The book describes emerging strategies to circumvent transmission and thermalization losses in solar cells, and thereby redefine the limits of solar power conversion efficiency. These strategies include the use of organic molecules and rare-earth metal materials. Approaches to augment the efficiency of these processes via near-field enhancement are described as well. This book includes a discussion of state-of-the-art implementations of these emerging strategies in solar cells, both internally, as in molecular intermediate band and charge carrier multiplication, and externally, such as photon up- and down-conversion. Tools for characterization are also provided. Written by leading researchers in the field, this book can be useful to both beginners and experienced researchers in solar energy.

This volume presents peer reviewed and selected papers of the International Youth Conference on Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technologies (YETI-2020), held in Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg on July 10-11, 2020. It discusses current trends and major advances in electronics, telecommunications, optical and information technologies, focusing, in particular, on theoretical and practical aspects of developing novel devices and materials, improving data processing methods and technologies. The conference brings together young researchers and early-career scientists participating in a series of lectures and presentations, establishing contacts with potential partners, sharing new project ideas and starting new collaborations.

This book introduces recent progress in preparation and application of core-shell and yolk-shell structures for attractive design of catalyst materials. Core-shell nanostructures with active core particles covered directly with an inert shell can perform as highly active and selective catalysts with long lifetimes. Yolk-shell nanostructures consisting of catalytically active core particles encapsulated by hollow materials are an emerging class of nanomaterials. The enclosed void space is expected to be useful for encapsulation and compartmentation of guest molecules, and the outer shell acts as a physical barrier to protect the guest molecules from the surrounding environment. Furthermore, the tunability and functionality in the core and the shell regions can offer new catalytic properties, rendering them attractive platform materials for the design of heterogeneous catalysts. This book describes the recent development of such unique nanostructures to design effective catalysts which can lead to new chemical processes. It provides an excellent guide for design and application of core-shell and yolk-shell structured catalysts for a wide range of readers working on design of attractive catalysts, photocatalysts, and electrocatalysts for energy, environmental, and green chemical processes.

This book systematically reviews the history of lead-free piezoelectric materials, including the latest research. It also addresses a number of important issues, such as new types of materials prepared in a multitude of sizes, structural and physical properties, and potential applications for high-performance devices. Further, it examines in detail the state of the art in lead-free piezoelectric materials, focusing on the pathways to modify different structures and achieve enhanced physical properties and new functional behavior. Lastly, it discusses the prospects for potential future developments in lead-free piezoelectric materials across disciplines and for multifunctional applications. Given its breadth of coverage, the book offers a comprehensive resource for graduate students, academic researchers, development scientists, materials producers, device designers and applications engineers who are working on or are interested in advanced lead-free piezoelectric materials.

Why a book on Iatchup? Latchup has been, and continues to be, a potentially serious CMOS reliability concern. This concern is becoming more widespread with the ascendency of CMOS as the dominant VLSI technology, particularly as parasitic bipolar characteristics continue to improve at ever smaller dimensions on silicon wafers with ever lower defect densities. Although many successful parts have been marketed, latchup solutions have often been ad hoc. Although latchup avoidance techniques have been previously itemized, there has been little quantitative evaluation of prior latchup fixes. What is needed is a more general, more systematic treatment of the latchup problem. Because of the wide variety of CMOS technologies and the long term interest in latchup, some overall guiding principles are needed. Appreciating the variety of possible triggering mechanisms is key to a real understanding of latchup. This work reviews the origin of each and its effect on the parasitic structure. Each triggering mechanism is classified according to a new taxonomy.

The present book focuses on recent advances methods and applications in photovoltaic (PV) systems. The book is divided into two parts: the first part deals with some theoretical, simulation and experiments on solar cells, including efficiency improvement, new materials and behavior performances. While the second part of the book devoted mainly on the application of advanced methods in PV systems, including advanced control, FPGA implementation, output power forecasting based artificial intelligence technique (AI), high PV penetration, reconfigurable PV architectures and fault detection and diagnosis based AI. The authors of the book trying to show to readers more details about some theoretical methods and applications in solar cells and PV systems (eg. advanced algorithms for control, optimization, power forecasting, monitoring and fault diagnosis methods). The applications are mainly carried out in different laboratories and location around the world as projects (Algeria, KSA, Turkey, Morocco, Italy and France). The book will be addressed to scientists, academics, researchers and PhD students working in this topic. The book will help readers to understand some applications including control, forecasting, monitoring, fault diagnosis of photovoltaic plants, as well as in solar cells such as behavior performances and efficiency improvement. It could be also be used as a reference and help industry sectors interested by prototype development.

Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics, Volume 213, merges two long-running serials, Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics and Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy. The series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science, digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy and the computing methods used in all these domains.

This book highlights the fundamental principles of optical fiber technology required for understanding modern high-capacity lightwave telecom networks. Such networks have become an indispensable part of society with applications ranging from simple web browsing to critical healthcare diagnosis and cloud computing. Since users expect these services to always be available, careful engineering is required in all technologies ranging from component development to network operations. To achieve this understanding, this book first presents a comprehensive treatment of various optical fiber structures and diverse photonic components used in optical fiber networks. Following this discussion are the fundamental design principles of digital and analog optical fiber transmission links. The concluding chapters present the architectures and performance characteristics of optical networks.

