Photonics Spectra: solar This is the syndication feed for Photonics Spectra: solar. https://www.photonics.com/Splash.aspx?Tag=solar Fri, 29 Mar 2024 06:12:00 GMT Tue, 27 Feb 2024 07:00:00 GMT 1800 Measurement Tool Helps Optimize Semiconductors for Optoelectronics
Devices such as solar cells, transistors, detectors, sensors, and LEDs are made with semiconductor materials that have charge carriers that are released when the carriers are hit with light.

Determining the transport properties of a semiconductor’s charge carriers can help researchers predict how effective the material will be for an optoelectronics application. Until now, the parameters of the transport properties in minority and majority charge carriers in semiconductors have been determined by using different measurement methods for each type of charge.

To enable efficient, complete characterization of semiconductors, scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) developed a method that records 14 different parameters...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Measurement_Tool_Helps_Optimize_Semiconductors/p5/a69765 A69765 Tue, 27 Feb 2024 07:00:00 GMT
Metamaterial’s Magnetoelectric Response Could Enable New Applications
An optical metamaterial from Aalto University has the potential to enable applications that would otherwise need a strong external magnetic field to work.

The 3D metamaterial demonstrates an isotropic and resonant nonreciprocal magnetoelectric (NME) response in the visible frequency range. The NME effect, also known as the Tellegen effect, has both electric and magnetic properties. In materials exhibiting the NME effect, magnetization can be induced by the electric component of light, and polarization can be generated by the magnetic component.

The NME effect is negligible in natural materials. However, due to its technological potential, there have been various attempts by scientists to enhance the NME effect using...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Metamaterials_Magnetoelectric_Response_Could/p5/a69748 A69748 Wed, 21 Feb 2024 07:00:00 GMT
Semiconductor Ink Offers High-Efficiency, Sustainable Emission for OLEDs
A new, 3D-printable material that is a highly efficient emitter could lead to cheaper, more sustainable manufacturing processes for OLED devices. The material, called supramolecular ink, demonstrated the ability to convert nearly all absorbed light into visible light during the emission process.

Although OLEDs are lighter, thinner, and more energy-efficient than other flat-panel technologies and provide a higher-quality image, they often contain rare, expensive metals such as iridium. Supramolecular ink, which is made of inexpensive, Earth-abundant elements instead of costly, scarce metals, could enable more affordable, environmentally sustainable OLED displays and electronic devices.
These 2-cm-high 3D-printed objects were...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Semiconductor_Ink_Offers_High-Efficiency/p5/a69695 A69695 Tue, 06 Feb 2024 07:00:00 GMT
Perovskite-based LEDs Pave Way to Novel Thin-Film Laser Diodes
A research team from imec has developed perovskite-based LEDs that emit light 1000× brighter than OLEDs. According to the researchers, the advancement is a pivotal milestone toward a perovskite injection laser, which promises advances in image projection, environmental sensing, and medical diagnostics, among other applications.

Perovskite materials are well known for their potential in photovoltaic technology, though perovskites also carry potential as a light amplifier for thin-film laser diodes. Perovskites’ optoelectrical properties, low-cost processability, and efficient charge transport make it a strong candidate for light emission applications like LEDs.
Researchers at imec developed perovskite-based LEDs capable...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Perovskite-based_LEDs_Pave_Way_to_Novel_Thin-Film/p5/a69625 A69625 Tue, 09 Jan 2024 07:00:00 GMT
EUV Sources Track Molecular Dissociation in Tandem
Reportedly for the first time, scientists have combined a broadband extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) probe pulse from high-order harmonic generation (HHG) with a free-electron laser (FEL) pump pulse to observe photodissociation pathways leading to fragments in different quantum states. The team, led by Christian Ott at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, temporally resolved a quantum mechanical dissociation mechanism of a specific O2+ state into two competing channels by measuring the resonances of ionic and neutral fragments.

