Papers by Author: Karen A. Reinhardt

Abstract: Enhancing absorption of solar cells over the solar spectrum is one of the most important ways to improve such devices’ performances. In this research, two-dimensional surface photonic designs were suggested to introduce rotationally distributed reciprocal vectors, which will match the guiding modes of the thin planar layer of an active material, and thus to further couple the incident light laterally into the layer. This allows the use of a fewer amount of active materials, increases the devices’ angle acceptance, and reduces costs for both fabrication and system installation.

Abstract: Rare-earth (RE) doped oxide materials are one of the interesting sensor materials potentially able to remote-sense strain inside an object under high temperature. In contrast to commonly investigated temperature-sensing methods of monitoring temperature-dependent luminescent characteristics of those doped RE ions, sensing strain under high temperatures, however, will be much difficult. This research develops a new strained superlattice that has the potential to sense strain under the high temperature environment, via monitoring the superlattice’s period-dependent luminescence.

Abstract: Interests in finding new rare-earth doped oxide materials able to remotely sense high temperature have been intensifying in recent years. If applied, advanced combinatorial strategy for materials science should be efficient in finding a suitable host material, and in optimizing a rare earth ion’s doping concentration, luminescence intensity, emission lifetime, etc. This research demonstrates our preliminary effort to apply the advanced combinatorial material strategy to this new area of finding materials for sensing high temperatures.