Sharif Digital Repository

A novel organic–inorganic hybrid tandem solar cell with inverted structure is proposed. This efficient double-junction hybrid tandem solar cell consists of a single-junction hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) subcell with n-i-p structure as front cell and a P3HT:PCBM organic subcell with inverted structure as back cell. In order to optimize the hybrid tandem cell, we have performed a simulation based on transfer matrix method. We have compared the characteristics of this novel structure with a conventional structure. As a result, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.1 and 24% improvement compared to the conventional hybrid tandem cell was achieved. We also discuss the high potential... 

In transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding for commercial applications, one of the important key parameters is the holding time required for complete isothermal solidification tIS, which is a prerequisite for obtaining a proper bond microstructure. The objective of the study is to analyse the isothermal solidification kinetics during TLP bonding of cast IN718 nickel based superalloy. Experiments for TLP bonding were carried out using a Ni-7Cr-4.5Si-3Fe-3.2B (wt-%) amorphous interlayer at several bonding temperatures (1273-1373 K). The time required to obtain TLP joints free from centreline eutectic microconstituents was experimentally determined. Considering the solidification behaviour of... 

In manufacturing amorphous silicon solar cells, thin films are deposited at high temperatures (200-400 °C) on a thick substrate using sputtering and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) methods. Since the thin films and substrate have different thermal expansion coefficients, cooling the system from deposition temperature to room temperature induces thermal residual stresses in both the films and substrate. In addition, these stresses, especially those having been induced in the amorphous silicon layer can change the carrier mobility and band gap energy of the silicon and consequently affect the solar cell efficiency. In this paper, a 2D finite element model is proposed to... 

Kinetics of crystallization in an amorphous (Fe0.5Co 0.5)77Si11B9Cu0.6Nb 2.4 (at.%) alloy was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Transformed fraction as a function of temperature was obtained by accurate DSC measurement and the experimental data analyzed with Vyazovkin model-free kinetic method. Reconstructed form of the experimental kinetics model, g(α), clearly showed the crystallization mechanism do not belongs to a single model but almost follows the Avrami-Erofe'ev. Magnetic coercivity and hysteresis loss values of the annealed samples at 823 K were 7.5 A m-1 and 1.2 J m-3, compared to 17.1 A m-1 and 37.1 J m-3 for as spun samples. Magnetic measurements show the... 

The effect of quenching wheel speed on the structure and Curie temperature of Fe73.5Si13.5B9Nb3Cu1 alloy has been investigated using X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, transition electron microscopy and a SQUID magnetometer. Ribbons were melt-spun at different wheel speeds and then were annealed to nucleate nano crystals embedded in the amorphous matrix. The results indicated that the thickness of the ribbons was inversely proportional to the wheel speed following the power law of the type t ∝ Vs -1.231. DSC and XRD results showed that at higher wheel speeds the greater potential energy triggers the formation of Fe (Si) crystallites and thus, increases the crystallinity.... 

Amorphous lithium metal alloys (LixM, with M=Si, Ge, Sn, …) are attractive anode materials for lithium-ion batteries owing to their high energy-storage capacity and safety characteristics. However, repeated insertion of lithium often leads to chemo-mechanical degradation of the alloy, which can severely reduce the battery capacity and cycle life. Better understanding of the chemo-mechanical response of lithium alloys is needed to guide the design of damage-resistant anode microstructures. In this work, we propose a constitutive theory that couples large, viscoplastic deformations to the insertion and extraction of lithium in amorphous electrode materials. The theory relies on the concept of... 

First principles density functional theory (DFT)-based molecular dynamics (MD) is used to study some physical and electronic properties of amorphous silicon (a-Si) samples, as-quenched and annealed containing dangling and floating bonds (pertinent to the threefold- and fivefold-coordinated defects, respectively) as well as distorted tetrahedral bonds. Surprisingly, except for the work of Pantelides (1986) who gave a rough estimate for the effective electron correlation energy, Ueff of a floating bond on the fivefold-coordinated Si, to date, there are no theoretical studies in the literature for the calculation of Ueff pertinent to this type of defect. In this work, Ueff for each type of... 

Finemet bulk soft magnetic alloy was fabricated by spark plasma sintering of the milled ribbons. The amorphous melt-spun ribbons were milled for 36min by high energy vibrational mill and then sieved to separate particles smaller than 125μm. The size distribution of particles was determined by a laser diffraction particle size analyzer. Spark plasma sintering was carried out at super-cooled liquid region for short times of 7 and 21min. The structure of bulk samples was characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The magnetization and coercivity of samples were measured using SQUID... 

This study aims at investigating the effect of the substrate material on growth mechanism and also microstructure of Ta2O5 thin films. For this purpose, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and interferometry analyses were implemented to reveal the influence of silicon wafer and amorphous BK7 glass substrates on the nucleation and growth mechanisms of Ta2O5 thin films deposited via the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. Results indicated that those films with finer morphologies had relatively higher nucleation densities. Compared with BK7 glass substrate, crystals formed on the silicon wafer were shown to be finer and had lower mean areas in more nucleation... 

Here, we report 3D hierarchical SnO2 nanowire (NW) core-amorphous silicon shell on free-standing carbon nanotube paper (SnO2@a-Si/CNT paper) as an effective anode for flexible lithium-ion battery (LIB) application. This binder-free electrode exhibits a high initial discharge capacity of 3020 mAh g-1 with a large reversible charge capacity of 1250 mAh g-1 at a current density of 250 mA g-1. Compared to other SnO2 NW or its core-shell nanostructured anodes, the fabricated SnO2@a-Si/CNT structure demonstrates an outstanding performance with high mass loading (∼5.9 mg cm-2), high areal capacity (∼5.2 mAh cm-2), and large volumetric capacity (∼1750 mAh cm-3) after 25 cycles. Due to the... 

In this work, nanocrystalline Al6063 composite powder reinforced with nanometric oxide ceramic particles was synthesized via an in situ solid-gas reaction during high-energy mechanical alloying under a mixture of argon-oxygen atmosphere. The effect of oxygen volume fraction on the morphological evolution and microstructural changes during mechanical alloying was studied by various analytical techniques including optical and electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, laser particle size analysis, apparent density measurement, and microhardness test. The reactive mechanical alloying resulted in the formation of amorphous Al- and Al-Mg-Si-Fe oxides with a size range of 40-100. nm and volume...