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Description
In this work, experimental photonic power converter (PPC) design, fabrication and characterization has been used, along with electrical and optical modeling, to study theoretical efficiency limits of monochromatic photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion due to photon recycling. The back-surface reflectance of a photovoltaic (PV) cell is known to strongly influence external

In this work, experimental photonic power converter (PPC) design, fabrication and characterization has been used, along with electrical and optical modeling, to study theoretical efficiency limits of monochromatic photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion due to photon recycling. The back-surface reflectance of a photovoltaic (PV) cell is known to strongly influence external radiative efficiency, a photon recycling metric (ERE), especially when reflectance is close to 100 %. Considering a perfect back reflector, an upper PV cell efficiency limit of 70.9 % and 85 % is calculated for 870.7 nm illumination at an intensity that would generate 32 mA/cm2 (1-sun) and 100 A/cm2 (3125-sun eq) photocurrent, respectively. However, when realistic non-idealities are introduced, ideal efficiency can drop by 21 % for both cases as long as the series resistivity for cells under high intensity illumination is limited to 1 mΩ cm^2. This presents a challenge for photonic energy conversion technology where high intensity lasers are typically used to deliver power to equipment from remote locations. This work discusses ways to provide reflectance enhancement while allowing sufficient current flow at the back surface. One way to do this is to use a planar transparent conductive oxide and reflective metal at the back surface. This work measures and compares the back-surface reflectance of IZO/Ag to standard reflective/conductive materials such as Au and Ag. A comparison between cells with the highest V_OC for cells processed with Au and IZO/Ag as reflective back contacts show that the V_OC for the IZO/Ag cell outperforms that of the Au cell by 6.6 mV measuring V_OC=1.071 V with a cell efficiency of 51.0 % at 780 nm LED illumination. Efficiency calculations extrapolated to other monochromatic light sources identified 841 nm as the optimal wavelength for the IZO/Ag cells with a projected efficiency of η_cell=55.5 % for incident intensity corresponding to 1-sun photocurrent. With the fill factors comparable between the cell types, at least at intensities near 1-sun equivalent photocurrent, the IZO/Ag reflective back contact design demonstrates benefits from photon recycling while not sacrificing voltage drop due to series resistance compared to cells with a standard Au back contact.
ContributorsBabcock, Sean Joseph (Author) / King, Richard R (Thesis advisor) / Honsberg, Christiana B (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Goodnick, Stephen M (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
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Description
The development of biosensing platforms not only has an immediate lifesaving effect but also has a significant socio-economic impact. In this dissertation, three very important biomarkers with immense importance were chosen for further investigation, reducing the technological gap and improving their sensing platform.Firstly, gold nanoparticles (AuNP) aggregation and sedimentation-based assays

The development of biosensing platforms not only has an immediate lifesaving effect but also has a significant socio-economic impact. In this dissertation, three very important biomarkers with immense importance were chosen for further investigation, reducing the technological gap and improving their sensing platform.Firstly, gold nanoparticles (AuNP) aggregation and sedimentation-based assays were developed for the sensitive, specific, and rapid detection of Ebola virus secreted glycoprotein (sGP)and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV2) receptor-binding domain (RBD) antigens. An extensive study was done to develop a complete assay workflow from critical nanobody generation to optimization of AuNP size for rapid detection. A rapid portable electronic reader costing (<$5, <100 cm3), and digital data output was developed. Together with the developed workflow, this portable electronic reader showed a high sensitivity (limit of detection of ~10 pg/mL, or 0.13 pM for sGP and ~40 pg/mL, or ~1.3 pM for RBD in diluted human serum), a high specificity, a large dynamic range (~7 logs), and accelerated readout within minutes. Secondly, A general framework was established for small molecule detection using plasmonic metal nanoparticles through wide-ranging investigation and optimization of assay parameters with demonstrated detection of Cannabidiol (CBD). An unfiltered assay suitable for personalized dosage monitoring was developed and demonstrated. A portable electronic reader demonstrated optoelectronic detection of CBD with a limit of detection (LOD) of <100 pM in urine and saliva, a large dynamic range (5 logs), and a high specificity that differentiates closely related Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Finally, with careful biomolecular design and expansion of the portable reader to a dual-wavelength detector the classification of antibodies based on their affinity to SARS-COV2 RBD and their ability to neutralize the RBD from binding to the human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) was demonstrated with the capability to detect antibody concentration as low as 1 pM and observed neutralization starting as low as 10 pM with different viral load and variant. This portable, low-cost, and versatile readout system holds great promise for rapid, digital, and portable data collection in the field of biosensing.
ContributorsIkbal, Md Ashif (Author) / Wang, Chao (Thesis advisor) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Zhao, Yuji (Committee member) / Wang, Shaopeng (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
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Description
The strong demand for the advancing of Moore’s law on device size scaling down has accelerated the miniaturization of passive devices. Among these important electronic components, inductors are facing challenges because the inductance value, which is strongly dependent on the coil number for the air core inductor case, will be

