Intrinsic thermal stability of inverted perovskite solar cells based on electrochemical deposited PEDOT

Thermal stability of perovskite materials is an issue impairing the long-term operation of inverted perovskite solar cells(PSCs). Herein, the thermal attenuation mechanism of the MAPb I3films that deposited on two different hole transport layers(HTL), poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate)(PEDOT:PSS) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)(PEDOT), is comprehensively studied by applying a heat treatment at 85℃. The thermal stress causes the mutual ions migration of I, Pb and Ag through the device, which leads to the thermal decomposition of perovskite to form Pb I2. Interestingly, we find that I ions tend to migrate more towards electron transport layer(ETL) during heating, which is different with the observation of I ions migration towards HTL when bias pressure is applied. Moreover, the use of electrochemical deposited PEDOT as HTL significantly decreases the defect density of MAPb I3films as compared to PEDOT:PSS supported one. The electrochemical deposition PEDOT has good carrier mobility and low acidity, which avoids the drawbacks of aqueous PEDOT:PSS. Accordingly, the inverted PSCs based on PEDOT show superior durability than that with PEDOT:PSS. Our results reveal detailed degradation routes of a new kind of inverted PSCs which can contribute to the understanding of the failure of thermal-aged inverted PSCs.

Facile synthesis of spinel LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) as 5.0 V-class high-voltage cathode materials for Li-ion batteries

LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) and LiMn_(2)O_(4) with novel spinel morphology were synthesized by a hydrothermal and postcalcination process.The synthesized LiMn_(2)O_(4) particles(5–10 lm)are uniform hexahedron,while the LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) has spindle-like morphology with the long axis 10–15 lm,short axis 5–8 lm.Both LiMn_(2)O_(4) and LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) show high capacity when used as cathode materials for Li-ion batteries.In the voltage range of 2.5–5.5 V at room temperature,the LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) has a high discharge capacity of 135.04 mA·h·g^(-1) at 20 mAg^(-1),which is close to 147 mA·h·g^(-1)(theoretical capacity of LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4)).The discharge capacity of LiMn_(2)O_(4) is 131.08 mA·h·g^(-1) at 20 mAg^(-1).Moreover,the LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) shows a higher capacity retention(76%)compared to that of LiMn_(2)O_(4)(61%)after 50 cycles.The morphology and structure of LiMn_(2)O_(4) and LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) are well kept even after cycling as demonstrated by SEM and XRD on cycled LiMn_(2)O_(4) and LiNi_(0.5)Mn_(1.5)O_(4) electrodes.

Cavity-induced ATS effect on a superconducting Xmon qubit

We couple a ladder-type three-level superconducting artificial atom to a cavity. Adjusting the artificial atom to make the cavity be resonant with the two upper levels, we then probe the lower two levels of the artificial atom. When driving the cavity to a coherent state, the probe spectrum shows energy level splitting induced by the quantized electromagnetic field in the cavity. This splitting size is related to the coupling strength between the cavity and the artificial atom and, thus, is fixed after the sample is fabricated. This is in contrast to the classical Autler-Townes splitting of a three-level system in which the splitting is proportional to the driving amplitude, which can be continuously changed. Our experiment results show the difference between the classical microwave driving field and the quantum field of the cavity.

Hardware for multi-superconducting qubit control and readout

We have developed an electronic hardware system for the control and readout of multi-superconducting qubit devices.The hardware system is based on the design ideas of good scalability,high synchronization and low latency.The system,housed inside a VPX-6U chassis,includes multiple arbitrary-waveform generator(AWG)channels,analog-digital-converter(ADC)channels as well as direct current source channels.The system can be used for the control and readout of up to twelve superconducting transmon qubits in one chassis,and control and readout of more and more qubit can be carried out by interconnecting the chassis.By using field programmable gate array(FPGA)processors,the system incorporates three features that are specifically useful for superconducting qubit research.Firstly,qubit signals can be processed using the on-board FPGA after being acquired by ADCs,significantly reducing data processing time and data amount for storage and transmission.Secondly,different output modes,such as direct output and sequential output modes,of AWG can be implemented with pre-encoded FPGA.Thirdly,with data acquisition ADCs and control AWGs jointly controlled by the same FPGA,the feedback latency can be reduced,and in our test a 178.4 ns latency time is realized.This is very useful for future quantum feedback experiments.Finally,we demonstrate the functionality of the system by applying the system to the control and readout of a 10 qubit superconducting quantum processor.

Investigation of dimensionality in superconducting NbN thin film samples with different thicknesses and NbTiN meander nanowire samples by measuring the upper critical field

We study superconducting properties of NbN thin film samples with different thicknesses and an ultra-thin NbTiN meander nanowire sample.For the ultra-thin samples,we found that the temperature dependence of upper critical field(Hc2)in parallel to surface orientation shows bending curvature close to critical temperature Tc,suggesting a two-dimensional(2D)nature of the samples.The 2D behavior is further supported by the angular dependence measurements of Hc2 for the thinnest samples.The temperature dependence of parallel upper critical field for the thick films could be described by a model based on the anisotropic Ginzburg-Landau theory.Interestingly,the results measured in the field perpendicular to the film surface orientation show a similar bending curvature but in a much narrow temperature region close to Tc for the ultra-thin samples.We suggest that this feature could be due to suppression of pair-breaking caused by local in-homogeneity.We further propose the temperature dependence of perpendicular Hc2 as a measure of uniformity of superconducting ultra-thin films.For the thick samples,we find that Hc2 shows maxima for both parallel and perpendicular orientations.The Hc2 peak for the perpendicular orientation is believed to be due to the columnar structure formed during the growth of the thick films.The presence of columnar structure is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy(TEM).In addition,we have measured the angular dependence of magneto-resistance,and the results are consistent with the Hc2 data.

Fabrication of Josephson parameter amplifier and its application in squeezing vacuum fluctuations

Josephson parameter amplifier(JPA)is a microwave signal amplifier device with near-quantum-limit-noise performance.It has important applications in scientific research fields such as quantum computing and dark matter detection.This work reports the fabrication and characterization of broadband JPA devices and their applications in multi-qubit readout and squeezing of vacuum state.We use a process in which transmission lines and electrodes are made of niobium thin film and aluminum Josephson junctions are made by Dolan bridge technique.We believe this process is more convenient than the process we used previously.The whole production process adopts electron beam lithography technology to ensure high structural resolution.The test result shows that the gain value of the manufactured JPA can exceed 15 dB,and the amplification bandwidth is about 400 MHz.The noise temperature is about 400 mK at the working frequency of 6.2 GHz.The devices have been successfully used in experiments involving superconducting multi-qubit quantum processors.Furthermore,the device is applied to squeeze vacuum fluctuations and a squeezing level of 1.635 dB is achieved.

Observation of the exceptional point in superconducting qubit with dissipation controlled by parametric modulation

Open physical systems described by the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian with parity-time-reversal(PT)symmetry show peculiar phenomena,such as the presence of an exceptional point(EP)at which the PT symmetry is broken and two resonant modes of the Hamiltonian become degenerate.Near the EP,the system could be more sensitive to external perturbations and this may lead to enhanced sensing.In this paper,we present experimental results on the observation of PT symmetry broken transition and the EP using a tunable superconducting qubit.The quantum system of investigation is formed by the two levels of the qubit and the energy loss of the system to the environment is controlled by a method of parametric modulation of the qubit frequency.This method is simple with no requirements for additional elements or qubit device modifications.We believe it can be easily implemented on multi-qubit devices that would be suitable for further exploration of non-Hermitian physics in more complex and diverse systems.

Modulation of energy spectrum and control of coherent microwave transmission at single-photon level by longitudinal field in a superconducting quantum circuit

We study the effect of longitudinally applied field modulation on a two-level system using superconducting quantum circuits. The presence of the modulation results in additional transitions and changes the magnitude of the resonance peak in the energy spectrum of the qubit. In particular, when the amplitude ,λz and the frequency COl of the modulation field meet certain conditions, the resonance peak of the qubit disappears. Using this effect, we further demonstrate that the longitudinal field modulation of the Xmon qubit coupled to a one-dimensional transmission line could be used to dynamically control the transmission of single-photon level coherent resonance microwave.

废旧锂离子电池选择性提锂

新能源汽车行业的蓬勃发展不仅使锂离子电池需求量激增,大批锂离子电池在达到一定循环次数后也会因无法继续使用而报废。目前研究者们已经对废旧锂离子电池中有价金属的提取方法进行了许多研究,但回收过程中重点关注的对象是钴和镍,锂作为锂离子电池中的主要成分没有给予足够的重视。随着锂资源供需关系的日趋紧张,近年来通过将废旧锂离子电池中的锂优先选择性提取以提高其回收效率的研究不断增多。基于此,本文系统梳理了从不同正极材料(如钴酸锂、锰酸锂、镍钴锰酸锂和磷酸铁锂)中选择性提锂的方法,包括高温转型、选择性浸出、机械化学及电化学法,为后续有关退役锂离子电池选择性提锂的研究及产业实践提供参考。