This book presents and facilitates new research and development results with hot topics in the thermoelectric generators (TEGs) field. Topics include: novel thin film; multilayer, composite and nanostructured thermoelectric materials; simulation of phenomena related to thermoelectricity; thermoelectric thin film and multilayer materials manufacturing technologies; measurement techniques for characterization; thermoelectric generators; and the simulation, modeling, design, thermal, and mechanical degradation problems. This book helps researchers tackle the challenges that still remain in creating cheap and effective TEGs and presents the latest trends and technologies in development and production of advanced thermoelectric generation devices.

Mid-infrared Optoelectronics: Materials, Devices, and Applications addresses the new materials, devices and applications that have emerged over the last decade, along with exciting areas of research. Sections cover fundamentals, light sources, photodetectors, new approaches, and the application of mid-IR devices, with sections discussing LEDs, laser diodes, and quantum cascade lasers, mid-infrared optoelectronics, emerging research areas, dilute bismide and nitride alloys, Group-IV materials, gallium nitride heterostructures, and new nonlinear materials. Finally, the most relevant applications of mid-infrared devices are reviewed in industry, gas sensing, spectroscopy, and imaging. This book presents a key reference for materials scientists, engineers and professionals working in R&D in the area of semiconductors and optoelectronics.

This book focuses on the calculus of variations, including fundamental theories and applications. This textbook is intended for graduate and higher-level college and university students, introducing them to the basic concepts and calculation methods used in the calculus of variations. It covers the preliminaries, variational problems with fixed boundaries, sufficient conditions of extrema of functionals, problems with undetermined boundaries, variational problems of conditional extrema, variational problems in parametric forms, variational principles, direct methods for variational problems, variational principles in mechanics and their applications, and variational problems of functionals with vector, tensor and Hamiltonian operators. Many of the contributions are based on the authors' research, addressing topics such as the extension of the connotation of the Hilbert adjoint operator, definitions of the other three kinds of adjoint operators, the extremum function theorem of the complete functional, unified Euler equations in variational methods, variational theories of functionals with vectors, modulus of vectors, arbitrary order tensors, Hamiltonian operators and Hamiltonian operator strings, reconciling the Euler equations and the natural boundary conditions, and the application range of variational methods. The book is also a valuable reference resource for teachers as well as science and technology professionals.

Tin Oxide Materials: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications discusses the latest in metal oxides, an emerging area in electronic materials. As more is learned about this important materials system, more functionalities and applications have been revealed. This key reference on the topic covers important material that is ideal for materials scientists, materials engineers and materials chemists who have been introduced to metal oxides as a general category of materials, but want to take the next step and learn more about a specific material.

This book presents the most important advances in the class of topological materials and discusses the topological characterization, modeling and metrology of materials. Further, it addresses currently emerging characterization techniques such as optical and acoustic, vibrational spectroscopy (Brillouin, infrared, Raman), electronic, magnetic, fluorescence correlation imaging, laser lithography, small angle X-ray and neutron scattering and other techniques, including site-selective nanoprobes. The book analyzes the topological aspects to identify and quantify these effects in terms of topology metrics. The topological materials are ubiquitous and range from (i) de novo nanoscale allotropes of carbons in various forms such as nanotubes, nanorings, nanohorns, nanowalls, peapods, graphene, etc. to (ii) metallo-organic frameworks, (iii) helical gold nanotubes, (iv) Moebius conjugated polymers, (v) block co-polymers, (vi) supramolecular assemblies, to (vii) a variety of biological and soft-matter systems, e.g. foams and cellular materials, vesicles of different shapes and genera, biomimetic membranes, and filaments, (viii) topological insulators and topological superconductors, (ix) a variety of Dirac materials including Dirac and Weyl semimetals, as well as (x) knots and network structures. Topological databases and algorithms to model such materials have been also established in this book. In order to understand and properly characterize these important emergent materials, it is necessary to go far beyond the traditional paradigm of microscopic structure-property-function relationships to a paradigm that explicitly incorporates topological aspects from the outset to characterize and/or predict the physical properties and currently untapped functionalities of these advanced materials. Simulation and modeling tools including quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, 3D visualization and tomography are also indispensable. These concepts have found applications in condensed matter physics, materials science and engineering, physical chemistry and biophysics, and the various topics covered in the book have potential applications in connection with novel synthesis techniques, sensing and catalysis. As such, the book offers a unique resource for graduate students and researchers alike.

This book demonstrates to readers why Gallium Nitride (GaN) transistors have a superior performance as compared to the already mature Silicon technology. The new GaN-based transistors here described enable both high frequency and high efficiency power conversion, leading to smaller and more efficient power systems. Coverage includes i) GaN substrates and device physics; ii) innovative GaN -transistors structure (lateral and vertical); iii) reliability and robustness of GaN-power transistors; iv) impact of parasitic on GaN based power conversion, v) new power converter architectures and vi) GaN in switched mode power conversion. Provides single-source reference to Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based technologies, from the material level to circuit level, both for power conversions architectures and switched mode power amplifiers; Demonstrates how GaN is a superior technology for switching devices, enabling both high frequency, high efficiency and lower cost power conversion; Enables design of smaller, cheaper and more efficient power supplies.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Handbook, Second Edition, is a one-stop reference on current electronic waste legislation initiatives, their impact, and the latest technological considerations for reducing electronic waste (e-waste) and increasing the efficiency of materials recovery. It also provides a wide-range of global and corporate examples and perspectives on the challenges that face specific regions and companies, along with the solutions they are implementing in managing e-waste, offering further insights on how discarded products can be treated. Sections introduce the reader to legislation and initiatives to manage WEEE and discuss technologies for the refurbishment, treatment and recycling of waste electronics. Further sections focus on electronic products that present particular challenges for recyclers, explore sustainable design of electronics and supply chains, discuss national and regional WEEE management schemes, and more.

This monograph is intended for researchers and professionals in the fields of computer science and cybernetics. Nowadays, the areas of computer science and cybernetics (mainly its artificial intelligence branches) are subject to an immense degree of study and are applied in a wide range of technical and industrial projects. The individual chapters of this monograph were developed from a series of invited lectures at the Brno University of Technology in the years 2018 and 2019. The main aim of these lectures was to create an opportunity for students, academics, and professionals to exchange ideas, novel research methods, and new industrial applications in the fields related to soft computing and cybernetics. The authors of these chapters come from around the world and their works cover both new theoretical and application-oriented results from areas such as automation, control, robotics, optimization, statistics, reinforcement learning, image processing, and evolutionary algorithms.

This book presents peer-reviewed articles from the International Conference on Optics and Electro-optics, ICOL-2019, held at Dehradun in India. It brings together leading researchers and professionals in the field of optics/optical engineering/optical materials and provides a platform to present and establish collaborations in this important area, with the theme "Trends in Electro-optics Instrumentation for Strategic Applications". Topics covered but not limited to are Optical Engineering, Optical Thin Films, Optical Materials, IR Sensors, Image Processing & Systems, Photonic Band Gap Materials, Adaptive Optics, Optical Image Processing & Holography, Lasers, Fiber Lasers & its Applications, Diffractive Optics, Innovative packaging of Optical Systems, Nanophotonics Devices and Applications, Optical Interferometry & Metrology, Terahertz, Millimeter Wave & Microwave Photonics, Fiber, Integrated & Nonlinear Optics and Optics and Electro-optics for Strategic Applications.

This book comprehensively summarizes the recent achievements and trends in encapsulation of micro- and nanocontainers for applications in smart materials. It covers the fundamentals of processing and techniques for encapsulation with emphasis on preparation, properties, application, and future prospects of encapsulation process for smart applications in pharmaceuticals, textiles, biomedical, food packaging, composites, friction/wear, phase change materials, and coatings. Academics, researchers, scientists, engineers, and students in the field of smart materials will benefit from this book.

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.

This book discusses the spectral properties of solid-state laser materials, including emission and absorption of light, the law of radiative and nonradiative transitions, the selection rule for optical transitions, and different calculation methods of the spectral parameters. The book includes a systematic presentation of the authors' own research works in this field, specifically addressing the stimulated nonradiative transition theory and the apparent crystal field model. This volume is helpful resource for researchers and graduate students in the fields of solid spectroscopy and solid-state laser material physics, while also serving as a valuable reference guide for instructors and advanced students of physics.

This book features works from world-class experts from academia, industry, and national agencies from across the world focusing on a wide spectrum of automotive fields covering in-vehicle signal processing, driver modeling, systems and safety. The essays collected in this volume present cutting-edge studies on safety, driver behavior, infrastructure, and human-to-vehicle interfaces.

This open access book presents theoretical framework and sample applications of variant construction. The first part includes the components variant logic, variant measurements, and variant maps, while the second part covers sample applications such as variation with functions, variant stream ciphers, quantum interference, classical/quantum random sequences, whole DNA sequences, and multiple-valued pulse sequences. Addressing topics ranging from logic and measuring foundation to typical applications and including various illustrated maps, it is a valuable guide for theoretical researchers in discrete mathematics; computing-, quantum- and communication scientists; big data engineers; as well as graduate and upper undergraduate students.

This book offers a didactic introduction to light-matter interactions at both the classical and semi-classical levels. Pursuing an approach that describes the essential physics behind the functionality of any optical element, it acquaints students with the broad areas of optics and photonics. Its rigorous, bottom-up approach to the subject, using model systems ranging from individual atoms and simple molecules to crystalline and amorphous solids, gradually builds up the reader's familiarity and confidence with the subject matter. Throughout the book, the detailed mathematical treatment and examples of practical applications are accompanied by problems with worked-out solutions. In short, the book provides the most essential information for any graduate or advanced undergraduate student wishing to begin their course of study in the field of photonics, or to brush up on important concepts prior to an examination.