The term photonic crystals appears because of the analogy between electron waves in crystals and the light waves in artificial periodic dielectric structures. During the recent years the investigation of one-, two-and three-dimensional periodic structures has attracted a widespread attention of the world optics community because of great potentiality of such structures in advanced applied optical fields. The interest in periodic structures has been stimulated by the fast development of semiconductor technology that now allows the fabrication of artificial structures, whose period is comparable with the wavelength of light in the visible and infrared ranges.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6354/16969/00781867.pdf

Photonic crystals

http://chglib.icp.ac.ru/subjex/2013/pdf02/ChemPhysicsLetters-2010-487(1-3)1.pdf

Quantum cascade lasers in chemical physics

Intricate hollow structures garner tremendous interest due to their aesthetic beauty, unique structural features, fascinating physicochemical properties, and widespread applications. Here, the recent advances in the controlled synthesis are discussed, as well as applications of intricate hollow structures with regard to energy storage and conversion. The synthetic strategies toward complex multishelled hollow structures are classified into six categories, including well-established hard- and soft-templating methods, as well as newly emerging approaches based on selective etching of “soft@hard” particles, Ostwald ripening, ion exchange, and thermally induced mass relocation. Strategies for constructing structures beyond multishelled hollow structures, such as bubble-within-bubble, tube-in-tube, and wire-in-tube structures, are also covered. Niche applications of intricate hollow structures in lithium-ion batteries, Li–S batteries, supercapacitors, Li–O2 batteries, dye-sensitized solar cells, photocatalysis, and fuel cells are discussed in detail. Some perspectives on the future research and development of intricate hollow structures are also provided.

Intricate Hollow Structures: Controlled Synthesis and Applications in Energy Storage and Conversion

Hydrogen production from water splitting by photo/photoelectron-catalytic process is a promising route to solve both fossil fuel depletion and environmental pollution at the same time. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes have attracted much interest due to their large specific surface area and highly ordered structure, which has led to promising potential applications in photocatalytic degradation, photoreduction of CO2, water splitting, supercapacitors, dye-sensitized solar cells, lithium-ion batteries and biomedical devices. Nanotubes can be fabricated via facile hydrothermal method, solvothermal method, template technique and electrochemical anodic oxidation. In this report, we provide a comprehensive review on recent progress of the synthesis and modification of TiO2 nanotubes to be used for photo/photoelectro-catalytic water splitting. The future development of TiO2 nanotubes is also discussed.

One‐dimensional TiO2 Nanotube Photocatalysts for Solar Water Splitting

https://web.njit.edu/~sirenko/PapersNJIT/Ravi_IPT_2007.pdf

Energy gap refractive index relations in semiconductors An overview

For nearly a century, oxygen has been widely accepted as the key element that triggers photo-response in polycrystalline PbSe photoconductive detectors. Our photoluminescence and responsivity studies on PbSe samples, however, suggest that oxygen only serves as an effective sensitization improver and it is iodine rather than oxygen that plays the key role in triggering the photo-response. These studies shed light on the sensitization process for detector applications and ways to passivate defects in IV–VI semiconductors. As a result, high peak detectivity of 2.8 × 1010 cm·Hz1/2·W−1 was achieved at room temperature.

Study of sensitization process on mid-infrared uncooled PbSe photoconductive detectors leads to high detectivity

We introduce a charge separation model in this work to explain the mechanism of enhanced photoconductivity of polycrystalline lead salt photoconductors. Our results show that this model could clarify the heuristic fabrication processes of such lead salt detectors that were not well understood and often considered mysterious for nearly a century. The improved lifetime and performance of the device, e.g., responsivity, are attributed to the spatial separation of holes and electrons, hence less possibility of carrier recombination. This model shows that in addition to crystal quality the size of crystallites, the depth of outer conversion layer, and doping concentration could all affect detector performance. The simulation results agree well with experimental results and thus offer a very useful tool for further improvement of lead salt detectors. The model was developed with lead salt family of photoconductors in mind, but may well be applicable to a wider class of semiconducting films.

Understanding sensitization behavior of lead selenide photoconductive detectors by charge separation model

The performance of one-dimensional (1D) TiO2 nanotube based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) was limited by the insufficient surface area of TiO2 nanotubes. To solve this issue, coaxial multiple-shelled TiO2 nanotube arrays were successfully synthesized on the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) substrates by using improved ZnO nanorod template assisted layer by layer absorption and reaction (LbL-AR) technique. To fabricate tube-in-tube nanostructures, LbL-AR TiO2 coatings were successively deposited on the exterior walls of the ZnO nanowires and the sacrificial sol–gel ZnO spacers, which were removed together by selective etching to form the hollow tubal structures. The performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) increases with increasing the shell number of multi-shelled TiO2 nanotube photoanodes, attributed to the increase of the surface area, which was confirmed by N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms and the dye-loading capacities. A maximum efficiency of 6.2% was achieved for a quintuple shelled TiO2 nanotube photoanode with a short-circuit current density (Jsc) = 15 mA cm2, open-circuit voltage (Voc) = 0.73 V and fill factor (FF) = 0.57.

Coaxial multi-shelled TiO2 nanotube arrays for dye sensitized solar cells

The CaF2 nano-structures grown by thermal vapor deposition are presented. Significant responsivity improvement (>200%) of mid-infrared PbSe detectors incorporating a 200 nm nano-structured CaF2 coating was observed. The detector provides a detectivity of 4.2 × 1010 cm · Hz1/2/W at 3.8 μm, which outperforms all the reported un-cooled PbSe detectors. Structural investigations show that the coating is constructed by tapered-shape nanostructures, which creates a gradient refractive-index profile. Analogy to moth-eye antireflective mechanism, the gradient refractive-index nanostructures play the major roles for this antireflection effect. Some other possible mechanisms that help enhance the device performance are also discussed in the work.

Responsivity enhancement of mid-infrared PbSe detectors using CaF2 nano-structured antireflective coatings

Optically pumped lead salt vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with a nine period PbSe/PbSrSe quantum well active region operating above room temperature in pulsed mode are reported. The gain peak and cavity mode of the VCSEL structure are in resonance at 300 K. A power output of 40 mW is obtained at room temperature and it does not show saturation. The room-temperature threshold pump density is 200 kW/cm2. The lasing wavelength of λ=4.12 μm remains nearly constant over a temperature range of 280–310 K.

Zhisheng Shi

Papers

Study of sensitization process on mid-infrared uncooled PbSe photoconductive detectors leads to high detectivity

Understanding sensitization behavior of lead selenide photoconductive detectors by charge separation model

Coaxial multi-shelled TiO2 nanotube arrays for dye sensitized solar cells

Responsivity enhancement of mid-infrared PbSe detectors using CaF2 nano-structured antireflective coatings

Above-room-temperature optically pumped 4.12 μm midinfrared vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers