Positive-intrinsic-negative Research Articles

A Comparison of the Structure and Properties of Opaque and Semi-Transparent NIP/PIN-Type Scalable Perovskite Solar Cells

For over a decade, single-junction perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have experienced an unprecedent increase in efficiencies and even offer opportunities to surpass the Shockley–Queisser limit in multijunction configuration. There is consequently an intense need for easily processable semi-transparent PSCs as a basis of affordable tandems. The current study reports the comparison of negative-intrinsic-positive (NIP) and positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) architectures based on CH3NH3PbI3{Cl}-based perovskite. Both devices could be prepared with the same N-type (SnO2 nanoparticles) and P-type (poly-triarylamine (PTAA) polymer) materials. Each layer (except for electrodes) was deposited using solvent-based low temperature processes, contrasting with other literature studies, especially SnO2 for PIN-type purposes. A thorough experimental comparison of the two architectures reveals rather similar optical and structural properties for perovskites, whether deposited on an N- or P-type underlayer, with also comparable efficiencies in the final devices. A compatible deposition process for sputtered indium tin oxide (ITO) as a semi-transparent electrode was then performed for both architectures. Upon varying the illuminated devices’ side, the semi-transparent cells exhibited different photocurrent behaviors, the magnitude of which depended on the device’s architecture. In conclusion, despite slightly better efficiencies for the semi-transparent NIP-type devices, the semi-transparent PIN-type counterparts also appear to be optically attractive for (two-terminal) tandem applications.

Laser-induced damage in a silicon-based photodiode by MHz picosecond laser

Study of the damage characteristics of silicon-based photodetectors is of great significance in improving application performance, but few studies of laser-induced damage have been undertaken on photodetectors irradiated by hundred-ps fiber lasers. In this work, we demonstrate an all-fiber ps-pulsed laser system which outputs a pulse width of 226.5 ps and an average power of 20 W at 2.4 MHz repetition rate, with high beam quality and pulse stability. Experiments use this fiber amplifier to irradiate a silicon-based positive–intrinsic–negative (PIN) photodiode. The changes in detector performance and surface morphology are confirmed by systematic experiments on the laser-irradiated detector. The results show that detection performance was sensitive to laser energy, and the failure damage threshold was about 864 kW cm−2. Based on hydrodynamics theory, we simulated the laser-induced plasma density distribution in a PIN photodiode and studied the thermal and plasma damage mechanisms in the PIN photodiode.

Damage accumulation mechanism in PIN diode limiters induced via multiple microwave pulses

Positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes are widely used as limiters to protect sensitive components from damage in radio frequency (RF) receiver systems and communication front-ends. However, PIN diode limiters can be burnt out due to the microwave pulses coupling through the front-end of RF receiver systems. The damage processes and mechanisms in PIN limiters are undoubtedly important topics. Here, the damage accumulation process in PIN limiters induced by external microwave pulses is studied via the injection experiments. The relationship between the degree of damage (i.e., insertion loss) in the limiters and number of the injected pulses is reported. The maximum temperature criterion for burnout in PIN limiters is theoretically predicted and experimentally verified not accurate, and it is further observed that the insertion loss of the PIN diode limiter changes significantly only if more energy is injected into the limiter via microwave pulses.

Demonstration of Reconfigurable BPFs with Wide Tuning Bandwidth Range Using 3λ/4 Open- and λ/2 Short- Ended Stubs

In this paper, two implementations of reconfigurable bandwidth bandpass filters (BPFs) are demonstrated both operating at a fixed center frequency of 2.4 GHz. The proposed reconfigurable bandwidth filters are based on a square ring resonator loaded with λg/4 open-ended stubs that are permanently connected to the ring and converted to either 3λg/4 open-ended stubs or λg/2 short-ended stubs by means of positive-intrinsic-negative(PIN) diodes to implement two reconfigurable bandwidth states for each case. Due to the symmetrical nature of the design, even- and odd-mode analysis is used to derive the closed-form to describe the reconfigurable filters’ behavior. The switching between narrowband and wideband is achieved using PIN diodes. In the first implementation (λg/4 open-ended stubs to 3λg/4 open-ended stubs), a reconfigurable bandwidth bandpass filter is proposed where additional out-of-band transmission zeros are generated by integrating a λg/2 open-ended stub at the input port. In the second implementation (λg/4 open-ended stubs to λg/2 short-ended stubs), further improvement in the upper stopband is achieved by utilizing a pair of parallel coupled lines (PCLs) as feeding lines and a pair of λg/4 high impedance short-ended stubs implemented at the input and output ports. To verify the validity of the simulated results, the prototypes of the proposed reconfigurable filters were fabricated. For the first case, measured insertion loss is less than 1.8 dB with a switchable 3-dB fractional bandwidth (FBW) range from 28% to 54%. The measured results for the second case exhibit a low insertion loss of less than 1 dB and a 3-dB fractional bandwidth that can be switched from 34% to 75%, while the center frequency is kept constant at 2.4 GHz in both cases.

Reconfigurable 3-D Slot Antenna Design for 4G and Sub-6G Smartphones with Metallic Casing

The design of a reconfigurable three-dimensional (3-D) slot antenna for 4G and sub-6G smartphone application is presented in this paper. The antenna is located at the bottom of the smartphone and integrated with a metallic casing. Positive-Intrinsic-Negative (PIN) diodes are loaded at the dual-open slot and the folded U-shaped slot, respectively, which are used to realize four working states. The antenna has a compact volume of 42 × 6 × 6 mm3, which can cover the long term evolution (LTE) bands of 698–960 MHz and 1710–2690 MHz, and the sub-6G bands of 3300–3600 MHz & 4800–5000 MHz. The design processes are presented and the structure is optimized, fabricated and measured. The comparison to other state-of-the-art antennas shows that the proposed design has multiband characteristics with small size.

A High-Efficiency Reconfigurable Element for Dynamic Metasurface Antenna

A high-efficiency reconfigurable element for dynamic metasurface antennas (DMA), consisting of a complimentary electric-LC (CELC) resonator fed through the cavity from a waveguide slot, is proposed in this paper, with positive- intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes loaded to realize the coding performance. To begin with, the low efficiency problem of a traditional CELC element is demonstrated before the introduction of the proposed element. Subsequently, an equivalent circuit is illustrated to analyse the resonant performance, with extensive parametric study for verification. The proposed element has a low ohmic loss when the diode is switched on, 25 times less than the traditional element. Furthermore, the radiation efficiency of a DMA with 10 proposed elements is compared with a traditional design, showing a significant efficiency improvement from 25% to 75% when half diodes are switched on. Finally, measurements are conducted to verify the feasibility of the dynamic element to achieve radiation ON and OFF states, showing a 12 dB radiation gain difference between two states.

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Based Wireless Communications: Antenna Design, Prototyping, and Experimental Results

One of the key enablers of future wireless communications is constituted by massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, which can improve the spectral efficiency by orders of magnitude. In existing massive MIMO systems, however, conventional phased arrays are used for beamforming. This method results in excessive power consumption and high hardware costs. Recently, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) has been considered as one of the revolutionary technologies to enable energy-efficient and smart wireless communications, which is a two-dimensional structure with a large number of passive elements. In this paper, we develop a new type of high-gain yet low-cost RIS that bears 256 elements. The proposed RIS combines the functions of phase shift and radiation together on an electromagnetic surface, where positive intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes are used to realize 2-bit phase shifting for beamforming. This radical design forms the basis for the world's first wireless communication prototype using RIS having 256 two-bit elements. The prototype consists of modular hardware and flexible software that encompass the following: the hosts for parameter setting and data exchange, the universal software radio peripherals (USRPs) for baseband and radio frequency (RF) signal processing, as well as the RIS for signal transmission and reception. Our performance evaluation confirms the feasibility and efficiency of RISs in wireless communications. We show that, at 2.3 GHz, the proposed RIS can achieve a 21.7 dBi antenna gain. At the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency, that is, 28.5 GHz, it attains a 19.1 dBi antenna gain. Furthermore, it has been shown that the RIS-based wireless communication prototype developed is capable of significantly reducing the power consumption.

Visible light communication for Vehicle to Everything beyond 1 Gb/s based on an LED car headlight and a 2 × 2 PIN array

Visible light communication (VLC) shows great potential in Internet of Vehicle applications. A single-input multi-output VLC system for Vehicle to Everything is proposed and demonstrated. A commercial car headlight is used as transmitter. With a self-designed 2 × 2 positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) array, four independent signals are received and equalized by deep-neural-network post-equalizers, respectively. Maximum-ratio combining brings high signal-to-noise ratio and data rate gain. The transmission data rate reaches 1.25 Gb/s at 1 m and exceeds 1 Gb/s at 4 m. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first-time demonstration of beyond 1 Gb/s employing a commercial car headlight.

Narrow‐Band QD‐Enhanced PIN Metal‐Oxide Heterostructure Phototransistor with the Assistance of Printing Processes

AbstractInfrared (IR) phototransistors are important building blocks for the true integration of flat‐panel optoelectronic detectors. Although significant progress is made in obtaining an InGaZnO active layer with IR response, the utilization of a high‐performance detector still has many challenges due to low efficiency, high power consumption, and lagging detection speed. Herein, a positive‐intrinsic‐negative (PIN) heterostructure phototransistor directly modulating the charges' transfer barrier with low power consumption (1 nW), high efficiency (EQE > 700%), a 200 Hz detecting bandwidth, and high detectivity (1 × 1011 cm Hz1/2 W−1) at an IR wavelength (1.5 µm in the high‐frequency circumstance) is demonstrated. These excellent sensing properties of the PIN phototransistor, together with its advantages of low power consumption and versatility, make the use of a heterostructure a powerful strategy for the development of on‐chip optoelectronic detectors.

Photo-Responses of Silicon Photodiodes with Different ARC Thicknesses for Scintillators

We designed and fabricated silicon positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) photodiodes coupled with a scintillator for radiation detection. The photodiodes were fabricated on an n-type double-sided polished silicon wafer with a diameter of 6-in., a high resistivity ( orientation. To increase the quantum efficiency (QE) of the photodiode, an anti-reflection coating (ARC) was provided on the side where light entered. It is difficult to realize an ARC with an uniform thickness in the sensor fabrication process. The effect of changes in the ARC thickness on the QE of the fabricated sensors was studied in detail. We measured the electrical characteristics and compared their quantum efficiencies as a function of the incident light wavelength for the photodiodes with different ARC thicknesses. In this paper, we present the design of the photodiodes and their measured electrical characteristics and photo-responses for different ARC thicknesses. From measurements of the wavelength-dependent QE, we determined the refractive index of the ARC layer to be 2.25 ± 0.15. The ARC layer improved the QE up to 56% and 63% at the wavelengths of 550 and 475 nm, which correspond to the wavelengths of the scintillation light from CsI(Tl) and CdWO4, respectively.

Numerical simulation of millisecond laser-induced output current in silicon-based positive-intrinsic-negative photodiode

Based on the photoelectric effect, the output current model of the silicon-based positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) photodiode irradiated by millisecond pulse laser was established; the time distribution of the output current on the PIN photodiode under different bias voltages, energy densities, and pulse widths were calculated. The results showed that: the output current process of PIN photodiode irradiated by millisecond laser could be divided into three stages: photo-generated current stage, conduction stage and recovery stage; at the photo-generated current stage, the peak value of output current increased with the increase of energy density and bias voltage; at the conduction stage, with the increase of energy density the value of output current remained the same while increased with the increase of bias voltage; at the recovery stage, with the increase of bias voltage the value of recovery time remained the same while increased with the increase of energy density. In this paper, the simulation results were consistent with the experiment results.

Binary phase shift keying-subcarrier intensity modulation performance in weak oceanic turbulence

The performance analysis of underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) system that employs binary phase shift keying-subcarrier intensity modulation (BPSK-SIM) is investigated in weak oceanic turbulence. BPSK-SIM Gaussian beam and finite sized positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) photodetector are employed at the transmitter and at the receiver, respectively. Bit error rate (BER) is taken as the performance indicator and in the evaluation of the BER, the required signal power and the aperture averaged scintillation index are obtained respectively by the use of the extended Huygens–Fresnel principle and the Rytov theory. Considering various noise types in underwater turbulence, BER variations are examined versus the oceanic turbulence parameters and the photodetector parameters, namely receiver aperture diameter, PIN-responsivity, noise factor, load resistor, and the electronic bandwidth.

