ABSTRACT
Charge carrier lifetimes in photovoltaic-grade silicon wafers were measured by a spectral-dependent, quasi-steady-state photoconductance technique. Narrow bandwidth light emitting diodes (LEDs) were used to excite excess charge carriers within the material, and the effective lifetimes of these carriers were measured as a function of wavelength and intensity. The dependence of the effective lifetime on the excitation wavelength was then analyzed within the context of an analytical model relating effective lifetime to the bulk lifetime and surface recombination velocity of the material. The agreement between the model and the experimental data provides validation for this technique to be used at various stages of the solar cell production line to investigate the quality of the passivation layers and the bulk properties of the material.
ABSTRACT
We report on a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) system with a very high temporal resolution, using femtosecond and picosecond pulse laser excitation of pure aluminum (Al). By using a 140 fs Ti:Sapphire laser in an ultrafast optical Kerr gate (OKG), we demonstrate LIBS sampling with a sub-ps time resolution (0.8 ± 0.08 ps) in a 14 ns window. The width of the gating window in this system was as narrow as 0.8 ps, owing to the inclusion of a carbon disulfide (CS(2)) cell, which has a fast response and a large nonlinear coefficient. Furthermore, when using a 100 ps pulsed Nd:YAG laser and a fast photomultiplier tube (PMT) we demonstrate a LIBS system with a nanosecond time resolution (2.20 ± 0.08 ns) in a microsecond window. With this sort of temporal resolution, a non-continuous decay in the Al signal could be observed. After 50 ns decay of the first peak, the second peak at 230 ns is started to perform. Experimental results with such short temporal windows in LIBS, in both nanosecond and microsecond ranges, are important for fast temporal evolution measurements and observations of early continuum emission in materials.
ABSTRACT
Terahertz wave (THz) photoconductive (PC) antennas were fabricated on oxygen-implanted GaAs (GaAs:O) and low-temperature-grown GaAs (LT-GaAs). The measured cw THz power at 0.358 THz from the GaAs:O antenna is about twice that from the LT-GaAs antenna under the same testing conditions, with the former showing no saturation up to a bias of 40 kV/cm, while the latter is already beginning to saturate at 20 kV/cm. A modified theoretical model incorporating bias-field-dependent electron saturation velocity is employed to explain the results. It shows that GaAs:O exhibits a higher electron saturation velocity, which may be further exploited to generate even larger THz powers by reducing the ion dosage and optimizing the annealing process in GaAs:O.
ABSTRACT
This investigation demonstrates the feasibility of a magnetically tunable liquid crystal phase grating for the terahertz wave. The phase grating can be used as a beam splitter. The ratio of the zeroth and first-order diffracted THz-beams (0.3 THz) polarized in a direction perpendicular to that of the grooves of the grating can be tuned from 4:1 to 1:2. When the THz wave is polarized in any other direction, this device can be operated as a polarizing beam splitter.
Subject(s)
Liquid Crystals/chemistry , Liquid Crystals/radiation effects , Microwaves , Refractometry/instrumentation , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure Analysis , Feasibility Studies , Infrared Rays , Refractometry/methodsABSTRACT
By measuring the spectral loss characteristics of subwavelength-diameter terahertz fibers, our study supports the recent theory proposed by M. Sumetsky [Opt. Lett. 31, 870 (2006)] that diameter-variation-induced radiation is a dominant loss mechanism for subwavelength fibers in the low- (<1%) core-fraction-power regime. This physical mechanism limits the lowest guidable frequency in a subwavelength fiber.
ABSTRACT
The gap of a planar-aligned liquid crystal (LC) cell is measured by a novel method: Monitoring the change in output wavelength of an external-cavity diode laser by varying the voltage driving the LC cell placed in the laser cavity. This method is particularly suitable for measurement of LC cells of small phase retardation. Measurement errors of +/-0.5 % and +/-0.6 % for 9.6-microm and 4.25-microm cells with phase retardations of 1.63 microm and 0.20 microm respectively are demonstrated.
