Radiation balanced laser (RBL) can be realized by managing the cooling process via the anti-Stokes photoluminescence (PL), the small-signal gain, and the heating processes including the Stokes shifts and the multi-phonon relaxation. Yttrium aluminum perovskite (YAP) shows lower phonon energy than yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) which the radiation balanced laser was demonstrated. According to the single-frequency phonon model, the low maximum phonon energy of YAP makes the multi-phonon relaxation probability of Yb-doped YAP [(Yb:Y)AP] smaller than Yb-doped YAG [(Yb:Y)AG]. The low multi-phonon relaxation probability of YAP suggests that (Yb:Y)AP is suitable material for RBL. In this work, we evaluated the PL characteristics and estimated the ideal laser cooling efficiency and the small-signal gain of the (Yb:Y)AP (Yb0.1Y0.9AlO3) ceramics fabricated by a solid-state reaction method. We used McCumber’s relationship and referred to the literatures to derive the absorption and the small-signal gain spectra. The fluorescence re-absorption is observed in the PL spectra of (Yb:Y)AP ceramics with a thickness of ~2 mm, whereas the re-absorption is not observed in (Yb:Y)AG(Yb 0.3Y2.7Al5O12). This result indicates the strong absorbance of (Yb:Y)AP. The obtained ideal laser cooling efficiencies of (Yb:Y)AP and (Yb:Y)AG at 300 K were 1.4 and 1.8%, respectively. On the other hand, the maximum small-signal gain of 0.27 cm−1 in (Yb:Y)AP is 3.5 times larger than that of 0.078 cm−1 in (Yb:Y)AG. The large smallsignal gain of (Yb:Y)AP arises from its strong absorbance and intrinsic energy structure.
Cooling via efficient emission of anti-Stokes photoluminescence can be utilized to realize novel cooling devices. It has been shown that rare earth-doped materials are good candidates for solid-state laser cooling because of their narrow emission spectra and discrete energy levels. We systematically study laser cooling efficiency of rare earth-doped oxide crystals. The photoluminescence spectrum evidences that the phonon-assisted energy transfer from resonant states to inhomogeneously distributed energy states sensitively depends on temperature. We discuss detailed properties of the cooling efficiency of Yb-doped yttrium aluminum oxide crystals and, furthermore, touch emission properties of their crystal thin films.
We demonstrated an enhancement of the ideal laser-cooling efficiency in Yb-doped yttrium aluminum garnet, (Yb:Y)AG, and Er-doped yttrium aluminum garnet, (Er:Y)AG, ceramic discs above 300 K. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectrum indicates that the phonon-assisted energy transfer from the narrowband, resonant state into the inhomogeneously distributed energy states is enhanced with increasing the temperature. The enhanced ideal cooling efficiency of the (Yb:Y)AG ceramic disc and the (Er:Y)AG ceramic disc at 470 K is 1.7 times higher than that at 300 K. The enhanced ideal cooling efficiency of (Er:Y)AG at 470 K marked 4.0% which is 1.8 times higher than that of (Yb:Y)AG.
We have proposed a two-step photon up-conversion solar cell (TPU-SC), which is a single junction solar cell comprising a wide gap semiconductor (WGS) and a narrow gap semiconductor (NGS) to break through the Shockley–Queisser limit for the single-junction solar cells. In the TPU-SC, below-gap photons of WGS excite the NGS and accumulate electrons at the WGS / NGS hetero-interface. The accumulated electrons at the hetero-interface are easily excited towards the WGS barrier by the low-energy photons, resulting in the efficient two-step up-conversion (TPU). We have experimentally demonstrated highly efficient current generation by the TPU. In this paper, we present the concept of the TPU-SC, theoretical prediction of the conversion efficiency of the TPU-SC, and experimental result of efficient photocarrier collection attributable to the TPU phenomenon.
Multiple quantum well (MQW) solar cells have been explored as one promising next-generation solar cells toward high conversion efficiency. However, the dynamics of photogenerated carriers in MQWs are complicated, making it difficult to predict the device performance. Our purpose of this study is to investigate a model for the photocurrent component characteristics of MQW cells based on experimental findings. Using our proposed carrier time-of-flight technique, we have found that the carrier averaged drift velocity has linear dependence on the internal field regardless of complicated carrier cascade dynamics in MQW. This behavior is similar to carriers in bulk materials, allowing us to approximate the MQW region as a quasi-bulk material with specific effective drift mobility. With the effective drift mobility and equivalent material parameters such as effective density of states, the quasi-bulk approach reduces the device complexity, and the characteristics of such MQW cells can be simulated using the conventional drift-diffusion model. We have confirmed this model with experimentally obtained photocurrent characteristics. The simulation of carrier collection efficiency (CCE)—normalized photocurrent—based on the effective mobility approximation, or quasibulk approximation, agrees well with the experimental results when the carrier lifetime is set to be in the order of hundred nanoseconds. This simplified model enhances our understanding of the MQW cell operation and helps design the optimal structure for better performance.
