Tin oxide SnO2 thin films were deposited by sol gel method on glass substrates. The as-deposited thin films were then annealed at 550 °C for different time durations (15, 30, 60 and 120 min). Structural and morphological investigations were carried out on all samples by X-ray diffraction method and atomic force microscopy while optical properties were obtained with UV–Visible spectrophotometer. XRD patterns reveals that the samples possess polycrystalline with rutile structure of SnO2 without any secondary phase. AFM image showed that SnO2 thin films having a smooth surface morphology. The optical properties in the visible range showed that the deposited layers have a high transmission factor. The optical band gap energy varies in the range of 3.61–3.73 eV. Finally, ultraviolet (UV) detection properties of samples as an active layer in UV photodetector devices were investigated. Current-voltage characteristics of the SnO2 thin films are performed under dark and light environment, which show low dark current of 22.9 nA with a linear behavior and high current ration > 104 under 2 V applied voltage and 120 min as annealing time. Whereas, high photocurrent is observed for samples annealing for 30 min. Moreover, the transient photoresponse of the fabricated device is reported under different annealing times.

The present paper concerns a computational study of a three-dimensional (3D) unit cells with identical spherical voids in a von Mises matrix. The objective is to estimate the effective plastic flow surface of 3D microstructures. The work originality is to deal with identical spherical overlapping voids, covering a wide range of stress triaxiality ratios. The effective plastic flow surface is computed for nine distinct loadings on four distinct microstructures. The result indicates that the classical Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman (GTN) model obtained using the Fritzen et al.parameters, matches with our numerical simulations.

In this paper, a new particle swarm optimization-based approach is proposed for the geometrical optimization of the nanowires solar cells to achieve improved optical performance. The proposed hybrid approach combines the 3-D numerical analysis using accurate solutions of Maxwell’s equations and metaheuristic investigation to boost the solar cell total absorbance efficiency. Our purpose resides on modulating the electric field and increasing the light trapping capability by optimizing the radial solar cell geometrical parameters. Moreover, a comprehensive study of vertical core-shell nanowire arrays optical parameters such as the integral absorption, reflection, and total absorbance efficiency is carried out, in order to reveal the optimized radial solar cells optical performance for low-cost photovoltaic applications. We find that the proposed hybrid approach plays a crucial role in improving the nanowires solar cells optical performance, where the optimized design exhibits superior total absorbance efficiency and lower total reflection in comparison with those provided by the conventional planar design. The obtained results make the proposed global optimization approach valuable for providing high-efficiency nanowires solar cells.

In this paper, a new particle swarm optimization-based approach is proposed for the geometrical optimization of the nanowires solar cells to achieve improved optical performance. The proposed hybrid approach combines the 3-D numerical analysis using accurate solutions of Maxwell’s equations and metaheuristic investigation to boost the solar cell total absorbance efficiency. Our purpose resides on modulating the electric field and increasing the light trapping capability by optimizing the radial solar cell geometrical parameters. Moreover, a comprehensive study of vertical core-shell nanowire arrays optical parameters such as the integral absorption, reflection, and total absorbance efficiency is carried out, in order to reveal the optimized radial solar cells optical performance for low-cost photovoltaic applications. We find that the proposed hybrid approach plays a crucial role in improving the nanowires solar cells optical performance, where the optimized design exhibits superior total absorbance efficiency and lower total reflection in comparison with those provided by the conventional planar design. The obtained results make the proposed global optimization approach valuable for providing high-efficiency nanowires solar cells.

In this paper, a new design methodology by optimizing the silicon/organic interface morphology is proposed to achieve superior optical behavior for pentacene-based organic/inorganic solar cells. Our purpose dwells on reducing the refracting light in the silicon and improves the absorbance behavior in the solar cell. In this context, a numerical model based on accurate solutions of Maxwell’s equations is developed in order to study the impact of both interface texturization morphologies (triangular and grooves) on the optical absorbance and electrical performance. It is found that the proposed design morphology has profound implication on modulating the electric field, which increases the light trapping capability. It is also confirmed that the overall electrical performance is significantly improved as compared to the conventional organic/inorganic solar cells, where the proposed design exhibits superior integral absorption behavior and large interface area. Moreover, a new hybrid approach by combining of the numerical and metaheuristic models is developed to boost the device performance by optimizing the interface morphology. The obtained results make the proposed design methodology valuable for providing high-efficiency organic/inorganic solar cells.