LIBE !! Harvesting More Energy from Photons Qua
Post# of 44863
Quantum process increases the number of electrons produced when light strikes a metal-dielectric interface.
January 1, 2016
By David Chandler
MIT News
Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found a way to significantly boost the energy that can be harnessed from sunlight, a finding that could lead to better solar cells or light detectors.
$LIBE ~ The new approach is based on the discovery that unexpected quantum effects increase the number of charge carriers, known as electrons and “holes,” that are knocked loose when photons of light of different wavelengths strikes a metal surface coated with a special class of oxide materials known as high-index dielectrics. The photons generate what are known as surface plasmons — a cloud of oscillating electrons that has the same frequency as the absorbed photons.