University of Electro-Communications

About: University of Electro-Communications is a education organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Laser & Robot. The organization has 8041 authors who have published 16950 publications receiving 235832 citations. The organization is also known as: UEC & Denki-Tsūshin Daigaku.

High reduction of interfacial charge recombination in colloidal quantum dot solar cells by metal oxide surface passivation

Abstract: Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells based on colloidal QDs and metal oxide nanowires (NWs) possess unique and outstanding advantages in enhancing light harvesting and charge collection in comparison to planar architectures. However, the high surface area of the NW structure often brings about a large amount of recombination (especially interfacial recombination) and limits the open-circuit voltage in BHJ solar cells. This problem is solved here by passivating the surface of the metal oxide component in PbS colloidal quantum dot solar cells (CQDSCs). By coating thin TiO2 layers onto ZnO-NW surfaces, the open-circuit voltage and power conversion efficiency have been improved by over 40% in PbS CQDSCs. Characterization by transient photovoltage decay and impedance spectroscopy indicated that the interfacial recombination was significantly reduced by the surface passivation strategy. An efficiency as high as 6.13% was achieved through the passivation approach and optimization for the length of the ZnO-NW arrays (device active area: 16 mm2). All solar cells were tested in air, and exhibited excellent air storage stability (without any performance decline over more than 130 days). This work highlights the significance of metal oxide passivation in achieving high performance BHJ solar cells. The charge recombination mechanism uncovered in this work could shed light on the further improvement of PbS CQDSCs and/or other types of solar cells.

Strong converse theorems in the quantum information theory

Abstract: Strong converse theorems for two different subjects in quantum information theory are presented. First, we show a lower bound on the probability of decoding error for a quantum communication channel, from which the strong converse to the quantum channel coding theorem is obtained. Second, we give the strong converse theorem for the quantum hypothesis testing as an application of a new inequality on the error probabilities. This inequality is also used to establish the quantum Stein's lemma.

Anomalies in the Sub-ionospheric VLF Signals for the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu Earthquake.

Abstract: The sub-ionospheric VLF Omega signal transmitted from Tsushima, Japan (geographic coordinates: 34°37'N, 129°27'E) is continuously received at Inubo (35°42'N, 140°52'E). The signal's propagation characteristics (especially phase) exhibited abnormal behavior (especially around the sunrise and sunset local times) a few days before the main shock of the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake. We found from the computer simulation of VLF signal propagation that the observed effect can be explained by a decrease of about 0.7 km of VLF reflection height at the atmosphere-ionosphere boundary.

Size-controlled aerosol synthesis of silver nanoparticles for plasmonic materials

Abstract: Aerosol techniques were used to synthesize spherical and monodisperse silver nanoparticles for plasmonic materials. The particles were generated with an evaporation–condensation technique followed by size selection and sintering with a differential mobility analyzer and a tube furnace, respectively. Finally, the nanoparticles were collected on a glass substrate with an electrostatic precipitator. The particle size distributions were measured with a scanning mobility particle sizer and verified with a transmission electron microscope. A spectrophotometer was used to measure the optical extinction spectra of the prepared samples, which contained particles with diameters of approximately 50, 90 and 130 nm. By controlling the particle size, the dipolar peak of the localized surface plasmon resonance was tuned between wavelengths of 398 and 448 nm. In addition, quadrupolar resonances were observed at shorter wavelengths as predicted by the simplified theoretical model used to characterize the measured spectra.