Amorphous oxides as electron transport layers in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 superstrate devices: Amorphous oxides in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 superstrate devices
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Development of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 superstrate devices with alternative buffer layers
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Energy & Fuels↗
Microstrip patch antenna for simultaneous temperature sensing and superstrate characterization
This paper investigates a microstrip patch antenna for measuring the thickness and dielectric constant of the medium above the antenna (i.e. the superstrate) as well as the temperature. The intended application is simultaneous sensing of ash accumulation and temperature inside a boiler, with the aim of enhancing safety, improving efficiency, and reducing downtime associated with maintenance. A patch antenna, consisting of a dielectric substrate, a radiation patch, and a ground plane, functions as an electromagnetic resonator with specific fundamental frequencies. A dielectric medium placed above the patch antenna changes its effective dielectric constant and thus its resonant frequencies. Meanwhile, temperature also influences the antenna frequencies because of the thermal expansion of the conductors (i.e. the radiation patch and ground plane), and the dielectric constant of dielectric materials due to their temperature dependency. Since a rectangular patch antenna has two fundamental frequencies, it enables determining these two parameters simultaneously. Once the temperature and superstrate thickness are determined, the dielectric constant of the superstrate and its temperature dependency can also be extracted. To demonstrate this capability, a dual-frequency patch antenna was designed, fabricated, and characterized with a superstrate of various thicknesses and at different temperatures. By fitting the antenna resonant frequencies as functions of the superstrate thickness and temperature, these two parameters were inversely determined from the measured antenna frequencies. Using ash from charcoal briquettes as a superstrate, the measurement uncertainties were determined to be ±0.58 °C and ±58.05 μ m for the temperature and the superstrate thickness respectively. The dielectric constant of the ash was found to be 2.64 at room temperature and its thermal coefficient of dielectric constant (TCD k ) was found to be 918 ppm °C –1 .
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Reduced Cu(InGa)Se 2 Thickness in Solar Cells Using a Superstrate Configuration
This project by the Institute of Energy Conversion (IEC) and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Delaware sought to develop the technology and underlying science to enable reduced cost of Cu(InGa)Se 2 manufacturing by reducing the thickness of the Cu(InGa)Se 2 absorber layer by half compared to typical production. The approach to achieve this was to use the superstrate cell configuration in which light is incident on the cell through the glass. This structure facilitates optical enhancement approaches needed to achieve high efficiency with Cu(InGa)Se 2 thicknesses less than 1 µm. The primary objective was to demonstrate a Cu(InGa)Se 2 cell with absorber thickness 0.5 - 0.7 µm and 17% efficiency, along with a quantitative loss analysis to define a pathway to 20% efficiency. Additional objectives were the development of stable TCO and buffer layers or contact layers to withstand the Cu(InGa)Se 2 deposition temperature and of advanced optical enhancement methods. The underlying fundamental science needed to effectively transition these outcomes to large scale was addressed by extensive materials and device characterization and by development of comprehensive optical models. Two different superstrate configurations have been investigated. A frontwall cell is illuminated through the glass to the primary front junction of the device. This configuration has been used for previous efforts on superstrate Cu(InGa)Se 2 but performance has been limited by interdiffusion or reaction with CdS or other buffer layers. In this project, several approaches to overcome these limitations were explored using CdS, ZnO and ZnSe buffer layers. In each case, mechanisms that limit device performance were identified using detailed characterization of the materials and junctions. Due to the junction formation difficulties, efforts were concentrated on a new backwall configuration in which light is incident through the substrate into the back of the absorber layer. The primary junction is then formed after Cu(InGa)Se 2 deposition. This allows the potential benefits of superstrate cells for optical enhancement while maintaining processing advantages of the substrate configuration and avoiding the harmful effects of high temperature deposition on p-n junction formation. Backwall devices have outperformed substrate cells at absorber thicknesses of 0.1-0.5 µm through enhanced JSC due to easy incorporation of a Ag reflector and, with light incident on the absorber, the elimination of parasitic absorption in the CdS buffer. An efficiency of 9.7% has been achieved for a backwall Cu(InGa)Se 2 device with absorber thickness ~0.4 μm. A critical achievement that enabled implementation of the backwall cell was the development of a transparent back contact using MoO 3 or WO 3 . Processes for controlled deposition of each material by reactive rf sputtering from metal targets were developed. These contacts have wide bandgaps making them well-suited for application as contacts for backwall devices as well as potential use in bifacial cells and as the top cell of tandem CuInSe 2 -based devices. Optical enhancement will be critical for further improvements. Wet chemical texturing of ZnO films has been developed for a simple, low cost light-trapping scheme for backwall superstrate devices to enhance long wavelength quantum efficiency. An aqueous oxalic acid etch was developed and found to strongly texture sputtered ZnO with high haze ≈ 0.9 observed across the whole spectrum. And finally, advanced optical models have been developed to assist the characterization and optimization of Cu(InGa)Se 2 cells with thin absorbers
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
Calculation of multiloop amplitudes in the theory of closed oriented superstrings
