Browsing by Subject "Conversion efficiency"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Open Access
Broadband circular polarizer based on high-contrast gratings
(Optical Society of America, 2012-05-30) Mutlu, M.; Akosman, A. E.; Özbay, Ekmel
A circular polarizer, which is composed of periodic and two-dimensional dielectric high-contrast gratings, is designed theoretically such that a unity conversion efficiency is achieved at λ0 = 1.55 μm. The operation is obtained by the achievement of the simultaneous unity transmission of transverse magnetic and transverse electric waves with a phase difference of π/2, meaning that an optimized geometrical anisotropy is accomplished. By the utilization of the rigorous coupled-wave analysis and finite-difference time-domain methods, it is shown that a percent bandwidth of ∼50% can be achieved when the operation bandwidth is defined as the wavelengths for which the conversion efficiency exceeds 0.9.
Open Access
Broadband quarter-wave plates at near-infrared using high-contrast gratings
(2013) Mutlu, M.; Akosman, A.E.; Kurt G.; Gokkavas, M.; Özbay, Ekmel
In this paper, we report the theoretical and experimental possibility of achieving a quarter-wave plate regime by using high-contrast gratings, which are binary, vertical, periodic, near-wavelength, and two-dimensional high refractive index gratings. Here, we investigate the characteristics of two distinct designs, the first one being composed of silicon-dioxide and silicon, and the second one being composed of silicon and sapphire. The suggested quarter-wave plate regime is achieved by the simultaneous optimization of the transverse electric and transverse magnetic transmission coefficients, TTE and TTM, respectively, and the phase difference between these transmission coefficients, such that |TTM| ≅ |TTE| and \TTM - \TTE ≅ -/2. As a result, a unity circular polarization conversion efficiency is achieved atλ0 = 1.55 μm for both designs. For the first design, we show the obtaining of unity conversion efficiency by using a theoretical approach, which is inspired by the periodic waveguide interpretation, and rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA). For the second design, we demonstrate the unity conversion efficiency by using the results of finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. Furthermore, the FDTD simulations, where material dispersion is taken into account, suggest that an operation percent bandwidth of 51% can be achieved for the first design, where the experimental results for the second design yield a bandwidth of 33%. In this context, we define the operation regime as the wavelength band for which the circular conversion efficiency is larger than 0.9. © 2013 SPIE.
Open Access
Design and characterization of Bodipy derivatives for bulk heterojunction solar cells
(Elsevier, 2014) Kolemen, S.; Cakmak, Y.; Ozdemir, T.; Erten Ela, S.; Buyuktemiz, M.; Dede, Y.; Akkaya, E. U.
Two electron rich Bodipy dyes with strong absorptivities in the visible region were designed and synthesized as potential electron donors in bulk heterojunction photovoltaic constructs. Overall efficiency is above 1%, with impressive responsiveness at both UV and near-IR ends of the visible spectrum. Computational studies reveal an unexpected effect of meso-substituents on the electron transfer efficiency.
Open Access
Phonon-assisted nonradiative energy transfer from colloidal quantum dots to monocrystalline bulk silicon
(IEEE, 2012) Yeltik, Aydan; Güzeltürk, Burak; Hernandez-Martinez, Pedro L.; Demir, Volkan Demir
Silicon is one of the most dominant materials in photovoltaics. To increase optical absorption of silicon solar cells, colloidal quantum dots (QDs) have been proposed as a good sensitizer candidate owing to their favorably high absorption cross-section and tunable emission and absorption properties. To this end, QD sensitization of silicon has previously been studied by mostly facilitating radiative energy transfer (RET) [1,2]. Although RET based sensitization has achieved a considerable increase in conversion efficiencies in silicon photovoltaics, RET is fundamentally limited due to the effective coupling problem of emitted photons to silicon. Alternatively, nonradiative energy transfer (NRET), which relies on near field dipole-dipole coupling [3], has been shown to be feasible in sensitizer-silicon hybrid systems [4-8]. Although colloidal QDs as a sensitizer have been used to facilitate NRET into silicon, the detailed mechanisms of NRET to an indirect bandgap nonluminecent material, together with the role of phonon assistance and temperature activation, have not been fully understood to date. In this study, we propose a QD-silicon nanostructure hybrid platform to study the NRET dynamics as a function of temperature for distinct separation thicknesses between the donor QDs and the acceptor silicon plane. Here, we show NRET from colloidal QDs to bulk Si using phonon assisted absorption, developing its physical model to explain temperature-dependent lifetime dynamics of NRET in these QD-Si hybrids. © 2012 IEEE.
