Enforced Freedom: Electric-Field-Induced Declustering of Ionic-Liquid Ions in the Electrical Double Layer

Ions in the bulk of solvent-free ionic liquids bind into ion pairs and clusters.The competition between the propensity of ions to stay in a bound state,and the reduction of the energy when unbinding in electric field,determines the portion of free ions in the electrical double layer.We present the simplest possible mean-field theory to study this effect."Cracking"of ion pairs into free ions in electric field is accompanied by the change of the dielectric response of the ionic liquid.The predictions from the theory are verified and further explored by molecular dynamics simulations.A particular finding of the theory is that the differential capacitance vs potential curve displays a bell shape,despite the low concentration of free charge carriers,because the dielectric response reduces the threshold concentration for the bell-to camelshape transition.The presented theory does not take into account overscreening and oscillating charge distributions in the electrical double layer.But in spite of the simplicity of the model,its findings demonstrate a clear physical effect:a preference to be a charged monopole rather than a dipole(or higher order multipole)in strong electric field.

Nanoparticle meta-grid for enhanced light extraction from light-emitting devices

Based on a developed theory,we show that introducing a meta-grid of sub-wavelength-sized plasmonic nanoparticles(NPs)into existing semiconductor light-emitting-devices(LEDs)can lead to enhanced transmission of light across the LED-chip/encapsulant interface.This results from destructive interference between light reflected from the chip/encapsulant interface and light reflected by the NP meta-grid,which conspicuously increase the efficiency of light extraction from LEDs.The“meta-grid”,should be inserted on top of a conventional LED chip within its usual encapsulating packaging.As described by the theory,the nanoparticle composition,size,interparticle spacing,and distance from the LED-chip surface can be tailored to facilitate maximal transmission of light emitted from the chip into its encapsulating layer by reducing the Fresnel loss.The analysis shows that transmission across a typical LEDchip/encapsulant interface at the peak emission wavelength can be boosted up to ~99%,which is otherwise mere~84% at normal incidence.The scheme could provide improved transmission within the photon escape cone over the entire emission spectrum of an LED.This would benefit energy saving,in addition to increasing the lifetime of LEDs by reducing heating.Potentially,the scheme will be easy to implement and adopt into existing semiconductor-device technologies,and it can be used separately or in conjunction with other methods for mitigating the critical angle loss in LEDs.