Dr. Peter Rogin

Side-emitting optical fibers allow light to be deliberately outcoupled along the fiber. Introducing a customized side-emission profile requires modulation of the guiding and emitting properties along the fiber length, which is a particular challenge in continuous processing of soft waveguides. In this work, it is demonstrated that multimaterial extrusion printing can generate hydrogel optical fibers with tailored segments for light-side emission. The fibers are based on diacrylated Pluronic F-127 (PluDA). 1 mm diameter fibers are printed with segments of different optical properties by switching between a PluDA waveguiding ink and a PluDA scattering ink containing nanoparticles. The method allows the fabrication of fibers with segment lengths below 500 microns in a continuous process. The length of the segments is tailored by varying the switching time between inks during printing. Fibers with customized side-emission profiles along their length are presented. The functionality of the printed fibers is demonstrated by exciting fluorescence inside a surrounding 3D hydrogel. The presented technology and material combination allow unprecedented flexibility for designing soft optical fibers with customizable optical properties using simple processes and a medical material. This approach can be of interest to improve illumination inside tissues for photodynamic therapy (PDT).

The application of optical technologies in treating pathologies and monitoring disease states requires the development of soft, minimal invasive and implantable devices to deliver light to tissues inside the body. Here, we present soft and degradable optical waveguides from poly(d,l-lactide) and derived copolymers fabricated by extrusion printing in the desired dimensions and shapes. The obtained optical waveguides propagate VIS to NIR light in air and in tissue at penetration depths of tens of centimeters. Besides, the printed waveguides have elastomeric properties at body temperature and show softness and flexibility in the range relevant for implantable devices in soft organs. Printed waveguides were able to guide light across 8 cm tissue and activate photocleavage chemical reactions in a photoresponsive hydrogel (in vitro). The simplicity and flexibility of the fiber processing method and the optical and mechanical performance of the obtained waveguides exemplify how rational study of medically approved biomaterials can lead to useful inks for printing cost-effective and flexible optical components for potential use in medical contexts.

Two-dimensional photonic structures such as nanostructured pillar gratings are useful for various applications including wave coupling, diffractive optics, and security features. Two-photon lithography facilitates the generation of such nanostructured surfaces with high precision and reproducibility. In this work, we report on nanopillar diffraction gratings fabricated by two-photon lithography with various laser powers close to the polymerization threshold of the photoresist. As a result, defect-free arrays of pillars with diameters down to 184 nm were fabricated. The structure sizes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and compared to theoretical predictions obtained from Monte Carlo simulations. The optical reflectivities of the nanopillar gratings were analyzed by optical microscopy and verified by rigorous coupled-wave simulations.

Natural functional surfaces often rely on unique nano- and micropatterns. To mimic such surfaces successfully, patterning techniques are required that enable the fabrication of three-dimensional structures at the nanoscale. It has been reported that two-photon polymerization (TPP) is a suitable method for this. However, polymer structures fabricated by TPP often tend to shrink and to collapse during the fabrication process. In particular, delicate structures suffer from their insufficient mechanical stability against capillary forces which mainly arise in the fabrication process during the evaporation of the developer and rinsing liquids. Here, we report a modified development approach, which enables an additional UV-treatment to post cross-link created structures before they are dried. We tested our approach on nanopillar arrays and microscopic pillar structures mimicking the moth-eye and the gecko adhesives, respectively. Our results indicate a significant improvement of the mechanical stability of the polymer structures, resulting in fewer defects and reduced shrinkage of the structures.

There is great technological interest in elucidating the effect of particle size on the luminescence efficiency of doped rare earth oxides. This study demonstrates unambiguously that there is a size effect and that it is not dependent on the calcination temperature. The Y2O3:Eu and Gd2O3:Eu particles used in this study were synthesized using wet chemistry to produce particles ranging in size between 7 nm and 326 nm and a commercially available phosphor. These particles were characterized using three excitation methods: UV light at 250 nm wavelength, electron beam at 10 kV, and X-rays generated at 100 kV. Regardless of the excitation source, it was found that with increasing particle diameter there is an increase in emitted light. Furthermore, dense particles emit more light than porous particles. These results can be explained by considering the larger surface area to volume ratio of the smallest particles and increased internal surface area of the pores found in the large particles. For the small particles, the additional surface area hosts adsorbates that lead to non-radiative recombination, and in the porous particles, the pore walls can quench fluorescence. This trend is valid across calcination temperatures and is evident when comparing particles from the same calcination temperature.

Sodium (Na) is an important doping element for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells. However, when using Na-free flexible substrates like steel foil or polyimide film, it is necessary to ensure an efficient supply of sodium to achieve high cell efficiencies. The common incorporation methods for Na on these Na-free substrates are either to deposit a Na-containing precursor layer (e.g. NaF) onto the molybdenum (Mo) back contact prior to CIGS growth or to coevaporate a Na compound during CIGS growth. Another way is to incorporate sodium after CIGS growth by a post-deposition treatment with NaF. In this work, we tested two alternative Na doping methods which are well suited for a production line due to their easy controllability. One approach is to dope the molybdenum target with Na. With Na-doped Mo layers (Mo:Na) as the back contact, we could achieve efficiencies of 13.1% both on titanium (Ti) and stainless Cr steel foil using a single-stage inline CIGS process. With a low-temperature single-stage CIGS process on polyimide (PI) we reached an efficiency of 11.2% using a Mo:Na back contact. Another doping method involves sol-gel-deposited silicon oxide layers which contain Na (SiOx:Na). We have successfully deposited these sol-gel layers onto stainless steel foil by a roll-to-roll (R2R) method with short annealing times as needed in production. With these SiOx:Na layers we could achieve efficiencies of 13.7% on stainless steel foil and 11.5% on mild steel sheet using a single-stage inline CIGS process.

Steel foil is an attractive candidate for use as a flexible substrate material for Cu(Inx,Ga1-x)Se2 solar cells (CIGS). It is stable at the high temperatures involved during CIGS processing and is also commercially available. Stainless chromium (Cr) steel is more expensive than Cr-free steel sheets, but the latter are not stable against corrosion. We processed CIGS solar cells on both types of substrates. The main problem arising here is the diffusion of detrimental elements from the substrate into the CIGS absorber layer. The diffusion of iron (Fe) and other substrate elements into the CIGS layer was investigated by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). The influence of the impurities on the solar cell parameters was determined by current voltage (JV) and external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements. A direct correlation between the Fe content in the CIGS layer and the solar cell efficiency was found. The diffusion of Fe could be strongly reduced by a diffusion barrier layer. Thus we could process CIGS solar cells with a conversion efficiency of 12.8% even on Cr-free steel substrate.