Solar-blind ultraviolet photodetector based on Nb2C/ß-Ga2O3heterojunction.

ß-Ga2O3has been widely investigated for its stability and thermochemical properties. However, the preparation ofß-Ga2O3thin films requires complex growth techniques and high growth temperatures, and this has hindered the application ofß-Ga2O3thin films. In this study,ß-Ga2O3thin films with good crystalline quality were prepared using a green method, and an ultraviolet (UV) detector based onß-Ga2O3with a photocurrent of 2.54 × 10-6A and a dark current of 1.19 × 10-8A has been developed. Two-dimensional materials have become premium materials for applications in optoelectronic devices due to their high conductivity. Here, we use the suitable energy band structure between Nb2C and Ga2O3to create a high carrier migration barrier, which reduces the dark current of the device by an order of magnitude. In addition, the device exhibits solar-blind detection, high responsiveness (28 A W-1) and good stability. Thus, the Nb2C/ß-Ga2O3heterojunction is expected to be one of the promising devices in the field of UV photoelectric detection.

Sol-Gel Synthesized Amorphous (InxGa1-x)2O3 for UV Photodetection with High Responsivity.

ß-Ga2O3 photodetectors have the advantages of low dark current and strong radiation resistance in UV detection. However, the limited photocurrent has restricted their applications. Herein, MSM UV photodetectors based on (InxGa1-x)2O3 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) by a sol-gel method were fabricated and studied. The doping of indium ions in Ga2O3 leads to lattice distortion and promotes the formation of oxygen vacancies. The oxygen vacancies in (InxGa1-x)2O3 can be modulated by various proportions of indium, and the increased oxygen vacancies contribute to the enhancement of electron concentration. The results show that the amorphous In0.4Ga1.6O3 photodetector exhibited improved performances, including a high light-to-dark current ratio (2.8 × 103) and high responsivity (739.2 A/W). This work provides a promising semiconductor material In0.4Ga1.6O3 for high-performance MSM UV photodetectors.

A High-Performance UVA Photodetector Based on Polycrystalline Perovskite MAPbCl3/TiO2 Nanorods Heterojunctions.

The application of TiO2 nanorods in the field of ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors is hindered by a high dark current, which is attributed to crystal surface defects and intrinsic excitation by carrier thermal diffusion. Here, a photodetector based on polycrystalline perovskite MAPbCl3/TiO2 nanorods heterojunctions has been fabricated to overcome the shortcoming. The structure was composed of horizontal MAPbCl3 polycrystalline and vertically aligned TiO2 nanorods array. Many localized depletion regions at the MAPbCl3/TiO2 interface can reduce the dark current. The TiO2/MAPbCl3 detector shows high performance including a high ratio of light-dark current of about six orders of magnitude, which is much larger than that of the TiO2 detector. This study indicates the potential in the TiO2/MAPbCl3 heterojunction to fabricate high-performance UV detectors.

UV detector based on an FTO/TiO2/MoO3 heterojunction with a potential well trapping electrons in the dark.

An FTO/TiO2/MoO3 based UV detector has been fabricated through the synthesis of TiO2 nanowires (NWs) on FTO using the hydrothermal method, the preparation of MoO3 on TiO2 NWs by the spin-coating method, after the hydrothermal synthesis, and the preparation of Ag electrodes on the FTO and MoO3. The detector exhibits an excellent performance of photo-to-dark current ratio of more than two orders of magnitude. This performance is produced because the dark current under 2.2 V bias has been significantly inhibited due to the electronic potential well formed by the energy band distribution while the photocurrent has increased in comparison with FTO/TiO2 based detectors under the same conditions which also have a higher photo-to-dark current ratio without the MoO3 content. Not only does this study take advantage of 1D NWs and 2D nanostructures, but it also provides a new way to inhibit the dark current of detectors.

Built-in electric field promotes photoexcitation separation and depletion of most carriers in TiO2:C UV detectors.

TiO2 has been widely used in ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors, but due to the large number of structural defects and strong band-to-band recombination of the exciton in TiO2, the devices usually have large dark current (I d) and low light current (I l), which seriously reduces the sensitivity and responsivity (R) of the TiO2 based devices. In this work, carbon (C) quantum dots (QDs) are introduced into TiO2 film to ameliorate these issues. Due to the difference of work function between TiO2 nanoparticles and C QDs, the built-in electric field (E bi) can be formed, which effectively facilitates the photogenerated exciton dissociation in the TiO2 film under UV illumination. Meanwhile, the constructed depletion region in dark reduces the majority carrier density, thus decreasing the I d of the photodetector. Moreover, the E bi and depletion region will also contribute to the faster charge collection under UV illumination and recombination of the electron in dark, which is beneficial for the improved response/recovery speed of the device.

