Combined Experimental and Modeling Analysis for theDevelopment of Optical Materials Suitable to Enhance theImplementation of Plasmonic-Enhanced Luminescent Down-Shifting Solutions on Existing Silicon-Based Photovoltaic Devices

The development of highly efficient solar collectors requires modulating the light interactions with the semiconducting materials. Incorporating luminescent species and metal nanoparticles within a semitransparent polymeric material (e.g., polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)) leads to the formation of a plasmon-enhanced luminescent down-shifting (PLDS) layer, which offers a retrofittable approach toward expanding the wavelength range over which the conversion process can effectively occur. Adding antireflection coatings (ARCs) further controls the spectral response. However, with each additional component comes additional loss pathways. In this study, the losses related to light interactions with the PMMA and the ARCs have been investigated theoretically using a transfer matrix method and experimentally validated. Two proposed architectures were considered, and the deviations between the optical response of each iteration helped to establish the design considerations. The proposed structure-enhanced (SE) designs generated a predicted enhancement of 37 to 62% for the collection performance of a pristine monocrystalline-silicon solar cell, as inferred through the short-circuit current density (Jsc). The results revealed the synergies among the SE-design components, demonstrating that the spectral response of the SEs, containing a thin polymer framework and an ARC, can be tuned to minimize the reflections, leading to the solar energy conversion enhancement

The critical raw materials issue between scarcity, supply risk, and unique properties

ABSTRACT: This editorial reports on a thorough analysis of the abundance and scarcity distribution of chemical elements and the minerals they form in the Earth, Sun, and Universe in connection with their number of neutrons and binding energy per nucleon. On one hand, understanding the elements’ formation and their specific properties related to their electronic and nucleonic structure may lead to understanding whether future solutions to replace certain elements or materials for specific technical applications are realistic. On the other hand, finding solutions to the critical availability of some of these elements is an urgent need. Even the analysis of the availability of scarce minerals from European Union sources leads to the suggestion that a wide-ranging approach is essential. These two fundamental assumptions represent also the logical approach that led the European Commission to ask for a multi-disciplinary effort from the scientific community to tackle the challenge of Critical Raw Materials. This editorial is also the story of one of the first fulcrum around which a wide network of material scientists gathered thanks to the support of the funding organization for research and innovation networks, COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gas Sensing Materials Based on TiO2 Thin Films

Ti O 2 thin films were prepared by spray pyrolysis using a solution of titanium tetrachloride and ethyl alcohol. The deposition was performed onto different substrates (silicon, quartz, glass) maintained at the same temperature, 270 ° C . After annealing, a predominant rutile structure is obtained for films deposited onto silicon and quartz substrates, as revealed by x-ray diffraction patterns. The Ti O 2 films were exposed to different gases, at different temperatures, in order to evaluate their gas sensitivity. The optimum operating temperatures, showing the highest gas sensitivity, were determined for some gases (acetone, ethanol, methane, and liquefied petroleum gas)

Trends in photonics

cited By 0International audienceThe name “Photonics” derived from the Greek word “photos” meaning “light” and photonics is closely related to “optics” as the “science of light” in the classical way as a wave (classical optics) and in the quantum way as a particle (quantum optics). With the development of lasers and data transmission, the term of “Photonics” was introduced from the necessity to describe a research field, whose aim was to use light to perform functions that usually fell within the domain of electronics such as information processing. Hence, Photonics can be defined as the science referring to generation, transmission, amplification, detection, modulation and manipulation of photons. © 2018, The Author(s)

Comparison of ITO/metal/ITO and ZnO/metal/ZnO characteristics as transparent electrodes for third generation solar cells

International audienc

Future Solar Energy Devices

International audienc

On the electrical and photoelectrical properties of CH3NH3PBI3 perovskites thin films

International audienc

Sans titre

Date du colloque : 09/2011International audienc