空芯光纤硅太阳能电池制备及光捕获研究

本文提出一种空芯光纤结构硅基太阳能电池,并探讨其制备方法和光捕获性能.依据平面电池受光原理和空芯波导的限光机制提出了空芯光纤硅基太阳能电池结构,采用卷曲柔性平面非晶硅薄膜电池制备出圆筒形空芯光纤硅电池.通过对比研究入射光量一定的条件下平面电池和空芯光纤电池的光生电流和电压值,评估空芯光纤电池的光捕获效果.通过测量不同光入射角度和光照强度下空芯光纤电池的光生电流和电压值,揭示光入射角度和光照强度对空芯光纤电池光捕获性能的影响关系.研究表明,空芯光纤硅基电池能将入射光线限制在波导结构内反复吸收和反射,从而在光捕获性能方面较平面电池有所提升(~19.8%).光线入射角度对空芯光纤电池的光捕获性能有较大影响,在30°~50°入射时可以获得较大的光生电压和电流值.在0~100 000 lux的光照强度范围内,光生电压先随光照度增加而增大,而后逐渐趋于恒定值.通过卷曲柔性平面硅电池获得光捕获效率较高的空芯光纤硅电池是可行的,采用结构简单、光线单次入射吸收较低的单节薄膜电池制备空芯光纤电池有望获得更好的光捕获效率提升效果.     

Two-axis solar tracking accomplished through small lateral translations

High-concentration solar-power optics require precise two-axis tracking. The planar micro-optic solar concentrator uses a lenslet array over a planar waveguide with small reflective facets at the focal point of each lenslet to couple incident light into the waveguide. The concentrator can use conventional tracking, tilting the entire assembly, but the system geometry also allows tracking by small lateral translation of the lenslet relative to the waveguide. Here, we experimentally demonstrate such microtracking with the existing concentrator optics and present optimized optical designs for systems with higher efficiency and angle range.     

陷光结构在GaAs薄膜太阳电池中的应用

陷光结构由于其独特的光学特性,在光伏器件中发挥的作用越来越重要。目前硅基太阳电池中陷光结构的应用很常见,然而在GaAs薄膜太阳电池中陷光结构的报道并不多。详细介绍了陷光结构的原理及其在GaAs薄膜电池中的研究现状和应用情况。综述了GaAs薄膜太阳能电池中常用的三类陷光结构:正面陷光结构(包括纳米颗粒、纳米线、纳米锥等)、背面陷光结构(如镜面背反射层)以及混合陷光结构。大量研究表明,陷光结构的使用可以进一步提高GaAs薄膜电池的光电转换效率,一定程度上达到降低电池生产成本的目的。     

Flexible polymeric rib waveguide with self-align couplers system

The authors report a polymeric based rib waveguide with U shape self-align fiber couplers system using a simple micromolding process with SU8 as a molding material and polydimethysiloxane as a waveguide material. The material is used for its good optical transparency, low surface tension, biocompatibility, and durability. Furthermore, the material is highly formable. This unique fabrication molding technique provides a means of keeping the material and manufacturing costs to a minimum. The self-align fiber couplers system also proves a fast and simple means of light coupling. The flexible nature of the waveguide material makes this process ideal for a potential wearable optical sensor.     

Versatile light-emitting-diode-based spectral response measurement system for photovoltaic device characterization

An absolute differential spectral response measurement system for solar cells is presented. The system couples an array of light emitting diodes with an optical waveguide to provide large area illumination. Two unique yet complementary measurement methods were developed and tested with the same measurement apparatus. Good agreement was observed between the two methods based on testing of a variety of solar cells. The first method is a lock-in technique that can be performed over a broad pulse frequency range. The second method is based on synchronous multifrequency optical excitation and electrical detection. An innovative scheme for providing light bias during each measurement method is discussed.     