Multiloop superstring amplitudes are obtained upon integrating local amplitudes with respect to modular parameters of the Schottky supergroup and with respect to vertex coordinates in the nonsplit (1|1) complex supermanifold. Ambiguities in this integration are removed by the condition requiring that the local symmetries of the amplitudes under discussion be conserved. Local superstring amplitudes are calculated by summing local fermion-string amplitudes. The resulting superstring amplitudes are free from divergencies. The vacuum amplitude is zero, in just the same way as the one-, two-, and three-point massless-boson amplitudes are. The amplitudes in question vanish after integration of corresponding local amplitudes with respect to interaction-vertex coordinates and with respect to the limiting points of the Schottky supergroup, with the exception of those (3|2) points that are fixed by SL(2) symmetry.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Gravitational waves from cosmic superstrings and gauge strings
Abstract We perform a phenomenological comparison of the gravitational wave (GW) spectrum expected from cosmic gauge string networks and superstring networks comprised of multiple string types. We show how violations of scaling behavior and the evolution of the number of relativistic degrees of freedom in the early Universe affect the GW spectrum. We derive simple analytical expressions for the GW spectrum from superstrings and gauge strings that are valid for all frequencies relevant to pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) and laser interferometers. We analyze the latest data from PTAs and show that superstring networks are consistent with 32 nHz data from NANOGrav, but are excluded by 3.2 nHz data at 3σunless the string couplingg s <0.2 or the strings evolve in only about 10% of the volume of the higher-dimensional space. We also point out that while gauge string networks are excluded by NANOGrav-15 data at 3σ, they are completely compatible with EPTA and PPTA data. Finally, we study correlations between GW signals at PTAs and laser interferometers.
Physics↗
New formulation of the type IIB superstring action in AdS 5 × S 5
Previous studies of the type IIB superstring in an AdS 5 × S 5 background are based on a description of the superspace geometry as the quotient space PSU(2, 2|4)/SO(4, 1) × SO(5). This paper develops an alternative approach in which the Grassmann coordinates provide a nonlinear realization of PSU(2, 2|4) based on the quotient space PSU(2, 2|4)/SU(2, 2) × SU(4), and the bosonic coordinates are described as a submanifold of SU(2, 2) × SU(4). This formulation keeps all bosonic symmetries manifest, and it provides the complete dependence on the Grassmann coordinates in terms of simple analytic expressions. It is used to construct the superstring world-sheet action in a form in which the PSU(2, 2|4) symmetry is manifest and kappa symmetry can be established. As a result, this formulation might have some advantages compared to previous ones, but this remains to be demonstrated.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Corners and islands in the S-matrix bootstrap of the open superstring
We bootstrap the Veneziano superstring amplitude in 10 dimensions from the bottom-up. Starting with the most general maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills EFT, we input information about the lowest-lying massive states, which we assume contribute via tree-level exchanges to the 4-point amplitude. We show the following: (1) if there is only a single state at the lowest mass, it must be a scalar. (2) Assuming a string-inspired gap between the mass of this scalar and any other massive states, the allowed region of Wilson coefficients has a new sharp corner where the Veneziano amplitude is located. (3) Upon fixing the next massive state to be a vector, the EFT bounds have a one-parameter family of corners; these would correspond to models with linear Regge trajectories of varying slopes, one of which is the open superstring. (4) When the ratio between the massive scalar coupling and the tr F 4 coefficient is fixed to its string value, the spin and mass of the second massive state is determined by the bootstrap and the Veneziano amplitude is isolated on a small island in parameter space. Finally, we compare with other recent bootstraps approaches, both the pion model and imposing Regge-inspired maximal spin constraints.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Opto-electronic properties of P-doped nc-Si–QD/a-SiC:H thin films as foundation layer for all-Si solar cells in superstrate configuration
With the advent of nc-Si solar cells having improved stability, the efficient growth of nc-Si i-layer of the top cell of an efficient all-Si solar cell in the superstrate configuration prefers nc-Si n-layer as its substrate. Accordingly, a wide band gap and high conducting nc-Si alloy material is a basic requirement at the n-layer. Present investigation deals with the development of phosphorous doped n-type nanocrystalline silicon quantum dots embedded in hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (nc-Si–QD/a-SiC:H) hetero-structure films, wherein the optical band gap can be widened by the presence of Si–C bonds in the amorphous matrix and the embedded high density tiny nc-Si–QDs could provide high electrical conductivity, particularly in P-doped condition. The nc-Si–QDs simultaneously facilitate further widening of the optical band gap by virtue of the associated quantum confinement effect. A complete investigation has been made on the electrical transport phenomena involving charge transfer by tunneling and thermionic emission prevailing in n-type nc-Si–QD/a-SiC:H thin films. Their correlation with different phases of the specific heterostructure has been carried out for detailed understanding of the material, in order to improve its device applicability. The n-type nc-Si–QD/a-SiC:H films exhibit a thermally activated electrical transport above room temperature and multi-phonon hopping (MPH) below room temperature, involving defects in the amorphous phase and the grain-boundary region. The n-type nc-Si–QD/a-SiC:H films grown at ∼300 °C, demonstrating wide optical gap ∼1.86–1.96 eV and corresponding high electrical conductivity ∼4.5 × 10{sup −1}–1.4 × 10{sup −2} S cm{sup −1}, deserve to be an effective foundation layer for the top nc-Si sub-cell of all-Si solar cells in n-i-p structure with superstrate configuration.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
The AdS 5 × S 5 superstring
The duality between the type IIB superstring theory in an AdS 5 × S 5 background with N units of five-form flux and N = 4 super Yang–Mills theory with a U ( N ) gauge group has been studied extensively. My version of the construction of the superstring world-sheet action is reviewed here.
Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
Algebraic structures in closed superstring field theory, homotopy transfer, and effective actions
A consistent action for heterotic and type II superstring field theory was recently proposed by Sen. We give an algebraic formulation of this action in terms of certain twisted L ∞ algebra. We further show that Sen’s Wilsonian effective superstring field action can be obtained using homotopy transfer and the effective theory also possesses the algebraic structure of a twisted L ∞ algebra. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Singh, Ranveer Kumar↗
Explaining low ℓ anomalies in the CMB power spectrum with resonant superstring excitations during inflation
We explore the possibility that both the suppression of the ℓ<!-- ℓ --> = 2 multipole moment of the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background temperature fluctuations and the possible dip for ℓ<!-- ℓ --> = 10 –30 can be explained as well as a possible new dip for ℓ<!-- ℓ --> ≈<!-- ≈ --> 60 as the result of the resonant creation of sequential excitations of a fermionic (or bosonic) closed superstring that couples to the inflaton field. We consider a D = 26 closed bosonic string with one toroidal compact dimension as an illustration of how string excitations might imprint themselves on the CMB. We analyze the existence of successive momentum states, winding states or oscillations on the string as the source of the three possible dips in the power spectrum. Although the evidence of these dips are of marginal statistical significance, this might constitute the first observational evidence of successive superstring excitations in Nature.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Superstrings with the Galileon measure
The modified measure theories recommend themselves as a good possibility to go beyond the standard formulation to solve yet unsolved problems. The Galileon measure that is constructed in the way to be invariant under the Galileon shift symmetry is considered in the context of superstring theory. The translation invariance of the vacuum holds up to Galileon transformations. The supersymmetric action is presented with all terms, including the tension, being derived from the equations of motion.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
D-brane SM-like and scalar dark matter in type IIA superstring theory
In light of the present LHC Run II at √s = 13 TeV, a SM-like string model is studied. Specifically, a singlet S scalar-extended SM given in terms of four stacks of intersecting D6-branes in a type IIA superstring compactification producing a large gauge symmetry is examined. The scales involved are dealt with. According to the dark matter relic density, the mass of the scalar dark matter beyond the SM m{sub S} ≲ 10{sup 3} GeV and the corresponding Higgs portal couplings λ{sub SH} ≲ 10{sup –8} have been obtained.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
On the equivalence between SRS and PCO formulations of superstring perturbation theory
We establish the equivalence between two formulations of superstring perturbation theory, one based on integration over the supermoduli space of super Riemann surfaces (SRS), the other based on integration over the bosonic moduli space with insertions of picture changing operators (PCO) on the worldsheet and the vertical integration prescription, by showing how the latter arises from a specific construction of the supermoduli integration contour.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
One-loop matrix elements of effective superstring interactions: α' -expanding loop integrands
In the low-energy effective action of string theories, non-abelian gauge interactions and supergravity are augmented by infinite towers of higher-mass-dimension operators. We propose a new method to construct one-loop matrix elements with insertions of operators D 2k F n and D 2k R n in the tree-level effective action of type-I and type-II superstrings. Inspired by ambitwistor string theories, our method is based on forward limits of moduli-space integrals using string tree-level amplitudes with two extra points, expanded in powers of the inverse string tension α'. Similar to one-loop ambitwistor computations, intermediate steps feature non-standard linearized Feynman propagators which eventually recombine to conventional quadratic propagators. With linearized propagators the loop integrand of the matrix elements obey one-loop versions of the monodromy and KLT relations. We express a variety of four- and five-point examples in terms of quadratic propagators and formulate a criterion on the underlying genus-one correlation functions that should make this recombination possible at all orders in α'. The ultraviolet divergences of the one-loop matrix elements are crosschecked against the non-separating degeneration of genus-one integrals in string amplitudes. Conversely, our results can be used as a constructive method to determine degenerations of elliptic multiple zeta values and modular graph forms at arbitrary weight.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
Collaborative Research and Development by EpiSolar and NREL of Processes and Materials for Flexible CdS/CdTe Superstrate Devices: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-14-550
The objective of this work is to collaborate with EpiSolar to develop and test processes that are consistent with the goals and milestones of an NREL FPace1 (Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency) project entitled 'High-Temperature, Roll-to-Roll (RTR) CdTe Superstrate Devices Using Flexible Glass.' The primary milestone for this CRADA relates to demonstration of a 15% efficient laboratory device.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