Hierarchical Co3O4@NiMoO4 core-shell nanowires for chemiresistive sensing of xylene vapor.

Hierarchical Co3O4@NiMoO4 core-shell nanowires (NWs) were synthesized utilizing a two-step hydrothermal method. The NWs show a high chemiresistive response (at a temperature of 255 °C) to xylene, with an Rgas/Rair ratio of 24.6 at 100 ppm xylene, while the response towards toluene, benzene, ethanol, and acetone, CO, H2S and NO2 is much weaker. In contrast, pure Co3O4 nanowires exhibit weak responses to all the vapors/gases and poor selectivity. The new NW sensor displays an almost linear response (1-100 ppm) to xylene and a lower detection limit of 424 ppb. The remarkable gas sensing characteristics are attributed to the synergistic catalytic effect and the formation of a heterostructure between Co3O4 and NiMoO4. Graphical abstract Schematic presentation of a xylene vapor chemiresistive sensor based on Co3O4@NiMoO4 core-shell nanowires. The Co3O4@NiMoO4 core-shell nanowires-based sensor exhibits a high response (24.6) to 100 ppm xylene at 255 °C and high response/recovery speed (13-15 and 25-29 s).

A PFTBT modified visible-blind ultraviolet photodetector with a narrow detecting range and high responsivity.

A visible-blind ultraviolet (UV) photodetector (PD) based on TiO2/polyvinyl carbazole doped with poly {[2,7-(9-(20-ethylhexyl)-9-hexyl-fluorene])-alt-[5,50-(40,70-di-2-thienyl-20,10,30-benzothid-iazole)]} (PFTBT) was successfully fabricated. The introduced PFTBT exhibits high absorbance in the UV region and high conductivity which increases the device absorbance and the efficiency of carrier mobility. Besides, PFTBT acts as traps which can increase the concentration of the majority carrier. Therefore, the doped device exhibits high responsivity and high specific detectivity with the value of 0.22 A W-1 and 1.78 × 1012 Jones which respectively has a 3.6 and 2.6 times greater enhancement than the device without doping. The response time is also improved from 27 ms to 22 ms. Owing to the different absorbances that the materials have, the PD has a narrow detection range from 320 nm to 340 nm which is helpful to the study of the specific wavelength. In other words, the research provides a potential way to fabricate practical high-performance UVPDs.

A Sensor Based on LiCl/NaA Zeolite Composites for Effective Humidity Sensing.

LiCl/NaA zeolite composites were successfully prepared by doping 1 wt%, 2 wt%, 5 wt%, and 8 wt% of LiCl into NaA zeolite. The humidity sensing properties of LiCl/NaA composites were investigated among 11% 95% relative humidity (RH). The LiCl/NaA composites exhibited better humidity sensing properties than pure NaA zeolite. The sensor made by 2 wt% Li-doped NaA zeolite possesses the best linearly in the whole RH. These results demonstrate that the LiCl/NaA composites have the potential application in humidity sensing.

The effect of self-depleting in UV photodetector based on simultaneously fabricated TiO2/NiO pn heterojunction and Ni/Au composite electrode.

A novel dark self-depleting ultraviolet (UV) photodetector based on a TiO2/NiO pn heterojunction was demonstrated and exhibited lower dark current (I dark) and noise. Both the NiO layer and Ni/Au composite electrode were fabricated by a smart, one-step oxidation method which was first employed in the fabrication of the UV photodetector. In dark, the depleted pn heterojunction structure effectively reduced the majority carrier density in TiO2/NiO films, demonstrating a high resistance state and contributing to a lower I dark of 0.033 nA, two orders of magnitude lower than that of the single-material devices. Under UV illumination, the interface self-depleting effect arising from the dissociation and accumulation of photogenerated carriers was eliminated, ensuring loss-free responsivity (R) and a remarkable specific detectivity (D*) of 1.56 × 1014 cm Hz1/2 W-1 for the optimal device. The device with the structure of ITO/TiO2/NiO/Au was measured to prove the mechanisms of interface self-depleting in dark and elimination of the depletion layer under UV illumination. Meanwhile, shortened decay time was achieved in the pn heterojunction UV photodetector. This suggests that the self-depleting devices possess the potential to further enhance photodetection performance.

