Optical Limiting Properties of Two Soluble Polymer/Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composites

Two soluble polymer grafted multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWNTs）, including poly（N-vinylcarbazole）-MWNTs and poly（methyl methacrylate）-MWNTs, are synthesized. Their nonlinear optical properties and opticaJ limiting （OL） performances are investigated by z-scan method with 527nm nanosecond laser pulses. These grafted MWNTs dissolved in chloroform show much better optical limiting performance than those of MWNTs and C60 in toluene solution. Nonlinear absorption and nonlinear scattering mechanism are taken into consideration for explaining the observed results. The comparison of the experimental results shows that nonlinear absorption is the dominant mechanism for OL performance of these new samples.     

Optical Performance and Nonlinear Scattering of Soluble Polystyrene Grafted Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Three soluble polystyrene grafted multi-walled carbon nanotube （MWNT） samples are synthesized, and their optical performance and nonlinear scattering properties are investigated by z-scan method using nanosecond pulses of 532 nm from a frequency-doubled Q-switched Nd： YLF laser. Analysis of the experimental results shows that other than nonlinear scattering, nonlinear absorption plays a major role in optical limiting performance of these stable and well-dispersed suspensions. These new synthesized materials which can be better dispersed in common organic solvents than MWNT itself can be considered as potential sources for further optical applications.     

Waveguides induced by steady-state gray solitons in biased photorefractive-photovoltaic crystals

We carry out a theoretical investigation of the properties of waveguides induced by photorefractive one-dimensional steady-state gray spatial solitons (i.e., screening solitons, photovoltaic solitons, and screening-photovoltaic solitons). We demonstrate that waveguides induced by photorefractive steady-state gray spatial solitons are only a single guided mode for both all soliton graynesses and all values of ρ, where ρ is the ratio between the soliton peak intensity and the dark irradiance, and moreover, waveguides induced by gray photovoltaic solitons for closed-circuit condition are also only a single guided mode for all electric current densities. We find that the confined energy near the center of a photorefractive steady-state gray spatial soliton increases with ρ and decreases with an increase in the soliton grayness. We also find that the confined energy near the center of a gray photovoltaic soliton for closed-circuit condition increases with the electric current density. On the other hand, waveguides induced by gray screening-photovoltaic solitons are gray screening soliton-induced waveguides when the bulk photovoltaic effect is neglectable and are gray photovoltaic soliton-induced waveguides when the external bias field is absent.     

Experimental evidence of a non-relationship between photorefractive inhibition and photoconductivity increase in LiNbO3:Mg

By means of measurements of both photoconductivity and two-wave mixing using cw 532 nm laser light, a direct relationship between optical damage resistance and photoconductivity coefficient for several congruent magnesium-doped lithium niobate crystals, with concentrations below and above the threshold of around 4.6 mol% MgO in melt, has not been observed. Specifically, when the polar axis is parallel to the photorefractive grating vector formed by two-interference beams, an increase of optical-damage resistance above the threshold is obtained. However, the photoconductivity coefficient is of the same magnitude of those samples below the threshold. On the other hand, when the optical axis is perpendicular to the grating vector, a decrease of the refractive index grating for crystals below the threshold could be observed, but even for this case the photoconductivity coefficient is unchanged, except for only one specimen with high magnesium level which exhibits simultaneously photorefractive response and high photoconductivity. These results suggest that the increase of photoconductivity is not very essential in the process of photorefractive inhibition; rather, the distribution of magnesium ions with respect to polar axis is an important parameter in the mechanism of optical-damage resistance.     

Optical gain in photoconductors made of compensated and partially compensated GaAs

The dc gain behaviour of GaAs photoconductors realized utilizing a partially compensated buffer layer of an epitaxial MESFET structure as well as a Cr-doped semiinsulating substrate is studied. The light-power dependence of the gain hints to the dominant role of the bimolecular recombination process and trapmediated gain, and only a minor role of the surface photovoltaic effect. The possible correlation between dark current and gain mechanism in the MESFET-like device is pointed out.     

Nonlinear thickness dependence of two-photon absorptance in Al2O3 films

Linear and nonlinear absorptance in Al₂O₃ films of different optical thicknesses are investigated using an ArF laser calorimeter. While the linear absorptance at 193 nm shows the expected linear increase, nonlinear absorptance increases quadratically with increasing film thickness. Thus, it cannot be described by a constant nonlinear absorption coefficient β. The experimental findings are explained by a simple phenomenological approach using excited states with a finite interaction length longer than the actual film thickness. a new material constant Γ is introduced, which describes the nonlinear absorptance behavior correctly. Received: 19 May 2000 / Accepted: 22 May 2000 / Published online: 13 July 2000     

Reflection holograms in iron-doped lithium niobate

Received: 7 November 1996/Revised version: 16 December 1996     

Superlinear photovoltaic currents in proton-exchanged LiNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript> waveguides

