A thin organic film of polycrystalline particles of x-metal free phthalocyanine (x-H2Pc) dispersed in a polymer binder, when sandwiched between tin oxide (NESA) and indium electrodes, is shown to exhibit a strong photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic and rectification properties of In/x-H2Pc/NESA sandwich cells are reported. From the photovoltaic action spectra, the active region responsible for electric power generation was found to be confined to the metal/semiconductor interface. A Schottky barrier width of 300 Å was determined, which allows the capture of 30% of solar irradiance. An electron trap density of 3×1017/cm3 and a Schottky barrier built-in potential of 0.63 V are estimated from C-V measurements. At low voltage, the dark current in the forward direction varies exponentially with voltage: from this dependence values of 2×10−9 A/cm2 and 1.3–2.6 for the saturation current J0 and diode quality factor n are determined. At higher voltage, a super quadratic dependence of forward current on voltage indicated that current conduction is limited by an exponentially decreasing distribution of traps. At peak solar power (135 mW/cm2), a power conversion efficiency (η′) of 1.2% to transmitted light has been obtained. The transmittance of the indium electrode approached 2%. The devices exhibit open circuit voltages Voc of 0.45 V and short-circuit currents of 0.2 mA/cm2 at Air Mass Zero (AMO) sunlight. Therefore, the engineering efficiency of our device approached 0.03%. The monochromatic quantum efficiency of free-carrier generation approached 75% at low light level; this diminished to 30% at solar intensities, characteristic of a cell with large series resistance. The effect of pigment loading, cell thickness, light intensity, binder material, dye sensitization, and the nature of barrier electrode has been studied and optimized.
We propose and develop a comprehensive model for estimating the refractive index (RI) response over three potential sensing zones in a multimode fiber. The model has been developed based on a combined ray optics, Gaussian beam, and wave optics analysis coupled to the consideration of the injected interrogating lightwave characteristics and validated experimentally through the realization of three sensors with different lengths of stripped cladding sections as the sensing region. The experimental results highly corroborate and validate the simulation output from the model for the three RI sensing zones. The sensors can be employed over a very wide dynamic RI range from 1.316 to over 1.608 at a wavelength of 1550 nm, with the best resolution of 2.2447 × 10−5 RI unit (RIU) obtained in Zone II for a 1-cm sensor length.
The photovoltaic properties of Schottky barier solar cells, made by dispersing particles of the x form of mental-free phthalocyanine in a binder polymer and sandwiching between NESA (SnO2/Sb) and aluminum electrodes, have been studied. A power conversion efficiency of over 6% for transmitted light at low power densities (0.06 W/m2) has been obtained for monochromatic irradiation at 670 nm. At peak solar power density (1400 W/m2) the extrapolated power conversion efficiency (η) for transmitted 670 nm irradiation decreases to 0.01%. The decrease in η with intensity was attributed to a space charge limitation due to nonlinear resistance. The devices exhibit Voc’s as high as 1.1 V, but are still limited by a field dependent quantum efficiency. Analysis of the action spectra of these devices revealed the formation of a thin photoactive depletion region (∼400 Å) at the semiconductor/metal interface. These devices are capable of capturing 30% of the solar spectrum within the photoactive region. The effect of pigment loading, cell thickness, light intensity, binder materials, doping and dye sensitization has been studied. Based upon sunlight absorption, theoretical efficiencies for these devices appear high.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.