft or fleet. LYFE uses discrete event simulation to model the product lifecycle from order to operation until disposal of an aircraft fleet. For this analysis the tool is extended to separate the lifecycles of the engines and those of the aircraft, which enables the modeling of switching engines among aircraft. To more realistically represent engine fouling and engine performance degradation, representative weather data at airports is also included in the simulation. Using this information, we have developed a prognostics model to monitor the health of the engine, predict the timing of engine shop visits and automatically and dynamically schedule engine wash events. For the latter, three different algorithms varying in the prognostic horizon were developed and compared to one another. The results show that engine washing can improve the time on wing of the engine by up to 2240 flight cycles. Due to lifetime limitations by life limited parts and assumptions within this study, no extension of the service life of the engine can be achieved within the scope of this investigation. On the other hand, the fuel cost could be reduced at an average of 1.2% while the total cost remained the same. With this holistic view of how engine washes within a fleet influence the time on wing of the engine and affect its lifecycle cost a much more realistic statement about this on-wing maintenance action is possible

    Formation of gold nanoparticles in polymeric nanowires by low-temperature thermolysis of gold mesitylene

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    Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.The formation of polymer nanowires containing metal nanoparticle chains by low-temperature thermolyses of metal precursors has remained challenging. We report the block copolymer-assisted generation of locally regular chains of quasi-spherical gold nanoparticles with narrow particle diameter distribution by mild thermolysis of the non-polar gold precursor gold mesitylene inside the cylindrical nanopores of self-ordered anodic aluminium oxide (AAO). The block copolymer separates the gold mesitylene as well as the developing gold nanoparticles from the AAO pore walls so that surface nucleation and pinning of gold clusters are prevented. Growing quasi-spherical gold nanoparticles locally deform the polymer chains irreversibly adsorbed on the AAO pore walls, and the polymer chains are pushed into the space between the gold nanoparticles. The gold nanoparticles have, therefore, larger diameters and smaller specific surface than hypothetical pluglike gold entities with the same volume, the formation of which is suppressed.DFG, SPP 1165, Nanodrähte und Nanoröhren: von kontrollierter Synthese zur Funktio
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