The ability to initiate targeted electronic or molecular processes while performing an independent read-out of quantum-mechanical state information about a molecule or its individual fragments, using two...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/EUV_Sources_Track_Molecular_Dissociation_in_Tandem/p5/a69528 A69528 Tue, 12 Dec 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Micrometric Photovoltaic Cells Aim To Shrink Electronic Devices
Researchers have manufactured back-contact micrometric photovoltaic cells, a world-first, according to the multi-institutional collaborators. The work paves the way for a new era of miniaturization for electronic devices.

The cells, with a size twice the thickness of a strand of hair, have significant advantages over conventional solar technologies, reducing electrode-induced shadowing by 95% and potentially lowering energy production costs by up to three times.

The micrometric photovoltaic cell manufacturing process involved a partnership between the University of Ottawa, the Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec, and the Laboratoire des Technologies de la Microélectronique in Grenoble, France.
Photo showing the...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Micrometric_Photovoltaic_Cells_Aim_To_Shrink/p5/a69494 A69494 Tue, 28 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Perovskite Cells Sustain Stability at High Temperatures
Researchers at City University of Hong Kong have developed perovskite solar cells capable of maintaining stability at high temperatures. According to the researchers, the work paves the way to commercialization.

Perovskite solar cells have been a promising frontier in solar energy due to their high power conversion efficiency, though they have been held back by their thermal instability.
Left: Perovskite solar cells under high temperature aging. Right: Perovskite solar cells equipped with novel SAM. Courtesy of City University of Hong Kong.
The researchers focused on the self-assembled monolayer (SAM), an essential part of these cells, which they envisioned as a heat-sensitive shield that needed reinforcement.

...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Perovskite_Cells_Sustain_Stability_at_High/p5/a69414 A69414 Mon, 23 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
OLED Pumping Enables Electrically Driven Semiconductor Lasing
The researchers used indirect OLED pumping to power the laser. They built an integrated device structure that efficiently coupled an OLED that had very high light output with a polymer-based, distributed feedback laser.

Most organic semiconductor lasers are optically pumped by another laser — a complicated, expensive process. Electrical pumping, which involves injecting a current to generate a population inversion, is challenging to achieve in organic...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/OLED_Pumping_Enables_Electrically_Driven/p5/a69376 A69376 Fri, 06 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
UK’s Central Laser Facility Receives Over $100M for Planned Upgrade
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Central Laser Facility (CLF) was awarded £85 million ($103.2 million) by UK Research and Innovation for an upgrade initiative that includes construction of the Vulcan 20-20 laser, which is set to be the most powerful laser in the world.
The CLF’s Vulcan laser will receive a significant upgrade that will bring the laser’s energy output to 20 PW. The upgrade will take place over the course of six years. Courtesy of the Science and Technology Facilities Council. CLF, based at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, uses a suite of lasers to generate plasma. The most powerful of the CLF’s lasers is Vulcan, with Vulcan 20-20 expected to be 100 times brighter than...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/UKs_Central_Laser_Facility_Receives_Over_100M/p5/a69372 A69372 Thu, 05 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Terahertz Generation Method Targets Ultrafast Electronics
Terahertz (THz) waves can be used to probe the magnetic properties of new materials. Efficient THz wave generation could advance applications in energy harvesting, ultrafast electronics, and THz spectroscopy.

Bright, coherent THz light sources can be achieved via high-frequency, high-density charge currents. It is possible to produce strong current density that is several orders of magnitude higher than what is typically found in electronic devices, by exciting nanometer-scale, metallic interfaces with femtosecond laser pulses.

