Xiaozhou Che

Spectral and spatial imaging of the Be+sdO binary ψ Persei

The rapidly rotating Be star phi Persei was spun up by mass and angular momentum transfer from a now stripped-down, hot subdwarf companion. Here we present the first high angular resolution images of phi Persei made possible by new capabilities in longbaseline interferometry at near-IR and visible wavelengths. We observed phi Persei with the MIRC and VEGA instruments of the CHARA Array. Additional MIRC-only observations were performed to track the orbital motion of the companion, and these were fit together with new and existing radial velocity measurements of both stars to derive the complete orbital elements and distance. The hot subdwarf companion is clearly detected in the near-IR data at each epoch of observation with a flux contribution of 1.5% in the H band, and restricted fits indicate that its flux contribution rises to 3.3% in the visible. A new binary orbital solution is determined by combining the astrometric and radial velocity measurements. The derived stellar masses are 9.6+-0.3Msol and 1.2+-0.2Msol for the Be primary and subdwarf secondary, respectively. The inferred distance (186 +- 3 pc), kinematical properties, and evolutionary state are consistent with membership of phi Persei in the alpha Per cluster. From the cluster age we deduce significant constraints on the initial masses and evolutionary mass transfer processes that transformed the phi Persei binary system. The interferometric data place strong constraints on the Be disk elongation, orientation, and kinematics, and the disk angular momentum vector is coaligned with and has the same sense of rotation as the orbital angular momentum vector. The VEGA visible continuum data indicate an elongated shape for the Be star itself, due to the combined effects of rapid rotation, partial obscuration of the photosphere by the circumstellar disk, and flux from the bright inner disk.

ORBITS, DISTANCE, and STELLAR MASSES of the MASSIVE TRIPLE STAR σ ORIONIS

We present interferometric observations of the sigma Orionis triple system using the CHARA Array, NPOI, and VLTI. Using these measurements, we spatially resolve the orbit of the close spectroscopic binary (Aa,Ab) for the first time and present a revised orbit for the wide pair (A,B). Combining the visual orbits with previously published radial velocity measurements and new radial velocities measured at CTIO, we derive dynamical masses for the three massive stars in the system of M_Aa = 16.99 +/- 0.20 Msun, M_Ab = 12.81 +/- 0.18 Msun, and M_B = 11.5 +/- 1.2 Msun. The inner and outer orbits in the triple are not coplanar, with a relative inclination of 120-127 deg. The orbital parallax provides a precise distance of 387.5 +/- 1.3 pc to the system. This is a significant improvement over previous estimates of the distance to the young sigma Orionis cluster.

Charge Trapping in Mixed Organic Donor–Acceptor Semiconductor Thin Films

A pump-probe method, whereby trapped charges are optically induced to contribute to the total photocurrent, is applied to quantitatively determine the trap density in small-molecule organic semiconductor thin films and donor-acceptor blends used in organic solar cells. The trapped charge density is correlated to the cell performance, and the dependence of charge trapping on the presence of nanocrystalline domains is discussed.

Centimetre-scale electron diffusion in photoactive organic heterostructures

The unique properties of organic semiconductors, such as flexibility and lightness, are increasingly important for information displays, lighting and energy generation. But organics suffer from both static and dynamic disorder, and this can lead to variable-range carrier hopping, which results in notoriously poor electrical properties, with low electron and hole mobilities and correspondingly short charge-diffusion lengths of less than a micrometre. Here we demonstrate a photoactive (light-responsive) organic heterostructure comprising a thin fullerene channel sandwiched between an electron-blocking layer and a blended donor:C70 fullerene heterojunction that generates charges by dissociating excitons. Centimetre-scale diffusion of electrons is observed in the fullerene channel, and this can be fitted with a simple electron diffusion model. Our experiments enable the direct measurement of charge diffusivity in organic semiconductors, which is as high as 0.83 ± 0.07 square centimetres per second in a C60 channel at room temperature. The high diffusivity of the fullerene combined with the extraordinarily long charge-recombination time yields diffusion lengths of more than 3.5 centimetres, orders of magnitude larger than expected for an organic system.

OPTICAL AND MECHANICAL DESIGN OF THE CHARA ARRAY ADAPTIVE OPTICS

The CHARA array is an optical/near infrared interferometer consisting of six 1-meter diameter telescopes with the longest baseline of 331 m. With high angular resolution, the CHARA array provides a unique and powerful way of studying nearby stellar systems. In 2011, the CHARA array was funded by NSF-ATI for an upgrade of adaptive optics systems to all six telescopes to improve the sensitivity by several magnitudes. The initial grant covers Phase I of the adaptive optics system, which includes an on-telescope Wavefront Sensor and fast tip/tilt correction. We are currently seeking funding for Phase II which will add fast deformable mirrors at the telescopes to close the loop. This paper will describe the design of the project, and show simulations of how much improvement the array will gain after the upgrade.

Highly efficient (11.1%) small molecule multi-junction organic photovoltaic cells

We present multi-junction small molecule organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells with efficiencies over 11%. The devices consist of two or three, vacuum thermally evaporated planar-mixed heterojunction sub-cells with minimal absorption overlap between the cells. By introducing a transparent interconnecting layer, a dual element (tandem) cell achieves a power conversion efficiency of 10.0 ± 0.5%. We further improve the cell performance by adding an additional (3rd) sub-cell that absorbs at the second order optical interference maximum within the stack. The triple-junction cell significantly improves the quantum efficiency at shorter wavelengths, achieving a power conversion efficiency of 11.1 ± 0.5%, which to our knowledge, is the highest reported for a multi-junction OPV cell in the scientific literature.

Side chain modification of d-a-a' donor molecules for vacuum-deposited organic photovoltaics with efficiency over 9% (Conference Presentation)

A class of small molecule donors configured in a donor-acceptor-acceptor’ (d-a-a’) structure have been studied for vacuum-deposited OPVs. They consist of an electron-donating (d) functional unit connected to two consecutive electron-accepting (a, a’) groups. The rigid and rod-like molecular backbones with strong push-pull interactions between the ‘d’ and ‘a’ units result in a large ground state dipole moment along the backbone axis. This leads to antiparallel π-π stacking that favors intermolecular charge transfer. In this work we synthesized two vacuum-deposited small molecules that are modified from previously reported donors with similar structures[1]. All molecules studied have the same molecular backbone with different side chains attaching to an asymmetric heterotetracene donor block. Single crystal analysis and thin film grazing incidence x-ray diffraction are performed. The donor with a shorter branched side chain yields the highest single crystal packing density, corresponding to the largest absorption coefficient and short circuit current (JSC) among the three molecules studied. The preferred face-on stacking arrangement that facilitates charge transport in the vertical direction also leads to a higher fill factor (FF). A power conversion efficiency of 9.3% is achieved with JSC = 16.5 mA/cm2, VOC = 0.94 V and FF = 0.60, which is one of the highest performance single junction OPVs grown by vacuum thermal evaporation. By relating the side chain shape with the crystal packing habit and the device performance, we provide a means of molecular structure modification leading to significant performance improvements. [1] X. Che, C.-L. Chung, X. Liu, S.-H. Chou, Y.-H. Liu, K.-T. Wong, S. R. Forrest, Advanced Materials 2016, 28, 8248.