Perovskite Solar Cells: From Materials to Devices

Perovskite solar cells based on organometal halide light absorbers have been considered a promising photovoltaic technology due to their superb power conversion efficiency (PCE) along with very low material costs. Since the first report on a long‐term durable solid‐state perovskite solar cell with a PCE of 9.7% in 2012, a PCE as high as 19.3% was demonstrated in 2014, and a certified PCE of 17.9% was shown in 2014. Such a high photovoltaic performance is attributed to optically high absorption characteristics and balanced charge transport properties with long diffusion lengths. Nevertheless, there are lots of puzzles to unravel the basis for such high photovoltaic performances. The working principle of perovskite solar cells has not been well established by far, which is the most important thing for understanding perovksite solar cells. In this review, basic fundamentals of perovskite materials including opto‐electronic and dielectric properties are described to give a better understanding and insight into high‐performing perovskite solar cells. In addition, various fabrication techniques and device structures are described toward the further improvement of perovskite solar cells.     

Light propagation in a planar dielectric waveguide with a gyrotropic layer

The nature of the magneto-optic Kerr effect in a planar dielectric waveguide geometry has been investigated by calculation of the Jones matrix for a planar waveguide structure with a gyrotropic magnetic material as one wall. The intensity of the component of the field that is in the polarization state orthogonal to the input was calculated as a function of length of the gyrotropic material and input polarization state. The degree of polarization rotation depends on the relative orientation of the magnetization in the magnetic material and the direction of propagation. It is found that there exists an optimal waveguide length and input polarization at which the output signal is maximized and that a significant enhancement in polarization rotation is available with respect to free-space reflection. These results indicate that a magnetic-film-bounded planar waveguide can be used for device applications such as magnetic field sensors or magneto-optic modulators.     

Input waveguide grating couplers designed for a desired wavelength and polarization response

Input grating couplers are used to couple light from free space into a waveguide and can provide additional functions such as focusing and beam splitting of the light into arbitrary desired positions in the waveguide. We show that it is possible to design the couplers so that they perform different desired functions depending on the polarization or wavelength of the incident light. We demonstrate experimentally a number of couplers that may be of interest, e.g., in optical fiber communications. Examples are polarization-independent couplers, designed to have the same response for two orthogonal polarizations of the incident light, and couplers for demultiplexing in wavelength division multiplexing applications, designed to separate and focus different input wavelengths to different positions in the waveguide.     

Impact of Waveguide Filling Material on Near-Field Microwave Inspection of Carbon-Loaded Composites

The advent of carbon loaded composite materials gave a boost to many industries. This is because of their light weight, durability and strength. As new structures utilizing carbon loaded composites are built, the need for a reliable nondestructive testing technique increases. A carbon-loaded composite testing poses a challenge to most nondestructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E) techniques. Microwave NDT&I techniques main challenge is the lossy nature of carbon, especially at high microwave frequencies. Lower frequencies penetrate deeper in carbon-loaded composites, however, to operate at lower frequencies the size of the waveguide probe increases significantly which degrades the resolution rapidly. Open-ended rectangular waveguide sensors filled with a dielectric material will be used to inspect carbon-loaded composites. The filling of the waveguide reduces the frequency of operation and keeps the small size of the waveguide (i.e. increases the penetration depth and maintains the resolution). However, varying the waveguide filling material dielectric properties will have an impact on the measurement parameters optimization process and consequently on the detection sensitivity. In this paper, the use of the waveguide filling material as an optimization parameter will be investigated. Carbon-loaded composites with disbonds will be inspected and the variation of the dielectric properties of the loading material of rectangular waveguide probes for carbon loaded composites inspection will be assessed.     

Large polarization response of planarized optical waveguide functionalized with 2D material overlays

ABSTRACT

We propose a planarized optical waveguide structure functionalized with 2D materials that exhibits strong polarization dependent light interaction. Numerical study on both TE – and TM-polarized lights propagation in the 2D material coated optical waveguide is carried out. The effective index, n_eff of optical waveguide increases with the increase of refractive index of the 2D material overlay but decreases when its extinction coefficient is increased. On the other hand, the effective extinction coefficient, k_eff of 2D material coated waveguide increases with the increase of both the real and imaginary parts of 2D material refractive index. It is found that TE-mode has a stronger interaction with 2D material overlay compared to TM-mode, giving rise to potential application like waveguide polarizer. By optimizing the coating thickness, TM-pass waveguide polarizer with high polarization extinction ratio of 78.5 and 97.7?dB can be produced using black phosphorus and graphene oxide, respectively, with a coating length of only 1?mm.     

