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Silicon photonics promises to alleviate the bandwidth bottleneck of modern day computing systems. But silicon photonic devices have the fundamental problem of being highly sensitive to ambient temperature fluctuations due to the high…
Since the first proof-of-concept demonstrations of photoluminescence-based optical refrigeration, solid-state laser cooling has developed into a credible competitor to conventional cryogenic technologies. Solid-state laser cooling continues…
Among several solutions to exploit solar energy, thermophotovoltaics (TPV) have been popularized and have known great breakthroughs during the past two decades. Yet, existing systems still have low efficiencies since the wavelength range of…
Porous carbon ablators offer cost-effective thermal protection for aerospace vehicles during re-entry into planetary atmospheres. However, the exploration of more distant planets requires the development of ablators that are able to…
As technology continues to evolve, the demand for renewable and sustainable energy continues to grow. As the use of renewable energies, specifically photovoltaics, is continually being adopted and incorporate into everyday life, it is…
Optical polarizers are essential components for the selection and manipulation of light polarization states in optical systems. Over the past decade, the rapid advancement of photonic technologies and devices has led to the development of a…
Optical resonators are increasingly important tools in science and technology. Their applications range from laser physics, atomic clocks, molecular spectroscopy, and single-photon generation to the detection, trapping and cooling of atoms…
Computational searching and screening of new functional materials exploiting earth abundant elements can accelerate developments of their energy applications. Based on a state-of-the-art materials search algorithm and ab initio…
Reconstructions of solar spectral irradiance - especially in the ultraviolet (UV) range - are crucial for understanding Earth's climate system. Although total solar irradiance (TSI) has been thoroughly investigated, the spectral composition…
Carrier Selective (CS) Silicon solar cells are increasingly explored as a low cost alternative to PN junction Silicon solar cells. While the recent trends on power conversion efficiency are encouraging, the temperature coefficient and hence…
This paper gives a personal global point of view on two sciences: electronics and photonics towards plasmonics and solar energy conversion. The new research directions in these two sciences are pointed out by comparison and in the…
The endeavor of the scientific community to maximize the possibility to harvest Sun irradiation for energy production is mainly devoted to the improvement of the power conversion efficiency of devices and to the extension of the spectral…
Carrier selective (CS) silicon solar cells are increasingly explored using a variety of different materials. However, the optimum properties of such CS materials are not well understood. In this context, through detailed analytical and…
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have received a special attention over the past years due to their solution processability, low cost, flexibility and capability of role-to-role production. The power conversion efficiency of these devices has…
Adopting thin Si wafers for PV reduces capital expenditure (capex) and manufacturing cost, and accelerates the growth of PV manufacturing. There are two key questions about thin Si today: (a) how much can we still benefit economically from…
Direct Sun light absorption by trace gases can be used to quantify them and investigate atmospheric chemistry. In such experiments, the main optical apparatus is often a grating or a Fourier transform spectrometer. A solar tracker based on…
The recently proposed optical elements containing semitransparent wavelike films embedded into the transparent material are investigated. Such optical elements do not distort a wave transmitted through them. Novel optical elements can be…
Power-conversion efficiency is a critical factor for the wider adoption of solar-cell modules. Thin-film solar cells are cheap and easy to manufacture, but their efficiencies are low compared to crystalline-silicon solar cells and need to…
Although photoelectrochemical water splitting is likely to be an important and powerful tool to provide environmentally friendly hydrogen, most developments in this field have been conducted on a laboratory scale so far. In order for the…
In this paper we present and experimentally validate a low-cost design of a spectral splitting concentrator for the efficient conversion of solar energy. The optical device consists of a dispersive prismatic lens made of polycarbonate…