Smartphone and Tablet-Based Sensing of Environmental Radioactivity: Mobile Low-Cost Measurements for Monitoring, Citizen Science, and Educational Purposes.

Sensors for environmental radioactivity based on two novel setups using photodiodes, on the one hand, and an advanced tablet-based hybrid pixel detector, on the other hand, are presented. Measurements of four kinds of terrestrial and every-day radiation sources are carried out: Airborne radon, a mineral containing traces of uranium, edible potassium salt, and an old radium watch. These measurements permit comparisons between different types of ambient radioactive sources and enable environmental monitoring. Available data comprise discrimination between - and -particles in an energy range of 33 keV to 8 MeV and under ambient air conditions. The diode-based sensor is particularly useful in portable applications since it is small and sturdy with little power consumption. It can be directly connected to a smartphone via the headset socket. For its development, the low-cost silicon positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes BPX61 and BPW34 have been characterised with capacitance versus voltage (C-V) curves. Physical detection limits for ionising radiation are discussed based on obtained depletion layer width: at 8 V. The mobile and low-cost character of these sensors, as alternatives to Geiger counters or other advanced equipment, allows for a widespread use by individuals and citizen science groups for environmental and health protection purposes, or in educational settings. Source code and hardware design files are released under open source licenses with this publication.

Comparative Simulation of Thermal Noise Effects for Photodetectors on Performance of Long-Haul DWDM Optical Networks

Abstract Long-haul 16-channel dense-wavelength division multiplexing networks employing two different avalanche photodiode (APD) structures (Si and InGaAs) and positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) photodetectors are simulated and compared under thermal noise effects for different fiber lengths. The effect of thermal noise level on the transmission quality with a variation of amplifying section length, number of amplifying sections and channel speed is discussed. The impact of thermal noise on the system performance is analyzed by varying input power from −5dBm to 20dBm for both 25 km and 50 km amplifying section at 100 km fiber length. The performance is evaluated for both 5 Gb/s and 10 Gb/s data rates over transmission distances up to 500 km. A comprehensive comparison is developed based on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), quality factor (Q-factor) and bit error rate (BER). It is found that both APD structures achieve superior performance up to distance of 350 km comparing to PIN photodetectors for 50 km amplifying section. The system provides optimum performance at input power P in = 10dBm in case of 50 km amplifying section, but then afterwards, the performance is degraded rapidly due to nonlinearities. The results revealed that the worst performance scenario is at 10–18 W/Hz thermal noise in terms of higher BER and lower Q-factor. Finally, the desirable BER of 10–12 is achieved at Q-factor of 6.78 and SNR of 23 dB.

Design of a RF Switch Used in Redundant Atomic Clock Configurations.

Atomic clocks provide frequency reference signals for communication, aerospace, satellite navigation and other systems. The redundant configuration of atomic clocks is necessary for ensuring the continuity and stability of the system. A radio frequency (RF) switch is usually used as a switching device in the switching system of the host atomic clock and the backup atomic clock. When the atomic clock fails, the switching between the host and the backup clock can be carried out quickly. Aiming at the fast switching requirements of atomic clock RF signals, this paper proposes a new series-shunt Positive Intrinsic Negative (PIN) switch design. In this paper, the evaluation of the RF switches is conducted by using the metrics of switching speed, insertion loss, isolation, return loss at on state and return loss at off state. Experimental result shows that the new PIN switch has better and more comprehensive performance metrics than the electromechanical switch, FET switch and conventional PIN switch. In particular, the switching speed is 53 ns faster than the conventional series-shunt PIN switch.

Effect of strong atmospheric non-Kolmogorov turbulence on the M-ary PSK subcarrier intensity modulated free space optical communications system performance.