The strong demand for the advancing of Moore’s law on device size scaling down has accelerated the miniaturization of passive devices. Among these important electronic components, inductors are facing challenges because the inductance value, which is strongly dependent on the coil number for the air core inductor case, will be sacrificed when the size is shrinking. Adding magnetic core is one of the solutions due to its enhancement of inductance density but it will also add complexity to the fabrication process, and the core loss induced by the eddy current at high frequency is another drawback. In this report, the output of this research will be presented, which has three parts. In the first part, the CoZrTaB thin films are sputtered on different substrates and characterized comprehensively. The laminated CoZrTaB thin films have been also investigated, showing low coercivity and anisotropy field on both Si and polyimide substrates. Also, the different process conditions that could affect the magnetic properties are investigated. In the second part, Ansys Maxwell software is used to optimize the lamination profile and the magnetic core inductor structure. The measured M-H loop is imported to improve the simulation accuracy. In the third part, a novel method to fabricate the magnetic core inductors on flexible substrates is proposed. The sandwich magnetic core inductor is fabricated and assembled with flipchip bonder. The measurement result shows that this single-turn magnetic core inductor can achieve up to 24% inductance enhancement and quality factor of 7.42. The super low DC resistance (< 60 mΩ) proves that it is a good candidate to act as the passive component in the power delivery module and the use of polyimide-based substrate extends its compatibility to more packaging form factors.
ContributorsWu, Yanze (Author) / Yu, Hongbin (Thesis advisor) / Chickamenahalli, Shamala (Committee member) / Rizzo, Nicholas (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
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Description
Interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells have achieved the highest single junction silicon wafer-based solar cell power conversion efficiencies reported to date. This thesis is about the fabrication of a high-efficiency silicon heterojunction IBC solar cell for potential use as the bottom cell for a 3-terminal lattice-matched dilute-nitride Ga (In)NP(As)/Si

Interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells have achieved the highest single junction silicon wafer-based solar cell power conversion efficiencies reported to date. This thesis is about the fabrication of a high-efficiency silicon heterojunction IBC solar cell for potential use as the bottom cell for a 3-terminal lattice-matched dilute-nitride Ga (In)NP(As)/Si monolithic tandem solar cell. An effective fabrication process has been developed and the process challenges related to open circuit voltage (Voc), series resistance (Rs), and fill factor (FF) are experimentally analyzed. While wet etching, the sample lost the initial passivation, and by changing the etchant solution and passivation process, the voltage at maximum power recovered to an initial value of over 710 mV before metallization. The factors reducing the series resistance loss in IBC cells were also studied. One of these factors was the Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) sputtering parameters, which impact the conductivity of the ITO layer and transport across the a-Si:H/ITO interface. For the standard recipe, the chamber pressure was 3.5 mTorr with no oxygen partial pressure, and the thickness of the ITO layer in contact with the a-Si:H layers, was optimized to 150 nm. The patterning method for the metal contacts and final annealing also change the contact resistance of the base and emitter stack layers. The final annealing step is necessary to recover the sputtering damage; however, the higher the annealing time the higher the final IBC series resistance. The best efficiency achieved was 19.3% (Jsc = 37 mA/cm2, Voc = 691 mV, FF = 71.7%) on 200 µm thick 1-15 Ω-cm n-type CZ C-Si with a designated area of 4 cm2.
ContributorsMoeini Rizi, Mansoure (Author) / Goodnick, Stephen (Thesis advisor) / Honsberg, Christina (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Smith, David (Committee member) / Bowden, Stuart (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
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Description
Neurological disorders are the leading cause of physical and cognitive declineglobally and affect nearly 15% of the current worldwide population. These disorders include, but are not limited to, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. With the aging population, an increase in the prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders is expected. Electrophysiological monitoring of

