Sharif Digital Repository

We propose and theoretically evaluate a plasmonic light trapping solution for thin film photovoltaic devices that comprises a monolayer or a submonolayer of wavelength-scale silver particles. We systematically study the effect of silver particle size using full-wave electromagnetic simulations. We find that light trapping is significantly enhanced when wavelength-scale silver particles rather than the ones with subwavelength dimensions are used. We demonstrate that a densely packed monolayer of spherical 700 nm silver particles enhances integrated optical absorption under standard air mass 1.5 global (AM1.5G) in a 7 μm-thick N719-sensitized solar cell by 40% whereas enhancement is smaller... 

Abstract: A novel simple synthetic procedure for improving cell efficiency and reducing the production cost of TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by modification and optimization of homemade formulated paste is reported. This is achieved in terms of morphological manipulation of deposited monolayer TiO2 films by controlling three processing parameters of paste formulation. These parameters are tailored to obtain a paste with proper viscosity suitable for spin-coating technique and to achieve uniform, homogeneous, and crack-free films with good connections between TiO2 grains and porous structure. Photovoltaic measurements show that TiO2... 

We present a new dandelion-like TiO2 spheres by a modified hydrothermal method for manufacture of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). This construct is composed of numerous nanowires for employment as the scattering layer of DSSCs. Such morphology is produced by nucleation-growth-assembly mechanism. The size of the dandelion-like spheres and their morphology can be tailored by controlling the processing parameters of the modified hydrothermal process. TiO2 nanoparticles with narrow size distribution are also synthesized by hydrothermal route for the active layer of DSSCs. The nanoparticles show pure anatase phase with average size of 40 nm, whereas the dandelion-like TiO2 spheres are pure... 

The effects of embedded proteins on the dynamical properties of lipid bilayer membranes are studied in shear flow. Coarse-grained molecular simulations are employed, in which lipids are modeled as short polymers consisting of hydrophilic head groups and hydrophobic tail monomers; similarly, transmembrane proteins are modeled as connected hydrophobic double- or triple-chain molecules with hydrophilic groups at both ends. In thermal equilibrium, rigid proteinlike molecules aggregate in a membrane of flexible lipids, while flexible proteins do not aggregate. In shear flow parallel to the membrane, the monolayers of lipid bilayer slide over each other. The presence of transmembrane proteins... 

The light scattering and harvesting effects in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is studied by controlling morphology, phase composition, and thickness of monolayer and double-layer TiO2 photoanode electrodes. The starting materials for preparation of TiO2 cells, including 25 nm mesoporous anatase nanoparticles, 200 nm anatase microspheres, 10 µm dandelion-like rutile particles and 40 nm nanoparticles containing 80% anatase-20% rutile, are synthesized by evaporation-induced self-assembly, sol-gel, and hydrothermal processes. It was found that the mesoporous anatase nanoparticles may improve light harvesting and dye-sensitization due to their high surface area and small particle size,... 

Scattering particles constitute a key light trapping solution for thin film photovoltaics where either the particles are embedded in the light absorbing layer or a thick layer of them is used as a reflector. Here we introduce a monolayer of wavelength-scale core-shell silica@Ag particles as a novel light trapping strategy for thin film photovoltaics. These particles show hybrid photonic-plasmonic resonance modes that scatter light strongly and with small parasitic absorption losses in Ag (<1.5%). In addition, their scattering efficiency does not vary significantly with the refractive index of the surrounding medium. A monolayer of these particles is applied as the top-scattering layers in a... 

In this paper, some important circuit parameters of a monolayer armchair graphene nanoribbon (GNR) field effect transistor (GNRFET) in different structures are studied. Also, these structures are Ideal with no defect, 1SVGNRFET with one single vacancy defect, and 3SVsGNRFET with three SV defects. Moreover, the circuit parameters are extracted based on Semi Classical Top of Barrier Modeling (SCTOBM) method. The I-V characteristics simulations of Ideal GNRFET, 1SVGNRFET and 3SVsGNRFET are used for comparing with SCTOBM method. These simulations are solved with Poisson-Schrodinger equation self-consistently by using Non- Equilibrium Green Function (NEGF) and in the real space approach. The... 

An accurate and fast method for guided modes extraction in monolayer colloidal crystals and their inverse replicas is presented. These three-dimensional structures are composed of a monolayer of spherical particles that can easily and simply be prepared by self-assembly method in close packed hexagonal lattices. In this work, we describe how the guided modes, even or odd modes and light cone boundary can be easily determined using phase variations of reflection and transmission coefficients. These coefficients are quickly calculated by Fourier modal method. The band structures are obtained for a monolayer of polystyrene particles and two-dimensional TiO2 inverse opal by this proposed method  

During the last decade, fabrication of high-quality graphene films by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for nanoelectronics and optoelectronic applications has attracted increasing attention. However, processing of large-area monolayer and defect-free graphene films is still challenging. In this work, we have studied the effect of processing conditions on the self-limited growth of graphene monolayers on copper foils during low pressure CVD both experimentally and theoretically based on thermokinetics and kinetics of Langmuir adsorption. The effect of copper pre-treatment, growth time, and carbon potential of the atmosphere (indicated by the methane-to-hydrogen gas ratio, r) on the quality of... 

