The series Topics in Current Chemistry Collections presents critical reviews from the journal Topics in Current Chemistry organized in topical volumes. The scope of coverage is all areas of chemical science including the interfaces with related disciplines such as biology, medicine and materials science. The goal of each thematic volume is to give the non-specialist reader, whether in academia or industry, a comprehensive insight into an area where new research is emerging which is of interest to a larger scientific audience. Each review within the volume critically surveys one aspect of that topic and places it within the context of the volume as a whole. The most significant developments of the last 5 to 10 years are presented using selected examples to illustrate the principles discussed. The coverage is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of the field or include large quantities of data, but should rather be conceptual, concentrating on the methodological thinking that will allow the non-specialist reader to understand the information presented. Contributions also offer an outlook on potential future developments in the field.

Amorphous and Microcrystalline Silicon Solar Cells: Modeling, Materials and Device Technology provides a comprehensive overview of materials for application in thin film solar cells. It is the first book that compares experimental and computer-modeling methods, combining the state of the art in technology with the latest insights in device modeling. A wide range of experimental issues are explored, from materials and basic device physics of thin film solar cells to potential mass production facilities for solar panels. The modeling section presents an approach to integrated optical and electrical modeling of complete devices, including optical light trapping, and describes the physical materials parameters related to amorphous silicon that are crucial for successful modeling. The increasing importance of multijunction cells with different bandgap components for thin film silicon cells is reflected in a description of the latest breakthroughs acquired experimentally and by modeling. Concluding chapters describe what can be learned from combined modeling and device fabrication, indicating potential future methods of amorphous silicon solar cell optimization. This book will prove invaluable to researchers in the amorphous and microcrystalline silicon field and the physical and experimental approaches will be of interest to researchers investigating solar cells or other film devices for large area applications.

Almost all semiconductor devices contain metal-semiconductor, insulator-semiconductor, insulator-metal and/or semiconductor-semiconductor interfaces; and their electronic properties determine the device characteristics. This is the first monograph that treats the electronic properties of all different types of semiconductor interfaces. Using the continuum of interfacea "induced gap states (IFIGS) as a unifying theme, MAnch explains the band-structure lineup at all types of semiconductor interfaces. These intrinsic IFIGS are the wave-function tails of electron states, which overlap a semiconductor band-gap exactly at the interface, so they originate from the quantum-mechanical tunnel effect. He shows that a more chemical view relates the IFIGS to the partial ionic character of the covalent interface-bonds and that the charge transfer across the interface may be modeled by generalizing Paulinga (TM)s electronegativity concept. The IFIGS-and-electronegativity theory is used to quantitatively explain the barrier heights and band offsets of well-characterized Schottky contacts and semiconductor heterostructures, respectively.

The contrasting examples of microwave plasmas given in this volume demonstrate their capability of not only covering the totality of expressed needs in that particular field, but in many others. For example the ions and reactive neutral species, indispensable for the synergetic effects in etching and deposition processes can be used in metallurgical treatment, and for materials processing in general. They also have the ability to dissociate molecules and excite atoms as required in analytical chemistry where the information on the constituent concentrations is obtained through optical spectroscopy or mass spectrometry. Finally, microwave plasmas can supply the photons for laser and lighting applications. It is noteworthy that microwave plasmas cover an impressive pressure range of eight orders of magnitude from 10-3 Pa (10-5 torr) to above atmospheric pressure. The versatility of microwave plasmas, their moderate cost, and their ease of implementation particularly appeal to the industrial entrepreneur.

As well as providing a review of current developments, the work proposes a synthesis on microwave discharges, laying out the corresponding physical references without developing too much plasma theory. It will be of interest both to the user, who may not be overly concerned about plasma science, and to the plasma expert, who may wish to redirect his interest towards plasma applications, such as materials processing.

The book is a history of Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) as applied to the growth of semiconductor thin films (note that it does not cover the subject of metal thin films). It begins by examining the origins of MBE, first of all looking at the nature of molecular beams and considering their application to fundamental physics, to the development of nuclear magnetic resonance and to the invention of the microwave MASER. It shows how molecular beams of silane (SiH4) were used to study the nucleation of silicon films on a silicon substrate and how such studies were extended to compound semiconductors such as GaAs. From such surface studies in ultra-high vacuum the technique developed into a method of growing high quality single crystal films of a wide range of semiconductors. Comparing this with earlier evaporation methods of deposition and with other epitaxial deposition methods such as liquid phase and vapour phase epitaxy (LPE and VPE). The text describes the development of MBE machines from the early ahome-madea variety to that of commercial equipment and show how MBE was gradually refined to produce high quality films with atomic dimensions. This was much aided by the use of various in-situ surface analysis techniques, such as reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and mass spectrometry, a feature unique to MBE. It looks at various modified versions of the basic MBE process, then proceed to describe their application to the growth of so-called alow-dimensional structuresa (LDS) based on ultra-thin heterostructure films with thickness of order a few molecular monolayers. Further chapters cover the growth of a wide range of different compounds and describe their application to fundamental physics and to the fabrication of electronic and opto-electronic devices. The authors study the historical development of all these aspects and emphasise both the (often unexpected) manner of their discovery and development and the unique features which MBE brings to the growth of extremely complex structures with monolayer accuracy.