Neurological disorders are the leading cause of physical and cognitive declineglobally and affect nearly 15% of the current worldwide population. These disorders include, but are not limited to, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. With the aging population, an increase in the prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders is expected. Electrophysiological monitoring of neural signals has been the gold standard for clinicians in diagnosing and treating neurological disorders. However, advances in detection and stimulation techniques have paved the way for relevant information not seen by standard procedures to be captured and used in patient treatment. Amongst these advances have been improved analysis of higher frequency activity and the increased concentration of alternative biomarkers, specifically pH change, during states of increased neural activity. The design and fabrication of devices with the ability to reliably interface with the brain on multiple scales and modalities has been a significant challenge. This dissertation introduces a novel, concentric, multi-scale micro-ECoG array for neural applications specifically designed for seizure detection in epileptic patients. This work investigates simultaneous detection and recording of adjacent neural tissue using electrodes of different sizes during neural events. Signal fidelity from electrodes of different sizes during in vivo experimentation are explored and analyzed to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of using varying electrode sizes. Furthermore, the novel multi-scale array was modified to perform multi-analyte detection experiments of pH change and electrophysiological activity on the cortical surface during epileptic events. This device highlights the ability to accurately monitor relevant information from multiple electrode sizes and concurrently monitor multiple biomarkers during clinical periods in one procedure that typically requires multiple surgeries.
ContributorsAkamine, Ian (Author) / Blain Christen, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Abbas, Jimmy (Committee member) / Muthuswamy, Jitendran (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Helms Tillery, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
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Description
With the demand growing for more sustainable forms of energy in replacement of fossil fuels, a major obstacle arises in the end-of life solar modules that are disposed of in landfills. Aside from the hazardous materials, silicon solar modules contain valuable and scarce materials such as silver. Silver is used

With the demand growing for more sustainable forms of energy in replacement of fossil fuels, a major obstacle arises in the end-of life solar modules that are disposed of in landfills. Aside from the hazardous materials, silicon solar modules contain valuable and scarce materials such as silver. Silver is used in many industries and many applications therefore the recycling and recovering of it is financially beneficial. The purpose of this research was to achieve high purity and recovery of silver using hydrofluoric acid. The following work presents the feasibility of silver recovery through the process of leaching and electrowinning by examining the percent recovery and cathodic coulombic efficiency, followed by a chemical analysis to determine the purity. Varying conditions in leaching and electrowinning parameters are conducted in a synthetic solution to determine the effect on silver recovery and cathodic coulombic efficiency. It was determined that the silver recovery was dependent on the applied potential, system configuration and time. The system is capable of recovery rates of over 95% at -1 V. The system is further tested on solar cells to prove that silver can be recovered. There was over 99% purity from the experiments conducted in synthetic solution and from solar cells. Additionally, a circular chemistry is proposed that allows the reuse of hydrofluoric acid for leaching and electrowinning.
ContributorsChen, Theresa (Author) / Tao, Meng (Thesis advisor) / Deng, Shuguang (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
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Description
Environmental pollution has been one of the most challenging problems in modern society and more and more health issues are now linked to environmental pollution and especially, air pollution. Certain sensitive group like patients with asthma are highly influenced by the environmental air quality and knowledge of the daily air

Environmental pollution has been one of the most challenging problems in modern society and more and more health issues are now linked to environmental pollution and especially, air pollution. Certain sensitive group like patients with asthma are highly influenced by the environmental air quality and knowledge of the daily air pollution exposure is of great importance for the management and prevention of asthma attack. Hence small form factor, real time, accurate, sensitive and easy to use portable devices for environmental monitoring are of great value.

