Environmentally-stable all-normal-dispersion picosecond Yb-doped fiber laser with an achromatic quarter-wave-plate

We present an environmentally-stable picosecond Yb-doped fiber laser by employing an achromatic quarter-wave-plate (AQWP) as a pulse stabilizer in the all-normal-dispersion and polarization-maintaining linear laser cavity. It is shown that the AQWP plays a critical role to control both the polarization state and spectral filtering of the proposed mode-locked laser. The demonstrated laser generates 2-ps-long pulses with pulse energies of 1 nJ at a repetition rate of 117 MHz and parabolic spectral width of 26 nm. The fundamental RF carrier frequency exhibits Allan deviation of 3.8 × 10⁻⁸ at 1-s averaging time and phase noise of −95 dBc/Hz at 10-Hz offset frequency.     

Development of surface-textured hydrogenated ZnO:Al thin-films for μc-Si solar cells

This study addresses the optimization of rf magnetron-sputtered hydrogenated ZnO:Al (HAZO) films as front contacts in microcrystalline silicon solar cells. The front contact of a solar cell has to be highly conductive and highly transparent to visible and infrared radiation. Furthermore, it has to scatter the incident light efficiently in order for the light to be effectively trapped in the underlying silicon layers. In this research, HAZO films were rf-magnetron-sputtered on glass substrates from a ceramic (98 wt% ZnO, 2 wt% Al₂O₃) target. Various compositions of AZO films on glass substrates were prepared by changing the H₂/(Ar + H₂) ratio of the sputtering gas. The resulting smooth films exhibited high transparencies (T  85% for visible light including all reflection losses) and excellent electrical properties (ρ = 2.7 × 10⁻⁴ Ω · cm). Depending on their structural properties, these films developed different surface textures upon post-deposition etching using diluted hydrochloric acid. The light-scattering properties of these films could be controlled simply by varying the etching time. Moreover, the electrical properties of the films were not affected by the etching process. Therefore, within certain limits, it is possible to optimize the electro-optical and light-scattering properties separately. The microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H)-based p–i–n solar cells prepared using these new texture-etched AZO:H substrates showed high quantum efficiencies in the long wavelength range, thereby demonstrating effective light trapping. Using the optimum AZO:H thin-film textured surface, we achieved a p–i–n μc-Si solar cell efficiency of 7.78%.     

Fabrication and characterization of MoO3 clusters-coated TiO2 nanotubes showing charge-transferred photoluminescence

MoO₃ clusters-coated TiO₂ nanotubes were synthesized wet-chemically and characterized by measuring photoluminescence spectra and kinetic profiles as well as extinction spectra and electron microscope images. TiO₂ nanotubes having an average outer diameter of 30 nm and an average thickness of 8 nm are surrounded by MoO₃ clusters with an average thickness of 4 nm. The excitation of both the TiO₂ cores and the MoO₃ shells of the type-II nanocomposites suspended in water yields charge-transferred junction photoluminescence having a long lifetime of 2.3 ns at 460 nm.     

Carrier transport mechanism of strained AlGaN/GaN Schottky contacts

Using polarization field effect-based thermionic field emission (PFE-TFE) model based on current–voltage–temperature data, possible carrier transport mechanisms for Pt/Au and Cr/Pd Schottky contacts to Al_0.25Ga_0.75N/GaN layers were investigated. Thermionic emission (TE) model was also investigated to compare to the PFE-TFE. It was shown that Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) are significantly affected by a polarization field-induced carrier density of the AlGaN layer. In addition, relatively little temperature dependence on the leakage current density of both contacts was found, which is in good agreement with the PFE-TFE model. The results indicate that the TFE is responsible for the current flow across the metal/AlGaN–GaN interface at T ≥ 293 K.     

Luminescence spectra of Eu ions and interstitial oxygen in PbWO4 crystal

The site-selective excitation and emission spectroscopy, and luminescence decay have been investigated under a pulsed, tunable, narrowband dye laser of the ⁵D₀→⁷F₀ region in the europium ions-doped lead tungstate PbWO₄ (PWO) in single crystal. In as-grown sample, the experimental results show that there is only one ⁷F₀→⁵D₀ excitation transition indicating the only one Eu³⁺ site in PbWO₄ lattices. The sequential annealing treatments were conducted to investigate the effects of oxygen components on the microstructure environments of Eu³⁺ in the lattices. The site distribution of Eu³⁺ was changed by the annealing in air atmosphere, which could create new sites in PWO lattices. Confirmation of interstitial oxygen and interpretations of charge compensation mechanism for the observed new sites were discussed in the context of site-selective excitation and emission spectra. The main Eu³⁺ site is related to the charge compensation by the [(Eu_Pb³⁺)-V″_Pb-(Eu_Pb³⁺)] complex; the other minor new sites after annealing are originated from [(Eu_Pb³⁺)-O″_i-(Eu_Pb³⁺)] defects. Emission spectra excited by 355-laser and RT-Raman spectra were also measured.     

