Maskless fabrication of quasi-omnidirectional V-groove solar cells using an alkaline solution-based method

Silicon passivated emitter and rear contact(PERC) solar cells with V-groove texture were fabricated using maskless alkaline solution etching with in-house developed additive. Compared with the traditional pyramid texture, the V-groove texture possesses superior effective minority carrier lifetime, enhanced p–n junction quality and better applied filling factor(FF). In addition, a V-groove texture can greatly reduce the shading area and edge damage of front Ag electrodes when the V-groove direction is parallel to the gridline electrodes. Due to these factors, the V-groove solar cells have a higher efficiency(21.78%) than pyramid solar cells(21.62%). Interestingly, external quantum efficiency(EQE) and reflectance of the V-groove solar cells exhibit a slight decrease when the incident light angle(θ) is increased from 0° to 75°, which confirms the excellent quasi omnidirectionality of the V-groove solar cells. The proposed V-groove solar cell design shows a 2.84% relative enhancement of energy output over traditional pyramid solar cells.

Influence of geometric parameters on stress concentration factors of undermatched butt joint with single V-groove under three-point bending load

In order to improve the bending load-carrying capacity （BLCC） of undermatched butt joint under three-point bending load, the influence of joint geometric parameters on stress concentration factors （SCF） at the weld bottom center and the weld toe of uudermatched butt joint with single V-groove are studied respectively based on the finite element method in this paper. Results show that the reinforcement height and the cover pass width play decisive role in the BLCC for undermatched butt joint. BLCC of undermatched butt joint can be improved by choosing the appropriate joint geometric parameters.

Thermal stress reduction of GaAs epitaxial growth on V-groove patterned Si substrates

We investigate the thermal stresses for GaAs layers grown on V-groove patterned Si substrates by the finite-element method. The results show that the thermal stress distribution near the interface in a patterned substrate is nonuniform,which is far different from that in a planar substrate. Comparing with the planar substrate, the thermal stress is significantly reduced for the Ga As layer on the patterned substrate. The effects of the width of the V-groove, the thickness, and the width of the SiO_(2) mask on the thermal stress are studied. It is found that the SiO_(2) mask and V-groove play a crucial role in the stress of the Ga As layer on Si substrate. The results indicate that when the width of V-groove is 50 nm, the width and the thickness of the SiO_(2) mask are both 100 nm, the Ga As layer is subjected to the minimum stress. Furthermore,Comparing with the planar substrate, the average stress of the Ga As epitaxial layer in the growth window region of the patterned substrate is reduced by 90%. These findings are useful in the optimal designing of growing high-quality Ga As films on patterned Si substrates.

Optical Gain of V-groove Zn_(1-x)Cd_x Se/ZnSe Quantum Wires

The subband structures, distributions of electron and hole wave functions, state density, optical gain spectra, and transparency carrier density of the V-groove Zn 1-x Cd x Se/ZnSe quantum wires are investigated theoretically using four band effective-mass Hamiltonian, which takes into account the effects of the valence band anisotropy and the band mixing. The biaxial strain effect for quantum wires is included in the calculation. The compressive strain in the Zn 1-x Cd x Se wire region increases the energy separation between the uppermost subbands. The optical gain with xy -polarized light is enhanced, while optical gain with z -polarized light is strongly decreased. The xy -polarized optical gain spectrum has a peak at around 2.541 eV, with the transparency carrier density of 0.75×10 18 cm -3 . The calculated results also show that the strain tends to increase the quantum confinement and enhance the anisotropy of the optical transitions.

Selective Area Growth of GaAs in V-Grooved Trenches on Si(001) Substrates by Aspect-Ratio Trapping

A high quality of GaAs crystal growth in nanoscale V-shape trenches on Si（O01） substrates is achieved by using the aspect-ratio trapping method. GaAs thin films are deposited via metal-organic chemical vapor deposition by using a two-step growth process. Threading disJocations arising from lattice mismatch are trapped by laterally confining sidewalls, and antiphase domains boundaries are completely restricted by V-groove trenches with Si { 111} facets. Material quality is confirmed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and high resolution X-ray diffraction. Low temperature photoluminescence （PL） measurement is used to analyze the thermal strain relaxation in GaAs layers. This approach shows great promise for the realization of high mobility devices or optoelectronie integrated circuits on Si substrates.