Three novel image-based methods for quantitative real time environmental monitoring were introduced and the sensing principle, sensor performances were evaluated through simulation and field tests. The first sensing principle uses surface plasmon resonance (SPR) image and home-made molecular sieve (MS) column to realize real time chemical separation and detection. SPR is sensitive and non-specific, which makes it a desirable optical method for sensitive biological and chemical sensing, the miniaturized MS column provides small area footprint and makes it possible for SPR to record images of the whole column area. The innovative and system level integration approach provide a new way for simultaneous chemical separation and detection. The second sensor uses scattered laser light, Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) imager and image processing to realize real-time particulate matter (PM) sensing. Complex but low latency algorithm was developed to obtain real time information for PM including PM number, size and size distribution. The third sensor uses gradient based colorimetric sensor, absorbance light signal and image processing to realize real-time Ozone sensing and achieved high sensitivity and substantially longer lifetime compared to conventional colorimetric sensors. The platform provides potential for multi-analyte integration and large-scale consumer use as wearable device.

The three projects provide novel, state-of-the-art and sensitive solutions for environmental and personal exposure monitoring. Moreover, the sensing platforms also provide tools for clinicians and epidemiologists to conduct large scale clinical studies on the adverse health effects of pollutants on various kinds of diseases.
ContributorsDu, Zijian (Author) / Tao, Nongjian (Thesis advisor) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Herckes, Pierre (Committee member) / Tsow, Tsing (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
The emergence of perovskite and practical efficiency limit to silicon solar cells has opened door for perovskite and silicon based tandems with the possibility to achieve >30% efficiency. However, there are material and optical challenges that have to be overcome for the success of these tandems. In this work the

The emergence of perovskite and practical efficiency limit to silicon solar cells has opened door for perovskite and silicon based tandems with the possibility to achieve >30% efficiency. However, there are material and optical challenges that have to be overcome for the success of these tandems. In this work the aim is to understand and improve the light management issues in silicon and perovskite based tandems through comprehensive optical modeling and simulation of current state of the art tandems and by characterizing the optical properties of new top and bottom cell materials. Moreover, to propose practical solutions to mitigate some of the optical losses.

Highest efficiency single-junction silicon and bottom silicon sub-cell in silicon based tandems employ monocrystalline silicon wafer textured with random pyramids. Therefore, the light trapping performance of random pyramids in silicon solar cells is established. An accurate three-dimensional height map of random pyramids is captured and ray-traced to record the angular distribution of light inside the wafer which shows random pyramids trap light as well as Lambertian scatterer.

Second, the problem of front-surface reflectance common to all modules, planar solar cells and to silicon and perovskite based tandems is dealt. A nano-imprint lithography procedure is developed to fabricate polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) scattering layer carrying random pyramids that effectively reduces the reflectance. Results show it increased the efficiency of planar semi-transparent perovskite solar cell by 10.6% relative.

Next a detailed assessment of light-management in practical two-terminal perovskite/silicon and perovskite/perovskite tandems is performed to quantify reflectance, parasitic and light-trapping losses. For this first a methodology based on spectroscopic ellipsometry is developed to characterize new absorber materials employed in tandems. Characterized materials include wide-bandgap (CH3NH3I3, CsyFA1-yPb(BrxI1-x)3) and low-bandgap (Cs0.05FA0.5MA0.45(Pb0.5Sn0.5)I3) perovskites and wide-bandgap CdTe alloys (CdZnSeTe). Using this information rigorous optical modeling of two-terminal perovskite/silicon and perovskite/perovskite tandems with varying light management schemes is performed. Thus providing a guideline for further development.
ContributorsManzoor, Salman (Author) / Holman, Zachary C (Thesis advisor) / King, Richard (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Zhao, Yuji (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
Programmable Metallization Cell (PMC) devices are, in essence, redox-based

solid-state resistive switching devices that rely on ion transport through a solid electrolyte (SE) layer from anode to cathode. Analysis and modeling of the effect of different fabrication and processing parameter/conditions on PMC devices are crucial for future electronics. Furthermore, this work

