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nanotimes News in Brief

10-09 :: September 2010

layer can be changed by diluting this silane gas with hydrogen during the production process. The use of hydrogen appears to enable the reduction of the negative Staebler-Wronski effect.

Van Elzakker concentrated, among other factors, on the proportion of hydrogen to silane gas. He deter- mined the optimum ratio of hydrogen to silane in the production process. Van Elzakker: “We showed that the influence of the Staebler-Wronski effect can be considerably reduced in this way. If this know- ledge is applied in the manufacture of this type of solar cells, a yield of 9 per cent can be expected.”

Gijs van Elzakker‘s findings are already being ap- plied on the production line of the German compa- ny Inventux Technologies, where he now works. http://www.tudelft.nl

White fluorescence observed by scientists from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the PAS in CVL mole- cules continuously covering practically the entire range of visible light. The discovery shows that in future it will be possible to create non-thermal light sources giving the impression of natural white colour, based on single com- ponent luminophore. © IPC PAS, Grzegorz Krzyzewski

http://www.inventux.de/index.php?id=2&L=1

Researchers from TU Delft have shown how the energy yield of relatively cheap solar panels, made of amorphous silicon, can be considerably raised: from around 7% to 9%. In his doctoral research Gijs van Elzakker investigated adaptations in the production process that could raise the yield. The silicon layer in the solar panels he studied is made of silane gas (SiH4). The structure of the silicon

Researchers at University of Texas, USA, Univer- sity of Hong Kong, China, and Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, present in PNAS the direct observation of quantum size effects (QSE) on the work function in ultrathin Pb films. Jungdae Kima, Shengyong Qina, Wang Yaob, Qian Niua, M. Y. Chouc, and Chih-Kang Shiha: Quantum size effects on the work function of metallic thin film na- nostructures, In: PNAS Early Edition, July 6, 2010, DOI:10.1073/pnas.0915171107: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0915171107