利用高度稳定的发光薄膜提高多晶硅太阳能电池的光伏效率（英文）

硅基太阳能电池已经主导了整个光伏市场,但是仍然面临着光电转化效率低的问题,其中部分原因是其对紫外线的利用率较低.稀土铕配合物能够将紫外光转化为可见光,有望提高硅基太阳能电池的光电转化效率.然而,这类配合物较低的稳定性限制了它们的实际应用.本文中,我们制备了一种高度稳定的EVA/Eu(ND)4-CTAC发光薄膜,将其覆盖在大尺寸的多晶硅太阳能电池表面(110 cm^2)可以使得光电转化效率从15.06%提高到15.57%.在500 h的加速老化实验中荧光性能几乎没有下降,证明了发光薄膜的超强稳定性.在如此大的有效面积上,发光薄膜使硅基太阳能电池的转换效率提高0.51%的绝对值,同时实现超高的稳定性,说明该发光膜在光伏工业上具有广阔的应用前景.     

Ultrawideband air-core plasmonic slow-light waveguide with ultralow high-order dispersion

We propose a surface plasmonic waveguide that consists of a metal-dielectric-metal structure and an air-core which are sandwiched in both metals and dielectric material. Numerical results show that the waveguide is able to confine the surface plasmonic modes in a very small air area and achieve slow light with a group velocity of 0.0086?c and cancelled even-orders dispersion over the ultrawideband of 21?THz.     

Nanocrystalline zinc indium vanadate: a novel photocatalyst for hydrogen generation

Hydrogen is a future fuel and hence production of cheap hydrogen is an important area of research. Recently, the photocatalysts were used to generate hydrogen from water and hydrogen sulfide splitting under solar light. Hence, we designed Zinc Indium Vanadate, a novel visible light active photocatalyst and used for the generation of hydrogen by using solar light. We have demonstrated the synthesis of ZnIn2V2O9 (ZIV) catalyst by sonochemical route using NH4VO3, In (NO3)3 and Zn(CH3COO)2 as a precursors and PVP as a capping agent. The obtained product was further characterized by XRD, UV-DRS and FESEM. The XRD pattern reveals the existence of monoclinic crystal structure and broader peaks indicating the nanocrystalline nature of the material. The particle size was observed in the range of 50-70 nm. The optical study showed the absorption edge cut off at 520 nm with estimated band gap about 2.3 eV. Considering the band gap in visible range, ZnIn2V2O9 was used as a photocatalyst for photodecomposition of H2S under visible light irradiation to produce hydrogen. We observed excellent photocatalytic activity for the hydrogen generation by using this photocatalyst.     

Characterization of antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide devices by scanning near-field optical microscopy

Silicon-based antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) devices were studied by means of a scanning near-field optical microscope. Various structures such as a Y junction of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and a directional optical coupler were characterized, showing the propagation of the light inside the devices simultaneously with the topography. Scattering on the splitting point of the Y junction was shown, as well as a partial coupling of the light between the two branches of the coupler. Measurements on the decay length of the evanescent field were also performed to study the use of the ARROW waveguide for sensor purposes.     

Hochdurchsatzbeschichtungen für die Photovoltaik

High throughput coatings for photovoltaics – Contribution of sputtering technology to Paris Climate Goals Photovoltaics (PV) is one of the most important renewable energy sources whose expansion is needed to achieve the climate goals. The considerable drop down in the costs of PV based energy within the last 10 years has led to a very high degree of economic attractiveness for photovoltaics. This was made possible by new cell structures with higher efficiencies, lower material usage and utilization of scaling effects as well as automation in production. Highly efficient PVD coating processes, such as the magnetron sputtering, are increasingly being used in current crystalline PV cell types such as heterojunction or TOPCON solar cells. Thin film technologies are still the backbone for processing of the less material‐intensive thin‐film solar modules.     

