Optical properties of AIInGaN quaternary alloys

Carrier recombination dynamics in AlInGaN alloy has been studied by photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL). The fast redshift of PL peak energy is observed and well fitted by a physical model considering the thermal activation and transfer processes. This result provides evidence for the exciton localization in the quantum dot (QD)-like potentials in our AlInGaN alloy. The TRPL signals are found to be described by a stretched exponential function of exp[(-t/tau)(beta)], indicating the presence of a significant disorder in the material. The disorder is attributed to a randomly distributed quantum dots or clusters caused by indium fluctuations. By studying the dependence of the dispersive exponent 8 on the temperature and emission energy, we suggest that the exciton hopping dominate the diffusion of carriers localized in the disordered quantum dots. Furthermore, the localized states are found to have OD density of states up to 250 K, since the radiative lifetime remains almost unchanged with increasing temperature.

Study on optical band gap of boron-doped nc-Si : H film

The optical band gap (E-g) of the boron (B)-doped hydrogenated nano-crystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) films fabricated using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was investigated in this work. The transmittance of the films were measured by spectrophotometric and the E-g was evaluated utilizing three different relations for comparison, namely: alphahnu=C(hnu-E-g)(3), alphahnu=B-0(hnu-E-g)(2), alphahnu=C-0(hnu-E-g)(2). Result showed that E-g decreases with the increasing of Boron doping ratio, hydrogen concentration, and substrate's temperature (T-s), respectively. E-g raises up with rf power density (P-d) from 0.45W.cm(-2) to 0.60w.cm(-2) and then drops to the end. These can be explained for E-g decreases with disorder in the films.

Optical anisotropy of InAs submonolayer quantum wells in a (311) GaAs matrix

The steplike density of states obtained from reflectance-difference spectroscopy demonstrates that ultrathin InAs layers should be regarded as two-dimensional quantum wells rather than isolated clusters, even for the sample with only 1/3 monolayer InAs in (311)-oriented GaAs. The degree of anisotropy is within the intrinsic anisotropy of (311)-oriented ultrathin quantum wells, indicating that there is little structural or strain anisotropy in the InAs islands. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Optical absorption spectra of Na-5, Na-6 and Na-7 clusters: a theoretical study

In the frame of time-dependent density functional theory, the: dynamical polarizabilities of Na-5, Na-6 and Na-7 clusters are calculated using a time-dependent local density approximation. By using Fourier transformation, the optical absorption spectra of Na-5, Na-6 and Na-7 clusters are obtained from their dynamical polarizabilities. It is shown that experimentally measured optical absorption spectra of Na-5, Na-6 and Na-7 clusters are reproduced in our calculations. Furthermore, the calculations of Na-6 and Na-7 clusters are in good agreement with the results of configuration interaction method. Compared with the three-dimensional structure of Na-6, the calculated optical absorption spectra of Na-6 with the two-dimensional structure are more close to the experimental data.

Enhance the optical absorptivity of nanocrystalline TiO2 film with high molar extinction coefficient ruthenium sensitizers for high performance dye-sensitized solar cells

We report two new heteroleptic polypyridyl ruthenium complexes, coded C101 and C102, with high molar extinction coefficients by extending the pi-conjugation of spectator ligands, with a motivation to enhance the optical absorptivity of mesoporous titania film and charge collection yield in a dye-sensitized solar cell. On the basis of this C101 sensitizer, several DSC benchmarks measured under the air mass 1.5 global sunlight have been reached.

Multiform oxide optical materials via the versatile Pechini-type sol-gel process: Synthesis and characteristics

This feature article highlights work from the authors' laboratories on the various kinds of oxide optical materials, mainly luminescence and pigment materials with different forms (powder, core-shell structures, thin film and patterning) prepared by the Pechini-type sol-gel (PSG) process. The PSG process, which uses the common metal salts (nitrates, acetates, chlorides, etc.) as precursors and citric acid (CA) as chelating ligands of metal ions and polyhydroxy alcohol (such as ethylene glycol or poly ethylene glycol) as a cross-linking agent to form a polymeric resin on molecular level, reduces segregation of particular metal ions and ensures compositional homogeneity. This process can overcome most of the difficulties and disadvantages that frequently occur in the alkoxides based sol-gel process.