Interface passivation and electron transport improvement of polymer solar cells through embedding a polyfluorene layer.

In this contribution, a series of conducting polyfluorenes (PF) are introduced to improve interface adhesion and boost charge extraction of the TiO2 electron transport layer of inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs). After employing poly (9,9-dihexylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl) (PDF), poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-alt-co-(1,4-benzo-{2,1',3}-thiadiazole)] (PDFBT), and poly[(4-(5-(7-methyl-9,9-dioctyl-9H-fluoren-2-yl) thiophen-2-yl)-7-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole)] (PFTBT) as capping layers, interfacial coherence improvement and energy loss decrease are both achieved, facilitating charge transfer from the active layer to the TiO2 layer. The optimized contact, enhanced electrical conductivity, and reduced internal resistance contribute to increased short-circuit current density and fill factor, leading to an enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 5.72% up to 7.97%. The employment of the PF capping TiO2 buffer layer provides a promising approach to develop high efficiency PSCs.

Enhanced electron extraction capability of polymer solar cells via modifying the cathode buffer layer with inorganic quantum dots.

Enhanced performance of polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on the blend of poly[N-9''-hepta-decanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2',1',3'-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT):[6,6]-phenyl-C70-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) is demonstrated by titanium dioxide (TiO2) interface modification via CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots (CZdots). Devices with a TiO2/CZdots composite buffer layer exhibit both a high short-circuit current density (Jsc) and fill factor (FF), leading to a power conversion efficiency (PCE) up to 7.01%. The charge transport recombination mechanisms are investigated by an impedance behavior model, which indicates that TiO2 interfacial modification results in not only increasing the electron extraction but also reducing impedance. This study provides an important and beneficial approach to develop high efficiency PSCs.

An organosilane self-assembled monolayer incorporated into polymer solar cells enabling interfacial coherence to improve charge transport.

The reproducible silylation of titanium oxide (TiO2) with small molecular (dichloromethyl) dimethylchlorosilane (DCS) as the cathode buffer layer was developed to improve electron extraction. Through incorporating the DCS capping layer into polymer solar cells (PSCs), the interfacial coherence of devices could be enhanced, leading to a shift in nanocrystallite size and a smaller internal charge transport resistance. Furthermore, a TiO2/DCS combined interfacial layer could serve as both an exciton dissociation center and a charge transfer channel, which results in a reduction in the energy barrier and electron loss, improving hole-blocking and surface-state passivation in the TiO2 interfacial layer. The Kelvin probe measurements demonstrate that the employment of the DCS nanolayer decreases conduction band energy of TiO2via forming a dipole layer at the interface of TiO2 and the DCS nanolayer, which tunes the work-function of the device and ulteriorly enhances charge carrier transfer between the electrode and the active layer. As a result, the photocurrent and the fill factor of the PSCs are both increased, resulting in an increased power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.959%.

Improving the charge carrier transport of organic solar cells by incorporating a deep energy level molecule.

Tetrafluoro-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4-TCNQ), a strong molecular acceptor, has been proved to be an excellent candidate to achieve the p-type doping effect. When F4-TCNQ is incorporated into a poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT): indene-C60 bisadduct (ICBA) active layer, superior behavior upon inducing polymer donor excited electron transport is demonstrated due to the addition of a deep-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) from F4-TCNQ, leading to the realization of organic solar cells (OSCs) with an improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.83%, accounting for 29.6% enhancement. In the system of active layer, the low LUMO of F4-TCNQ can easily accept electrons, remarkably reducing electron/hole recombination, which contributes to the enhancement of the photoconductivity and charge carrier mobility, resulting in higher short-circuit current density (Jsc), and achieving a more balanced charge carrier transport, as well as an ideal fill factor (FF).

Performance enhancement of organic photovoltaic devices enabled by Au nanoarrows inducing surface plasmonic resonance effect.

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of metal nanoparticles is widely employed in organic solar cells to enhance device performance. However, the light-harvesting improvement is highly dependent on the shape of the metal nanoparticles. In this study, the significantly enhanced performance upon incorporation of Au nanoarrows in solution-processed organic photovoltaic devices is demonstrated. Incorporating Au nanoarrows into the ZnO cathode buffer layer results in superior broadband optical absorption improvement and a power conversion efficiency of 7.82% is realized with a 27.3% enhancement compared with the control device. The experimental and theoretical results indicate that the introduction of Au nanoarrows not only increases optical trapping by the SPR effect but also facilitates exciton generation, dissociation, and charge transport inside the thin film device.

