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Photonic curing (PC) can facilitate high-speed perovskite solar cell (PSC) manufacturing because it uses high-intensity light pulses to crystallize perovskite films in milliseconds. However, optimizing PC conditions is challenging due to its many variables, and using power conversion efficiency (PCE) as the optimization metric is both time-consuming and labor-intensive. This work presents a machine learning (ML) approach to optimize PC conditions for fabricating methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) films by quantitatively comparing their ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorbance spectra to thermal annealed (TA) films using four similarity metrics. We perform Bayesian optimization coupled with Gaussian process regression (BO-GP) to minimize the similarity metrics. Refining PC conditions using active learning based on BO-GP models, we achieve a PC MAPbI3 film with an absorbance spectrum closely matching a TA reference film, which is further verified by its crystalline and morphological properties. Thus, we demonstrate that the UV-vis absorption spectrum can accurately proxy film quality. Additionally, we use an AI-based segmentation model for a more efficient grain size analysis. However, when we use the optimized PC condition to fabricate PSCs, we find that interaction between MAPbI3 and the hole transport layer (HTL) during PC critically degrades the PSC performance. By adding a buffer layer between the HTL and MAPbI3, the optimized PC PSCs produce a champion PCE of 11.8%, comparable to the TA reference of 11.7%. Using UV-vis similarity metrics instead of device PCE as the objective in our BO-GP method accelerates the optimization of PC processing conditions for MAPbI3 films. 

Article“Green” Fabrication of High-performance Transparent Conducting Electrodes by Blade Coating and Photonic Curing on PET for Perovskite Solar CellsJustin C. Bonner 1,†, Robert T. Piper 1,†, Bishal Bhandari 2, Cody R. Allen 2, Cynthia T. Bowers 3,4, Melinda A. Ostendorf 3,4, Matthew Davis 5, Marisol Valdez 6, Mark Lee 2 and Julia W. P. Hsu 1,∗1 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, RL-10, Richardson, TX 75080, USA2 Department of Physics, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080, USA3 Materials Characterization Facility at the Air Force Research Laboratory, 2941 Hobson Way, WPAFB, OH 45433, USA4 UES, Inc., a BlueHalo Company, 4401 Dayton-Xenia Rd, Dayton, OH 45432, USA5 Energy Materials Corporation, 1999 Lake Ave B82 Ste B304, Rochester, NY 14650, USA6 Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080, USA* Correspondence: jwhsu@utdallas.edu† These authors contributed equally to this work.Received: 30 September 2024; Revised: 25 October 2024; Accepted: 30 October 2024; Published: 5 November 2024Abstract: This study presents an innovative material processing approach to fabricate transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates using blade coating and photonic curing. The hybrid TCEs consist of a multiscale Ag network, combining silver metal bus lines and nanowires, overcoated by an indium zinc oxide layer, and then photonically cured. Blade coating ensures film uniformity and thickness control over large areas. Photonic curing, a non-thermal processing method with significantly lower carbon emissions, enhances the conductivity and transparency of the coated layers. Our hybrid TCEs achieve an average transmittance of (81 ± 0.4)% referenced to air ((90 ± 0.4)% referenced to the PET substrate) in the visible range, an average sheet resistance of (11 ± 0.5) Ω sq−1, and an average surface roughness of (4.3 ± 0.4) nm. We benchmark these values against commercial PET/TCE substrates. Mechanical durability tests demonstrate <3% change in resistance after 2000 bending cycles at a 1 in radius. The scalable potential of the hybrid TCE fabrication method is demonstrated by high uniformity and excellent properties in 7 in × 8 in large-area samples and by performing the photonic curing process at 11 m min−1. Furthermore, halide perovskite solar cells fabricated on these hybrid TCEs achieve average and champion power conversion efficiencies of (10.5 ± 1.0) % and 12.2%, respectively, and significantly outperform devices made on commercial PET/TCEs. This work showcases our approach as a viable pathway for high-speed “green” manufacturing of high-performance TCEs on PET substrates for flexible optoelectronic devices. 

Thermoelectric (TE) nanostructures with dimensions of 100 nm can show substantially better TE properties compared to the same material in the bulk form due to charge and heat transport effects specific to the nanometer scale. However, TE physics in nanostructures is still described using the Kelvin relation (KR) P = aT, where P is the Peltier coefficient, a the thermopower, and T the absolute temperature, even though derivation of the KR uses a local equilibrium assumption (LEA) applicable to macroscopic systems. It is unclear whether nanostructures with nanostructures with dimensions on the order of an inelastic mean free path satisfy a LEA under any nonzero temperature gradient. Here, we present an experimental test of the KR on a TE system consisting of doped silicon-based nanostructures with dimensions comparable to the phonon–phonon and electron–phonon mean-free-paths. Such nanostructures are small enough that true local thermodynamic equilibrium may not exist when a thermal gradient is applied. The KR is tested by measuring the ratio P/a under various applied temperature differences and comparing it to the average T. Results show relative deviations from the KR of |(P/a)/T –1| ≤ 2.2%, within measurement uncertainty. This suggests that a complete local equilibrium among all degrees of freedom may be unnecessary for the KR to be valid but could be replaced by a weaker condition of local equilibrium among only charge carriers. 

