Opto-Electronics Review

There is a high impact of the solar cells on energy manufacturing. For several years the energy efficiency was limited due to base-materials' structural and technological limits. High increase of energy harvesting of solar cells has been observed since the first solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO₂ films occurred. One of the most promising solutions are used quantum dots (QD) for light energy conversion. In this paper, we described the use of selected characterization techniques for sandwich-type TiO₂/QD composites for a low-cost quantum dots' solar cell in the point of view of mass manufacturer of solar cells and research and development laboratory. Moreover, the increasing role of Raman spectroscopy and mapping for the TiO₂/QD was presented and compared with other necessity techniques for solar cell investigations such as ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).

The aims of this study were to enhance electronic, photophysical and optical properties of molecular semiconductors. For this purpose, the isomers of the B-doped molecule (5,5′-Dibromo-2,2′-bithiophene) have been investigated by density functional theory (DFT) based on B3LYP/6-311++G** level of theory. The isomers were first calculated using kick algorithm. The most stable isomers of the B-doped molecule are presented depending on the binding energy, fragmentation energy, ionization potential, electron affinity, chemical hardness, refractive index, radial distribution function and HOMO-LUMO energy gap based on DFT. Ultraviolet-visible (UV–vis) spectra have been also researched by time-dependent (TD) DFT calculations. The value of a band gap for isomer with the lowest total energy decreases from 4.20 to 3.47 eV while the maximum peaks of the absorbance and emission increase from 292 to 324 nm and 392 to 440 nm with boron doped into 5,5′-Dibromo-2,2′-bithiophene. Obtained results reveal that the B-doped molecule has more desirable optoelectronic properties than the pure molecule.

High-power terahertz sources operating at room-temperature are promising for many applications such as explosive materials detection, non-invasive medical imaging, and high speed telecommunication. Here we report the results of a simulation study, which shows the significantly improved performance of room-temperature terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz QCLs) based on a ZnMgO/ZnO material system employing a 2-well design scheme with variable barrier heights and a delta-doped injector well. We found that by varying and optimizing constituent layer widths and doping level of the injector well, high power performance of THz QCLs can be achieved at room temperature: optical gain and radiation frequency is varied from 108 cm⁻¹ @ 2.18 THz to 300 cm⁻¹ @ 4.96 THz. These results show that among II–VI compounds the ZnMgO/ZnO material system is optimally suited for high-performance room-temperature THz QCLs.

This article describes a novel approach to measure responsivity of a FET-based sub-THz detector using on-wafer probes to directly feed a bare antenna-less detecting device. Thus, the approach eliminates the need to know beforehand the detector’s effective aperture, which can be a source of large variation between responsivity measurements of various FET-based detectors often cited in the literature. It seems that the presented method can be useful at making direct comparisons between responsivity of various devices (e.g., MOSFETs, HEMTs etc.). As a demonstration, the sub-THz responsivity of a pHEMT device fabricated using a commercial GaAs process has been measured in a WR-3 frequency band. Additionally, the results have been compared against data obtained using an alternative approach. The verification method consisted in integrating exactly the same device with a broad-band antenna and a carefully selected high-resistivity silicon lens and comparing its performance with that of a commercial calibrated detector based on Schottky diodes.

Structural and optical properties of graphene with a vacancy and B, N, O and F doped graphene have been investigated computationally using density functional theory (DFT). We find that B is a p-type while N, O and F doped graphene layers, as well as graphene with a vacancy are n-type semiconductors. Optical properties for both cases of in plane (E ⊥ c) and out of plane (E || c) polarization of light are investigated. It is observed that with the increase in the number of electrons entering the supercell, the amount of absorption of the system decreases and the absorption peaks are transferred to higher energies (blue shift).

Three low molecular weight compounds bearing carbazole units (1,6-di{3-[2-(4-methylphenyl)vinyl]carbazol-9-yl}hexane and 9,9'-di{6-[3-(2-(4-methylphenyl)vinyl)-9-carbazol-9-yl]hexyl}-[3,3']bicarbazole) and phenoxazine structure (10-butyl-3,7-diphenylphenoxazine) were tested as hole-transporting materials in perovskite solar cells. Two of them were successfully applied as hole transporting layers in electroluminescent light emitted diodes. The examined compounds were high-thermally stable with decomposition temperature found at the range of 280–419 °C. Additionally, DSC measurement revealed that they can be converted into amorphous materials. The compounds possess adequate ionization potentials, to perovskite energy levels, being in the range of 5.15–5.36  eV. The significant increase in power conversion efficiency from 1.60% in the case of a device without hole-transporting layer, to 5.31% for device with 1,6-di{3-[2-(4-methylphenyl)vinyl]carbazol-9- yl}hexane was observed.

In our studies the absorption, transmittance and reflectance spectra for periodic nanostructures with different parameters were calculated by the FDTD (Finite-Difference Time-Domain) method. It is shown that the proportion of reflected light in periodic structures is smaller than in case of thin films. The experimental results showed the light reflectance in the spectral range of 400–900 nm lower than 1% and it was significantly lower in comparison with surface texturing by pyramids or porous silicon.

Silicon nanowires on p-type Si substrate were formed by the Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching method (MacEtch). At solar cells with radial p-n junction formation the thermal diffusion of phosphorus has been used at 790°C. Such low temperature ensures the formation of an ultra-shallow p-n junction. Investigation of the photoelectrical properties of solar cells was carried out under light illumination with an intensity of 100 mW/cm². The obtained parameters of NWs' solar cell were I_sc = 22 mA/cm², U_oc = 0.62 V, FF = 0.51 for an overall efficiency η = 7%. The relatively low efficiency of obtained SiNWs solar cells is attributed to the excessive surface recombination at high surface areas of SiNWs and high series resistance.

