Dynamic control of structural colors across the visible spectrum with high brightness has proven to be a difficult challenge. Here, this is addressed with a tuneable reflective nano‐optical cavity that uses an electroactive conducting polymer (poly(thieno[3,4‐b]thiophene)) as spacer layer. Electrochemical doping and dedoping of the polymer spacer layer provides reversible tuning of the cavity's structural color throughout the entire visible range and beyond. Furthermore, the cavity provides high peak reflectance that varies only slightly between the reduced and oxidized states of the polymer. The results indicate that the polymer undergoes large reversible thickness changes upon redox tuning, aided by changes in optical properties and low visible absorption. The electroactive cavity concept may find particular use in reflective displays, by opening for tuneable monopixels that eliminate limitations in brightness of traditional subpixel‐based systems.
Radiative cooling passively removes heat from objects via emission of thermal radiation to cold space. Suitable radiative cooling materials absorb infrared light while they avoid solar heating by either reflecting or transmitting solar radiation, depending on the application. Here, we demonstrate a reflective radiative cooler and a transparent radiative cooler solely based on cellulose derivatives manufactured via electrospinning and casting, respectively. By modifying the microstructure of cellulose materials, we control the solar light interaction from highly reflective (> 90%, porous structure) to highly transparent (≈ 90%, homogenous structure). Both cellulose materials show high thermal emissivity and minimal solar absorption, making them suitable for daytime radiative cooling. Used as coatings on silicon samples exposed to sun light at daytime, the reflective and transparent cellulose coolers could passively reduce sample temperatures by up to 15 °C and 5 °C, respectively.
Three strong solid state emissive cyclometalated platinum(ii) complexes showing AIE property were synthesized and the feasibility of one of the dyes for cell imaging was reported.
Radiative cooling
forms an emerging direction in which objects
are passively cooled via thermal radiation to cold space. Cooling
materials should provide high thermal emissivity (infrared absorptance)
and low solar absorptance, making cellulose an ideal and sustainable
candidate. Broadband solar-reflective or transparent coolers are not
the only systems of interest, but also more pleasingly looking colored
systems. However, solutions based on wavelength-selective absorption
generate not only color but also heat and thereby counteract the cooling
function. Intended as coatings for solar cells, we demonstrate a transreflective
cellulose material with minimal solar absorption that generates color
by wavelength-selective reflection, while it transmits other parts
of the solar spectrum. Our solution takes advantage of the ability
of cellulose nanocrystals to self-assemble into helical periodic structures,
providing nonabsorptive films with structurally colored reflection.
Application
of violet-blue, green, and red cellulose films on silicon substrates
reduced the temperature by up to 9 °C under solar illumination,
as result of a combination of radiative cooling and reduced solar
absorption due to the wavelength-selective reflection by the colored
coating. The present work establishes self-assembled cellulose nanocrystal
photonic films as a scalable photonic platform for colored radiative
cooling.
We have demonstrated electrical spin-injection from GaCrN dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS) in a GaN-based spin light emitting diode (spin-LED). The remanent in-plane magnetization of the thin-film semiconducting ferromagnet has been used for introducing the spin polarized electrons into the non-magnetic InGaN quantum well. The output circular polarization obtained from the spin-LED closely follows the normalized in-plane magnetization curve of the DMS.
We demonstrate a method for nanowire formation by natural selection during wet anisotropic chemical etching in boiling phosphoric acid. Nanowires of sub-10 nm lateral dimensions and lengths of 700 nm or more are naturally formed during the wet etching due to the convergence of the nearby crystallographic hexagonal etch pits. These nanowires are site controlled when formed in augmentation with dry etching. Temperature and power dependent photoluminescence characterizations confirm excitonic transitions up to room temperature. The exciton confinement is enhanced by using two-dimensional confinement whereby enforcing greater overlap of the electron-hole wave-functions. The surviving nanowires have less defects and a small temperature variation of the output electroluminescent light. We have observed superluminescent behaviour of the light emitting diodes formed on these nanowires. There is no observable efficiency roll off for current densities up to 400 A/cm2.
We have studied small signal frequency response of a spin laser. We have shown that the response is characterized by two distinct resonant peaks corresponding to the two polarization modes of the spin laser. It is observed that the modulation bandwidth of a spin laser can be smaller or larger than that of a conventional laser depending upon the current bias and spin relaxation time constant. A small value for spin relaxation constant may not be detrimental for modulation bandwidth. This anomalous observation is explained by considering both the amplitude and phase response of the two polarization modes. A spin laser can act as a combination of low-pass and bandpass filters. The passband frequency range is tunable by external bias. We have also studied the evolution of resonant peaks and modulation bandwidth as a function of spin relaxation time constant.
We have demonstrated an electrically injected ultra-low threshold (8.9 nA) room temperature InGaN/GaN based lateral nanowire laser. The nanowires are triangular in shape and survived naturally after etching using boiling phosphoric acid. A polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and air dielectric distributed mirror provide an optical feedback, which together with one-dimensional density of states cause ultra-low threshold lasing. Finite difference eigen-mode (FDE) simulation shows that triangular nanowire cavity supports single dominant mode similar to TE01 that of a corresponding rectangular cavity with a confinement factor of 0.18.
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