Photovoltaic activity in a ZnSe/PEO–chitosan blend electrolyte junction

Thin films of ZnSe and PEO–chitosan blend polymer doped with NH₄I and iodine crystals were prepared to form the two sides of a semiconductor electrolyte junction. ZnSe was electrodeposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) conducting glass. The polymer is a blend of 50 wt% chitosan and 50 wt% polyethylene oxide. The polymer blend was complexed with ammonium iodide (NH₄I), and some iodine crystals were added to the polymer–NH₄I solution to provide the I⁻/I³⁻redox couple. The room temperature ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolyte is 4.32 × 10⁻⁶ S/cm. The polymer film was sandwiched between the ZnSe semiconductor and an ITO glass to form a ZnSe/polymer electrolyte/ITO photovoltaic cell. The open circuit voltage (V _oc) of the fabricated cells ranges between 200 to 400 mV and the short circuit current between 7 to 10 μA.     

The two-phase region in 2(ZnSe)x(CuInSe2)1−x alloys and structural relation between the tetragonal and cubic phases

The two-phase region in the system 2(ZnSe)_x(CuInSe₂)_1−x covers the chemical composition range 0.10<x?0.36, in which a tetragonal and a cubic phase are coexisting. The structural relation between both phases was determined by selected area diffraction (SAD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Both crystal structures are very similar and the extremely small mismatch of the lattice constants of the tetragonal phase and the embedding cubic matrix phase allows for the grain boundaries to be virtually strain-free and, therefore, without notable dislocations. The tetragonal phase forms grains of flat discus-like shape in the ambient cubic matrix, with the short discus axis parallel to the tetragonal c-axis. TEM experiments proved that the discus-shaped tetragonal particles are collinear with the (100)_cub, (010)_cub and (001)_cub planes of the cubic phase. Cooling and annealing experiments revealed a near-equilibrium state only to be realized for small cooling rates less than 2 K/h and/or for a long-time annealing with subsequent rapid quenching. Only then there will be no cation ordering in both, the tetragonal domains and the parental cubic matrix phase. If, however, the samples are kept in a state far away from the equilibrium condition both phases reveal Stannite-type cation ordering. Within the composition range of 0?x?0.10 only tetragonal 2(ZnSe)_x(CuInSe₂)_1−x-alloys exist. At concentration rates above 36 mol% 2(ZnSe) only cubic structured solid solutions of ZnSe and CuInSe₂ are found to be stable. However, in the range 36 mol% to about 60 mol% 2(ZnSe) tiny precipitates with Stannite-like structure exist, too.     

Molecular beam epitaxy—Grown ZnSe nanowires

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) via the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) reaction was used to grow ZnSe nanowires (NWs) on (111), (100), and (110) oriented GaAs substrates. Through detailed transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies, it was found that 〈111〉 orientation is the growth direction for NWs with size ≥30 nm, while NWs with size around 10 nm prefer to grow along the 〈110〉 direction, with a small portion along the 〈112〉 direction. These observations have led to the realization of vertical ZnSe NWs with size around 10 nm grown on a GaAs (110) substrate. An ordered ZnSe NW array fabricated on a GaAs (111) substrate with a novel prepatterning method associated with plasma etching shows a high degree of ordering and a good size uniformity of the as-grown NWs. The diameter of the NWs in the array is around 80 nm and most of them are found to orient vertically, but some tilt to one of the six possible directions of the 〈111〉 family.     

Oxygen-doped ZnTe phosphors for synchrotron X-ray imaging detectors

ZnTe:O powder phosphors were successfully prepared by a dry synthesis process using gaseous doping and etching media. It was found that dry doping by O₂ through ball-milling was an effective way to synthesize ZnTe:O powder phosphors and produced a red emission centered at 680 nm with a decay time of 1.1 μs. The emission intensity of dry O₂-doped samples was three times more intense than from ZnO-doped samples, possibly due to a more uniform distribution of oxygen substitution on tellurium sites. The samples annealed in a 95% N₂/5% H₂ forming gas atmosphere exhibited a x-ray luminescent efficiency five times higher than did powders annealed in vacuum or N₂ atmosphere. This enhancement was attributed to the removal of surface tellurium oxides. ZnTe:O phosphor screens were prepared with x-ray luminescence efficiencies equivalent to 56% of ZnSe:Cu,Ce,Cl and 76% of Gd₂O₂S:Tb screens under 17-keV radiation. An x-ray imaging resolution of 2.5 lines/mm was resolved, the same as that measured for commercial ZnSe:Cu,Ce,Cl and Gd₂O₂S:Tb screens. These results indicate that ZnTe:O is a promising phosphor candidate for synchrotron x-ray imaging applications.     

The virial theorem in refined Thomas－Fermi－Dirac theory for the interior of atoms in a solid

The virial theorem in refined Thomas－Fermi－Dirac theory for the interior of atoms in a solid is given and proven.     

The charge storage of the nc—Si layer

Sandwiched structures (a-SiN_x/a-Si/a-SiN_x) have been fabricated by the plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique. A Si nanocrystal (nc-Si) layer was formed by crystallization of an a-Si layer according to the constrained crystallization principle after quasi-static thermal annealing at 1100℃ for 30 min. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman scattering spectroscopy clearly demonstrated that nc-Si grains were formed in the as-deposited a-Si layer after annealing. The density of nc-Si grains is about 10¹¹cm^-2 as shown by TEM photographs. Using capacitance－voltage (C－V) measurements we investigated the electrical characteristics of the sandwiched structures. The charge storage phenomenon of the nc-Si layer was observed from the shift of flat-band voltage (V_FB) in C－V curves at a high frequency (1 MHz). We estimated the density of nc-Si grains to be about 10¹¹cm^-2 from the shift value of V_FB, which is in agreement with the result of TEM photographs. At the same time, we found that the shift of V_FB increased with the increase of the applied constant dc voltage or the thickness of the nc-Si layer.     

Investigation of the growth process of Si nanowires using the vapour－liquid－solid mechanism

Silicon nanowires have been grown by the thermal decomposition of silane via the vapour－liquid－solid (VLS) mechanism. Three different stages of VLS growth (eutectic alloy formation, crystal nucleation and unidirectional growth) were studied separately using a scanning electron microscope and a high-resolution transmission electron microscope. Very short silicon nanowires prepared under particular conditions provide direct evidence of the VLS mechanism on a nanometre scale. Our results will be very helpful for the controllable synthesis of Si nanowires.     

Second harmonic generation of propagating collective excitations in Bose－Einstein condensates

We consider a possible second harmonic generation (SHG) of propagating collective excitations in a two-component Bose－Einstein condensate (BEC) with repulsive atom－atom interactions. We show that the phase-matching condition for the SHG can be fulfilled if the wave vectors and frequencies of the excitations are chosen adequately from different dispersion branches. We solve the nonlinear amplitude equations for the SHG derived using a method of multiple-scales and provide SHG solutions similar to those obtained for a SHG in nonlinear optical media. A possible experimental realization of the SHG for the propagating collective modes in a cigar-shaped two-component BEC is also discussed.     

Nonlinear current－voltage characteristics of sintered tungsten－vanadium oxide

We have studied the densification behaviour, microstructure and electrical properties of WO_3 ceramics with V_2O_5 as the additive ranging from 0.5 to 15mol%. Scanning electron microscopic photos indicated that the grain size of WO_3－V_2O_5 specimens is smaller than that of pure WO_3. The addition of V_2O_5 to WO_3 showed a tendency to enhance the densification rate and to restrict the grain growth. Electrical properties of all specimens were measured for different electrodes at different temperatures. The formation of the grain boundary barrier layer was confirmed by the non-ohmic I－V behaviour. The nonlinear coefficient was obtained at the current density J=0.01, 0.1 and 1mA/cm^2 for a series of WO_3－V_2O_5 samples. The V0.5mol% specimen showed an abnormal phenomenon that the nonlinear characteristics appeared at 350℃ and disappeared at lower and higher temperatures. This implies that it could be applied as a high-temperature varistor. The double Schottky barrier model was adopted to explain the phenomena for the WO_3-V_2O_5 varistors.     

Dynamics of aggregation－annihilation process with cluster removals

We have studied the kinetic behaviours of irreversible aggregation－annihilation models with cluster removals. In the models, an irreversible aggregation reaction occurs between any two clusters of the same species and an irreversible annihilation reaction occurs simultaneously between two different species; meanwhile, the clusters of large size are gradually removed from the system. In a mean-field limit, we obtain the general solutions of the cluster-mass distributions for the cases with an arbitrary removal probability. We found that the cluster-mass distribution of either species satisfies a generalized or modified scaling form. The results also indicate that the evolution behaviours of the systems depend strongly on the details of the reaction events.