News tagged with light absorption

Related topics: solar cells

Quantum dots with built-in charge boost solar cell efficiency by 50%

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the past few years, researchers have been using quantum dots to increase the light absorption and overall efficiency of solar cells. Now, researchers have taken a step further, demonstrating ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created May 13, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (21) | comments 13 | with audio podcast feature

Physicists demonstrate quantum plasmons in atomic-scale nanoparticles

Addressing a half-century-old question, engineers at Stanford have conclusively determined how collective electron oscillations, called plasmons, behave in individual metal particles as small as just a few nanometers in diameter. ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Mar 21, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (17) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Self-cleaning, low-reflectivity treatment boosts efficiency for photovoltaic cells

Using two different types of chemical etching to create features at both the micron and nanometer size scales, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a surface treatment that boosts ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Mar 24, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (17) | comments 0

IBM breakthrough captures high speed measurements of individual atoms

(PhysOrg.com) -- Last week IBM researchers published a breakthrough technique in the peer-reviewed journal Science that measures how long a single atom can hold information, and giving scientists the abilit ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Sep 27, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (14) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Major hurdle cleared for organic solar cells

Solar energy is an environmentally-friendly way of producing electricity and is considered to be one of the most appealing options for the future.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Aug 17, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (15) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Study resolves century-long debate over how to describe electromagnetic momentum density in matter

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the University of British Columbia have shown that the interaction between a light pulse and a light-absorbing object, including the ...

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 29, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 23 | with audio podcast

Researchers fabricate more efficient polymer solar cells

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory have developed a process capable of producing a thin and uniform light-absorbing layer on textured substrates that improves the ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 02, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (14) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Researchers unravel the mystery of quantum dot blinking

(PhysOrg.com) -- Research by Los Alamos scientists published today in the journal Nature documents significant progress in understanding the phenomenon of quantum-dot blinking. Their findings should enhanc ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Nov 09, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Silver Nanoparticles Give Polymer Solar Cells A Boost

(PhysOrg.com) -- Small bits of metal may play a new role in solar power. Researchers at Ohio State University are experimenting with polymer semiconductors that absorb the sun’s energy and generate electricity. The goal: ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (13) | comments 0

Tandem polymer solar cells that set record for energy-conversion

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the effort to convert sunlight into electricity, photovoltaic solar cells that use conductive organic polymers for light absorption and conversion have shown great potential. Organic polymers ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Feb 13, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (12) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

New 'super-black' material absorbs light across multiple wavelength bands

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA engineers have produced a material that absorbs on average more than 99 percent of the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and far-infrared light that hits it -- a development that promises ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Nov 09, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (10) | comments 32 | with audio podcast

Down to the wire: Inexpensive technique for making high quality nanowire solar cells developed

(PhysOrg.com) -- Solar or photovoltaic cells represent one of the best possible technologies for providing an absolutely clean and virtually inexhaustible source of energy to power our civilization. However, ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Aug 31, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Light-absorbing nanowires may make better solar panels

(PhysOrg.com) -- A century after German physicist Gustav Mie derived the math to explain why the colors in some stained glass windows look especially resplendent in the sunlight, a team of Stanford engineers ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 07, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (10) | comments 6

The water dance

Water (H2O) is a unique molecule that holds amazing properties. Scientists have a good grasp of the structure and chemistry of individual molecules of water. But understanding how large numbers of these m ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Nov 29, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

ORNL finding has materials scientists entering new territory

Solar cells, light emitting diodes, displays and other electronic devices could get a bump in performance because of a discovery at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory that establishes new boundaries ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 21, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast