25,656 research outputs found
Silicon surface passivation by silicon nitride deposition
Silicon nitride deposition was studied as a method of passivation for silicon solar cell surfaces. The following three objectives were the thrust of the research: (1) the use of pecvd silicon nitride for passivation of silicon surfaces; (2) measurement techniques for surface recombination velocity; and (3) the importance of surface passivation to high efficiency solar cells
High-efficiency silicon solar cells
Fabrication and characterization of high-efficiency metal insulator, n-p (MINP) cells is described. Particular attention was paid to development of measurement methods for surface recombination and density of surface states. A modified Rosier test structure was used successfully for density of surface states. Silicon oxide and silicon nitride passivants were studied. Heat treatment after plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of silicon nitride was shown to be beneficial. A more optimum emitter concentration profile was modeled
SiN sub x passivation of silicon surfaces
The objectives were to perform surface characterization of high efficiency n+/p and p+/n silicon cells, to relate surface density to substrate dopant concentration, and to identify dominant current loss mechanisms in high efficiency cells. The approach was to measure density of states on homogeneously doped substrates with high frequency C-V and Al/SiN sub x/Si structures; to investigate density of states and photoresponse of high efficiency N+/P and P+/N cells; and to conduct I-V-T studies to identify current loss nechanisms in high efficiency cells. Results are given in tables and graphs
Building a Sample of Distant Clusters of Galaxies
Candidate clusters of galaxies drawn from the sample identified from the
moderately deep I-band data of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS), have been used for
follow-up optical/infrared imaging and spectroscopic observations. The
observations were conducted to assess the nature of these candidates over a
large range of redshifts. Currently, 163 EIS candidates have (V-I) colors, 15
have (I-K) and 65 cluster fields have been observed spectroscopically. From a
preliminary analysis of these data, we find that > 65% of the candidates
studied show strong evidence of being real physical associations, over the
redshift range 0.2<z<1.1. The evidence in some cases comes directly from
spectroscopic measurements, in others indirectly from the detection of
overdensities of objects with either the same color or the same photometric
redshift, or from a combination of color and spectroscopic information.
Preliminary results also suggest that the redshift derived from the
matched-filter algorithm is a reasonable measure of the cluster's redshift,
possibly overestimating it by Delta z ~0.1, at least for systems at z<0.7.
Overdensities of red objects have been detected in over 100 candidates, 38 of
which with estimated redshifts >0.6, and six candidates in the interval
0.45<z<0.81 have either been identified directly from measured redshifts or
have been confirmed by the measurement of at least one redshift for galaxies
located along a red-sequence typical of cluster early-type galaxies. Lastly,
five candidates among those already observed in the infrared have (I-Ks) colors
consistent with them being in the redshift interval 0.8<z<1.1. The sample of
"confirmed" clusters, already the largest of its kind in the southern
hemisphere, will be further enlarged by ongoing observations.Comment: To appear in "Large Scale Structure in the X-ray Universe", ed. M.
Plionis and I. Georgantopoulos (Paris: Editions Frontieres), in pres
Calibration of the ISEE plasma composition experiment
The Plasma Composition experiment on the ISEE-1 satellite was designed to measure ions from 1 to 16 amu, at energies from near zero to 16 keV. The two nearly identical flight instruments were calibrated by means of preflight laboratory tests and in-flight data comparisons. This document presents most of the details of those efforts, with special emphasis on the low energy (0 to 100 eV) portion of the instrument response. The analysis of the instrument includes a ray-tracing calculation, which follows an ensemble of test particles through the detector
Barrier Coatings for Thin Film Solar Cells: Final Subcontract Report
This program has involved investigations of the stability of CdTe and copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) solar cells under damp heat conditions and effects of barrier coatings. CdTe and CIGS cells were subjected to environmental conditions characterized by 60ºC and 90% relative humidity (60/90), and to some extent 85ºC and 85 % relative humidity (85/85). Barrier coating technology developed at PNNL for OLEDs was used to investigate approaches to encapsulation of the two types of thin film solar cells. Moisture barriers consisting of multi-layer coatings involving alternating layers of polymer and aluminum oxide were deposited directly onto the front surface of CIGS cells and the rear surface of CdTe devices, with the front surface defined by the light receiving side of the cell. Most of the studies were conducted with directly deposited barrier coatings. The CIGS cells were provided by Shell Solar, Industries (SSI) in the form of 10 cm x 10 cm and 5 cm x 5 cm mini-circuits, and by the Institute for Energy Conversion (IEC) in the form of small laboratory cells grown on a 2 in x 2 in glass substrate. The SSI devices were actually CIGSS cells since they contained sulfur as well as selenium, but they are referred to as CIGS cells in this report. CdTe cells were provided by Dr. Sampath at Colorado State University (CSU). Current voltage characteristics of cells were taken periodically when under damp heat stress. Photoluminescence studies were also utilized for characterizing the effect of damp heat stress. An approach to encapsulation by direct deposition was determined for each type of cell that allowed the device to survive 1000 hours in a 60/90 damp heat environment. SSI cells were also tested under 85/85 conditions. The efficiencies of SSI thin-film CIGS cells with directly deposited barrier coatings subjected to 85/85 stress were found to degrade to 60% of their beginning-of-life value. The decline in efficiency versus time was independent of the number dyads (polymer/alumina pairs) used to form the moisture barrier. The result suggests that moisture ingress was either occurring at the edges, or a directly deposited multi-layer barrier is inadequate for the SSI circuits under the 85/85 stress condition. IEC cells were encapsulated by directly deposited, five dyad coatings. One device survived 2000 hours in 85ºC/85%RH without any degradation in efficiency. More recently, very good results were achieved with laminated SoloPower cells using PNNL coated PET. These reslts are briefly discussed. CdTe cells were tested with and without encapsulation. Uncapsulated CdTe degraded in an environment of 60ºC/90%RH, but were found to be quite stable when encapsulated with PNNL barrier coatings
Silicon MINP solar cells
The MINP solar cell concept refers to a cell structure designed to be a base region dominated device. Thus, it is desirable that recombination losses are reduced to the point that they occur only in the base region. The most unique feature of the MINP cell design is that a tunneling contact is utilized for the metallic contact on the front surface. The areas under the collector grid and bus bar are passivated by a thin oxide of tunneling thickness. Efforts must also be taken to minimize recombination at the surface between grid lines, at the junction periphery and within the emitter. Results of both theoretical and experimental studies of silicon MINP cells are given. Performance calculations are described which give expected efficiencies as a function of base resistivity and junction depth. Fabrication and characterization of cells are discussed which are based on 0.2 ohm-cm substrates, diffused emitters on the order of 0.15 to 0.20 microns deep, and with Mg MIS collector grids. A total area AM 1 efficiency of 16.8% was achieved. Detailed analyses of photocurrent and current loss mechanisms are presented and utilized to discuss future directions of research. Finally, results reported by other workers are discussed
Investigation of silicon surface passivation by silicon nitride film deposition
The use of Sin sub x grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVO) for passivating silicon surfaces was studied. The application of PECVO SiN sub x films for passivations of silicon N+/P or P+/N solar cells is of particular interest. This program has involved the following areas of investigation: (1) Establishment of PECVO system and development of procedures for growth of SiN sub x; (2) Optical characterization of SiN sub x films; (3) Characterization of the SiN sub x/Si interface; (4) Surface recombination velocity deduced from photoresponse; (5) Current-Voltage analyses of silicon N+/P cells; and (6) Gated diode device studies
Multi-object spectroscopy of low-redshift EIS clusters IV. Reliability of matched-filter results at z~0.3-0.4
abridged) In this paper we present new redshifts for 747 galaxies in 23 ESO
Imaging Survey (EIS) cluster fields. We use the "gap"-technique to search for
significant overdensities in redshift space for identifying groups/clusters of
galaxies. In this way we spectroscopically confirm systems in 10 of the 23
cluster candidate fields with a matched-filter estimated redshift z_MF=0.3-0.4
and with spectroscopic redshifts in the range from z=0.158 to z=0.534. We find
that the systems identified in the present paper span a broad range of
one-dimensional velocity dispersion (175-497 km/s) and richness
(12L*<=L<=65L*). Both undersampling and contamination by substructures
contribute to the uncertainty of these measurements. From the analysis of the
colours of the galaxy populations we find that ~60% of the spectroscopically
confirmed systems have a "significant" red sequence with a colour matching
passive stellar evolution models. With this paper we complete our spectroscopic
survey of the fields of 58 EIS cluster candidates with estimated redshifts
z<=0.4. We have measured a total of 1954 galaxy redshifts in the range z=0.0065
to z=0.6706. Of the 58 systems we confirm 42 (~75%) with redshifts between
z=0.095 and z=0.534.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 19 pages, 11 figure
Observation of Heteronuclear Feshbach Resonances in a Bose-Fermi Mixture
Three magnetic-field induced heteronuclear Feshbach resonances were
identified in collisions between bosonic 87Rb and fermionic 40K atoms in their
absolute ground states. Strong inelastic loss from an optically trapped mixture
was observed at the resonance positions of 492, 512, and 543 +/- 2 G. The
magnetic-field locations of these resonances place a tight constraint on the
triplet and singlet cross-species scattering lengths, yielding -281 +/- 15 Bohr
and -54 +/- 12 Bohr, respectively. The width of the loss feature at 543 G is
3.7 +/- 1.5 G wide; this broad Feshbach resonance should enable experimental
control of the interspecies interactions.Comment: revtex4 + 5 EPS figure
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