Deqi Wu

Influence of nanowires length on performance of crystalline silicon solar cell

Silicon-nanowire (Si-NW) array, prepared by an electroless chemical-etching method, shows excellent optical antireflection property over a wide spectral bandwidth. The influence of the wire length on the optical antireflection property and the solar cell performance were studied for both the Si-NW array solar cells and the planar solar cells. The reflectance of NWs solar cells is almost invariable and much lower than that of the planar solar cells but the performance of planar solar cells is the best. Results show the performance of NWs solar cells is strongly affected by some other factors such as surface passivation and electrode-contact property.

Silicon nanowire-array-textured solar cells for photovoltaic application

In this paper, a vertical-aligned silicon nanowires (Si NWs) array has been synthesized and implemented to the Si NW-array-textured solar cells for photovoltaic application. The optical properties of a Si NWs array on both the plane and pyramid-array-textured substrates were examined in terms of optical reflection property. Less than 2% reflection ratio at 800 nm wavelength was achieved. Using leftover monocrystalline Si (c-Si) wafer (125×125 mm2), a 16.5% energy conversion efficiency, with 35.4% enhancement compared to the pyramid-array-textured c-Si solar cells, was made by the Si NW-array-textured solar cells due to their enhanced optical absorption characteristics. However, without SiNx passivation, the short circuit current reduced due to the increased surface recombination when using Si NWs array as surface texturing, indicating that an optimum surface passivation was prerequisite in high-efficiency Si NW-array-textured solar cells.

High-responsivity, low-noise, room-temperature, self-mixing terahertz detector realized using floating antennas on a GaN-based field-effect transistor

Using only optical lithography, we have fabricated a GaN/AlGaN high-electron mobility transistor with distinctive source and drain antennas electrically isolated from the electron channel. Working at room temperature, it efficiently detects terahertz radiation via self-mixing, with a responsivity (3.6 kV/W) exceptionally high for a III-V device and with a noise (40 pW / ) just above the thermal limit. Performance improves at 77 K. While the device itself is micrometer-sized, our modeling indicates the asymmetric antennas induce a rather localized (<200 nm) region of strong self-mixing. Thus, a nanometer-scale active region is achieved by design and without recourse to electron-beam lithography

Probing and modelling the localized self-mixing in a GaN/AlGaN field-effect terahertz detector

In our previous work [Sun et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 013506 (2012)], we inferred the existence of localized self-mixing in an antenna-coupled field-effect terahertz detector. In this Letter, we report a quasistatic self-mixing model taking into account the localized terahertz fields and its verification by comparing the simulated results with the experimental data in a two-dimensional space of the gate voltage and the drain/source bias. The model well describes the detector characteristics: not only the magnitude, but also the polarity, of the photocurrent can be tuned. The existence of strongly localized self-mixing in such detectors is confirmed.

Antireflection properties and solar cell application of silicon nanostructures

Silicon nanowire (Si NW) arrays were fabricated on polished and pyramids textured mono-crystalline Si (mc-Si) using an aqueous chemical etching method. The Si NWs and a hybrid texture of NWs and pyramids both show strong anti-reflectance properties in the wavelength region of 300–1000 nm, with the minimum average reflectance of 2.52% and 8%, respectively. The above two nanostructures were fabricated on mc-Si solar cells with the area of 125×125 mm2. Then the influences of Si NWs and hybrid textures on the performances of mc-Si solar cells created using different fabrication processes were analyzed by internal quantum efficiency measurement and by systematical comparisons of efficiency, filling factor, open circuit voltage and short-circuit current. Passivation is found to be essential for the hybrid textured solar cells, and the average open circuit voltage can be improved by 7% after a passivation layer was deposited. The short circuit current could be increased when Si NWs were fabricated on a substrate...

The effect of symmetry on resonant and nonresonant photoresponses in a field-effect terahertz detector

The effect of the symmetries in the terahertz (THz) field distribution and the field-effect channel on THz photoresponse is examined. Resonant excitation of cavity plasmon modes and nonresonant self-mixing of THz waves are demonstrated in a GaN/AlGaN two-dimensional electron gas with symmetrically designed nanogates, antennas, and filters. We found that the self-mixing signal can be effectively suppressed by the symmetric design and the resonant response benefits from the residual asymmetry. The findings suggest that a single detector may provide both high sensitivity from the self-mixing mechanism and spectral resolution from the resonant response by optimizing the degree of geometrical and/or electronic symmetries.

Numerical simulation and modeling of spectral conversion by silicon nanocrystals with multiple exciton generation

Silicon nanocrystals (Si-NCs) were applied on the front surface of a conventional silicon solar cell. Considering absorption with multiple exciton generation (MEG) yields and consequently photoluminescence, the cell performance was simulated based on a numerical model founded on experimental results in literature. The results show that the cell efficiency could be prominently enhanced by MEG yields and spectral down-conversion. However, though MEG yields could reach 250% within Si-NCs, it only contributes 8.7% to the cell efficiency enhancement while wavelength shifting dominates the cell efficiency enhancement mechanism. Additionally, extraction factor which is defined as ratio of photons extracted from Si-NCs to the generated carries in Si-NCs is the most critical parameter for cell performance improvement. Therefore, to realize this novel structure cell, further experimental work should be lay on improving MEG efficiency as well as photoluminescence efficiency and optical confinement of the photolumine...

The relationship between dynamic strain aging and serrated flow behaviour in magnesium alloy

Abstract The relationship between dynamic strain ageing (DSA) and serrated flow has been investigated via alternately switching strain rates at various temperatures in a Mg–3Nd–1Zn alloy. The results reveal that serrated flow is enhanced with decreasing strain rate and increasing temperature and tends to vanish, while the DSA continually intensifies as revealed by a higher flow stress even after the serration flow disappears. A mechanism is proposed, which could explain some abnormal deformation behaviour, such as a negative strain rate sensitivity and thermal hardening.