Perovskite interface defect passivation with poly(ethylene oxide) for improving power conversion efficiency of the inverted solar cells.

Inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs) attract researchers' attention for their potential application due to the low-temperature fabrication, negligible hysteresis and compatibility with multi-junction cells. However, the low-temperature fabricated perovskite films containing excessive undesired defects are not benefit for improving the performance of the inverted PSCs. In this work, we used a simple and effective passivation strategy that Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) polymer as an antisolvent additive to modify the perovskite films. The experiments and simulations have shown that the PEO polymer can effectively passivate the interface defects of the perovskite films. The defect passivation by PEO polymers suppressed non-radiative recombination, resulting in an increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the inverted devices from 16.07% to 19.35%. In addition, the PCE of unencapsulated PSCs after PEO treatment maintains 97% of its original stored in a nitrogen atmosphere for 1000 h.

Surface modifications by wet oxidation method removing getter layer in crystalline silicon cells.

Reducing the impurity atom content in crystalline silicon (c-Si) can effectively reduce the recombination current density (J 0) and improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of solar cells. Phosphorus diffusion gettering (PDG) has been proven to be an effective method to remove impurity atoms from c-Si. However, the research studies show that the traditional tube thermal diffusion method will cause a large number of dislocations on the silicon surface during the oxidation process, reducing the effectiveness of gettering. In this paper, the wet oxidation method is systematically used to remove phosphorus-rich layers (PRL) and modify the surface. The gettering effectiveness is measured by the minority carrier lifetime (τ eff) and bulk carrier lifetime (τ bulk) of silicon wafers. The results show that wet oxidation can reduce J 0 by 27.0% and increase τ eff by 26.3%. For the bulk region, the average τ bulk can be increased by more than 6-14%. In addition, with the final PCE comparison, the efficiency of the wet oxidation cell will be improved by 0.12%. These works indicate that the wet oxidation method can significantly improve the gettering effectiveness and the PCE of c-Si solar cell fabrication.

A frozen matrix hybrid optical nonlinear system enhanced by a particle lens.

In this work, a Graphene Oxide (GO) nano-sheet and SiO2 micro-bead hybrid system based on a frozen matrix was investigated for its enhanced optical nonlinear performance. A frozen matrix is a novel approach that hosts the optical nonlinear nano-particles, which combines the strengths from both liquid and solid phase systems for high performance photonic applications. SiO2 micro-beads were used to induce a local field enhancement effect that improved the optical nonlinearity of GO nano-sheets. The nonlinear performance of the hybrid system is several orders higher than the existing GO nano-sheet liquid dispersion. In addition, this frozen matrix and the local field enhancement effect are two facile and versatile methods that can be applied to many types of nano-particle dispersions.

Improved optical limiting performance of laser-ablation-generated metal nanoparticles due to silica-microsphere-induced local field enhancement.

For practical application, optical limiting materials must exhibit a fast response and a low threshold in order to be used for the protection of the human eye and electro-optical sensors against intense light. Many nanomaterials have been found to exhibit optical limiting properties. Laser ablation offers the possibility of fabricating nanoparticles from a wide range of target materials. For practical use of these materials, their optical limiting performance, including optical limiting threshold and the ability to efficiently attenuate high intensity light, needs to be improved. In this paper, we fabricate nanoparticles of different metals by laser ablation in liquid. We study the optical nonlinear properties of the laser-generated nanoparticle dispersion. Silica microspheres are used to enhance the optical limiting performance of the nanoparticle dispersion. The change in the optical nonlinear properties of the laser-generated nanoparticle dispersion caused by silica microspheres is studied. It is found that the incident laser beam is locally focused by the microspheres, leading to an increased optical nonlinearity of the nanoparticle dispersion.

Direct Laser Microperforation of Bioresponsive Surface-Patterned Films with Through-Hole Arrays for Vascular Tissue-Engineering Application.

Tissue architecture plays critical roles in the physiological functions of blood vessels. Surface-patterned films are promising to replicate cellular alignment as in the native vessels. However, for vascular tissue engineering (TE) applications, the current surface-patterned films lack structural support for the myoendothelial communications between tunica media and intima. Herein, we report the development of direct microperforation using a femtosecond laser on surface-patterned films for the native-like architecture reconstruction of blood vessels. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) thin films were surface-patterned with anisotropic microridges/grooves. Direct femtosecond laser ablation further resulted in microscale through-holes for the PCL films, without invasive thermal damage to the ridges/grooves on the nonprocessed surface. Laser fluence and pulse number were observed to significantly influence the microperforation on both hole quality and dimension. The PCL films after direct femtosecond laser microperforation exhibited improved flexible properties, without sacrificing the yield stress. Meanwhile, direct femtosecond laser microperforation resulted in PCL films with hydrophilic permeability to transport nutritional/signaling biomolecules and allowed for heterocellular protrusion ingrowth into the through-holes for physical myoendothelial contacts. Small-diameter vascular TE scaffolds based on the as-fabricated PCL films could enable a hybrid vascular wall construction with aligned stromal multilayers and a confluent endothelium similar to those of the native vascular tissue. These results showed that direct femtosecond laser microperforation could be a reliable approach for producing biomimetic films with through-holes. The developed vascular TE scaffolds with microridges/grooves and through-holes have the potential to offer structural support for vascular architecture reconstruction with the native-like stromal and endothelial components.

Laser hybrid micro/nano-structuring of Si surfaces in air and its applications for SERS detection.

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been widely investigated as an effective technique for low-concentration bio-chemical molecules detection. A rapid two-step approach to fabricate SERS substrates with high controllability in ambient air is developed. Dynamic laser ablation directly creates microgroove on the Si substrate. Meanwhile, nanoparticles are synthesized via the nucleation of laser induced plasma species and the air molecules. It configures the Si surface into four different regions decorated with nanoparticles at different sizes. With Ag film coating, these nanoparticles function as hotspots for SERS. Microsquare arrays are fabricated on the Si surface as large-area SERS substrates by the laser ablation in horizontal and vertical directions. In each microsquare, it exhibits quasi-3D structures with randomly arranged and different shaped nanoparticles aggregated in more than one layer. With Ag film deposition, uniform SERS signals are obtained by detecting the 4-methylbenzenethiol molecules. The SERS signal intensity is determined by the size and shape distributions of the nanoparticles, which depend on the laser processing parameters. With the optimal laser fluence, the SERS signals show a uniform enhancement factor up to 5.5 × 10(6). This provides a high-speed and low-cost method to produce SERS substrates over a large area.

Enhancement of pulsed laser ablation in environmentally friendly liquid.

Enhancement of pulsed laser ablation can be achieved in acetic acid as an environmentally friendly liquid. This paper evaluates microholes and textured features induced by a nanosecond pulsed laser under different processing circumstances. The microholes are fabricated by laser drilling in acetic acid and found to be 100% deeper than in air. The textured features achieved in the liquid demonstrate a higher content of Copper and a lower content of Oxygen. The improvement of laser ablation efficiency in the liquid is attributed to the strong confinement of plasma plume accompanying with shockwave and cavitation bubbles. Meanwhile, the laser enhanced chemical etching by the weak acid plays a critical role.