To harness the power of high-density charge currents for generating THz waves, researchers at Fudan University, Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences, and Beijing Normal University developed an...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Terahertz_Generation_Method_Targets_Ultrafast/p5/a69368 A69368 Tue, 03 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Industrial Photocatalyst Harnesses the Visible Spectrum
Photocatalysts show the potential to be used in energy generation and environmental detoxification applications. This is an intriguing quality, since reducing energy use in bulk industrial processes can create a trade-off between efficiency and environmental harm. Fossil fuels, for example, have helped humanity expand and innovate for hundreds of years. But their environmental toll and inevitable depletion create a need for a safer and more abundant resource, like solar power.

Highly effective photocatalysts, however, tend to be very expensive, as well as difficult and dangerous to develop. Many contain precious metals such as platinum and gold, which also have a negative environmental impact.

Researchers at the University of...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Industrial_Photocatalyst_Harnesses_the_Visible/p5/a69290 A69290 Mon, 04 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Trio Partners to Commercialize Encapsulation on Perovskite Solar Cells
Verde Technologies Inc., a pervoskite-focused thin-film solar company, has partnered with Northern Illinois University (NIU) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to bring its perovskite solar cells to market. Per the partnership, NIU and Verde will have access to an exclusive agreement with NREL for rights to a portfolio of NREL’s perovskite solar technologies. NREL will lead the commercializing efforts of technologies that are co-owned by both institutions.

Professor Tao Xu is helping to spearhead a three-party agreement to bring thin-film solar cells to market. The cells feature a lead-sequestration layer that eliminates concerns of hazardous, toxic lead leakage. Courtesy of...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Trio_Partners_to_Commercialize_Encapsulation_on/p5/a69281 A69281 Tue, 29 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Caelux, UbiQD Advance Solar Technology Pursuits: Week in Brief: 08/18/23
Perovskite technology developer Caelux closed a $12 million series A3 funding round. The company’s series A total of $24 million will be allocated to support its factory ramp, R&D, and product launch. The Caltech spinout is building a manufacturing facility in Baldwin Park, Calif., as it ramps up to reach 100 mW of perovskite-coated glass. The company’s perovskite-on-glass approach aims to drive down solar costs and accelerate renewables growth.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics was awarded a $14.9 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to study pulsed-laser effects. According to the university, the funding approximately doubles the annual...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Caelux_UbiQD_Advance_Solar_Technology_Pursuits/p5/a69255 A69255 Fri, 18 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Perovskite Cells Meet Wearable Biosensor’s Power Demands
Perovskite solar cells are providing a team at Caltech’s Heritage Medical Research Institute with an efficient power source for wearable sweat sensors that monitor a host of biomarkers associated with disease diagnostics and fitness levels. The Caltech researchers have collaborated with a group at Johannes Kepler University Linz (Austria) to power the wearable biosensors with the flexible perovskite solar cells (FPSCs).

The wearable device itself is assembled in an origami-like fashion, with individual layers dedicated to different processes. The FPSCs provide ample power under outdoor and indoor illumination conditions, enabling the sensors to periodically monitor sweat rate and continuously monitor numerous biomarkers.

...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Perovskite_Cells_Meet_Wearable_Biosensors_Power/p5/a69194 A69194 Thu, 27 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Resolve Optics Opens Test Center: Week in Review: 07/07/23
Resolve Optics installed and commissioned a new vibration test center adding to the suite of in-house lens-testing equipment the company is able to offer. Lenses used in harsh industrial inspection and military and space applications are often exposed to vibrations, shocks, temperature changes, radiation, and contaminants. The company’s new ETS MPA101-L215M Shaker, coupled with a DTC Venzo 880 controller, is certified and calibrated in accordance with ISO standards, which enables Resolve Optics to not only carry out all the common forms of vibration testing, but also undertake specialist vibration/shock qualification tests in accordance with customer requirements.
Resolve Optics’ new ETS MPA101-L215M vibratory shaker coupled...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Resolve_Optics_Opens_Test_Center_Week_in_Review/p5/a69145 A69145 Fri, 07 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Optically Addressed Spintronics Eliminates Need for Magnetic Fields
Electron spins could become more efficient and easier to manage through a light-based approach using halide perovskite semiconductors. Research teams at Harvard’s Rowland Institute and the University of Cambridge observed ultrafast spin-domain formation in polycrystalline halide perovskite thin films in response to irradiating the films with circularly polarized light at room temperature.

Photoinduced spin-charge interconversion in semiconductors, with spin-orbit coupling, could provide a route to spintronics that does not require external magnetic fields, which are challenging to control. An electron can have two spin states, up or down, and these states can be used to store and process information. But manipulating spin...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Optically_Addressed_Spintronics_Eliminates_Need/p5/a69140 A69140 Wed, 05 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Novel Hybrid Material Facilitates Photon Upconversion
University of California, Riverside (UCR) researchers have designed a composite material that offers powerful photon upconversion capabilities and that could support a range of light-driven applications as a result. The composite is made from silicon quantum dots and the organic molecule anthracene, which is used in OLED emissions. Anthracene’s unusual properties enable it to convert lower-energy light into higher-energy light.

Applications for the composite span the treatment of cancer to boosting photovoltaic efficiency.
The efficiency of solar panels could be increased by incorporating a newly developed composite material. Researchers designed the composite around the properties of the molecule anthracene, enabling the...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Novel_Hybrid_Material_Facilitates_Photon/p5/a69117 A69117 Mon, 26 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Qcells Invests $100M in Perovskite Production: Week in Brief: 05/26/23
Qcells, a clean energy technology company, will invest $100 million to accelerate the commercialization of perovskite-based tandem cells, a solar cell technology designed to boost panel efficiency. Qcells’ parent company, Hanwha Solutions, said it will build a pilot tandem-cell production line at its Jincheon factory in South Korea. The facility is expected to be operational by late 2024 with the aim to commercialize tandem cells by 2026. To support this target, the pilot facility in Jincheon will work closely with Qcells’ headquarters for technology and innovation in Thalheim, Germany.

BLANTYRE, Scotland — Sivers Semiconductors’ Sivers Photonics business unit formed a strategic project to look at a possible...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Qcells_Invests_100M_in_Perovskite_Production/p5/a69040 A69040 Fri, 26 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT
AIXTRON to Build Innovation Center: Week in Brief: 05/19/23
AIXTRON, a manufacturer of deposition equipment for the semiconductor industry, will invest up to €100 million ($107 million) to establish an innovation center. The center, to be located at its Herzogenrath site, will provide the company with 1000 m2 of cleanroom space and enhanced capacity for R&D.
Illustration of AIXTRON’s planned $107 million innovation center. Courtesy of AIXTRON. ENSCHEDE, Netherlands — QMWare and QuiX Quantum are collaborating to develop a fully integrated, hybrid quantum-classical platform at QuiX Quantum’s headquarters in Enschede, Netherlands. QMware and QuiX Quantum will co-locate the hardware onsite and integrate different computing paradigms (HPC and native quantum hardware) with...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/AIXTRON_to_Build_Innovation_Center_Week_in/p5/a69022 A69022 Fri, 19 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT
Ambient Photonics Opens Low-Light Photovoltaic Cell Factory
Ambient Photonics has started mass production on low-light photovoltaic (PV) cells at its low-light PV cell factory in Scotts Valley, south of Silicon Valley. According to Ambient, the company's PV cell technology transforms indoor light into energy with 3× more power density than conventional technology. The technology provides power for electronic devices and can also eliminate the need for disposable batteries and reduce carbon emissions of battery-powered devices by as much as 80%, the company said.
Ambient co-founders Bates Marshall (left), CEO, and Kethinni Chittibabu, CTO. Courtesy of Ambient Photonics. Ambient’s proprietary technology combines molecular chemistry and a digitally defined manufacturing process that...]]>
https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Ambient_Photonics_Opens_Low-Light_Photovoltaic/p5/a68952 A68952 Tue, 25 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT