Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)Effect of external applied electric field on the silicon solar cell’s thermodynamic efficiencyVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117Effect of external applied electric field on the silicon solar cell’s thermodynamic efficiency10.1007/s40094-017-0244-1ENJournal Article20231117AbstractThis paper presents a possible solution to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic solar cells. An external electric field is applied on a silicon photovoltaic solar cell, inducing band-trap ionization of charge carriers. Output current is then monitored and the thermodynamic efficiency is calculated. Results show on the one hand a significant increase in efficiency for a certain margin of applied electric field, and on the another hand the instabilities of efficiency. A simple approach is then suggested for the implementation of these results. An efficiency of 67% has been reached for an applied electric of 1586 V/Cm.Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)Experimental investigation of the effect of insulator sleeve length on the time to pinch and multipinch formation in the plasma focus facilityVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117Experimental investigation of the effect of insulator sleeve length on the time to pinch and multipinch formation in the plasma focus facility10.1007/s40094-016-0238-4ENJournal Article20231117AbstractThe length of insulator sleeve is varied to investigate its effect on the pinch formation in the plasma focus facility. In this paper, the effect of insulator length on the time to pinch at various pressures and working voltages in the 1.15 kJ Mather type plasma focus is investigated. The results show that with 4.5 cm insulator length the time to pinch at all pressures is minimum. Other results also confirm that with increasing of pressure the time to pinch is increased. Moreover, with increasing working voltage the time to pinch is decreased. Pictures, captured using a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) Canon EOS 7D system, show that multipinch phenomenon is formed.Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)Dynamical and transport properties in plasmas including three-particle spatial correlationsVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117Dynamical and transport properties in plasmas including three-particle spatial correlations10.1007/s40094-017-0247-yENJournal Article20231117AbstractIn this work, we study the two and triplet static correlation functions in plasma when the ions interact via the Debye screened potential and via the Deutsch screened potential. The latter takes into consideration the possible quantum effects at short distances. The ratio of the mean distance between two ions and the thermal De Broglie wavelength ri/λTdocumentclass[12pt]{minimal} usepackage{amsmath} usepackage{wasysym} usepackage{amsfonts} usepackage{amssymb} usepackage{amsbsy} usepackage{mathrsfs} usepackage{upgreek} setlength{oddsidemargin}{-69pt} egin{document}$$r_{i}/lambda_{mathrm{T}}$$end{document} gives the measure of these effects. Our investigation is developed in the conditions of weak coupling parameter (ΓJournal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)Surface coupling effects on contact mechanics: contact area and interfacial separation between an elastic solid and a hard substrate with randomly rough, self-affine fractal surfacesVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117Surface coupling effects on contact mechanics: contact area and interfacial separation between an elastic solid and a hard substrate with randomly rough, self-affine fractal surfaces10.1007/s40094-016-0236-6ENJournal Article20231117AbstractThe objective of this study is to investigate both the contact area and the interfacial separation between two surfaces. Both surfaces are considered to be rough, one of them being elastic and the other one hard. The work is based on an extended version of Persson’s model of contact mechanics to study the behavior of the contact area, the interfacial separation and the pressure distribution. The results are compared with the case merely the hard substrate is rough. It is seen that introducing a roughness in the elastic surface decreases the real contact, if the surfaces are uncorrelated. A positive (negative) correlation increases (decreases) the real contact. A reverse pattern occurs for the width of the pressure distribution, as well as the interfacial separation (at equal pressures).Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)Effect of different alcohols, gelatinizing times, calcination and microwave on characteristics of TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by sol–gel methodVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117Effect of different alcohols, gelatinizing times, calcination and microwave on characteristics of TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by sol–gel method10.1007/s40094-017-0240-5ENJournal Article20231117AbstractIn this work, nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) were synthesized by means of TiCl4 as precursor. Effects of alcohol type, calcination, gelatinizing time and microwave exposure on the particle size, morphology, crystallinity and particle phase are studied using XRD patterns and SEM images. Results showed that alcohols such as ethanol increased the particle size; calcination increased the particle size and improved the crystallinity of particles. Microwave exposure of particles resulted in smaller particles; adding water increased the impact of microwave. Effect of microwave exposure in rutile phase formation is also observed during this study.Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)Design and fabrication of highly hydrophobic Mn nano-sculptured thin films and evaluation of surface properties on hydrophobicityVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117Design and fabrication of highly hydrophobic Mn nano-sculptured thin films and evaluation of surface properties on hydrophobicity10.1007/s40094-017-0243-2ENJournal Article20231117AbstractThe wettability of solid surfaces is important from the aspects of both science and technology. The Mn nano-sculptured thin films were designed and fabricated by oblique angle deposition of Mn on glass substrates at room temperature. The obtained structure was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The wettability of thin films samples was investigated by water contact angle (WCA). The 4-pointed helical star-shaped structure exhibits hydrophobicity with static WCAs of more than 133° for a 10-mg distilled water droplet. This sample also shows the rose petal effect with the additional property of high adhesion. The Mn nano-sculptured thin films also act as a sticky surface which is confirmed by hysteresis of the contact angle obtained from advancing and receding contact angles measurements. Physicochemical property of liquid phase could effectively change the contact angle, and polar solvents in contact with hydrophobic solid surfaces do not necessarily show high contact angle value.Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)AC impedance spectroscopy and conductivity studies of Dy doped Bi4V2O11 ceramicsVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117AC impedance spectroscopy and conductivity studies of Dy doped Bi4V2O11 ceramics10.1007/s40094-017-0246-zENJournal Article20231117AbstractThe ac impedance and conductivity properties of Dy doped Bi4V2 − xDyxO11 (x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) ceramics prepared by solid-state reaction technique, in a wide frequency range at different temperatures have been studied. All the samples exhibited β-type phase orthorhombic structure at room temperature. The Nyquist plot confirmed the presence of both grain and grain boundary effects for all Dy doped samples. Double relaxation behavior was also observed. The grain and grain boundary resistance decreases with rise in temperature for all the concentration and exhibits a typical negative temperature co-efficient of resistance (NTCR) behavior. An analysis of the electric modulus suggests the possible hopping mechanism for electrical transport processes of all the materials. The ac conductivity spectrum obeys Jonscher’s universal power law. DC conductivity of the materials were also studied and values of the activation energy found to be 0.40, 0.49, 0.73 and 0.78 eV for the compositions x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20, respectively, at different temperatures (150–375 °C).Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)Proton driven plasma wakefield generation in a parabolic plasma channelVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117Proton driven plasma wakefield generation in a parabolic plasma channel10.1007/s40094-016-0235-7ENJournal Article20231117AbstractAn analytical model for the interaction of charged particle beams and plasma for a wakefield generation in a parabolic plasma channel is presented. In the suggested model, the plasma density profile has a minimum value on the propagation axis. A Gaussian proton beam is employed to excite the plasma wakefield in the channel. While previous works investigated on the simulation results and on the perturbation techniques in case of laser wakefield accelerations for a parabolic channel, we have carried out an analytical model and solved the accelerating field equation for proton beam in a parabolic plasma channel. The solution is expressed by Whittaker (hypergeometric) functions. Effects of plasma channel radius, proton bunch parameters and plasma parameters on the accelerating processes of proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration are studied. Results show that the higher accelerating fields could be generated in the PWFA scheme with modest reductions in the bunch size. Also, the modest increment in plasma channel radius is needed to obtain maximum accelerating gradient. In addition, the simulations of longitudinal and total radial wakefield in parabolic plasma channel are presented using LCODE. It is observed that the longitudinal wakefield generated by the bunch decreases with the distance behind the bunch while total radial wakefield increases with the distance behind the bunch.Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)Experimental and theoretical study on the corrosion resistance of Zr–Co–Al–Nb metallic glassesVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117Experimental and theoretical study on the corrosion resistance of Zr–Co–Al–Nb metallic glasses10.1007/s40094-016-0234-8ENJournal Article20231117AbstractThe corrosion resistance of (Zr56Al16Co28)100−XNbX(X = 0, 2, 4) metallic glasses in Hanks’ solution were investigated by electrochemical polarization measurements. Polarization curves demonstrate that the addition of niobium into Zr–Co–Al amorphous alloys improves the corrosion resistance. Composition and chemical status of the elements in the passive film were characterized by XPS, and first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) were used to analyse the mechanism theoretically.Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics (JTAP)Investigation of annealing temperature effect on magnetron sputtered cadmium sulfide thin film propertiesVolume 11 (2017)Issue 1, March and April 201720231117Investigation of annealing temperature effect on magnetron sputtered cadmium sulfide thin film properties10.1007/s40094-016-0237-5ENJournal Article20231117AbstractCadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films are deposited on the fluorine doped tin oxide coated glass substrate using the radio frequency magnetron sputtering setup. The effects of annealing in air on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of CdS thin film are studied. Optimal annealing temperature is investigated by annealing the CdS thin film at different annealing temperatures of 300, 400, and 500 °C. Thin films of CdS are characterized by X-ray diffractometer analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer and four point probe. The as-grown CdS films are found to be polycrystalline in nature with a mixture of cubic and hexagonal phases. By increasing the annealing temperature to 500 °C, CdS film showed cubic phase, indicating the phase transition of CdS. It is found from physical characterizations that the heat treatment in air increased the mean grain size, the transmission, and the surface roughness of the CdS thin film, which are desired to the application in solar cells as a window layer material.