The article regards aspects of PV modules tested with the use of natural sunlight. The analysis of spectral structure of solar energy resources in southern Poland, carried out on the basis of meteorological data originating from SolarLab PW Wrocław and AGH Kraków, Poland [1] was used in the article. It is a continuation of the article: Analysis of solar energy resources in southern Poland for photovoltaic applications [1], describing the method to determine spectral parameters of average photon energy (APE) and useful fraction (UF) with the use of a solar radiation spectrum simulator. This article, however, includes an experimental presentation of their impact on PV conversion of modules with different absorbers. Theory and practice of the measurements were described with the use of spectral parameters such as: UF, APE. Their influence on the efficiency of modules’ photovoltaic conversion with various spectral characteristics of absorbers was presented. The most recent methods described, which characterise the structure of solar energy resources such as annual distributions of APE and UF, have not been commonly used yet in Poland and other countries, even though they most precisely define adjustment of the spectral factor to the selected PV module.

Practical application of UF, in detection of absorber type used in the tested PV module/cell is demonstrated in the final part of the article.

Lasers emitting mid-infrared (MIR) beams have become indispensable for spectroscopy, free space communication or remote security measures. To the one of the most promising families of the lasers suitable for these applications certainly belongs a group of the Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCL). However, among the conditions they must satisfy there is a high enough radiance of the beam they emit. Radiance depends in a complicated way on the laser output power and optical quality of the laser beam. This paper has been devoted to a description and a short analysis of the factors that decide about radiance of so far developed QCLs. Literature concerning both single devices and QCL arrays operating in beam combining systems have been examined and results described. The survey may be useful for estimation of how far the QCLs have come of age.

Infrared thermal imaging, using cooled and uncooled detectors, is continuously gaining attention because of its wide military and civilian applications. Futuristic requirements of high temperature operation, multispectral imaging, lower cost, higher resolution (using pixels) etc. are driving continuous developments in the field. Although there are good reviews in the literature by Rogalski [1–4], Martyniuk et al. [5] and Rogalski et al. [6] on various types of infrared detectors and technologies, this paper focuses on some of the important recent trends and diverse applications in this field and discusses some important fundamentals of these detectors.

The electronic, optical and thermoelectric properties of zirconia-based MgZrO₃ oxide have been studied theoretically at a variant pressure up to 25 GPa. Calculations for the formation energy and tolerance factor reveal the thermodynamic and structural stability of MgZrO₃. To tune the indirect band gap from to a direct band gap, the optimized structure of MgZrO₃ has been subjected to external pressure up to 25 GPa. The optical properties have been discussed in the form of dielectric constant and refraction that brief us about the dispersion, polarization, absorption, and transparency of the MgZrO₃. In the end, the thermoelectric parameters have been analyzed at variant pressure against the chemical potential and temperature. The narrow band gap and high absorption in the ultraviolet region increase the demand of the studied oxide for energy harvesting device applications.

The use of technology in sports has increased in recent years. One of the most influential of these technologies is referee support systems. Team sports such as volleyball require accurate and robust tracking systems that do not affect either the players or the court. This paper introduces the application of intrinsic and extrinsic camera calibration in a 12-camera volleyball referee system. Intrinsic parameters are calculated by using the classic pinhole model and Zhang’s method. To perform extrinsic calibration in real time, the volleyball court is treated as a global calibration artifact. Calibration keypoints are defined as court-line intersections. In addition, a new keypoint detection algorithm is proposed. It enables achievement of an accurate camera pose in regard to the court. With all 12 cameras calibrated in a common coordinate system, a dynamic camera stereo pair creation is possible. Therefore, with known ball 2D image coordinates, the 3D real ball coordinates can be reconstructed and the ball trajectory can be estimated. The performance of the proposed method is tested on a synthetic data set, including 3Ds Max rendering and real data scenarios. The mean camera pose error calculated for data biased with keypoint detection errors is approximately equal to 0.013% of the measurement volume. For the real data experiment with a human hand phantom, it is possible to determine the presence of the human phantom on the basis of the ball reflection attitude.

Magnetoabsorption in far and mid IR ranges in double HgTe/CdHgTe quantum wells with inverted band structure has been studied in high magnetic fields up to 30 T. Numerous intraband and interband transitions have been revealed in the spectra and interpreted within axial 8 × 8 k·p model. Splitting of dominant magnetoabsorption lines resulting from optical transitions from hole-like zero-mode Landau level has been discovered and discussed in terms of a built-in electric field and collective phenomena.

We review recently proposed concepts of infrared and terahertz photodetectors based on graphene van der Waals heterostructures and HgTe-CdHgTe quantum well heterostructures and demonstrate their potential.

The evolution of microstructured optical fibers with hexagonal array (H-MOFs) of air-holes rooted in the background of undoped silica has led to the realization of an ideal host for encouraging and technologically entitled optical properties. We focus to explore the divergence of radiation into free space from the end-facet of solid-core H-MOFs by using the improved theoretical model. Also, we investigated the wavelength dependence of beam divergence angle for principal core mode of H-MOFs under step-index fiber approximation (SIFA). Experimental results have been included for comparison.