Research of dual-band microwave photonic filter for WLAN based on optical frequency comb.

This paper presents a dual-band microwave photonic filter for a wireless local area networks with independently tunable passband center frequencies and bandwidths. The two bands of the filter were 2.4 GHz and 5.725 GHz, respectively. The filter was based on a stimulated Brillouin scattering and an optical frequency comb (OFC) scheme. We created this filter using OFC pumps instead of a single pump. The OFC scheme consists of a cascaded Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) and a dual-parallel MZM (DPMZM) hybrid modulation that generated seven and 11 lines. The experimental results show that the two passbands of the filter were 80 and 130 MHz.

Unraveling the effect of polymer dots doping in inverted low bandgap organic solar cells.

In this study, molecular doping with polymer dots was designed to unravel its effect on the photoconductivity in organic solar cells. The photocurrent in organic solar cells exhibited a considerable increase under optimal doping concentration, leading to an ultimate enhancement of power conversion efficiency from 2.30% to 3.64%. This can be attributed primarily to the improvement of the initial boost in charge carriers due to the background carriers induced by the polymer dots and increased tail absorption by the active layer. Based on single carrier device and impedance measurements, polymer dopant can efficiently decrease charge recombination and improve charge carriers mobilities. The obtained achievements pave an approach of molecular doping in affecting the operation of organic solar cells.

Improving the efficiency of inverted polymer solar cells by introducing inorganic dopants.

Cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots (QDs) utilized as additives have been incorporated intopolymer solar cells (PSCs) composed of poly[N-9''-hepta-decanyl-2,7-carbazolealt-5,5-(4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2',1',3'-ben-zothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) and fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM). The maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.94% has been achieved, corresponding to 33% enhancement compared with the control devices. The introduction of CdSe QDs allows not only the improvement of charge transport properties but also tuning of the energy levels, which leads to a higher short circuit current (Jsc), fill factor (FF), and open-circuit voltage (Voc).

The short circuit current improvement in P3HT:PCBM based polymer solar cell by introducing PSBTBT as additional electron donor.

Here we demonstrate the influence of electron-donating polymer addition on the performance of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):1 -(3-methoxycarbonyl)-propyl-1-phenyl-(6,6) C61 (PCBM) solar cells. Poly[(4,42-bis(2-ethylhexyl) dithieno [3,2-b:22,32-d] silole)-2,6-diylalt-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)-4,7-diyl] (PSBTBT) was chosen as the electron-donating polymer to improve the short circuit current (J(sc)) due to its distinct absorption in the near-IR range and similar HOMO level with that of P3HT. In the study, we found that J(sc) was improved for ternary blend (P3HT:PSBTBT:PCBM) solar cells. The dependence of device performance was investigated. J(sc) got decreased with increasing the ratio of PSBTBT. Result showed that J(sc) of ternary blend solar cells was improved greatly after thermal annealing at 150 degrees C, close to that of the binary blend (PSBTBT:PCBM) solar cells.

Application of solution-processed V2O5 in inverted polymer solar cells based on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate.

We used a hydrothermal method to synthesis the solution-processed V2O5 as anode buffer layer, which applied on inverted polymer solar cells based on FTO substrate. The structure of the device is glass/FTO/TiO2/P3HT:PCBM/V2O5/Ag. We discussed the dependence of device performance on the concentrations of V2O5 solution. It is found that when the concentration of V2O5 is 300 microg/ml, the power conversion efficiency (PCE of 2.38%) is the highest, which is much higher than that of the device without anode buffer layer (PCE of only 0.87%). Moreover, it can significantly reduce the energy consumption and make it more cost-effective.

The role of Fe3O4 nanocrystal film in bilayer-heterojunction CuPc/C60 solar cells.

The CuPc/C60 thin-film bilayer-heterojunction solar cells are fabricated by vacuum deposition with bathocuproine (BCP) as the exciton-blocking layer. Ferroferric oxide (Fe3O4) nanocrystal film is inserted between the copper phthalocaynine (CuPc) layer and indium tin oxide (ITO) anode. The device performances dependent on the thickness of Fe3O4 are investigated and compared. The results show that both the short-circuit current density and fill factor are enhanced by introducing a 1 nm Fe3O4 buffer layer, leading to an increase of power conversion efficiency. The role of Fe3O4 as a buffer layer in the improvement of the device performances is studied in detail by ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS).