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This work introduces a new software package `Sesame for the numerical computation of classical semiconductor equations. It supports 1 and 2-dimensional systems and provides tools to easily implement extended defects such as grain boundaries or sample surfaces. Sesame has been designed to facilitate fast exploration of the system parameter space and to visualize local charge transport properties. Sesame is distributed as a Python package or as a standalone GUI application, and is available at https://pages.nist.gov/sesame/ .
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We propose a concentrated thermionic emission solar cell design, which demonstrates a high solar-to-electricity energy conversion efficiency larger than 10% under 600 sun, by harnessing the exceptional electrical, thermal and radiative properties of the graphene as a collector electrode. By constructing an analytical model that explicitly takes into account the non-Richardson behavior of the thermionic emission current from graphene, space charge effect in vacuum gap, and the various irreversible energy losses within the subcomponents, we perform a detailed characterization on the conversion efficiency limit and electrical power output characteristics of the proposed system. We systematically model and compare the energy conversion efficiency of various configurations of graphene-graphene and graphene-diamond and diamond-diamond thermionic emitter, and show that utilizing diamond films as an emitter and graphene as a collector offers the highest maximum efficiency, thus revealing the important role of graphene in achieving high-performance thermionic emission solar cell. A maximum efficiency of 12.8% under 800 sun has been revealed, which is significantly higher than several existing solid-state solar cell designs, such as the solar-driven thermoelectric and thermophotovoltaic converters. Our work thus opens up new avenues to advance the efficiency limit of thermionic solar energy conversion and the development of next-generation novel-nanomaterial-based solar energy harvesting technology.
Charge transfer in polymer devices represents a crucial, though highly inaccessible stage of photocurrent generation. In this article we propose studying the properties and behaviour of organic solar cells through the modification of photocurrent generation when an external magnetic field is applied. By allowing the parameters of our theoretical model not to be constrained to any specific material, we are able to show that not only a modest external magnetic field leads to a significant increase in photocurrent intensity, but also how such magnetic field can be used to study in detail the energy levels and transition rates within the polymer compound. Systematic exploration of key properties in organic composites thus can lead to highly optimised devices in which a magnetic field produces an enhancement in the efficiency of polymer solar cells.
Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) is a non-destructive, highly-efficient optical characterization method for large-area analysis of graphene on different substrates, which can be applied in ambient air, does not require additional sample preparation, and is insusceptible to surface charging and surface contamination. CLSM leverages optical properties of graphene and provides greatly enhanced optical contrast and mapping of thickness down to a single layer. We demonstrate the effectiveness of CLSM by measuring mechanically exfoliated and chemical vapor deposition graphene on Si/SiO2, and epitaxial graphene on SiC. In the case of graphene on Si/SiO2, both CLSM intensity and height mapping is powerful for analysis of 1-5 layers of graphene. For epitaxial graphene on SiC substrates, the CLSM intensity allows us to distinguish features such as dense, parallel 150 nm wide ribbons of graphene (associated with the early stages of the growth process) and large regions covered by the interfacial layer and 1-3 layers of graphene. In both cases, CLSM data shows excellent correlation with conventional optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Kelvin probe force microscopy, conductive atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Raman mapping, with a greatly reduced acquisition time. We demonstrate that CLSM is an indispensable tool for rapid analysis of mass-produced graphene and is equally relevant to other 2D materials.
Two-dimensional (2D) materials with narrow band gaps (~0.3 eV) are of great importance for realizing ambipolar transistors and mid-infrared (MIR) detection. However, most of the 2D materials studied so far have band gaps that are too large. A few of them with suitable band gaps are not stable under ambient conditions. In this study, the layered Nb$_{2}$SiTe$_{4}$ is shown to be a stable 2D material with a band gap of 0.39 eV. Field-effect transistors based on few-layer Nb$_2$SiTe$_4$ show ambipolar transport with similar magnitude of electron and hole current and high charge-carrier mobility of ~ 100 cm$^{2}$V$^{-1}$s$^{-1}$ at room temperature. Optoelectronic measurements of the devices show clear response to MIR wavelength of 3.1 $mathrmmu$m with a high responsivity of ~ 0.66 AW$^{-1}$. These results establish Nb$_{2}$SiTe$_{4}$ as a good candidate for ambipolar devices and MIR detection.
Conduction and valence band-edge-property variations with position as well as defects giving rise to localized states in the energy gap can play a significant role in determining solar cell performance. Understanding their effects on a device is necessary in interpreting complex experimental observations and in optimizing the performance of solar cells. In this overview, we include the effective forces arising from electron and hole band-edge-property variations with position in a numerical formulation of solar cell performance. Further we systematically catalogue and review a variety of localized states with different types and distributions, and include in our numerical transport model the carrier trapping, electric field modification, and recombination caused by these localized states. The successful implementation of the numerical modeling of band-edge-property variations and defect state effects is demonstrated using the methodology of the solar cell simulation code Analysis of Microelectronic and Photonic Structures (AMPS) and its derivatives.
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