Open Access
Photovoltaic nanocrystal scintillators hybridized on Si solar cells for enhanced conversion efficiency in UV
(Optical Society of American (OSA), 2008) Mutlugun, E.; Soganci I.M.; Demir, Hilmi Volkan
We propose and demonstrate semiconductor nanocrystal based photovoltaic scintillators integrated on solar cells to enhance photovoltaic device parameters including spectral responsivity, open circuit voltage, short circuit current, fill factor, and solar conversion efficiency in the ultraviolet. Hybridizing (CdSe)ZnS core-shell quantum dots of 2.4 nm in diameter on multi-crystalline Si solar cells for the first time, we show that the solar conversion efficiency is enhanced 2 folds under white light illumination similar to the solar spectrum. Such nanocrystal scintillators provide the ability to extend the photovoltaic activity towards UV. © 2008 Optical Society of America.
Open Access
Theoretical limits of the multistacked 1-D and 2-D microstructured inorganic solar cells
(SPIE, 2015-08) Yengel, Emre; Karaağaç, H.; Logeeswaran, V. J.; İslam, M. S.
Recent studies in monocrystalline semiconductor solar cells are focused on mechanically stacking multiple cells from different materials to increase the power conversion efficiency. Although, the results show promising increase in the device performance, the cost remains as the main drawback. In this study, we calculated the theoretical limits of multistacked 1D and 2D microstructered inorganic monocrstalline solar cells. This system is studied for Si and Ge material pair. The results show promising improvements in the surface reflection due to enhanced light trapping caused by photon-microstructures interactions. The theoretical results are also supported with surface reflection and angular dependent power conversion efficiency measurements of 2D axial microwall solar cells. We address the challenge of cost reduction by proposing to use our recently reported mass-manufacturable fracture-transfer- printing method which enables the use of a monocrystalline substrate wafer for repeated fabrication of devices by consuming only few microns of materials in each layer of devices. We calculated thickness dependent power conversion efficiencies of multistacked Si/Ge microstructured solar cells and found the power conversion efficiency to saturate at %26 with a combined device thickness of 30 μm. Besides having benefits of fabricating low-cost, light weight, flexible, semi-transparent, and highly efficient devices, the proposed fabrication method is applicable for other III-V materials and compounds to further increase the power conversion efficiency above 35% range. © 2015 SPIE.
Open Access
Wavelength dependent color conversion of CdSe/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals for white LEDs
(IEEE, 2009) Nizamoğlu, Sedat; Demir, Hilmi Volkan
Nanocrystals (NCs) provide narrow emission spectrum that can be conveniently tuned using quantum size effect. This ability to adjust and control emission spectrum of NCs makes them strong candidates for use in white color conversion light emitting diodes. For example, they are possibly be used for solid state lighting applications including indoor lighting, architectural lighting and scotopic street lighting, where spectrally tuned color conversion is necessary. In device research CdSe/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals are the most commonly used ones because of their good electronic isolation coming from ZnS shells and the resulting high quantum efficiency (QE) (i.e., >50% in solution) [1]. However, when these nanocrystals are integrated into the solid film, e.g., for white light generation, their in-film QE undesirably drops (despite their high QE in solution). Hence, this adversely affects the overall efficiency of the integrating devices that incorporate these NCs [2]. There have been various studies to understand the in-film optical properties of CdSe/ZnS core/shell NCs [3-5]. However, their spectrally resolved in-film quantum efficiency (i.e., the ratio of the number of photons emitted by the nanocrystal film to the number of photons absorbed in the nanocrystal film) and their photon conversion efficiency (i.e., the ratio of the number of photons emitted by the nanocrystal film to the number of photons incident to the nanocrystal film) have not been investigated in these previous studies. © 2009 IEEE.