Related papers: Cool windows: simultaneously engineering high visi…
Providing thermal insulation to systems at very low temperature from surroundings, involves blocking the transport of thermal energy regular or enhanced, taking place through radiative, conductive and convective processes. For instance, the…
The selfconsistent model for the temperature dependence of photoconversion efficiency $\eta$ for highly efficient silicon solar cells (SCs) is developed. It is demonstrated that effect of the efficiency decrease due to increasing…
The absence of efficient light modulators for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray photons significantly limits their real-life application, particularly when even slight complexity of the beam patterns is required. Here we report on a novel…
Energy-saving cooling materials with strong operability are desirable towards sustainable thermal management. Inspired by the cooperative thermo-optical effect in fur of polar bear, we develop a flexible and reusable cooling skin via…
Large scale laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors (GWDs), such as GEO 600 require high quality optics to reach their design sensitivity. The inevitable surface imperfections, inhomogeneities and light-absorption induced thermal…
We propose a frequency selective light trapping scheme that enables the creation of more visually-transparent and yet simultaneously more efficient semitransparent solar cells. A nanoparticle scattering layer and photonic stack back…
Future gas turbine engines will operate at higher gas temperatures and consequentially hot-section components such as blades, vanes and combustors, will be subject to higher thermal radiation fluxes than today. Current thermal barrier…
Low cost, highly efficient, and stable solar cells demand low temperature processing, less stringent criteria on materials, and possibility of dynamic recovery from long term degradation: a combination of features unachievable from the…
A planar triplet of diffraction gratings is used to transform a single laser beam into a four-beam tetrahedral magneto-optical trap. This `flat' pyramid diffractor geometry is ideal for future microfabrication. We demonstrate the technique…
The authors use two insulator layers in thermotunnel refrigerator to modify the shape of the tunneling barrier so that electrons with high kinetic energy pass it with increased probability. Theoretical analysis show that the overall…
We present a theoretical analysis of a super-resolving lens based on 1-dimensional metallo-dielectric photonic crystals composed of Ag/GaP multilayers. The lens contains a total of 10 optical skin depths of Ag, yet maintains a normal…
Selective solar absorbers (SSAs) with high performance are the key to concentrated solar power systems. Optical metamaterials are emerging as a promising strategy to enhance selective photon absorption, however, the high-temperature…
Cholesteric liquid crystals with helicoidal molecular architecture are known for their ability to selectively reflect light with the wavelength that is determined by the periodicity of molecular orientations. Here we demonstrate that by…
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is an excellent diffuse reflector widely used in light collection systems for particle physics experiments. However, the reflectance of PTFE is a function of its thickness. In this work, we investigate this…
Advanced diffractive films may afford advantages over passive reflective surfaces for a variety space missions that use solar or laser in-space propulsion. Three cases are compared: Sun-facing diffractive sails, Littrow diffraction…
Conventional surface-relief gratings are inefficient at deflecting normally-incident light by large angles. This constrains their use in many applications and limits the overall efficiency of any optical instrument integrating gratings.…
The technique of passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) is used to cool an object down by simultaneously reflecting sunlight and thermally radiating heat to the cold outer space through the Earth's atmospheric window. However, for…
Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanets is a tool to characterize rocky planets and explore their habitability. Using the Earth itself as a proxy, we model the atmospheric cross section as a function of wavelength, and show the effect of…
We obtain theoretical expressions for the photocurrent in the Heterojunction solar cells with Intrinsic Thin layer (HIT cells). Our calculations take into account tunneling of electrons and holes through wide-bandgap layers of $\alpha$-Si:H…
Natural cooling, utilizing non-mechanical cooling, presents a low-carbon and low-cost way to provide thermal comfort in residential buildings. However, designing naturally cooled buildings requires a clear understanding of how opening and…