Preliminary investigation of near-field nondestructive testing of carbon-loaded composites using loaded open-ended waveguides

Composite materials are being utilized in a multitude of industrial and commercial applications. This is due to their desirable features such as light weight, durability and strength. This presents quite a challenge to the field of nondestructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E). Due to the material complexity associated with these materials, many techniques have been shown to be ineffective when inspecting these materials. The ability of microwaves to penetrate deeply inside such dielectric materials and composites makes microwave NDT techniques very attractive for interrogating such materials. Microwaves are also sensitive to the presence of dissimilar layers in these materials which allows for accurate thickness variation measurement in the range of a few micrometers at frequencies as low as 10 GHz. Near-field microwave inspection techniques were successfully used for detecting and locating defects and voids of different sizes and shapes in composites. For optimal detection, the standoff distance between the sensor and the composite and frequency of operation were used as optimization parameters to improve the detection capability. Carbon-loaded composites present a challenge to microwave NDT because of the lossy nature of carbon, especially at high microwave frequencies. Lower frequencies penetrate more (deeper) in carbon-loaded composites, however, the size of the waveguide sensor increases drastically at lower frequencies and consequently the resolution degrades rapidly as well. To overcome this dilemma, open-ended rectangular waveguides loaded with a dielectric material will be used to inspect carbon-loaded composites. The loading of the waveguide reduces the frequency of operation and keeps the small size of the waveguide (i.e. increases the penetration depth and maintains the resolution). Carbon-loaded composites with disbonds will be inspected and the ability of utilizing loaded rectangular waveguides for carbon-loaded composites inspection will be assessed.     

Highly efficient coupling in lithium niobate photonic wires by the use of a segmented waveguide coupler

The purpose of this article is to show that efficient light coupling in lithium niobate waveguides presenting a strongly confined mode, such as photonic wires, is possible with the use of a periodically segmented waveguide coupler. The coupler consists in an input periodically segmented waveguide whose mode size is adapted to the mode of a standard single-mode fiber coupled to a photonic wire whose mode size is of the same order of the wavelength. The periodic segmentation of the input waveguide allows fulfilling the phase matching condition necessary to achieve an efficient light transfer between these waveguides. The coupling efficiency is typically 5 times higher than the butt-coupled configuration.     

Long-period gratings in planar optical waveguides

We present a theoretical analysis of light propagation in a four-layer planar waveguide that consists of a long-period grating (LPG) having a period of the order of 100 microm. By means of the coupled-mode theory, we show that such a structure is capable of coupling light from the fundamental guided mode to the cladding modes at specific wavelengths (resonance wavelengths) and thus results in sharp rejection bands in the transmission spectrum of the waveguide. Our numerical results show that the resonance wavelengths as well as the transmission spectrum can be significantly changed with the waveguide and grating parameters. A waveguide-based LPG should provide a useful approach to the design of a wide range of integrated-optic devices, including wavelength-tunable filters, switches, and environmental sensors.     

Interaction between process technology and material quality during the processing of multicrystalline silicon solar cells

Multicrystalline silicon is the most used material for the production of silicon solar cells. The quality of the as grown material depends on the quality of the feedstock and the crystallization process. Bulk impurities, crystal defects like dislocations and of course the grain boundaries determine the material quality and thus the solar cell conversion efficiency. Therefore minority carrier lifetime measurements are often done to characterize the material quality. But the measured values are from limited use because it is known that the solar cell process itself can dramatically change the minority carrier lifetime and the solar cell efficiency. In order to obtain more detailed information of the behaviour of different defect types additionally high-resolution LBIC (light beam induced current)-measurements have been done. Since LBIC needs a pn-junction for photocurrent generation the LBIC technique has been combined with the a-Si/c-Si heterojunction cell process, which makes it possible to manufacture solar cells even from as cut wafers without changing the material quality. With this combination of measurement and preparation techniques it was possible to analyze the influence of the diffusion process and the firing process on the behaviour of the three different defect types: grain boundaries, dislocation networks and bulk impurities.