Efficiency enhancement calculations of state-of-the-art solar cells by luminescent layers with spectral shifting, quantum cutting, and quantum tripling function

Solar cells of which the efficiency is not limited by the Shockley-Queisser limit can be obtained by integrating a luminescent spectral conversion layer into the cell structure. We have calculated the maximum efficiency of state-of-the-art c-Si, pc-Si, a-Si, CdTe, GaAs, CIS, CIGS, CGS, GaSb, and Ge solar cells with and without an integrated...

Ultrafast all-optical gated amplifier based on ZnO nanowire lasing

We present an ultrafast all-optical gated amplifier, or transistor, consisting of a forest of ZnO nanowire lasers. A gate light pulse creates a dense electron-hole plasma and excites laser action inside the nanowires. Source light traversing the nanolaser forest is amplified, partly as it is guided through the nanowires, and partly as it...

Angular resolved scattering by a nano-textured ZnO/silicon interface

Textured interfaces in thin-film silicon solar cells improve the efficiency by light scattering. A technique to get experimental access to the angular intensity distribution (AID) at textured interfaces of the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and silicon is introduced. Measurements are performed on a sample with polished microcrystalline...

Titanium nitride: A new Ohmic contact material for n-type CdS

In devices based on CdS, indium is often used to make Ohmic contacts. Since indium is scarce and expensive, suitable replacement materials need to be found. In this work, we show that sputtered titanium nitride forms an Ohmic contact with n-type CdS. The CdS films, deposited with chemical bath deposition, have a hexagonal crystal structure and...

A scattering model for surface-textured thin films

We present a mathematical model that relates the surface morphology of randomly surface-textured thin films with the intensity distribution of scattered light. The model is based on the first order Born approximation [see e.g., M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics, 7th ed. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1999) ] and on...

Electronic coupling of colloidal CdSe nanocrystals monitored by thin-film positron-electron momentum density methods

The effect of temperature controlled annealing on the confined valence electron states in CdSe nanocrystal arrays, deposited as thin films, was studied using two-dimensional angular correlation of annihilation radiation. A reduction in the intensity by ?35% was observed in a feature of the positron annihilation spectrum upon removal of the...

Thermoelectric power in carbon nanotubes and quantum wires of nonlinear optical, optoelectronic, and related materials under strong magnetic field: Simplified theory and relative comparison

We study thermoelectric power under strong magnetic field (TPM) in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and quantum wires (QWs) of nonlinear optical, optoelectronic, and related materials. The corresponding results for QWs of III-V, ternary, and quaternary compounds form a special case of our generalized analysis. The TPM has also been investigated in QWs of...

Simulation of a tunable optically pumped terahertz intersubband laser with diluted magnetic semiconductors

A simulation of an optically pumped laser based on a ZnSe/Zn1?yCdySe double quantum well with a Zn1?xMnxSe diluted magnetic semiconductor barrier is presented. Giant Zeeman splitting in diluted magnetic semiconductors leads to splitting of electronic states, which in turn leads to tunability of laser wavelength by external magnetic field....