Highly Controlled Codeposition Rate of Organolead Halide Perovskite by Laser Evaporation Method.

Organolead-halide perovskites can be promising materials for next-generation solar cells because of its high power conversion efficiency. The method of precise fabrication is required because both solution-process and vacuum-process fabrication of the perovskite have problems of controllability and reproducibility. Vacuum deposition process was expected to achieve precise control; however, vaporization of amine compound significantly degrades the controllability of deposition rate. Here we achieved the reduction of the vaporization by implementing the laser evaporation system for the codeposition of perovskite. Locally irradiated continuous-wave lasers on the source materials realized the reduced vaporization of CH3NH3I. The deposition rate was stabilized for several hours by adjusting the duty ratio of modulated laser based on proportional-integral control. Organic-photovoltaic-type perovskite solar cells were fabricated by codeposition of PbI2 and CH3NH3I. A power-conversion efficiency of 16.0% with reduced hysteresis was achieved.

Crystallization Dynamics of Organolead Halide Perovskite by Real-Time X-ray Diffraction.

We analyzed the crystallization process of the CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite by observing real-time X-ray diffraction immediately after combining a PbI2 thin film with a CH3NH3I solution. A detailed analysis of the transformation kinetics demonstrated the fractal diffusion of the CH3NH3I solution into the PbI2 film. Moreover, the perovskite crystal was found to be initially oriented based on the PbI2 crystal orientation but to gradually transition to a random orientation. The fluctuating characteristics of the crystallization process of perovskites, such as fractal penetration and orientational transformation, should be controlled to allow the fabrication of high-quality perovskite crystals. The characteristic reaction dynamics observed in this study should assist in establishing reproducible fabrication processes for perovskite solar cells.

Enhanced analysis methods to derive the spatial distribution of 131I deposition on the ground by airborne surveys at an early stage after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident.

This paper applies both new and well tested analysis methods to aerial radiological surveys to extract the I ground concentrations present after the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP) accident. The analysis provides a complete map of I deposition, an important quantity incalculable at the time of the accident due to the short half-life of I and the complexity of the analysis. A map of I deposition is the first step in conducting internal exposure assessments, population dose reconstruction, and follow-up epidemiological studies. The short half-life of I necessitates the use of aerial radiological surveys to cover the large area quickly, thoroughly, and safely. Teams from the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) performed aerial radiological surveys to provide initial maps of the dispersal of radioactive material in Japan. This work reports on analyses performed on a subset of the initial survey data by a joint Japan-U.S. collaboration to determine I ground concentrations. The analytical results show a high concentration of I northwest of the NPP, consistent with the previously reported radioactive cesium deposition, but also shows a significant I concentration south of the plant, which was not observed in the original cesium analysis. The difference in the radioactive iodine and cesium patterns is possibly the result of differences in the ways these materials settle out of the air.

Comparison of thermal neutron distributions within shield materials obtained by experiments, SN and Monte Carlo code calculations.

Benchmark experiments of thermal neutron distributions within the shield materials, graphite pile and pure water, were performed by using 252Cf fission neutrons and gold foil activation detectors, and, to these results, the estimates obtained by using the discrete ordinate code ANISN and the Monte Carlo code MCNP5 with two different cross-section libraries, ENDF/B-VI and the Japanese new version of JENDL-3.3, were compared. The results revealed that the MCNP5 calculations with the two libraries closely agree with the experiments and that there are slight differences between the MCNP5 and the ANISN calculations. The differences are caused mainly by the overestimation of the thermal neutron absorption cross sections constructed in NJOY99. The ANISN calculations with the modified absorption cross sections reproduced the results of the MCNP5 fairly well.