Pulse surface wave generator of millimeter band wavelength

Theoretical and experimental studies of high-power, relativistic surface-wave microwave Cherenkov generators are briefly considered. Some simulation and experiment results included, the experimentation being made in mm-wave region.     

Metal grid technologies for flexible transparent conductors in large-area optoelectronics

Mechanically flexible optoelectronic devices such as flexible displays, touch-screens, wearable electronics and solar cells are attracting significant commercial interest. In these devices, a transparent conductor is an essential element that delivers or collects the electrical current to the active material while it allows light to enter or exit from the device. The transparent conductor is composed of a transparent conductive film and a metallic grid providing electrical conduction over the large area. In this article, we review the established processes used by the industry as well as emerging solution-based methods for processing metal grids. Furthermore, we review the issues and potentials of these emerging processes facing for large-area deployment. In the final section, we evaluate three applications of flexible transparent conductors in: perovskite-based solar cells, organic light emitting diodes and electrochromic windows.     

“薄膜即是界面，界面即是薄膜”：二维有机半导体晶体的研究进展

自首次于聚乙炔发现导电现象以来,具有共轭结构的有机半导体材料赖其种类丰富多样、 制备工艺简捷低耗、以及优异的机械柔性等特点,在“后硅时代”中有望以先进光电子设备展现 其广阔前景,因而多年来备受学界和产业界的瞩目。如何进一步阐明有机半导体中结构和性能之 间的关系,探索电荷载流子微观动力学行为,构筑高性能、新功能的有机光电子器件,是当下有 机电子学领域的前沿核心问题,也是保证其持续发展的基石。近年来,二维有机半导体晶体材料 在秉持高度有序的分子排列与极低的杂质缺陷浓度等优点的同时,更是以“薄膜即是界面、界面 即是薄膜”为一帜,克服传统体材料在研究与应用中的瓶颈,为揭示材料构性关系及其中基本物 理过程提供了良好的平台,也是实现多样化的新型有机光电子器件的理想材料,有望为微纳电子 领域带来新一轮变革。本文从二维有机半导体晶体的制备工艺、电荷载流子微观动力学行为,再 到新型器件的光电功能应用等方面,综述了最新研究进展,做出总结和展望,并提出目前面临的 挑战及未来研究方向,旨在为进一步深入理论研究,结合有机材料与先进技术,推动有机电子学 的发展提供有益帮助。     

超导量子干涉器件

超导现象是一种宏观量子现象.磁通量子化和约瑟夫森效应是两个最能体现这种宏观量子特性的物理现象.超导量子干涉器件(superconducting quantum interference device,SQUID)是利用这两个特性而形成的超导器件.SQUID器件在磁信号灵敏探测方面具有广泛的应用.本文简要介绍低温超导和高温超导SQUID器件的相关背景和发展现状以及应用领域.     

Deep Learning for Walking Behaviour Detection in Elderly People Using Smart Footwear

The increase in the proportion of elderly in Europe brings with it certain challenges that society needs to address, such as custodial care. We propose a scalable, easily modulated and live assistive technology system, based on a comfortable smart footwear capable of detecting walking behaviour, in order to prevent possible health problems in the elderly, facilitating their urban life as independently and safety as possible. This brings with it the challenge of handling the large amounts of data generated, transmitting and pre-processing that information and analysing it with the aim of obtaining useful information in real/near-real time. This is the basis of information theory. This work presents a complete system aiming at elderly people that can detect different user behaviours/events (sitting, standing without imbalance, standing with imbalance, walking, running, tripping) through information acquired from 20 types of sensor measurements (16 piezoelectric pressure sensors, one accelerometer returning reading for the 3 axis and one temperature sensor) and warn the relatives about possible risks in near-real time. For the detection of these events, a hierarchical structure of cascading binary models is designed and applied using artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms and deep learning techniques. The best models are achieved with convolutional layered ANN and multilayer perceptrons. The overall event detection performance achieves an average accuracy and area under the ROC curve of 0.84 and 0.96, respectively.     

