Related papers: Reaching optimal efficiencies using nano-sized pho…
Recent experimental breakthroughs produced the first nano heat engines that have the potential to harness quantum resources. An instrumental question is how their performance measures up against the efficiency of classical engines. For…
Maximum efficiency of ideal single-junction photovoltaic (PV) cells is limited to 33% (for one sun illumination) by intrinsic losses such as band edge thermalization, radiative recombination, and inability to absorb below-bandgap photons.…
We introduce a simple two-level heat engine to study the efficiency in the condition of the maximum power output, depending on the energy levels from which the net work is extracted. In contrast to the quasi-statically operated Carnot…
We experimentally demonstrate the efficient channeling of fluorescence photons from single q-dots on optical nanofiber into the guided modes, by measuring the photon-count rates through the guided and radiation modes simultaneously. We…
With the progress of nano-technology, thermodynamics also has to be scaled down, calling for specific protocols to extract and measure work. Usually, such protocols involve the action of an external, classical field (the battery) of…
Injection of photoelectrons into gaseous or liquid dielectrics is a widely used technique to produce cold plasmas in weakly ionized systems for investigating the transport properties of electrons. We report measurements of the collection…
We study the nonequilibrium steady state thermodynamics of a photodevice which can operate as a solar cell or a photoconductor, depending on the degree of asymmetry of the junction. The thermodynamic efficiency is captured by a single…
We consider the performance of periodically driven stochastic heat engines in the linear response regime. Reaching the theoretical bounds for efficiency and efficiency at maximum power typically requires full control over the design and the…
Numerical and semi-analytical models are presented for photon-enhanced-thermionic-emission (PETE) devices. The models take diffusion of electrons, inhomogeneous photogeneration, and bulk and surface recombination into account. The…
Growing diversity and complexity of on-chip photonic applications requires rapid design of components with state-of-the-art operation metrics. Here, we demonstrate a highly flexible and efficient method for designing several classes of…
We study quantum transport through two-terminal nanoscale devices in contact with two particle reservoirs at different temperatures and chemical potentials. We discuss the general expressions controlling the electric charge current, heat…
A nanostructured thermoelectric device is designed by connecting a double-barrier resonant tunneling heterostructure to two electron reservoirs. Based on Landauers equation and Fermi-Dirac statistics, the exact solution of the heat flow is…
Thermoelectric energy harvesters can have a much higher conversion efficiency by implementing quantum dots/wells between the high temperature region and the low temperature region. However they still suffer a limitation of the maximum…
Infrared diodes generate electricity from thermal radiation emitted from themselves. The negative process of photovoltaic effect has been expected for application to energy harvesting systems converting from terrestrial radiation. However,…
Current methods for evaluating solar cell efficiencies cannot be applied to extremely thin cells where phenomena from the realm of near field optics prevail. We overcome this problem by offering a rigorous electromagnetic calculation of…
This work considers the distribution of a secret key over an optical (bosonic) channel in the regime of high photon efficiency, i.e., when the number of secret key bits generated per detected photon is high. While in principle the photon…
In numerous applications of energy harvesting via transformation of light into heat the focus recently shifted towards highly absorptive materials featuring nanoplasmons. It is currently established that noble metals-based absorptive…
Thermoelectric devices convert temperature gradients into electrical power and vice versa, thus enabling energy scavenging from waste heat, sensing and cooling. Yet, many of these attractive applications are hindered by the limited…
We demonstrate an efficient and continuous microwave photon to electron converter with large quantum efficiency ($83\%$) and low dark current. These unique properties are enabled by the use of a high kinetic inductance disordered…
Thermophotovoltaics, devices that convert thermal infrared photons to electricity, offer a key pathway for a variety of critical renewable energy technologies including thermal energy storage, waste heat recovery, and direct solar-thermal…