Processing of high-precision ceramic balls with a spiral V-groove plate

As the demand for high-performance bearings gradually increases, ceramic balls with excellent proper- ties, such as high accuracy, high reliability, and high chemical durability used, are extensively used for high- performance bearings. In this study, a spiral V-groove plate method is employed in processing high-precision ceramic balls. After the kinematic analysis of the ball-spin angle and enveloped lapping trajectories, an experimental rig is constructed and experiments are conducted to confirm the feasibility of this method. Kinematic analysis results indicate that the method not only allows for the control of the ball-spin angle but also uniformly distributes the enveloped lapping trajectories over the entire ball surface. Experimental results demonstrate that the novel spiral V- groove plate method performs better than the conventional concentric V-groove plate method in terms of roundness, surface roughness, diameter difference, and diameter decrease rate. Ceramic balls with a G3-1evel accuracy are achieved, and their typical roundness, minimum surface roughness, and diameter difference are 0.05, 0.0045, and 0.105 μm, respectively. These findings confirm that the proposed method can be applied to high-accuracy and high-consistency ceramic ball processing.

Optical and electronic properties of single modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs V-grooved quantum wire modified by ion implantation

Single GaAs/Al0.5Ga0.5As V-grooved quantum wire modified by selective ion-implantation and rapid thermally annealing was investigated by spatially-resolved microphotoluminescence and magneto-resistance measurement. Spatially-resolved photoluminescence results indicate that the ion-implantation induced quantum well intermixing raises significantly the electron subband energies of the side quantum wells and vertical quantum wells, and more efficient accumulation of electrons in the quantum wires is achieved. Furthermore, the polarization properties of the photoluminescence from the quantum wires show large linear polarization degree up to 63%. Magneto- transport investigation on the ion implanted quantum wire samples presents the quasi-one dimensional intrinsic motion of electrons, which is important for the design and optimization of one dimensional electronic devices.

Side Polished Fiber:A Versatile Platform for Compact Fiber Devices and Sensors

Side polished fiber(SPF)has a controllable average roughness and length of the side-polishing region,which becomes a versatile platform for integrating multiple materials to interact with the evanescent field to fabricate all-fiber devices and sensors.It has been widely used in couplers,filters,polarizers,optical attenuators,photodetectors,modulators,and sensors for temperature,humidity,strain,biological molecules,chemical gas,and vector magnetic monitoring.In this article,an overview of the development history,fabrication techniques,fiber types,transmission characteristics,and varied recent applications of SPFs are reviewed.Firstly,the fabrication techniques of SPFs are reviewed,including the V-groove assisted polishing technique and wheel polishing technique.Then,the different types of SPFs and their characteristics are discussed.Finally,various applications of SPFs are discussed and concluded theoretically and experimentally,including their principles and structures.When designing the device,the residual thickness and polishing lengths of the SPF need to be appropriately selected in order to obtain the best performance.Developing all-fiber devices and sensors is aimed at practical usability under harsh environments and allows to avoid the high coupling loss between optical fibers and on-chip integrated devices.

A novel linear microprobe array for the fabrication of neural microelectrodes

A novel linear microprobe array(LMPA)has been developed by a conventional microfabrication method from silicon.The LMPA leverages the properties of conventional microwire with additional features of naturally formed regular spacing.With the help of periodic microprobe arrays and double-side V-grooves fabricated in advance between each pair of the two microprobes’rear ends,the number of microprobe units for assembly in one array can be flexibly chosen by cleavage fracture from the LMPA.The fabrication method was demonstrated and the prototype device was assessed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)and in vivo test.The SNR of the spikes recorded was 6.