Atmospheric turbulence is one of the significant phenomena that degrades the free space optical (FSO) communications system performance, and thus designers need to define the requirements related to turbulence and optimize the system design to ensure optimum performance. The subcarrier intensity modulation (SIM) shows superiority in terms of bandwidth usage over the other modulation techniques. Performance of FSO communication systems exercising M-ary phase-shift-keying (PSK) SIM with the PIN photodiode receiver is evaluated in non-Kolmogorov strong atmospheric turbulence when a Gaussian beam is used as the excitation. Bit-error-rate (BER) of PSK SIM FSO communication systems is examined, and the results are presented versus the non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence and positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) photodetector parameters such as PIN photodetector responsivity, equivalent load resistor, modulation order, noise factor, bandwidth, propagation distance, and beam source size.

Absorption Enhancement of Silicon Solar Cell in a Positive-Intrinsic-Negative Junction**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No 11574362

Absorption coefficient is a physical parameter to describe electromagnetic energy absorption of materials, which is closely related to solar cells and photodetectors. We grow a series of positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) structures on silicon wafer by a gas source molecule beam epitaxy system and the investigate the absorption coefficient through the photovoltaic processes in detail. It is found that the absorption coefficient is enhanced by one order and can be tuned greatly through the thickness of the intrinsic layer in the PIN structure, which is also demonstrated by the 730-nm-wavelength laser irradiation. These results cannot be explained by the traditional absorption theory. We speculate that there could be some uncovered mechanism in this system, which will inspire us to understand the absorption process further.

Planar beam‐switching dipole antenna

A new planar beam-switching dipole antenna is proposed in this study. It consists of a peanut-shaped dipole with folded slots and a pair of parasitic elements with two positive intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes. The feeding structure is made up of a short microstrip line, which is excited by a differential signal. Based on the Yagi-Uda antenna, pattern reconfigurability is realised by changing the states of PIN diodes. The proposed antenna is simulated, fabricated and measured. Experimental results indicate that the proposed antenna obtains an impedance bandwidth for | S dd | <; -10 dB of 13.7% from 3.25 to 3.73 GHz. The average gain of the antenna is about 5.7 dBi, with the radiation efficiency up to 60%. The antenna realises the radiation bandwidth of 11.6% covering 3.25-3.65 GHz. The proposed antenna shows good performances, which makes it suitable for the applications of 5G communication system.

Isolation and frequency reconfigurable compact MIMO antenna for wireless local area network applications

In this study, to design a compact four-port multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna for dual-band wireless local area network applications, both frequency and isolation between antennas are made as reconfigurable. Both antenna element and decoupling network shown in this study are designed using meander line concept. The frequency reconfigurable capability of the antenna is achieved by incorporating positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes in the meander line resonator. By making PIN diodes ON and OFF, four antenna elements switch their operating frequency in between 2.4-2.5 and 5.1-5.8 GHz bands. Isolation between the antenna elements also made as reconfigurable by placing PIN diodes in the decoupling network. In ON state, isolation is found in 2.4-2.5 GHz band, whereas in OFF state, isolation is achieved in 5.1-5.8 GHz band. Overall, in both the bands, excellent isolation (more than 15 dB) between the antenna elements has been achieved. The proposed antenna design is printed on the FR-4 substrate and its overall area is 38 × 38 mm 2 . Each antenna element is in polarisation diversity with the adjacent antenna element which makes the proposed design suitable for achieving good MIMO performance.

Design of a PIN Diode-Based Reconfigurable Metasurface Antenna for Beam Switching Applications

In this paper, we propose a reconfigurable metasurface antenna for beam switching applications. The reconfigurable metasurface is formed by uniformly distributed double-split square rings loaded with positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes for dual operations of a wave reflector and a wave director. Specifically, when the PIN diodes are forward biased, an epsilon-negative (ENG) metasurface is realized which reflects all incident waves with appropriate polarization; when the diodes are reverse biased, at the same operating frequency, a mu-near-zero (MNZ) metasurface is acquired which directs wave propagation. For excitation, a dipole radiator loaded with the same type of PIN diode is designed. Simulation and measurement results show good agreement and verify the beam switching functionality of the proposed metasurface antenna.