Enhancing light absorption for organic solar cells using front ITO nanograting and back ultrathin Al layer

To address the discrepancy between carrier collection and light absorption of organic solar cells caused by the limited carrier mobility and optical absorption coefficient for the normally employed organic photoactive layers, a light management structure composed of a front indium tin oxide(ITO) nanograting and ultrathin Al layer inserted in between the photoactive layer and the electron transport layer(ETL) is introduced. Owing to the antireflection and light scattering induced by the ITO nanograting and the suppression of light absorption in the ETL by the inserted Al layer, the light absorption of the photoactive layer is significantly enhanced in a spectral range from 400 nm to 650 nm that also covers the main energy region of solar irradiation for the normally employed active materials such as the P3HT:PC_(61) BM blend. The simulation results indicate that comparing with the control device with a planar configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PC_(61) BM(80-nm thick)/Zn O/Al, the short-circuit current density and power conversion efficiency of the optimized light management structure can be improved by 32.86% and 34.46%. Moreover, good omnidirectional light management is observed for the proposed device structure. Owing to the fact that the light management structure possesses the simple structure and excellent performance, the exploration of such a structure can be believed to be significant in fabricating the thin film-based optoelectronic devices.     

Isomeric effects on the self‐assembly of a plausible prebiotic nucleoside analogue: A theoretical study

The self‐assembly properties of N(9)‐(2,3‐dihydroxypropyl adenine) (DHPA), a plausible prebiotic nucleoside analogue of adenosine, were investigated using density functional theory. Two different isomers were considered, and it is found that while both isomers can form a variety of structures, including chains, one of them is also able to form cages and helixes. When these results were put in the context of substrate supported molecular self‐assembly, it is concluded that gas‐phase self‐assembly studies that consider isomer identity and composition not only can aid interpreting the experimental results, but also reveal structures that might be overlooked otherwise. In particular, this study suggest that a double‐helical structure made of DHPA molecules which could have implications in prebiotic chemistry and nanotechnology, is stable even at room temperature. For example electrical properties (energy gap of 4.52eV) and a giant permanent electrical dipole moment (49.22 Debye) were found in our larger double‐helical structure (3.7 nm) formed by 14 DHPA molecules. The former properties could be convenient for construction of organic dielectric‐based devices.     

Polymer network liquid crystal grating/Fresnel lens fabricated by holography

In this article, polymer network liquid crystal (PNLC) grating/Fresnel lens is fabricated by holography. The exposure light pattern for the grating is obtained by interfering two planar wave fronts, while the Fresnel pattern is achieved by interfering a planar wave front and a spherical wave front. Owing to the alignment effect and anchoring power of polymer network, the holographic PNLC grating achieves improved diffraction efficiency, and remarkably reduced operation voltage (reduced by 80%) compared with holographic polymer-dispersed-liquid-crystal and holographic polymer-stabilised blue-phase liquid-crystal gratings, while maintaining submillisecond response. Moreover, it achieves high spatial frequency with a 2-μm grating period, thanks to the holographic fabrication. The holographic PNLC Fresnel lens also exhibits attractive electro-optical properties.     

Quantum computing measurement and intelligence

One of the grand challenges in the nanoscopic computing era is guarantees of robustness. Robust computing system design is confronted with quantum physical, probabilistic, and even biological phenomena, and guaranteeing high‐reliability is much more difficult than ever before. Scaling devices down to the level of single electron operation will bring forth new challenges due to probabilistic effects and uncertainty in guaranteeing “zero‐one” based computing. Minuscule devices imply billions of devices on a single chip, which may help mitigate the challenge of uncertainty by replication and redundancy. However, such device densities will create a design and validation nightmare with the sheer scale. The questions that confront computer engineers regarding the current status of nanocomputing material and the reliability of systems built from such minuscule devices are difficult to articulate and answer. This article illustrates and discusses two types of quantum algorithms as follows: (1) a simple quantum algorithm and (2) a quantum search algorithm. This article also presents a review of recent advances in quantum computing and intelligence and presents major achievements and obstacles for researchers in the near future. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2010