Highly Sensitive Optical Receivers primarily treats the circuit design of optical receivers with external photodiodes. Continuous-mode and burst-mode receivers are compared. The monograph first summarizes the basics of III/V photodetectors, transistor and noise models, bit-error rate, sensitivity and analog circuit design, thus enabling readers to understand the circuits described in the main part of the book. In order to cover the topic comprehensively, detailed descriptions of receivers for optical data communication in general and, in particular, optical burst-mode receivers in deep-sub-um CMOS are presented. Numerous detailed and elaborate illustrations facilitate better understanding. "

This book covers a wide range of topics related to functional dyes, from synthesis and functionality to application. Making a survey of recent progress in functional dye chemistry, it provides an opportunity not only to understand the structure-property relationships of a variety of functional dyes but also to know how they are applied in practical use, from electronic devices to biochemical analyses. From classic dyes such as cyanines, squaraines, porphyrins, phthalocyanines, and others to the newest functional -conjugation systems, various types of functional dyes are dealt with extensively in the book, focusing especially on the state of the art and the future. Readers will benefit greatly from the scientific context in which organic dyes and pigments are comprehensively explained on the basis of chemistry.

This book presents the emerging regime of zero refractive index photonics, involving metamaterials that exhibit effectively zero refractive index. Metamaterials are artificial structures whose optical properties can be tailored at will. With metamaterials, intriguing and spellbinding phenomena like negative refraction and electromagnetic cloaking could be realized, which otherwise seem unnatural or straight out of science fiction. Zero index metamaterials are also seen as a means of boosting nonlinear properties and are believed to have strong prospects for being useful in nonlinear optical applications. In summary, this book highlights almost everything currently available on zero index metamaterials and is useful for professionally interested and motivated readers.

This book presents a variety of techniques using high-frequency (RF) and time-domain measurements to understand the electrical performance of novel, modern transistors made of materials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and silicon-on-insulator, and using new transistor structures. The author explains how to use conventional RF and time- domain measurements to characterize the performance of the transistors. In addition, he explains how novel transistors may be subject to effects such as self-heating, period-dependent output, non-linearity, susceptibility to short-term degradation, DC-invisible structural defects, and a different response to DC and transient inputs. Readers will understand that in order to fully understand and characterize the behavior of a novel transistor, there is an arsenal of dynamic techniques available. In addition to abstract concepts, the reader will learn of practical tips required to achieve meaningful measurements, and will understand the relationship between these measurements and traditional, conventional DC characteristics.

This book addresses the development, properties, and applications of atomic-layered boron, or, borophene. The authors explain how borophene was predicted and created before investigating the properties that make it a desirable and useful material. The material is extremely thin and possesses exotic quantum states of new Dirac physics. Applications in superconductivity, plasmonics, and industrial chemical catalysis are examined, along with an examination of the material's unique hydrogen boride and boron nitride forms. Given the varied potential uses for the new-developed borophene, this timely book will be useful to researchers in academia and industry.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to the rapidly developing field of PEM fuel cells. It covers the fundamentals and basic concepts of different types of fuel cells as well as recent developments of PEM fuel cells. Components, diagnostics, performance and characterization are discussed and modelling and novel applications are covered. Written by experts in this field, this book is an invaluable tool for graduate students and professionals.

Since the 1980s, scientists have been researching adaptive structures for materials, for multifunctional elements or even for complete systems. Adaptronics (smart materials, smart structures, smart systems) is a field of distinct interdisciplinarity. The book therefore offers an interdisciplinary view of adaptronic systems, materials and functional elements and their applications. The subject matter integrates various engineering disciplines, from electrical engineering and information technology to manufacturing and control engineering, materials engineering and structural mechanics - to name but a few of the relevant subject areas. Starting from the basic principles and variants of adaptronic systems and functional materials, the textbook explains the different construction methods of functional elements. Building on this, readers learn how to apply this knowledge to active shape control, active vibration control and active vibroacoustics. For each of these topics the author presents current examples from research, discusses research results and future research questions. Each of the nine chapters closes with references to further literature. An index of the mathematical symbols used and a keyword index facilitate learning for readers.The book is aimed at Master's students in engineering courses such as mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, mechatronics, automotive engineering and related courses. The book provides a comprehensive overview for industrial practitioners who want to familiarize themselves with the field of adaptronics and also serves as a reliable reference book.

