Coaxial RuO2-ITO nanopillars for transparent supercapacitor application.

Supercapacitive properties of ruthenium oxide (RuO2) nanoparticles electrodeposited onto the indium tin oxide (ITO) nanopillars were investigated. Compared to conventional planar current collectors, this coaxially nanostructured current collector-electrode system can provide increased contact for efficient charge transport, and the internanopillar spacing allows easy access of electrolyte ions. The morphological and electrochemical properties depended on the thickness of the RuO2 layers, i.e., the number of electrodeposition cycles. A maximum specific capacitance, Csp, of 1235 F/g at a scan rate of 50 mV/s was achieved for the 30-cycle deposited RuO2-ITO nanopillars. The other capacitive properties such as electrochemical reversibility and Csp retention at high scan rates also improved greatly.

Fabrication of solution processed 3D nanostructured CuInGaS2 thin film solar cells.

In this study we demonstrate the fabrication of CuInGaS2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells with a three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure based on indium tin oxide (ITO) nanorod films and precursor solutions (Cu, In and Ga nitrates in alcohol). To obtain solution processed 3D nanostructured CIGS thin film solar cells, two different precursor solutions were applied to complete gap filling in ITO nanorods and achieve the desirable absorber film thickness. Specifically, a coating of precursor solution without polymer binder material was first applied to fill the gap between ITO nanorods followed by deposition of the second precursor solution in the presence of a binder to generate an absorber film thickness of ∼1.3 µm. A solar cell device with a (Al, Ni)/AZO/i-ZnO/CdS/CIGS/ITO nanorod/glass structure was constructed using the CIGS film, and the highest power conversion efficiency was measured to be ∼6.3% at standard irradiation conditions, which was 22.5% higher than the planar type of CIGS solar cell on ITO substrate fabricated using the same precursor solutions.

Toward scatter-free phosphors in white phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes: reply to comments.

This is a reply to the comments by Hu et al. directed to a previous paper "Toward scatter-free phosphors in white phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes" by Park et al., [Opt. Express 20(9), 10218 (2012)].

Toward scatter-free phosphors in white phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes.

Scatter-free phosphors promise to suppress the scattering loss of conventional micro-size powder phosphors in white phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs). Large micro-size cube phosphors (~100 µm) are newly designed and prepared as scatter-free phosphors, combining the two scatter-free conditions of particles based on Mie's scattering theory; the grain size or grain boundary was smaller than 50 nm and the particle size was larger than 30 µm. A careful evaluation of the conversion efficiency and packaging efficiency of the large micro-size cube phosphor-based white pc-LED demonstrated that large micro-size cube phosphors are an outstanding potential candidate for scatter-free phosphors in white pc-LEDs. The luminous efficacy and packaging efficiency of the Y(3)Al(5)O(12):Ce(3+) large micro-size cube phosphor-based pc-LEDs were 123.0 lm/W and 0.87 at 4300 K under 300 mA, which are 17% and 34% higher than those of commercial powder phosphor-based white LEDs (104.8 lm/W and 0.65), respectively. In addition, the introduction of large micro-size cube phosphors can reduce the wide variation in optical properties as a function of both the ambient temperature and applied current compared with those of conventional powder phosphor-based white LEDs.

Highly-efficient, tunable green, phosphor-converted LEDs using a long-pass dichroic filter and a series of orthosilicate phosphors for tri-color white LEDs.

This study introduces a long-pass dichroic filter (LPDF) on top of a phosphor-converted LED (pc-LED) packing associated with each corresponding tunable orthosilicate ((Ba,Sr)2SiO4:Eu) phosphor in order to fabricate tunable green pc-LEDs. These LPDF-capped green pc-LEDs provide luminous efficacies between 143­173 lm/W at 60 mA in a wavelength range between 515 and 560 nm. These tunable green pc-LEDs can replace green semiconductor-type III-V LEDs, which present challenges with respect to generating high luminous efficacy. We also introduce the highly-efficient tunable green pc-LEDs into tri-color white LED systems that combine an InGaN blue LED and green/red full down-converted pc-LEDs. The effect of peak wavelength in the tunable green pc-LEDs on the optical properties of a tri-color package white LED is analyzed to determine the proper wavelength of green color for tri-color white LEDs. The tri-color white LED provides excellent luminous efficacy (81.5­109 lm/W) and a good color rendering index (64­87) at 6500 K of correlated color temperature (CCT) with the peak wavelength of green pc-LEDs. The luminous efficacy of the LPDF-capped green monochromatic pc-LED and tri-color package with tunable green pc-LEDs can be increased by improving the external quantum efficiency of blue LEDs and the conversion efficiency of green pc-LEDs.

2D SiNx photonic crystal coated Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ ceramic plate phosphor for high-power white light-emitting diodes.

This paper reports the optical effects of a two-dimensional (2D) SiNx photonic crystal layer (PCL) on Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ (YAG:Ce) yellow ceramic plate phosphor (CPP) in order to enhance the forward emission of YAG:Ce CPP-capped high-power white light-emitting diodes (LEDs). By adding the 2D SiNx PCL with a 580 nm lattice constant, integrated yellow emission was improved by a factor of 1.72 compared to that of a conventional YAG:Ce CPP capped on a blue LED cup. This enhanced forward yellow emission is attributed to increased extraction of yellow emission light and improved absorption of blue excitation light through Bragg scattering and/or the leaky modes produced by the 2D PCLs. The introduction of 2D PCL can also reduce the wide variation of optical properties as a function of both ambient temperature and applied current, compared to those of a high-power YAG:Ce CPP-capped LED.

New paradigm of multi-chip white LEDs: combination of an InGaN blue LED and full down-converted phosphor-converted LEDs.

This study introduces innovative multi-chip white LED systems that combine an InGaN blue LED and green/red or green/amber/red full down-converted, phosphor-conversion LEDs (pc-LEDs). Efficient green, amber, and red full down-converted pc-LEDs were fabricated by simply capping a long-wave pass filter (LWPF) on top of LED packing associated with each corresponding powder phosphor. The principal advantage of this type of color-mixing approach in newly developed multi-chip white LEDs based on colored pc-LEDs is thought to be dynamic control of the chromaticity and better light quality. In addition, the color-mixing approach improves the low efficacy of green/amber LEDs in the "green gap" wavelength; reduces the wide color/efficacy variations of each primary LED with at different temperatures and currents; and improves the low color rendering indexes of the traditional color-mixing approach in red, green, and blue (RGB) multi-chip white LEDs.

Highly efficient full-color display based on blue LED backlight and electrochromic light-valve coupled with front-emitting phosphors.

We report a novel full-color display based on the generation of full-color by blue light approach, so called color-by-blue display. This newly proposed color-by-blue light-valve display combines a blue backlight excitation source, a blue light-valve shutter, and front-emitting phosphor pixels. Careful evaluation shows that the detailed display characteristics as well as excellent cycling durability under a low operation voltage of 3 V easily satisfy the requirements for the current display application. Also, we would like to emphasize that the proposed method shows a conversion efficiency of 20%, surpassing the value (≈5%) seen in the typical liquid crystal displays. Although the switching response reported here is slower than in a commercial display module due to the solution-phase electrochromic nature of the shutter used, a response time close to that of a liquid crystal display is highly feasible, as we suggest.

Full down-conversion of amber-emitting phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes with powder phosphors and a long-wave pass filter.

This paper reports the possibility of a facile optical structure to realize a highly efficient monochromatic amber-emitting light-emitting diode (LED) using a powder-based phosphor-converted LED combined with a long-wave pass filter (LWPF). The capping of a blue-reflecting and amber-passing LWPF enhances both the amber emission from the silicate amber phosphor layer and the color purity due to the blocking and recycling of the pumping blue light from the InGaN LED. The enhancement of the luminous efficacy of the amber pc-LED with a LWPF (phosphor concentration 20 wt%, 39.4 lm/W) is 34% over that of an amber pc-LED without a LWPF (phosphor concentration 55 wt%, 29.4 lm/W) at 100 mA and a high color purity (>96%) with Commission International d'Eclairage (CIE) color coordinates of x=0.57 and y=0.42.

Highly efficient phosphor-converted white organic light-emitting diodes with moderate microcavity and light-recycling filters.

We demonstrate the combined effects of a microcavity structure and light-recycling filters (LRFs) on the forward electrical efficiency of phosphor-converted white organic light-emitting diodes (pc-WOLEDs). The introduction of a single pair of low- and high-index layers (SiO(2)/TiO(2)) improves the blue emission from blue OLED and the insertion of blue-passing and yellow-reflecting LRFs enhances the forward yellow emission from the YAG:Ce(3+) phosphors layers. The enhancement of the luminous efficacy of the forward white emission is 1.92 times that of a conventional pc-WOLED with color coordinates of (0.34, 0.34) and a correlated color temperature of about 4800 K.

The variation of the enhanced photoluminescence efficiency of Y2O3:Eu3+ films with the thickness to the photonic crystal layer.

This study examined the effects of the thickness of Y(2)O(3):Eu(3+) phosphor films on quartz substrates coated with two-dimensional (2D) SiO(2) square-lattice nanorod photonic crystal layers (PCL) at identical heights on their extraction and absorption efficiency. The photoluminescence (PL) efficiency enhancement ratio decreased exponentially with increasing Y(2)O(3):Eu(3+) film thickness. The 2D PCL-assisted Y(2)O(3):Eu(3+) film with a thickness (t) = 400 nm showed enhancement in the upward and downward PL emission by factors of 6.2 and 8.6, respectively, with respect to those of a conventional flat film. This observation was attributed to diffraction scattering of the excitation and emission light.

Horizontally assembled green InGaN nanorod LEDs: scalable polarized surface emitting LEDs using electric-field assisted assembly.

In this study, we report the concerted fabrication process, which is easy to transform the size of active emitting area and produce polarized surface light, using the electric-field-assisted assembly for horizontally assembled many tiny nanorod LEDs between two metal electrodes. We fabricate the millions of individually separated 1D nanorod LEDs from 2D nanorod arrays using nanosphere lithography, etching and cutting process of InGaN/GaN LED structure on a flat sapphire substrate. The horizontally assembled InGaN-based nanorods LED device shows bright (~2,130 cd/m(2)) and uniform polarized (polarization ratio, ρ = ~0.61) green emissions from large area (0.7 cm × 0.6 cm) planar surface. The realization of a horizontally assembled nanorod LED device can prove the concept of an innovative idea to fabricate formable and scalable polarized surface LED lighting.

Analysis of circadian properties and healthy levels of blue light from smartphones at night.

This study proposes representative figures of merit for circadian and vision performance for healthy and efficient use of smartphone displays. The recently developed figures of merit for circadian luminous efficacy of radiation (CER) and circadian illuminance (CIL) related to human health and circadian rhythm were measured to compare three kinds of commercial smartphone displays. The CIL values for social network service (SNS) messenger screens from all three displays were higher than 41.3 biolux (blx) in a dark room at night, and the highest CIL value reached 50.9 blx. These CIL values corresponded to melatonin suppression values (MSVs) of 7.3% and 11.4%, respectively. Moreover, smartphone use in a bright room at night had much higher CIL and MSV values (58.7 ~ 105.2 blx and 15.4 ~ 36.1%, respectively). This study also analyzed the nonvisual and visual optical properties of the three smartphone displays while varying the distance between the screen and eye and controlling the brightness setting. Finally, a method to possibly attenuate the unhealthy effects of smartphone displays was proposed and investigated by decreasing the emitting wavelength of blue LEDs in a smartphone LCD backlight and subsequently reducing the circadian effect of the display.

Hybrid 2D photonic crystal-assisted Lu3Al5O12:Ce ceramic-plate phosphor and free-standing red film phosphor for white LEDs with high color-rendering index.

This paper reports the combined optical effects of a two-dimensional (2D) SiNx photonic crystal layer (PCL)-assisted Lu3Al5O12:Ce (LuAG:Ce) green ceramic-plate phosphor (CPP) and a free-standing (Sr,Ca)AlSiN3:Eu red film phosphor to enhance luminous efficacy, color rendering index (CRI), and special CRI (R9) of LuAG:Ce CPP-capped white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for high-power white LEDs at 350 mA. By introducing the 2D SiNx PCL, the luminous efficacy was improved by a factor of 1.25 and 1.15 compared to that of the conventional flat CPP-capped LED and the thickness-increased CPP-capped LED (with a thickness of 0.15 mm), respectively, while maintaining low color-rendering properties. The combining of the free-standing red film phosphor in the flat CPP-capped, the 2D PCL-assisted CPP-capped, and the thickness-increased CPP-capped LEDs led to enhancement of the CRI and the special CRI (R9); it also led to a decrease of the correlated color temperature (CCT) due to broad wavelength coverage via the addition of red emission. High CRI (94), natural white CCT (4450 K), and acceptable luminous efficacy (71.1 lm/W) were attained from the 2D PCL-assisted LuAG:Ce CPP/free-standing red film phosphor-based LED using a red phosphor concentration of 7.5 wt %. It is expected that the combination of the 2D PCL and the free-standing red film phosphor will be a good candidate for achieving a high-power white CPP-capped LED with excellent CRI.

Bulk heterojunction formation between indium tin oxide nanorods and CuInS2 nanoparticles for inorganic thin film solar cell applications.

In this study, we developed a novel inorganic thin film solar cell configuration in which bulk heterojunction was formed between indium tin oxide (ITO) nanorods and CuInS(2) (CIS). Specifically, ITO nanorods were first synthesized by the radio frequency magnetron sputtering deposition method followed by deposition of a dense TiO(2) layer and CdS buffer layer using atomic layer deposition and chemical bath deposition method, respectively. The spatial region between the nanorods was then filled with CIS nanoparticle ink, which was presynthesized using the colloidal synthetic method. We observed that complete gap filling was achieved to form bulk heterojunction between the inorganic phases. As a proof-of-concept, solar cell devices were fabricated by depositing an Au electrode on top of the CIS layer, which exhibited the best photovoltaic response with a V(oc), J(sc), FF, and efficiency of 0.287 V, 9.63 mA/cm(2), 0.364, and 1.01%, respectively.