We have studied detailed carrier generation process in the two-step photon absorption and influence of thermal carrier escape in quantum-dot intermediate-band solar cells (QD-IBSC). The photocurrent created by the two-step photon absorption shows saturation as the inter-band excitation intensity becomes strong, and the inter-band excitation intensity showing the saturation behavior strongly depends on the inter-subband excitation intensity. To interpret this phenomenon, we carried out a theoretical simulation based on carrier dynamics considering carrier generation, energy relaxation and thermal carrier escape. The results indicate that the photocurrent saturation is caused by filling the intermediate states. The shift of the saturation point depending on the inter-subband excitation intensity is caused by the shift of the quasi-Fermi level for the intermediate states.
We have studied time-resolved intraband transition from the intermediate state to the continuum state of the conduction band in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots embedded in a one-dimensional photonic cavity structure using a two-color photoexcitation spectroscopy. The photonic gap was tuned to enhance the excitation from the intermediate state to the conduction band, whose energy is selected to be less than the interband transition energy between the intermediate state and the quantized hole state. The photoluminescence intensity was observed to be dramatically reduced by selectively pumping carriers in the intermediate state. This effect has been analyzed by modeling detailed carrier relaxation process.
This paper describes a technique to control the polarization property in quantum dot (QD)-semiconductor optical
amplifiers (SOAs) using vertical stacking of self-assembled InAs QDs. QD-SOAs have been expected to realize high
saturation power, multi-channel processing, and high-speed response. However, in conventional QDs, the significant
polarization dependence in the optical gain caused by the flattened QD shape has been a serious problem. One of the
well-known approaches to realize the polarization-independent gain relies on columnar QDs, in which InAs QDs layers
are closely stacked with very thin (several monolayers) intermediate layers. The isotropic shape of columnar QDs
realizes a polarization-independent gain. On the other hand, in this paper, we propose a different approach, where QDs
are vertically stacked with moderately thick intermediate layers. Therefore each QDs layer is well separated
geometrically and high precision control of overall QD shape is expected. Vertically aligned InAs QDs are known to
create the electronically coupled states, where we expect the enhancement of the optical transition probability along the
vertical direction. We have achieved such vertical stacking of QDs up to 9 layers by optimizing the amount of GaAs and
InAs deposition. The 9-stacked QDs have shown transverse-magnetic-mode dominant emission in edge
photoluminescence in the 1.3 μm telecommunication wavelength region. Our results have suggested that the
electronically coupled QDs can be a powerful tool to realize the polarization-independent QD-SOAs
An all-optical switching device has been proposed by using self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) within a
vertical cavity structure for ultrafast optical communications. This device has several desirable properties, such as the
ultra-low power consumption, the micrometre size, and the polarization insensitive operation. Due to the threedimensional
confined carrier state and the broad size distribution of self-assembled InAs/GaAs QDs, it is crucial to
enhance the interaction between QDs and the cavity with appropriately designed 1D periodic structure. Significant
QD/cavity nonlinearity is theoretically observed by increasing the GaAs/AlAs pair number of the bottom mirror. By this
consideration, we have fabricated vertical-reflection type QD switches with 12 periods of GaAs/Al0.8Ga0.2As for the top mirror and 25 periods for the bottom mirror to give an asymmetric vertical cavity. Optical switching via the QD excited
state exhibits a fast switching process with a time constant down to 23 ps, confirming that the fast intersubband relaxation of carriers inside QDs is an effective means to speed up the switching process. A technique by changing the light incident angle realizes wavelength tunability over 30 nm for the QD/cavity switch.
Synthetic diamond films grown by vapor-phase growth have attracted much interest because of promising applications in electronic devices. Improvement of film quality by reducing the number of crystal defects and impurities is the most important prerequisite for successful device applications. Defects and impurities produce deep states in the wide band gap of diamond. These mid-gap states decrease the efficiency of edge emission and exhibit `visible' luminescence. Recently, it has become possible to obtain high-quality diamond films that show phonon-assisted exciton recombination radiation from the indirect edge. The analysis of edge emission spectra can be used to characterize crystallinity and purity of synthetic diamond films. We have studied band edge structure of synthetic diamond films of differential reflectance spectroscopy as well as cathodoluminescence. The differential reflectance spectrum obtained from a high-pressure-high-temperature synthetic diamond shows interband transitions assisted by phonon emission. On the other hand, chemical vapor deposited diamond films show a zero-phonon exciton transition together with the phase-assisted transitions. This indicates light absorption by bound excitons due to crystal defects. Furthermore, we have investigated higher interband transitions localized in the Brillouin zone by a newly developed electron-beam electroreflectance spectroscopy.
The diffraction of ultrashort laser pulses from static gratings in photorefractive multiple quantum wells (PRQW) has been investigated for use as a diffractive optical elements in information processing systems with ultrashort laser pulses. The PRQW used in this experiment was specially designed to exhibit broad bandwidth. The desirable spectra of the diffracted pulses from the PRQW was observed experimentally. The bandwidth for one of the PRQW devices was 13 nm.
The growth mechanism of diamond films from low pressure vapor phase synthesis cannot be illustrated with classical thermodynamic theory. Up to now, a lot of growth methods were reported, but the growth mechanism was not so clear. In this paper, a variety of growth methods and growth conditions were summarized, and some tries to illustrate the growth mechanism of diamond film from the consideration of quantum mechanics bond theory were carried out. Particularly, some effects of atomic H and SP3 bond on the growth mechanism of diamond film were illustrated.
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