In this paper, the electrical characteristics of vertical tunneling bilayer graphene field effect transistor (VTBGFET) are theoretically investigated. We evaluate the device behavior using nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism combined with an atomistic tight binding model. By using this method, we extract the most significant figures of merit such as ON/OFF current ratio, subthreshold swing, and intrinsic gate-delay time. The results indicate that using a bilayer graphene instead of a monolayer graphene as the base material for the source and drain regions leads to a larger ON/OFF current ratio due to the presence of an energy bandgap in biased bilayer graphene. Also, the... 

The authors propose a new design for monolayer superconducting planar flux transformer integrated with a coplanar resonator serving as a gigahertz range tank circuit for high-Tc rf-SQUID magnetometers. Based on the proposed design, which is optimized using the finite element method, the transformer-resonator configuration is made of 200-nm-thick monolayer YBCO film on a crystalline LaAlO3 substrate. In this optimized design, the SQUID magnetometer is coupled through flip-chip configuration with the configuration providing high coupling coefficient between the devices. The design permits coupling of the rf signals to the SQUID efficiently, whereas the transformer is designed to couple the dc... 

Specific and sensitive electroanalysis of blood-circulating protein cancer biomarkers is often complicated by interference from serum proteins nonspecifically adsorbing at the biosensing interface and masking specific reactions of interest. Here, we have developed an electrocatalytically amplified assay for specific and sensitive analysis of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2/neu, a protein cancer biomarker over-expressed in breast cancers) that allows us to avoid both the interference from bovine serum albumin (BSA) and electrocatalytic amplification of the signal stemming from the specific aptamer−HER-2/neu binding. A HER-2/neu-specific thiolated aptamer sequence was... 

Controlled growth of atomic monolayers of IV-VII transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has provided unprecedented opportunities to fabricate modern optoelectronic nanodevices. However, synthesis of large-area and high quality two-dimensional TMDs is still challenging. We have synthesized WS2 and MoS2 nanosheets by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) at wide-range of processing conditions. The nanostructures were analyzed by optical and confocal microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction to determine the thickness, lateral size and structure of the deposits. Through designing and performing of a set of controlled experiments as well as... 

We study topological phase transitions and topological quantum field effect transistor in monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) using a two-band Hamiltonian model. Without considering the quadratic (q 2) diagonal term in the Hamiltonian, we show that the phase diagram includes quantum anomalous Hall effect, quantum spin Hall effect, and spin quantum anomalous Hall effect regions such that the topological Kirchhoff law is satisfied in the plane. By considering the q 2 diagonal term and including one valley, it is shown that MoS2 has a non-Trivial topology, and the valley Chern number is non-zero for each spin. We show that the wave function is (is not) localized at the edges when the q 2... 

The Ni-P/Zn-Ni compositionally modulated multilayer coatings CMMCs were electrodeposited from a single bath by switching the deposition current density. The corrosion resistance of the deposits was studied and compared with that of monolayers of Ni-P and Zn-Ni alloys via Tafel polarization, EIS and salt spray tests. Characterization of corrosion products by means of EDS and XRD revealed more details from the corrosion mechanism of the monolayers and multilayers. The corrosion current density of Ni-P/Zn-Ni CMMCs were around one tenth of Zn-Ni monolayer. The CMMC with incomplete layers performed lower polarization resistance and higher corrosion current density compared to the CMMC with... 

Hydrostatic pressure is one of the most fundamental and common mechanical stimuli in the body, playing a critical role in the homeostasis of all organ systems. Kidney function is affected by high blood pressure, namely hypertension, by the increased pressure acting on the glomerular capillary walls. This general effect of hypertension is diagnosed as a chronic disease, but underlying mechanistic causes are still not well understood. This paper reports a portable and adaptive device for studying the effects of hydrostatic pressure on a monolayer of cells. The fabricated device fits within a conventional incubation system and microscope. The effects of various pressures and durations were... 

Herein, enhancement of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) performance is reported by combining the merits of the dye loading of TiO2 nanoparticles and light scattering, straight carrier transport path, and efficient electron collection efficiency of TiO2 cubes. We fabricate DSC devices with various arrangement styles and compositions of the electrodes in the forms of monolayer and double layer films. For this purpose, the solvothermal synthesized TiO2 cubic particles (100-600 nm) are employed as the scattering layer, whereas TiO2 nanoparticles (15-30 nm) synthesized via a combination of solvothermal and sol-gel routes are used as the active layer of devices. We improve the photovoltaic...