Advancements in electronic device fabrication with increasing integration levels have resulted in very high device densities. This has led to higher power dissipation and heat fluxes, increasing integrated circuit (IC) operating temperature. High and nonuniform heat generation degrades device and system performance. Therefore, thermal management to keep ICs within prescribed temperature limits is an important challenge for reliable and economic performance. Cooling techniques, including liquid coolants and air conditioning (AC), have been utilized to remove heat at the package and system level. However, these techniques must overcome high thermal impedances and require complex integration, while global cooling is generally wasteful, inefficient, and expensive. To improve thermal management, we have developed Si microthermoelectric coolers (μTECs) with areas as small 1E−5 cm^2 that can be integrated on -chip near local hot spots using the standard fabrication processes. While Si μTECs cannot achieve low base temperatures, they can actively pump relatively high heat fluxes directly to a heat sink, thus reducing local temperature increases and allowing targeted rather than global waste heat removal. We demonstrate μTECs that can pump up to 43 W/cm^2 of locally generated excess heat with no increase in chip temperature. 

Abstract Killer toxins are antifungal proteins produced by many species of “killer” yeasts, including the brewer's and baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Screening 1270 strains of S. cerevisiae for killer toxin production found that 50% are killer yeasts, with a higher prevalence of yeasts isolated from human clinical samples and winemaking processes. Since many killer toxins are encoded by satellite double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) associated with mycoviruses, S. cerevisiae strains were also assayed for the presence of dsRNAs. This screen identified that 51% of strains contained dsRNAs from the mycovirus families Totiviridae and Partitiviridae, as well as satellite dsRNAs. Killer toxin production was correlated with the presence of satellite dsRNAs but not mycoviruses. However, in most killer yeasts, whole genome analysis identified the killer toxin gene KHS1 as significantly associated with killer toxin production. Most killer yeasts had unique spectrums of antifungal activities compared to canonical killer toxins, and sequence analysis identified mutations that altered their antifungal activities. The prevalence of mycoviruses and killer toxins in S. cerevisiae is important because of their known impact on yeast fitness, with implications for academic research and industrial application of this yeast species. 

The Kelvin relation (KR) connecting the Peltier coefficient Π, the thermopower α, and the absolute temperature T via Π = αT is a cornerstone of thermoelectric (TE) physics. It is also a widely recognized example of an Onsager reciprocal relation, a foundational principle in nonequilibrium irreversible thermodynamics. While the KR is routinely invoked to understand TE systems, it has surprisingly little rigorous empirical verification. Accurate experimental tests of the KR are complicated by several factors, including non-Peltier heat flows such as Joule heating or Fourier thermal conduction, uncharacterized thermal contact impedances, and the need for Peltier and thermopower effects to be measured on the same thermopile at the same temperatures. Most empirical assessments of the KR have either made questionable simplifications or been limited in accuracy to several percent. Here, we present a test of the KR that is free of the difficulties of prior experiments and relies only on conventional voltage, current, and temperature measurements, so that it could be performed on any thermopile. Conducting the test on a Bi 2 Te 3 thermopile, the empirical ratio Π/α is found to equal T within a relative deviation < 0.5% for T in the range of 320–340 K. This result is quantitatively consistent with the KR and justifies the use of the KR in TE applications to reasonably high accuracy. 

Thermoelectric (TE) generators and coolers are one possible solution to energy autonomy for internet-of-things and biomedical electronics and to locally cool high-performance integrated circuits. The development of TE technology requires not only research into TE materials but also advancing TE device physics, which involves determining properties such as the thermopower ( α) and Peltier ( Π) coefficients at the device rather than material level. Although Π governs TE cooler operation, it is rarely measured because of difficulties isolating Π from larger non-Peltier heat effects such as Joule heating and Fourier thermal conduction. Instead, Π is almost always inferred from α via a theoretical Kelvin relation Π =  αT, where T is the absolute temperature. Here, we demonstrate a method for independently measuring Π on any TE device via the difference in heat flows between the thermopile held open-circuit vs short-circuit. This method determines Π solely from conventionally measured device performance parameters, corrects for non-Peltier heat effects, does not require separate knowledge of material property values, and does not assume the Kelvin relation. A measurement of Π is demonstrated on a commercial Bi 2 Te 3 TE generator. By measuring α and Π independently on the same device, the ratio ( Π/ α) is free of parasitic thermal impedances, allowing the Kelvin relation to be empirically verified to reasonable accuracy.