Pressure Effects on the Structural, Electronic, and Optical Properties of Si-n@SWCNTs

Well-ordered single, double/four parallel, three/four-strands helical chains, and five-strand helical chain with a single atom chain at the center of Si nanowires (NWs) inside single-walled carbon nanotubes (Si-n@SWCNTs) are obtained by means of molecular dynamics. On the basis of these optimized structures, the structural evolution of Si-n@SWCNTs subjected to axial stress at low temperature is also investigated. Interestingly, the double parallel chains depart at the center and transform into two perpendicular parts, the helical shell transformed into chain, and the strand number of Si NWs increases during the stress load. Through analyzis of pair correlation function (PCF), the density of states (DOS), and the z-axis polarized absorption spectra of Si-n@SWCNTs, we find that the behavior of Si-n@SWCNTs under stress strongly depends on SWCNTs' symmetry, diameter, as well as the shape of Nws, which provide valuable information for potential application in high pressure cases such as seabed cable.

Electrically conductive, melt-processed ternary blends of polyaniline/dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid, ethylene/vinyl acetate, and low-density polyethylene

Although polyaniline (PANI) has high conductivity and relatively good environmental and thermal stability and is easily synthesized, the intractability of this intrinsically conducting polymer with a melting procedure prevents extensive applications. This work was designed to process PANI with a melting blend method with current thermoplastic polymers. PANI in an emeraldine base form was plasticized and doped with dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) to prepare a conductive complex (PANI-DBSA). PANI-DBSA, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and an ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) were blended in a twin-rotor mixer. The blending procedure was monitored, including the changes in the temperature, torque moment, and work. As expected, the conductivity of ternary PANI-DBSA/LDPE/EVA was higher by one order of magnitude than that of binary PANI-DBSA/LDPE, and this was attributed to the PANI-DBSA phase being preferentially located in the EVA phase. An investigation of the morphology of the polymer blends with high-resolution optical microscopy indicated that PANI-DBSA formed a conducting network at a high concentration of PANI-DBSA. The thermal and crystalline properties of the polymer blends were measured with differential scanning calorimetry. The mechanical properties were also measured.

Novel < 110 >-oriented organic-inorganic perovskite compound stabilized by N-(3-aminopropyl) imidazole with improved optical properties

In the organic-inorganic perovskites family, the < 100 >-oriented type has been extensively investigated as a result of its unique magnetic, optical, and electrical properties, and only one type of < 110 >-oriented hybrid perovskite stabilized by methylammonium and iodoformamidinium cations or the latter themselves has been known so far. In this paper, another novel < 110 >-oriented organic-inorganic perovskite (C6H13N3)-PbBr4 (compound 1) has been prepared by reacting N-(3-aminopropyl)imidazole (API) with PbBr2 in hydrobromic acid. The crystal structure is determined, which indicates that the perovskite is stabilized by API. The introduction of the optically active organic ligand API into the hybrid perovskite results in a red shift and a great enhancement of photoluminescence in the perovskite with respect to organic ligand API itself. These results have been explained according to calculation based on density-functional theory. Moreover, the excellent film processing ability for the perovskite (C6H13N3)PbBr4 together with the improved optical properties makes it have potential application in optoelectronic devices.

Colliding and Moving Bose-Einstein Condensates: Studies of superfluidity and optical tweezers for condensate transport

In this thesis, two different sets of experiments are described. The first is an exploration of the microscopic superfluidity of dilute gaseous Bose- Einstein condensates. The second set of experiments were performed using transported condensates in a new BEC apparatus. Superfluidity was probed by moving impurities through a trapped condensate. The impurities were created using an optical Raman transition, which transferred a small fraction of the atoms into an untrapped hyperfine state. A dramatic reduction in the collisions between the moving impurities and the condensate was observed when the velocity of the impurities was close to the speed of sound of the condensate. This reduction was attributed to the superfluid properties of a BEC. In addition, we observed an increase in the collisional density as the number of impurity atoms increased. This enhancement is an indication of bosonic stimulation by the occupied final states. This stimulation was observed both at small and large velocities relative to the speed of sound. A theoretical calculation of the effect of finite temperature indicated that collision rate should be enhanced at small velocities due to thermal excitations. However, in the current experiments we were insensitive to this effect. Finally, the factor of two between the collisional rate between indistinguishable and distinguishable atoms was confirmed. A new BEC apparatus that can transport condensates using optical tweezers was constructed. Condensates containing 10-15 million sodium atoms were produced in 20 s using conventional BEC production techniques. These condensates were then transferred into an optical trap that was translated from the ‘production chamber’ into a separate vacuum chamber: the ‘science chamber’. Typically, we transferred 2-3 million condensed atoms in less than 2 s. This transport technique avoids optical and mechanical constrainsts of conventional condensate experiments and allows for the possibility of novel experiments. In the first experiments using transported BEC, we loaded condensed atoms from the optical tweezers into both macroscopic and miniaturized magnetic traps. Using microfabricated wires on a silicon chip, we observed excitation-less propagation of a BEC in a magnetic waveguide. The condensates fragmented when brought very close to the wire surface indicating that imperfections in the fabrication process might limit future experiments. Finally, we generated a continuous BEC source by periodically replenishing a condensate held in an optical reservoir trap using fresh condensates delivered using optical tweezers. More than a million condensed atoms were always present in the continuous source, raising the possibility of realizing a truly continuous atom lase.

Towards a field-compatible optical spectroscopic device for cervical cancer screening in resource-limited settings: effects of calibration and pressure.

Quantitative optical spectroscopy has the potential to provide an effective low cost, and portable solution for cervical pre-cancer screening in resource-limited communities. However, clinical studies to validate the use of this technology in resource-limited settings require low power consumption and good quality control that is minimally influenced by the operator or variable environmental conditions in the field. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of two sources of potential error: calibration and pressure on the extraction of absorption and scattering properties of normal cervical tissues in a resource-limited setting in Leogane, Haiti. Our results show that self-calibrated measurements improved scattering measurements through real-time correction of system drift, in addition to minimizing the time required for post-calibration. Variations in pressure (tested without the potential confounding effects of calibration error) caused local changes in vasculature and scatterer density that significantly impacted the tissue absorption and scattering properties Future spectroscopic systems intended for clinical use, particularly where operator training is not viable and environmental conditions unpredictable, should incorporate a real-time self-calibration channel and collect diffuse reflectance spectra at a consistent pressure to maximize data integrity.

Parallel implementation of the recurrence method for computing the power-spectral density of thin avalanche photodiodes

A simulation program has been developed to calculate the power-spectral density of thin avalanche photodiodes, which are used in optical networks. The program extends the time-domain analysis of the dead-space multiplication model to compute the autocorrelation function of the APD impulse response. However, the computation requires a large amount of memory space and is very time consuming. We describe our experiences in parallelizing the code using both MPI and OpenMP. Several array partitioning schemes and scheduling policies are implemented and tested Our results show that the OpenMP code is scalable up to 64 processors on an SGI Origin 2000 machine and has small average errors.

Effect of phytoplankton size classes on bio-optical properties of phytoplankton in the Western Iberian coast: Application of models

Chlorophyll-a satellite products are routinely used in oceanography, providing a synoptic and global view of phytoplankton abundance. However, these products lack information on the community structure of the phytoplankton, which is crucial for ecological modelling and ecosystem studies. To assess the usefulness of existing methods to differentiate phytoplankton functional types (PFT) or phytoplankton size classes from satellite data, in-situ phytoplankton samples collected in the Western Iberian coast, on the North-East Atlantic, were analysed for pigments and absorption spectra. Water samples were collected in five different locations, four of which were located near the shore and another in an open-ocean, seamount region. Three different modelling approaches for deriving phytoplankton size classes were applied to the in situ data. Approaches tested provide phytoplankton size class information based on the input of pigments data (Brewin et al., 2010), absorption spectra data (Ciotti et al., 2002) or both (Uitz et al., 2008). Following Uitz et al. (2008), results revealed high variability in microphytoplankton chlorophyll-specific absorption coefficients, ranging from 0.01 to 0.09 m2 (mg chl)− 1 between 400 and 500 nm. This spectral analysis suggested, in one of the regions, the existence of small cells (< 20 μm) in the fraction of phytoplankton presumed to be microphytoplankton (based on diagnostic pigments). Ciotti et al. (2002) approach yielded the highest differences between modelled and measured absorption spectra for the locations where samples had high variability in community structure and cell size. The Brewin et al. (2010) pigment-based model was adjusted and a set of model coefficients are presented and recommended for future studies in offshore water of the Western Iberian coast.

Optical Characterization of Indium Gallium Nitride for Application in High-Efficiency Solar Photovoltaic Cells

The semiconductor alloy indium gallium nitride (InxGa1-xN) offers substantial potential in the development of high-efficiency multi-junction photovoltaic devices due to its wide range of direct band gaps, strong absorption and other optoelectronic properties. This work uses a variety of characterization techniques to examine the properties of InxGa1-xN thin films deposited in a range of compositions by a novel plasma-enhanced evaporation deposition system. Due to the high vapour pressure and low dissociation temperature of indium, the indium incorporation and, ultimately, control of the InxGa1-xN composition was found to be influenced to a greater degree by deposition temperature than variations in the In:Ga source rates in the investigated region of deposition condition space. Under specific deposition conditions, crystalline films were grown in an advantageous nano-columnar microstructure with deposition temperature influencing column size and density. The InxGa1-xN films were determined to have very strong absorption coefficients with band gaps indirectly related to indium content. However, the films also suffer from compositional inhomogeneity and In-related defect complexes with strong phonon coupling that dominates the emission mechanism. This, in addition to the presence of metal impurities, harms the alloy’s electronic properties as no significant photoresponse was observed. This research has demonstrated the material properties that make the InxGa1-xN alloy attractive for multi-junction solar cells and the benefits/drawbacks of the plasma-enhanced evaporation deposition system. Future work is needed to overcome significant challenges relating to crystalline quality, compositional homogeneity and the optoelectronic properties of In-rich InxGa1-xN films in order to develop high-performance photovoltaic devices.

Emission lines of [Cl II] in the optical spectra of gaseous nebulae

Recent R-matrix calculations of electron impact excitation rates among the 3s(2)3p(4) levels of Cl II are used to derive the nebular emission-line intensity ratios R-1=I(6161.8 Angstrom)/I(8578.7 Angstrom) and R-2=I(6161.8 Angstrom)/I(9123.6 Angstrom) as a function of electron temperature (T-e) and density (N-e). The ratios are found to be very sensitive to changes in T-e but not N-e for densities lower than 10(5) cm(-3). Hence, they should, in principle, provide excellent optical T-e diagnostics for planetary nebulae. The observed values of R-1 and R-2 for the planetary nebulae NGC 6741 and IC 5117, measured from spectra obtained with the Hamilton echelle spectrograph on the 3 m Shane Telescope, imply temperatures in excellent agreement with those derived from other diagnostic lines formed in the same region of the nebula as [Cl II]. This provides some observational support for the accuracy of the [Cl II] line ratio calculations and hence the atomic data on which they are based. The [Cl II] 8578.7 and 9123.6 Angstrom lines are identified for the first time (to our knowledge) in a high-resolution spectrum of the symbiotic star RR Telescopii, obtained with the University College London Echelle Spectrograph on the 3.9 m Anglo- Australian Telescope. However, the 6161.8 Angstrom feature is unfortunately too weak to be identified in the RR Telescopii observations, consistent with its predicted line strength.