Photovoltaic currents along the c axis have been measured in α-phase LiNbO₃ proton-exchanged waveguides at several visible wavelengths for a guided-beam configuration. The light-intensity dependence is superlinear and all experimental curves are very well fitted by computer simulations using a two-centre model, with Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ as primary and Nb_Li ⁴⁺/Nb_Li ⁵⁺ as secondary photovoltaic centres. The superlinear behaviour arises from a much higher effective photovoltaic length of Nb_Li ⁴⁺ (small polaron) compared with that of Fe²⁺. In β₁-phase guides, the photocurrents are much smaller than in α-phase guides and apparently do not show superlinear behaviour. Received: 22 October 2002 / Revised version: 6 January 2003 / Published online: 12 May 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +34-91/3978-579, E-mail: m.carrascosa@uam.es     

Thermal and carrier transport originating from photon recycling and non-radiative recombination in laser micromachining of GaAs thin films

Coupled thermal and carrier transports (electron/hole generation, recombination, diffusion and drifting) in laser photoetching of GaAs thin film is investigated. A new volumetric heating mechanism originating from SRH (Shockley–Read–Hall) non-radiative recombination and photon recycling is proposed and modeled based on recent experimental findings. Both volumetric SRH heating and Joule heating are found to be important in the carrier transport, as well as the etching process. SRH heating and Joule heating are primarily confined within the space-charge region, which is about 20 nm from the GaAs surface. The surface temperature rises rapidly as the laser intensity exceeds 10⁵ W/m². Below a laser intensity of 10⁵ W/m², the thermal effect is negligible. The etch rate is found to be dependent on the competition between photovoltaic and photothermal effects on surface potential. At high laser intensity, the etch rate is increased by more than 100%, due to SRH and Joule heating. Received: 24 January 2002 / Accepted: 11 April 2002 / Published online: 10 September 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +1-310/206-2302, E-mail: xiang@seas.ucla.edu     

Crystal-orientation dependence of photoconductivity in Pb2CrO5 thin film

Crystal-orientation dependence in photoconductive Pb₂CrO₅ thin film devices, prepared by an electron-beam evaporation deposition technique, with interdigital electrodes is described as functions of film thicknesses, temperature, and electrode widths. There are three types of orientations of (020), (310), and (200). The photoconductive sensitivity of (200) is smaller than the other orientations because of the lower carrier mobility. The observed activation energy for each oriented sample is 0.69 or 0.26 eV for the dark or the photoillumination state. The film thickness influences strongly the photoconductive sensitivity and spectrum. At the shorter wavelengths the difference of the photoconductive current due to the illumination direction is obvious. The ratio of the finger width to the gap of interdigital electrodes on the thin film affects the photoconductive current level without changing the photoconductive spectra.     

Transient photoconductivity in the ferromagnetic semiconductor CdCr2Se4

The transient photoconductive response time of the ferromagnetic semiconductor CdCr₂Se₄ was measured to be smaller than 90 ps, the response time of the scope. The measurements were performed at room temperature (300 K) for 0.53 and 1.06 m excitations using a mode locked frequency-doubled YAG laser.     

On the photogalvanic effect in asymmetric quantum wells of different shapes

In this work we studied the charge carriers' behaviour in quantum structures where the symmetry with respect to space coordinates and time-reversal symmetry are broken simultaneously. As the models of such structures we considered finite triangular as well as finite semi-parabolic quantum wells placed in external magnetic field. We have shown by numerical analysis that the energy spectra of charge carriers in such structures are anisotropic with respect to in-plane (transverse) motion ?n(+kx)≠?n(−kx). This leads to the anisotropy of charge carrier's in-plane momentum transfer which can be very naturally explained by introducing the concept of charge carriers ‘renormalized’ effective masses. The anisotropy of momentum transfer leads to interesting photo-galvanic effect, the anisotropy of photo-conductivity σ(+kx)≠σ(−kx) and as it follows from our calculations, the effect though not very great, could be measurable for the magnetic field of about few T.     

Mechanism of Current Oscillations in Gallium ArsenidePhotoconductive Semiconductor Switches

Semi-insulating photoconductive semiconductor switch with an electrode gap of 4 mm, triggered by a laser pulse with energy of 0.5md, and applied bias of 2.5kV, the periodicity current oscillation with a cycle of 12ns is obtained. It is indicated that the current oscillation is one mode of transferred electron effect, namely quenched domain mode. This mode of trans-electron oscillator is obtained when the instantaneous bias electric field drops below the sustaining field （the minimum electric field required to support the domain） before the domain reaches the anode, which leads to the domain disappears somewhere in the bulk of the switch and away from the ohmic contacts. We mainly analyse the time-dependent characteristic of the mode, the theoretical analysis results are in excellent agreement with the experiment.     

