Data on the effect of CdS on the lateral collection length of charge carriers for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with mesh transparent conducting electrodes.

Mesh transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) have been successfully employed to Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells (Lee et al., 2018; Jang et al., 2017; Lee et al., 2020) [1-3]. Lateral motion of charge carriers is necessarily required for the carriers to be collected in CIGS solar cell cells having mesh TCEs. Lateral collection length of carriers can be obtain based on the lateral photocurrent values measured in custom designed CIGS test structures, which in turn enables to determine an optimum design of mesh TCEs for these CIGS solar cells (Lee et al., 2019) [4]. In a standard CIGS solar cell, a CdS layer is required to be fully cover the CIGS whole surface. However, it is not the case for mesh TCE based CIGS solar cells (Chung, 2019) [5]. The presence or absence of the CdS layer on the CIGS/Mo planar stack alters the traveling path of the charge carriers, which in turn will affect the lateral photocurrent values. Therefore, it will be helpful to know the effect of the presence or absence of the CdS layer on the lateral photocurrents in mesh TCE based CIGS solar cells.

Data on lateral collection length of charge carriers depending on pre-white-light soaking process for metal mesh transparent electrode based Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells.

The authors have recently reported silver nanowire based Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells [1,2]. Metal mesh based transparent electrodes other than the silver nanowire can be also employed or have a potential to provide a better performance for the solar cells. To select a suitable electrode for a solar cell among metal meshes, it is required to have data on the lateral collection length of charge carriers in the targeted cell. The method to determine the lateral collection has been reported in our previous publication [3]. Here, we report data on the effect of the light intensity during pre-white-light soaking on the lateral charge collection length for metal mesh transparent electrode based Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells.

A Disposable and Multi-Chamber Film-Based PCR Chip for Detection of Foodborne Pathogen.

Since the increment of the threat to public health caused by foodborne pathogens, researches have been widely studied on developing the miniaturized detection system for the on-site pathogen detection. In the study, we focused on the development of portable, robust, and disposable film-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) chip containing a multiplex chamber for simultaneous gene amplification. In order to simply fabricate and operate a film-based PCR chip, different kinds of PCR chambers were designed and fabricated using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) adhesive film, in comparison with commercial PCR, which employs a stereotyped system at a bench-top scale. No reagent leakage was confirmed during the PCR thermal cycling using the film PCR chip, which indicates that the film PCR chip is structurally stable for rapid heat cycling for DNA amplification. Owing to use of the thin film to fabricate the PCR chip, we are able to realize fast thermal transfer from the heat block that leads to short PCR amplification time. Moreover, using the film PCR chip, we could even amplify the target pathogen with 10 CFU mL-1. The artificially infected milk with various concentration of Bacillus cereus was successfully amplified on a single film PCR chip. On the basis of the reliable results, the developed film PCR chip could be a useful tool as a POCT device to detect foodborne pathogens via genetic analysis.

Fabrication of newspaper-based potentiometric platforms for flexible and disposable ion sensors.

Paper-based materials have attracted a great deal of attention in sensor applications because they are readily available, biodegradable, inexpensive, and mechanically flexible. Although paper-based sensors have been developed, but important obstacles remian, which include the retention of chemical and mechanical stabilities when paper is wetted. Herein, we develop a simple and scalable process for fabrication of newspaper-based platforms by coating of parylene C and patterning of metal layers. As-prepared parylene C-coated newspaper (PC-paper) provides low-cost, disposable, and mechanically and chemically stable electrochemical platforms for the development of potentiometric ion sensors for the detection of electrolyte cations, such as, H+ and K+. The pH and K+ sensors produced show near ideal Nernstian sensitivity, good repeatability, good ion selectivity, and low potential drift. These disposable, flexible ion sensors based on PC-paper platforms could provide new opportunities for the development of point-of-care testing sensors, for diagnostics, healthcare, and environment testing.

Assembly of metallic nanoparticle arrays on glass via nanoimprinting and thin-film dewetting.

We propose a nanofabrication process to generate large-area arrays of noble metal nanoparticles on glass substrates via nanoimprinting and dewetting of metallic thin films. Glass templates were made via pattern transfer from a topographic Si mold to an inorganically cross-linked sol-gel (IGSG) resist on glass using a two-layer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp followed by annealing, which turned the imprinted resist into pure silica. The transparent, topographic glass successfully templated the assembly of Au and Ag nanoparticle arrays via thin-film deposition and dewetting at elevated temperatures. The microstructural and mechanical characteristics that developed during the processes were discussed. The results are promising for low-cost mass fabrication of devices for several photonic applications.

Templated assembly of Co-Pt nanoparticles via thermal and laser-induced dewetting of bilayer metal films.

Templated dewetting of a Co/Pt metal bilayer film on a topographic substrate was used to assemble arrays of Co-Pt alloy nanoparticles, with highly uniform particle size, shape and notably composition compared to nanoparticles formed on an untemplated substrate. Solid-state and liquid-state dewetting processes, using furnace annealing and laser irradiation respectively, were compared. Liquid state dewetting produced more uniform, conformal nanoparticles but they had a polycrystalline disordered fcc structure and relatively low magnetic coercivity. In contrast, solid state dewetting enabled formation of magnetically hard, ordered L1(0) Co-Pt single-crystal particles with coercivity >12 kOe. Furnace annealing converted the nanoparticles formed by liquid state dewetting into the L1(0) phase.

Cobalt nanoparticle arrays made by templated solid-state dewetting.

Self-assembled cobalt particle arrays are formed by annealing, which cause agglomeration (dewetting) of thin Co films on oxidized silicon substrates that are topographically prepatterned with an array of 200-nm-period pits. The Co nanoparticle size and uniformity are related to the initial film thickness, annealing temperature, and template geometry. One particle per 200-nm-period pit is formed from a 15-nm film annealed at 850 degrees C; on a smooth substrate, the same annealing process forms particles with an average interparticle distance of 200 nm. Laser annealing enables templated dewetting of 5-nm-thick films to give one particle per pit. Although the as-deposited films exhibit a mixture of hexagonal close-packed and face-centered cubic (fcc) phases, the ordered cobalt particles are predominantly twinned fcc crystals with weak magnetic anisotropy. Templated dewetting is shown to provide a method for forming arrays of nanoparticles with well-controlled sizes and positions.