The quantum Hall effects remains one of the most important subjects to have emerged in condensed matter physics over the past 20 years. The fractional quantum Hall effect, in particular, has opened up a new paradigm in the study of strongly correlated electrons, and it has been shown that new concepts, such as fractional statistics, anyon, chiral Luttinger liquid and composite particles, are realized in two-dimensional electron systems. This book explains the quantum Hall effects together with these new concepts starting from elementary quantum mechanics. Thus, graduate students can use this book to gain an overall understanding of these phenomena.

This book offers essential information on China's human spacecraft technologies, reviewing their evolution from theoretical and engineering perspectives. It discusses topics such as the design of manned spaceships, cargo spacecraft, space laboratories, space stations and manned lunar and Mars detection spacecraft. It also addresses various key technologies, e.g. for manned rendezvous, docking and reentry. The book is chiefly intended for researchers, graduate students and professionals in the fields of aerospace engineering, control, electronics & electrical engineering, and related areas.

Principles of Electronic Materials and Devices is one of the few books in the market that has a broad coverage of electronic materials that today's scientists and engineers need. The general treatment of the textbook and various proofs leverage at a semiquantitative level without going into detailed physics.

This book highlights the properties of advanced materials suitable for realizing THz devices, circuits and systems, and processing and fabrication technologies associated with those. It also discusses some measurement techniques exclusively effective for THz regime, newly explored materials and recently developed solid-state devices for efficient generation and detection of THz waves, potentiality of metamaterials for implementing THz passive circuits and bio-sensors, and finally the future of silicon as the base material of THz devices. The book especially focuses on the recent advancements and several research issues related to THz materials and devices; it also discusses theoretical, experimental, established, and validated empirical works on these topics.

This book presents a theoretical study of the generation and conversion of phonon angular momentum in crystals. Recently, rotational motions of lattice vibrations, i.e., phonons, in crystals attract considerable attentions. As such, the book theoretically demonstrate generations of phonons with rotational motions, based on model calculations and first-principle calculations. In systems without inversion symmetry, the phonon angular momentum is shown to be caused by the temperature gradient, which is demonstrated in crystals such as wurtzite gallium nitride, tellurium, and selenium using the first-principle calculations. In systems with neither time-reversal nor inversion symmetries, the phonon angular momentum is shown to be generated by an electric field. Secondly, the book presents the microscopic mechanisms developed by the author and his collaborator on how these microscopic rotations of nuclei are coupled with electron spins. These predictions serve as building blocks for spintronics with phonons or mechanical motions.

Exploring such topics as materials, metals, bonding techniques, etching procedures and fabrication techniques, this book gives examples which should be comprehended by both technical and non-technical readers.

What kind of information on the electrons' organisation in solids is yielded by measuring their thermoelectric response? Fundamentals of Thermoelectricity gives an account of our current understanding of thermoelectric phenomena in solids by presenting basic theoretical concepts and numerous experimental results. Many readers will be surprised to learn that even in the case of simple metals (considered to be domesticated long ago by the quantum theory of solids) our understanding lags far behind known experimental facts. The two theories of phonon drag, the positive Seebeck coefficient of noble metals, and the three-orders-of-magnitude gap between theory and experiment regarding the thermoelectric response of Bogoliubov quasi-particles of a superconductor are among the forgotten puzzles discussed in this book. Among other novelties, it contains an original discussion of the role of the de Broglie thermal wave-length in setting the magnitude of the thermoelectric response in Fermi liquids.

This book is devoted to the theoretical and experimental investigation of the optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) with direct and external modulation of laser emission. Such devices, sources of precision radio frequency oscillations using laser excitation, are novel and technologically relevant, with manifold possible applications. The book includes a review of the present state of the theory and generation techniques in microwave and mm-wave ranges for traditional and optoelectronic oscillators, description of OEO construction and operation principles, theoretical oscillation analysis and mathematical description of the relevant semi-classical laser physics, and investigation of the power spectral density of noises. Technical features and advantages of OEOs with external and direct modulation of laser emission are discussed together with functional diagrams. The characteristics of OEOs are compared with other traditional RF oscillators, such as quartz, surface acoustic waves, and oscillators with electromagnetic wave cavities. Special attention is paid to Q-factors and phase noises of RF carriers at small offsets. The authors discuss the technical characteristics of modern optoelectronic methods for precision RF oscillation formation, such as commercial large-dimension and compact quantum frequency standards with optical pumping on cesium and rubidium cells. This book is aimed at scientists and engineers in academia and industry who work with sources of microwave and mm-wave signals.