Programmable Metallization Cell (PMC) devices are, in essence, redox-based

solid-state resistive switching devices that rely on ion transport through a solid electrolyte (SE) layer from anode to cathode. Analysis and modeling of the effect of different fabrication and processing parameter/conditions on PMC devices are crucial for future electronics. Furthermore, this work is even more significant for devices utilizing back-end- of-line (BEOL) compatible materials such as Cu, W, their oxides and SiOx as these devices offer cost effectiveness thanks to their inherent foundry-ready nature. In this dissertation, effect of annealing conditions and cathode material on the performance of Cu-SiOx vertical devices is investigated which shows that W-based devices have much lower forming voltage and initial resistance values. Also, higher annealing temperatures first lead to an increase in forming voltage from 400 °C to 500 °C, then a drastic decrease at 550 °C due to Cu island formation at the Cu/SiOx interface. Next, the characterization and modeling of the bilayer Cu2O/Cu-WO3 obtained by annealing the deposited Cu/WO3 stacks in air at BEOL-compatible temperatures is presented that display unique characteristics for lateral PMC devices. First, thin film oxidation kinetics of Cu is studied which show a parabolic relationship with annealing time and an activation energy of 0.70 eV. Grown Cu2O shows a cauliflower-like morphology where feature size on the surface increase with annealing time and temperature. Then, diffusion kinetics of Cu in WO3 is examined where the activation energy of diffusion of Cu into WO3 is calculated to be 0.74 eV. Cu was found to form clusters in the WO3 host which was revealed by imaging. Moreover, using the oxidation and diffusion analyses, a Matlab model is established for modeling the bilayer for process and annealing-condition optimization. The model is built to produce the resulting Cu2O thickness and Cu concentration in Cu-WO3. Additionally, material characterization, preliminary electrical results along with modeling of lateral PMC devices utilizing the bilayer is also demonstrated. By tuning the process parameters such as deposited Cu thickness and annealing conditions, a low-resistive Cu2O layer was achieved which dramatically enhanced the electrodeposition growth rate for lateral PMC devices.
ContributorsBalaban, Mehmet Bugra (Author) / Kozicki, Michael N (Thesis advisor) / Barnaby, Hugh J (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member, Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
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Description
Respiratory behavior provides effective information to characterize lung functionality, including respiratory rate, respiratory profile, and respiratory volume. Current methods have limited capabilities of continuous characterization of respiratory behavior and are primarily targeting the measurement of respiratory rate, which has relatively less value in clinical application. In this dissertation, a wireless

Respiratory behavior provides effective information to characterize lung functionality, including respiratory rate, respiratory profile, and respiratory volume. Current methods have limited capabilities of continuous characterization of respiratory behavior and are primarily targeting the measurement of respiratory rate, which has relatively less value in clinical application. In this dissertation, a wireless wearable sensor on a paper substrate is developed to continuously characterize respiratory behavior and deliver clinically relevant parameters, contributing to asthma control. Based on the anatomical analysis and experimental results, the optimum site for the wireless wearable sensor is on the midway of the xiphoid process and the costal margin, corresponding to the abdomen-apposed rib cage. At the wearing site, the linear strain change during respiration is measured and converted to lung volume by the wireless wearable sensor utilizing a distance-elapsed ultrasound. An on-board low-power Bluetooth module transmits the temporal lung volume change to a smartphone, where a custom-programmed app computes to show the clinically relevant parameters, such as forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume delivered in the first second (FEV1) and the FEV1/FVC ratio. Enhanced by a simple, yet effective machine-learning algorithm, a system consisting of two wireless wearable sensors accurately extracts respiratory features and classifies the respiratory behavior within four postures among different subjects, demonstrating that the respiratory behaviors are individual- and posture-dependent contributing to monitoring the posture-related respiratory diseases. The continuous and accurate monitoring of respiratory behaviors can track the respiratory disorders and diseases' progression for timely and objective approaches for control and management.
ContributorsChen, Ang (Author) / Cao, Yu (Thesis advisor) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Allee, David (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020