Amelie Tetu

Broadband photocurrent enhancement and light-trapping in thin film Si solar cells with periodic Al nanoparticle arrays on the front.

Plasmonic resonances in metal nanoparticles are considered candidates for improved thin film Si photovoltaics. In periodic arrays the influence of collective modes can enhance the resonant properties of such arrays. We have investigated the use of periodic arrays of Al nanoparticles placed on the front of a thin film Si test solar cell. It is demonstrated that the resonances from the Al nanoparticle array causes a broadband photocurrent enhancement ranging from the ultraviolet to the infrared with respect to a reference cell. From the experimental results as well as from numerical simulations it is shown that this broadband enhancement is due to single particle resonances that give rise to light-trapping in the infrared spectral range and to collective resonances that ensure an efficient in-coupling of light in the ultraviolet-blue spectral range.

Power Take-Off Systems for WECs

The power take-off (PTO) of a wave energy converter is defined as the mechanism with which the absorbed energy by the primary converter is transformed into useable electricity.

Modeling of superheating and undercooling of strained semiconductor nanocrystals in SiO2

Although superheating and undercooling of nanocrystals have been observed and simply modeled, physical aspects of the nanocrystals, like strain, have previously been ignored. In this article the size dependence of the melting and solidification point temperature of semiconductor nanocrystals embedded in an interface epitaxy free matrix is modeled, taking into account the strain state of the nanocrystals. A configurational entropy term is introduced to render the model applicable to any crystal size, including bulk. The model is validated on the system of InSb nanocrystals embedded in SiO(2) under a high compressive strain.