Vacancy filling effect of graphene on photoluminescence behavior of ZnO/graphene nanocomposite

We report on the aerosol synthesis and optical characterization of ZnO/unoxidized graphene (UG) platelets nanocomposite films with high optical transparency (>85% at visible wavelengths). The ZnO/UG composite films, in which UG nanoplatelets are embedded in nano‐grained ZnO, were fabricated from colloidal suspensions of UG platelets with an aqueous zinc precursor. From photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the UG composite films, it was found that PL intensity decreases with the addition of UG platelets. The features of PL intensity in the UG composites are in contrast to that of ZnO/graphene oxide (G‐O) platelets composites, and can be explained by the absence of an oxygen vacancy filling effect, due to the unoxidized nature of UG and an increase in defect sites in its composites. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Luminescent properties of a new green emitting Eu doped CaZrSi2O7 phosphor for WLED applications

CaZrSi₂O₇ (CZS), a modification of the thortveitite family, was prepared as a polycrystalline powder material by the conventional solid-state reaction method. Structural, thermal and photoluminescence (PL) properties of the prepared material were investigated in order to evaluate its potentiality. XRD patterns confirm the monoclinic phase of CaZrSi₂O₇: Eu²⁺ phosphors.. Emissions arising from transitions between the 5d and 4f orbital gaps of Eu²⁺ are manifested in the broadband excitation and emission spectra with major peaks at 363 and 512 nm, respectively. The excitation wavelength matches well with that of the emission of the ultraviolet-light emitting diode (UV-LED). Concentration quenching occurs when the Eu²⁺ concentration is beyond 0.05 and the dipole-dipole interaction was the reason for the corresponding quenching mechanism. The temperature dependence of emission intensity of CZS: Eu²⁺ phosphor was investigated and it showed better thermal stability than the standard YAG: Ce³⁺ phosphor.     

Magnetic characterization of orthorhombic LiMnO2 and electrochemically transformed spinel LixMnO2 (x<1)

Orthorhombic LiMnO₂ exhibits complex magnetic behavior. In addition to short- and long-range antiferromagnetic ordering, we observed spin-glass behavior in the reported temperature regime of long-range antiferromagnetic ordering. Lithium extraction from LiMnO₂ further complicates its magnetic behavior. A broad maximum of susceptibility at ≈360 K, characteristic of well-ordered LiMnO₂, disappears upon electrochemical delithiation to Li_0.39MnO₂, indicating that two-dimensional ordering on the folded triangular Mn lattice in LiMnO₂ is destroyed as the cation sublattice begins to transform to a spinel. Spin-glass behavior is, however, observed in Li_0.39MnO₂ as well. Compared to conventionally prepared spinel LiMn₂O₄, a lower degree of frustration is deduced, which is attributed to incomplete spinel ordering in the early stages of the cycling-induced transformation. In addition, the fraction of Mn ions occupying tetrahedral sites during the spinel transformation has been quantitatively determined for the first time, using magnetic susceptibility data. The results, surprisingly, support the existence of low-spin Mn ions on tetrahedral sites in the electrochemically transformed spinel.     

Theory of direct-interband-transition line shapes based on Mori’s method

Summary A theory of direct interband optical transitions in the electronphonon system is introduced on the basis of the Kubo formalism and by using Mori’s method of calculation. The line shape functions are introduced in two different ways and are compared with those obtained by Choi and Chung based on Argyres and Sigel’s projection technique.

---

Riassunto S’introduce una teoria delle transizioni ottiche dirette d’interbanda nei sistemi elettronefonone sulla base del formalismo di Kubo e usando il metodo di calcolo di Mori. Le funzioni di forma della linea s’introducono in due diversi modi e sono paragonate a quelle ottenute da Choi e Chung basate sulla tecnica di proiezione di Argyres e Sigel.

---

Резюме Развивается теория прямых межзонных оптических переходов в электрон-фононных системах на основе формализма Кубо и, используя метод вычислений Мори. Выводятся функции для форм линий двумя различными способами. Полученные результаты сравниваются с результатами Чоя и Чунга, которые основаны на технике проектирования Аргиреса и Сигеля.

     

The roles of “ammonium” and “hydrogen-bond” protons in single crystals of the superionic conductor NH4HSeO4 by H NMR relaxation

The variations with temperature of the line-shape, spin-lattice relaxation time, T₁, and spin-spin relaxation time, T₂, of the ¹H nuclei in NH₄HSeO₄ single crystals were investigated, and with these ¹H NMR results we were able to distinguish the crystals’ “ammonium” and “hydrogen-bond” protons. The line width of the signal due to the ammonium protons abruptly narrows near the temperature of the superionic phase transition, T_SI, which indicates that they play an important role in this phase transition. The ¹H T₁ for NH₄⁺ and HSeO₄⁻ in NH₄HSeO₄ do not change significantly near the ferroelectric phase transition of T_C1 (=250 K) and the incommensurate phase transition of T_i (=261 K), whereas they change near the temperature of the superionic phase transition T_SI (=400 K). Our results indicate that the main contribution to the low-temperature phase transition below T_SI is that of the molecular motion of ammonium and hydrogen-bond protons, and the main contribution to the conductivity at high temperatures above T_SI is the breaking of the O-H?O bonds and the formation of new H- bonds in HSeO₄⁻. In addition, we compare these results with those for the NH₄HSO₄ and (NH₄)₃H(SO₄)₂ single crystals, which have similar hydrogen-bonded structure.