Ultraviolet Photoelectric Effect in ZrO2 Single Crystals

Nanosecond photoelectric effect is observed in a ZrO2 single crystal at ambient temperature for the first time. The rise time is 20ns and the full width at half maximum is about 30ns for the photovoltaic pulse when the wafer surface of the ZrO2 single crystal is irradiated by 248 nm KrF laser pulses. The experimental results show that ZrO2 single crystals may be a potential candidate in UV photodetectors.     

Annealed Treatment Effect in Poly（3-hexylthiophene）：Methanofullerene Solar Cells

Polymer photovoltaic devices based on poly（3-hexylthiophene） （P3HT） ： [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyricacid methyl ester （PCBM） 1：1 weight-ratio blend are reported. The effects of various annealing treatments on the device performance are investigated. Thermal annealing shows significant improvement of the device performances. For devices at 130℃ annealing, maximum power conversion efficiency （PCE） of 3.3% and All factor up to 60.3% is achieved under air mass 1.5, 100 m W/cm^2 illumination. We discuss the effect of thermal annealing by the results of ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy （UV-vis）, dark current-voltage curve, atomic force microscopy （AFM）.     

Performance Improvement of Bulk Heterojunction Organic Photovoltaic Cellby Addition of a Hole Transport Material

A novel photovoltaic cell with an active layer of poly（phenyleneethynylene） （PPE）/C60/N,N＇-diphenyl-N,N＇-di-（m-tolyl）-p-benzidine （TPD） is designed. In the active layer, PPE is the major component; C60 and TPD are the minor ones. Compared with a control BHJ device based on PPE/C60, the short circuit current density Jsc is increased by 1 order of magnitude, and the whole device performance is increased greatly, however the open circuit voltage Voc is largely decreased. The possible mechanism of the improved performance may be as follows： In the PPE/C60/TPD device, PPE, C60, and TPD serve as the energy harvesting material, the electron transport material, and the hole transport material, respectively. As the TPD and C60 are spatially separated by PPE, the charge recombination is effectively retarded.     

The origin of reduced fill factors of emitter‐wrap‐through‐solar cells

Low fill factors generally limit the efficiency of emitter‐wrap‐through (EWT) solar cells. Until now, a conventional series resistance limitation along the laser‐drilled EWT vias has usually been assumed to be responsible for this effect. We demonstrate that the characteristic fill factor loss is caused by a crucial change in the diffusion currents inside the base, which are influenced by the conductivity along the laser‐drilled EWT vias. In addition, we show that the EWT via conductivity influences the fill factor loss caused by an iron contaminated base. This result affects the proposition that the EWT design is suitable for multicrystalline silicon in which interstitial iron is known to be the main contaminant. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The performance of Hg1−x Zn x Te photodiodes

This paper considers the Hg_1–x Zn _x Te alloy system as a potential material for the fabrication of infrared photodiodes. The influence of different junction current components (diffusion, tunneling and depletion layer currents) on the R ₀ A product of n⁺-pHg_1–x Zn _x Te photodiodes is analysed. The upper theoretical limits of the R ₀ A product and detectivity are determined. Results of calculations are compared with experimental data reported by other authors and those measured in our laboratory. Preliminary results on related technology and the properties of Hg_1–x Zn _x Te prepared by the ion-etching technique are presented.     

Enhanced Efficiency of Polymer： Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells with the Insertion of Thin TiO2 Layer near the LiF/A1 Electrode

The insertion layer of TiO2 between polymer-fullerene blend and LiF/AI electrode is used to enhance the shortcircuit current Isc and fill factor （FF）. The solar cell based on the blend of poly[2-methoxy-5-（2＇-ethylhexyloxy）- 1,4-phenylenevinylene] （MEH-PPV） and C60 with the modifying layer of TiO2 （about 20nm） shows the open- circuit Voc of about 0.62 V, short circuit current Isc of about 2.35 mA/cm^2, filling factor FF of about 0.284, and the power conversion efficiency （PCE） of about 2.4% under monochromatic light （50Onto） photoexcitation of about 17mW/cm^2. Compared to ceils without the TiO2 layer, the power conversion efficiency increases by about 17.5%. Similar effect is also obtained in cells with the undoped MEH-PPV structure of ITO/PEDOT：PASS/MEH- PPV/（TiO2）LiF/AI. The improved solar cell performance can be attributed to enhanced carrier extraction efficiency at the active layer/electrode interfaces when TiO2 is inserted.     

Enhanced photovoltaic properties of polymer-fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells by thermal annealing

The effect of a thermal annealing treatment on the performance of bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells based on poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) and fullerene (C₆₀) composites is investigated. Upon thermal annealing at 120 ^°C, short-circuit current and power conversion efficiency (η) are more than tripled, while a sharp rise by eight times in and η is found for the device annealed at 200 ^°C. It is concluded that the improved phase separation between MEH-PPV and C₆₀ leads to the enhancement of and η at 120 ^°C, while thermodynamic molecule arrangement at the higher temperature of ∼200 ^°C induces a significant increase in all photovoltaic parameters of composite devices except the open-circuit voltage .