This thesis presents the first ever measurement of the noise emitted by magnetic monopoles and the development of an exquisitely sensitive magnetic-field-noise spectrometer based on a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) that enabled it. Magnetic monopoles are highly elusive elementary particles exhibiting quantized magnetic charge. The prospects for studying them brightened recently with the theoretical discovery that the thermally excited states in certain classes of magnetic insulators exhibit all the characteristics of magnetic monopoles. Furthermore, in 2018, it was predicted that the random motion of magnetic monopoles inside would generate a very specific kind of magnetization noise. In this thesis, the author describes a new experimental technique, so-called spin noise spectroscopy, and the subsequent discovery of virtually all of the predicted features of the magnetic noise expected from a dense fluid of magnetic monopoles in crystals of Dy2Ti2O7. Remarkably, because this magnetic monopole noise occurs in the frequency range below 20kHz, when amplified by the SQUID it is actually audible to humans.

This book focuses on crystalline silicon solar cell science and technology. It is written from the perspective of an experimentalist with extensive hands-on experience in modeling, fabrication, and characterization. A practical approach to solar cell fabrication is presented in terms of its three components: materials, electrical, and optical. The materials section describes wafer processing methods including saw damage removal, texturing, diffusion, and surface passivation. The electrical section focuses on formation of ohmic contacts on n and p-doped surfaces. The optical section illustrates light interaction with textured silicon surfaces in terms of geometrical, diffractive and physical optics, transmission, and surface photovoltage (SPV) spectroscopy. A final chapter analyzes performance of solar cells, fabricated with a wide range of process parameters. A brief economic analysis on the merits of crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic technology as a cottage industry is also included. This professional reference will be an important resource for practicing engineers and technicians working with solar cell and PV manufacturing and renewable energy technologies, as well as upper-level engineering and material science students. Presents a practical approach to solar cell fabrication, and characterization; Offers modular methodology with detailed equipment and process parameters supported by experimental results; Includes processing diagrams and tables for 16% efficient solar cell fabrication.

This book provides an overview of the current state of the art in novel piezo-composites based on ferroelectrics. Covering aspects ranging from theoretical materials simulation and manufacturing and characterization methods, to the application and performance of these materials, it focuses on the optimization of the material parameters. Presenting the latest findings on modern composites and highlighting the applications of piezoelectric materials for sensors, transducers and hydro-acoustics, the book addresses an important gap in the physics of active dielectrics and materials science and describes new trends in the research on ferroelectric composites.

This book reviews the experimental measurements of density, thermal conductivity, viscosity, and electrical conductivity on the binary, pseudo-binary melts of the most advanced IR-detector material systems of HgCdTe and HgZnTe as well as the theoretical analyses of these results. The time-dependent measurements on the relaxation behavior of the thermophysical properties during rapid cooling of the melts were also performed to elucidate the characteristics of the structural fluctuation and transition of the melts. The author shows his research results which extend understanding of the solidification process in order to interpret and improve the experimental results of crystal growth and enhances the fundamental knowledge of heterophase fluctuations phenomena in the melts so as to improve the melt growth processes of all the semiconductor systems. An in-depth study on the thermophysical properties and their time-dependent structural dynamic processes taking place in the vicinity of the solid-liquid phase transition of the narrow homogeneity range HgTe-based ternary semiconductors as well as the structural analysis of the alloy homogenization process in the melt is needed to understand and to improve the crystal growth processes. This book is intended for graduate students and professionals in materials science as well as engineers preparing and developing optical devices with semiconductors. The theory of heterophase fluctuations of liquids is applicable to any many-body systems including condensed-matter physics and field theory.

This volume builds upon the successful book Lanthanide Luminescence published in the Springer Series on Fluorescence in 2011. Since its publication, the field of lanthanide spectroscopy and the areas in which the light emission properties of the f-elements are used have experienced substantial advances. The luminescence properties of lanthanide ions make them unique candidates for a myriad of optical applications. This book highlights and reviews the latest research in areas ranging from luminescence thermometry to imaging, sensing and photonic applications of these fascinating elements. Each chapter provides a comprehensive introduction to a specific area of application of lanthanide luminescence and extensively reviews seminal papers and current research literature. Given its interdisciplinary scope, the book appeals to scientists and advanced students in physics, chemistry and materials science interested in compounds and materials with optical properties.