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Physical systems with discrete energy levels are ubiquitous in nature and are fundamental building blocks of quantum technology. Realizing controllable artifcial atom- and molecule-like systems for light would allow for coherent and dynamic…
Organic heterojunction solar cells are analyzed within a minimal model that includes the essential physical features of such systems. The dynamical properties of this model, calculated using a master equation approach, account for the…
The optimization of the conversion of thermal energy into work and the minimization of dissipation for nano- and mesoscopic systems is a complex challenge because of the important role fluctuations play on the dynamics of small systems. We…
Environmental, economical and technical benefits of photovoltaic (PV) systems make them to be used in many countries. The main characteristic of PV systems is the fluctuations of their output power. Hence, high penetration of PV systems…
Manipulating the flow of energy in nanoscale and molecular photonic devices is of both fundamental interest and central importance for applications in light harvesting optoelectronics. Under erratic solar irradiance conditions, unregulated…
Two-photon states are essential for quantum technologies such as metrology, lithography, and communication. One of the primary methods of two-photon generation is based on parametric down-conversion, but this suffers from low efficiency and…
Thermophotovotaics convert thermal radiation from local heat sources to electricity. A new breakthrough in creating highly efficient thin-film solar cells can potentially enable thermophotovoltaic systems with unprecedented high efficiency.…
A short introduction on quantum thermodynamics is given and three new topics are discussed: 1) Maximal work extraction from a finite quantum system. The thermodynamic prediction fails and a new, general result is derived, the ``ergotropy''.…
The basics of focused transport as applied to solar energetic particles are reviewed, paying special attention to areas of common misconception. The micro-physics of charged particles interacting with slab turbulence are investigated to…
The problem of the two-level atom laser is studied analytically. The steady-state solution is expressed as a continued fraction, and allows for accurate approximation by rational functions. Moreover, we show that the abrupt change observed…
A new approach is introduced to significantly improve the performance of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems by using low-dimensional thermal emitters and photovoltaic (PV) cells. By reducing the thickness of both the emitter and the PV cell,…
Double quantum dots (DQDs) have emerged as versatile and efficient absorbing light devices owing to their more multiple adjusting parameters than the single QD's. Using the system-reservoir theory, tunneling effect on the quantum…
The conditions for the appearance of a sharp laser transition are formulated in terms of a scaling limit, involving vanishing cavity loss and light-matter coupling, $\kappa \to 0$, $g \to 0$, such that $g^2/\kappa$ stays finite. It is shown…
We investigate the efficiency at maximum power (EMP) of irreversible quantum Carnot engines that perform finite-time cycles between two temperature tunable baths. The temperature form we adopt can be experimentally realized in squeezed…
The figure of merit (FOM) is a widely used metric to characterize the performance of concentrated solar power (CSP) receivers by comparing the amount of solar thermal energy retained by the receiver to the incident concentrated solar…
Heat engines constitute the major building blocks of modern technologies. However, conventional heat engines with higher power yield lesser efficiency and vice versa and respect various power-efficiency trade-off relations. This is also…
A heat engine operating in the one-shot finite-size regime, where systems composed of a small number of quantum particles interact with hot and cold baths and are restricted to one-shot measurements, delivers fluctuating work. Further,…
In practical scenarios, addressing real-world challenges often entails the incorporation of diverse renewable energy sources, such as solar, energy storage systems, and greenhouse gas emissions. The core purpose of these interconnected…
The Shockley-Queisser (S-Q) theory defines the thermodynamic upper limits for Jsc, Voc, FF, and efficiency of a solar cell. The classical calculation assumes an abrupt onset of absorption at the band-edge, perfect absorption for all…
We propose an embedding of standard active particle models in terms of two-temperature processes. One temperature refers to an ambient thermal bath, and the other temperature effectively describes ``hot spots,'' i.e., systems with few…