In this study, we made the heterojunction solar cells on Si substrate by fabricating a nanocrystalline Si/SiO2 superlattice emitter structure. Amorphous silicon and silicon dioxide superlattice were prepared by rf Si sputtering and plasma oxidation, respectively. The deposited amorphous silicon was crystallized at high temperature. Microstructure studies by TEM show that amorphous silicon was c...

A phenomenon resembling natural ball lightning can be produced via electrical arcing through silicon. We use lump silicon instead of silicon wafers to achieve higher production rates and larger, longer-lived luminous balls than previously reported. The luminous balls consist of a silicon core surrounded by a porous network of loosely bound silicon dioxide nanoparticles. We find that the balls c...

A new optical fiber and method of manufacturing the same developed for use with surgical laser systems. The fiber core utilizes an ultra-low expansion (ULE) material. The preferred ULE fiber consists of silicon dioxide core doped with titanium dioxide which is cladded and jacketed for chemical and abrasion resistance. The resulting fiber is stable against degradation due to thermal expansion.

The Minnesota Nano Center’s Keller Hall facility includes an atomic layer deposition (ALD) machine that is capable of depositing uniform alumina (Al2O3), hafnium oxide (HfO2), silicon dioxide (SiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), and titanium dioxide (TiO2). ALD works by building alternate layers on a film using two different precursor gases – one usually supplying the metallic atoms and water vapor (H2O) ...

Self-assembled polymer/porous silicon nanocomposites overcome intracellular and systemic barriers for in vivo application of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) anti-microRNA therapeutics. Porous silicon (PSi) is leveraged as a biodegradable scaffold with high drug-cargo-loading capacity. Functionalization with a diblock polymer improves PSi nanoparticle colloidal stability, in vivo pharmacokinetics, an...

Field-effect transistors (FETs) in conventional electronic circuits are in contact with the high-thermal-conductivity substrate. In contrast, FETs in novel silicon-on-insulator (SOl) circuits are separated from the substrate by a thermally resistive silicon-dioxide layer. The layer improves the electrical performance of SO1 circuits. But it impedes conduction cooling of transistors and intercon...

A new optical fiber and method of manufacturing the same developed for use with surgical laser systems. The fiber core utilizes an ultra-low expansion (ULE) material. The preferred ULE fiber consists of silicon dioxide core doped with titanium dioxide which is cladded and jacketed for chemical and abrasion resistance. The resulting fiber is stable against degradation due to thermal expansion.

Highly efficient and selective electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide represents one of the biggest scientific challenges in artificial photosynthesis, where carbon dioxide and water are converted into chemical fuels from solar energy. However, our fundamental understanding of the reaction is still limited and we do not have the capability to design an outstanding catalyst with great activ...