Impacts of the Silk Road pattern on the interdecadal variations of the atmospheric heat source over the Tibetan Plateau

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the boreal summer Silk Road Pattern (SRP) and the atmospheric heat (<Q1>) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) region, using 5 reanalysis datasets over the period 1979–2019. Our results indicate an interdecadal change of boreal summer SRP over the Eurasian region, with a regime shift in...

Design and optimization of hole collectors based on nc-SiO_x:H for high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells

Low activation energy (E_a) and wide bandgap (E_g) are essential for (p)-contacts to achieve effective hole collection in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. In this work, we study Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition p-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide, (p)nc-SiO_x:H, combined with (p)nc...

Room-temperature sputtered tungsten-doped indium oxide for improved current in silicon heterojunction solar cells

The window layers limit the performance of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells with front and back contacts. Here, we optimized tungsten-doped indium oxide (IWO) film deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The opto-electrical properties of the IWO were manipulated when deposited on top of thin-film silicon...

Ultra-thin electron collectors based on nc-Si:H for high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells

Low parasitic absorption and high conductivity enable (n)-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon [(n)nc-Si:H], eventually alloyed with oxygen [(n)nc-SiO_x:H], to be deployed as window layer in high-efficiency silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. Besides the appropriate opto-electrical properties of these nanocrystalline...

Realizing the Potential of RF-Sputtered Hydrogenated Fluorine-Doped Indium Oxide as an Electrode Material for Ultrathin SiO _x/Poly-Si Passivating Contacts

In high-efficiency silicon solar cells featuring carrier-selective passivating contacts based on ultrathin SiOx/poly-Si, the appropriate implementation of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers is of vital importance. Considerable deterioration in passivation quality occurs for thin poly-Si-based devices owing to the sputtering damage...

The role of heterointerfaces and subgap energy states on transport mechanisms in silicon heterojunction solar cells

The contact resistivity is a key parameter to reach high conversion efficiency in solar cells, especially in architectures based on the so-called carrier-selective contacts. The importance of contact resistivity relies on the evaluation of the quality of charge collection from the absorber bulk through adjacent electrodes. The electrode...

Strategy to mitigate the dipole interfacial states in (i)a-Si:H/MoO_x passivating contacts solar cells

Molybdenum oxide (MoO_x) is attractive for applications as hole-selective contact in silicon heterojunction solar cells for its transparency and relatively high work function. However, the integration of MoO_x stacked on intrinsic amorphous silicon (i)a-Si:H layer usually exhibits some issues that are still not fully...

Strategy to mitigate the dipole interfacial states in (i)a-Si:H/MoOxpassivating contacts solar cells

Electrical simulations show that the dipole formed at (i)a-Si:H/MoOx interface can explain electrical performance degradation. We experimentally manipulate this interface by a plasma treatment (PT) to mitigate the dipole strength without harming the optical response. The optimal PT + MoOx stack results in strongly improved electrical...

Doped hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide layers for high-efficiency c-Si heterojunction solar cells

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon oxide (nc-SiO_x:H) layers exhibit promising optoelectrical properties for carrier-selective-contacts in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. However, achieving high conductivity while preserving crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivation quality is technologically challenging for growing thin...

High-Mobility Hydrogenated Fluorine-Doped Indium Oxide Film for Passivating Contacts c-Si Solar Cells

Broadband transparent conductive oxide layers with high electron mobility (μ_e) are essential to further enhance crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell performances. Although metallic cation-doped In₂O₃ thin films with high μ_e (>60 cm² V^-1 s^-1) have been extensively...

Spherical polyelectrolyte nanogels as templates to prepare hollow silica nanocarriers: observation by small angle X-ray scattering and TEM

Hollow silica nanoparticles were prepared through generating a silica layer in spherical polyelectrolyte nanogels (SPN), which consisted of a solid core of polystyrene (PS) and a shell of crosslinked poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), followed by removing the PS core via solvent dissolution. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) in combination with TEM...

Transport Properties of Carbon-Nanotube/Cement Composites

This paper preliminarily investigates the general transport properties (i.e., water sorptivity, water permeability, and gas permeability) of carbon-nanotube/cement composites. Carboxyl multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) are dispersed into cement mortar to fabricate the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) reinforced cement-based composites by applying...