Results of characterization of 238Pu-doped Eu- and La-monazites using single crystal XRD, Raman and XAFS spectroscopy and TEM are presented. It is shown that despite significant accumulated doses (up to 9x1018 α-decays/gram) the Eu-monazite remains a single crystal. Unusual foamy structures are observed by TEM and are interpreted as recrystallisation of domains damaged by recoil U-ions. Partial recrystallisation of the surface material is also supported by Raman and luminescence data.

Shock-induced detonation simulation provides critical information about high explosive (HE) materials including sensitivity, detonation velocity and reaction pathways. Here, we report a reactive force-field molecular dynamics simulation study of shock-induced decomposition of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) crystal. A flyer acts as mechanical stimuli to induce shock in the system, which initiates chemical reactions. Reaction pathway study reveals that the detonation process of TATB is distinct from those in Octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,4,7-terazocine (HMX) and 1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane (RDX). Unlike the latter HE materials, N2 production in TATB occurs via three different intermolecular reaction pathways. Being an oxygen deficient HE material, a large carbon rich aggregate remains after the reaction.

Substrate geometry CdTe solar cells have been modified with the addition of metal-catalysed nano-structures in order to influence their efficiency. Conditions for the growth of Au- and Bi-catalysed nanostructures were explored. The substrate devices themselves comprised indium tin oxide/CdS/CdTe/Mo foil and were developed using the MgCl2 alternative to the usual CdCl2 processing – this yielded open circuit voltages of up to 740 mV. It was demonstrated that the addition of Au-catalysed nanowires to 200 nm thick CdTe films on glass substrates decreased their optical transmission by 10%, this being significantly higher than for thick films. However, reproducibility issues with forming Bi nanostructures limited the device modification tests to the use of Au-catalysed wires, and these always acted to depress photovoltaic performance.

Recombination dynamics of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with differentwell thickness have been studied. From the behaviour of temperature dependentphotoluminescence, we find that the activation energy decreases with the wellthickness increasing. In addition, with temperature changing from 10K to roomtemperature, the “W” shape of full width of half maximumis also thickness related, and it becomes more obvious with the well thicknessincreasing. These results indicate that the dominant recombination dynamicschange from exciton localization to quantum confined stark effect with wellthickness increasing. From our measurement, the InGaN/GaN MQWs with 3nmthickness seems a turning point, which shows the best optimized optical andstructural properties.

We employed ultrasonic spray deposition method for production of high quality FTO thin film TCOs to be employed in a silver embedded grid type and monolithic type dye sensitized solar modules. Produced films exhibited dense and crystalline structure with homogeneous coverage on solar glass substrates. Obtained resistivity and light transmission values of FTO are comparable to commercially available FTO coated glasses used widely in the industry. After optimization of the chemistry and deposition conditions, 10x10 cm sized glass substrates could be produced for large area photovoltaic modules. Produced FTO films were used to construct monolithic type and parallel type dye sensitized solar modules. Monolithic modules yielded 1.61% active area efficiency value. In order to enhance the active area of the parallel type modules, silver grid lines were embedded in glass substrate and FTO coating was deposited on the lines. Due to this effective design, we achieved 2.42% efficiency on the total area of the 55x55 mm sized module compared to 2.90% active area efficiency, proving that this design is suitable for enhancing efficiency values of parallel type dye sensitized solar modules.