Related papers: Thermionic-enhanced near-field thermophotovoltaics
Nanosized energy storage, energy-harvesting, and functional devices are the three key components for integrated self-power systems. Here, we report on nanoscale electrochemical devices with a nearly three-fold enhanced stored charge under…
Most attention to improving vacuum thermionic energy conversion device (TEC) technology has been on improving electron emission with little attention to collector optimization. A model was developed to characterize the output…
Improving the conversion efficiency of solar energy to electricity is most important to mankind. For single-junction photovoltaic solar-cells, the Shockley-Queisser thermodynamic efficiency limit is extensively due to the heat dissipation,…
Nanophotonics research has focused recently on the ability of non-linear optical processes to mediate and transform optical signals in a myriad of novel devices, including optical modulators, transducers, color filters, photodetectors,…
Inhomogeneously doped thermoelectric nanomaterials with a delta-function electronic density of states can operate with Carnot efficiency in the absence of phonon heat leaks. Here we self-consistently calculate the efficiency and power from…
We explore the near-field radiative thermal energy transfer properties of hyperbolic metamaterials. The presence of unique electromagnetic states in a broad bandwidth leads to super-planckian thermal energy transfer between metamaterials…
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…
Thermionic emission has been exploited to give rise to the theory of thermionic cooling also known as electron transpiration cooling, which can potentially serve as a powerful and engineerable cooling mode for hypersonic leading edges that…
A comprehensive rational thermal material design paradigm requires the ability to reduce and enhance the thermal conductivities of nanomaterials. In contrast to the existing ability to reduce the thermal conductivity, methods that allow to…
Electrically driven on-chip electron sources that do not need to be heated have been long pursued because the current thermionic electron sources show the problems of high power consumption, slow temporal response, bulky size, etc., but…
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…
Photodetectors are typically based on photocurrent generation from electron-hole pairs in semiconductor structures and on bolometry for wavelengths that are below bandgap absorption. In both cases, resonant plasmonic and nanophotonic…
Highly nonlinear optical processes, such as multiphoton photoemission, require high intensities, typically achieved with ultrashort laser pulses and, hence, were first observed with the advent of picosecond laser technology. An alternative…
This work theoretically explores a spectrally selective TPV cell based on an asymmetric Fabry-Perot resonance cavity structure with sub-100-nm GaSb layer. The simulated spectral property of the ultrathin nanophotonic cell structure exhibits…
In metal nanostructures under illumination, multiple different processes can drive current flow, and in an open- circuit configuration some of these processes lead to the production of open-circuit photovoltages. Structures that have…
Resonant tunneling of surface polaritons across a subwavelength vacuum gap between two polar or metallic bodies at different temperatures leads to an almost monochromatic heat transfer which can exceed by several orders of magnitude the…
Near-field energy coupling between two surfaces may arise from frustrated total-internal-reflectance and from atomic dipole-dipole interaction. Such an exchange of energy, if at resonance, greatly enhances the radiation transfer between an…
Artificial semiconductor heterostructures played a pivotal role in modern electronic and photonic technologies, providing a highly effective mean for the manipulation and control of carriers, from the visible to the far-infrared. Despite…
The physical mechanisms of periodic separation and relaxation of electric charges within aerosol particles possessing the properties the short-circuited batteries can be extremely diverse. With use of appropriate materials and dispersing…
Metal nanoantennas supporting localized surface plasmon resonances have become an indispensable tool in bio(chemical) sensing and nanoscale imaging applications. The high plasmon-enhanced electric field intensity in the visible or near-IR…