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We present a new wave-type model of saltatory conduction in myelinated axons. Poor conductivity in the neuron cytosol limits electrical current signal velocity according to cable theory, to 1–3 m/s, whereas saltatory conduction occurs with a velocity of 100–300 m/s. We propose a wave-type mechanism for saltatory conduction in the form of the kinetics of an ionic plasmon-polariton being the hybrid of the electro-magnetic wave and of the synchronized ionic plasma oscillations in myelinated segments along an axon. The model agrees with observations and allows for description of the regulatory role of myelin. It explains also the mechanism of conduction deficiency in demyelination syndromes such as multiple sclerosis. The recently observed micro-saltatory conduction in ultrathin unmyelinated C fibers with periodic ion gate clusters is also explained. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00249-020-01442-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The challenging question on possible plasmon type excitations in finite ionic systems is discussed. The related theoretical model is formulated and developed in order to describe surface and volume plasmons of ion liquid in finite electrolyte systems. The irradiation of ionic surface plasmon fluctuations is studied in terms of the Lorentz friction of oscillating charges. The attenuation of surface plasmons in the ionic sphere is calculated and minimized with respect to the sphere size. Various regimes of approximation for description of size effect for damping of ionic plasmons are determined and a cross-over in damping size-dependence is demonstrated. The most convenient dimension of finite electrolyte system for energy and information transfer by usage of ionic dipole plasmons is determined. The overall shift of size effect to micrometer scale for ions in comparison to nanometer scale for electrons in metals is found and by several orders red shift of plasmonic resonances in ion systems is predicted in a wide range of variation depending of ion system parameters. This convenient opportunity of tuning of resonances differs ionic plasmons from plasmons in metals where electron concentration was firmly fixed.

We propose a new model of the saltatory conduction in myelinated axons. This conduction of the action potential in myelinated axons does not agree with the conventional cable theory, though the latter has satisfactorily explained the electrosignaling in dendrites and in unmyelinated axons. By the development of the wave-type concept of ionic plasmon-polariton kinetics in axon cytosol we have achieved an agreement of the model with observed properties of the saltatory conduction. Some resulting consequences of the different electricity model in the white and the gray matter for nervous system organization have been also outlined.SIGNIFICANCEMost of axons in peripheral nervous system and in white matter of brain and spinal cord are myelinated with the action potential kinetics speed two orders greater than in dendrites and in unmyelinated axons. A decrease of the saltatory conduction velocity by only 10% ceases body functioning. Conventional cable theory, useful for dendrites and unmyelinated axon, does not explain the saltatory conduction (discrepancy between the speed assessed and the observed one is of one order of the magnitude). We propose a new nonlocal collective mechanism of ion density oscillations synchronized in the chain of myelinated segments of plasmon-polariton type, which is consistent with observations. This model explains the role of the myelin in other way than was previously thought.

We discuss a simple idealistic quantum entanglement based protocol for quantum random number generation allowing a trusted third party to publicly perform arbitrarily complex tests of randomness without any violation of the secrecy of the generated bit sequences. The protocol diminishes also an average time of the randomness testing (thus enabling arbitrary shortening of this time with increasing number of entangled qubits).

The application of metallic nanoparticles leads to an increase in the efficiency of solar cells due to the plasmonic effect. We explore various scenarios of the related mechanism in the case of metallized perovskite solar cells, which operate as hybrid chemical cells without p-n junctions, in contrast to conventional cells such as Si, CIGS or thin-layer semiconductor cells. The role of metallic nano-components in perovskite cells is different than in the case of p-n junction solar cells and, in addition, the large forbidden gap and a large effective masses of carriers in the perovskite require different parameters for the metallic nanoparticles than those used in p-n junction cells in order to obtain the increase in efficiency. We discuss the possibility of activating the very poor optical plasmonic photovoltaic effect in perovskite cells via a change in the chemical composition of the perovskite and through special tailoring of metallic admixtures. Here we show that it is possible to increase the absorption of photons (optical plasmonic effect) and simultaneously to decrease the binding energy of excitons (related to the inner electrical plasmonic effect, which is dominant in perovskite cells) in appropriately designed perovskite structures with multishell elongated metallic nanoparticles to achieve an increase in efficiency by means of metallization, which is not accessible in conventional p-n junction cells. We discuss different methods for the metallization of perovskite cells against the background of a review of various attempts to surpass the Shockley–Queisser limit for solar cell efficiency, especially in the case of the perovskite cell family.

Propagation of plasmon-polariton in a metallic nano-chain in a dielectric surroundings is almost undamped and irradiation-less and such nano-chains are considered as quasi-perfect wave-guides for plasmon-polaritons. If, however, a chain is deposited on a semiconductor substrate or embedded in a semiconductor surroundings, plasmon-polaritons are strongly quenched due to the energy transfer from plasmon oscillations to band electrons in the semiconductor medium via the near-field coupling channel. For the reverse direction of this energy transfer the balance of the thermal losses of plasmon-polariton can be achieved. By a control of a dielectric spacing between the metallic nano-chain and the semiconductor substrate (and a type of the deposition), various regimes for coupling of two systems can be organized. We present the exact solution for propagation of strongly damped plasmon-polaritons in metallic nano-chain due to coupling of plasmons with band electrons in the semiconductor substrate.

We study strong optical coupling of metal nanoparticle arrays with dielectric substrates. Based on the Fermi Golden Rule, the particle&ndash, substrate coupling is derived in terms of the photon absorption probability assuming a local dipole field. An increase in photocurrent gain is achieved through the optical coupling. In addition, we describe light-induced, mesoscopic electron dynamics via the nonlocal hydrodynamic theory of charges. At small nanoparticle size (&lt, 20 nm), the impact of this type of spatial dispersion becomes sizable. Both absorption and scattering cross sections of the nanoparticle are significantly increased through the contribution of additional nonlocal modes. We observe a splitting of local optical modes spanning several tenths of nanometers. This is a signature of semi-classical, strong optical coupling via the dynamic Stark effect, known as Autler&ndash, Townes splitting. The photocurrent generated in this description is increased by up to 2%, which agrees better with recent experiments than compared to identical classical setups with up to 6%. Both, the expressions derived for the particle&ndash, substrate coupling and the additional hydrodynamic equation for electrons are integrated into COMSOL for our simulations.

Metallic nanoparticles are used to improve solar cell efficiency due to plasmon mediated photo-voltaic effect. We present various channels of this phenomenon in semiconductor solar cells with p − n junction and in chemical-type cells with exciton photovoltaic mechanism. Besides of previously known by plasmon strengthening of sun light absorption in metalized solar cells we have described the influence of plasmonic nanoparticles onto internal electricity of cells. The latter case we analyze on the example of hybridized perovskite solar cells regarded as most promising cells of III-rd generation. The explanation of recent experimental achievements with the metallization of perovskite cells is presented in comparison to the metallization of conventional Si-based cells.

We discuss a simple idealistic quantum entanglement based protocol for quantum random number generation allowing a trusted third party to publicly perform arbitrarily complex tests of randomness without any violation of the secrecy of the generated bit sequences. The protocol diminishes also an average time of the randomness testing (thus enabling arbitrary shortening of this time with increasing number of entangled qubits).

We demonstrate that the direct application of numerical packets like Comsol to plasmonic effect in solar cells metallically modified in nano-scale may be strongly inaccurate if quantum corrections are neglected. The near-field coupling of surface plasmons in metallic nanoparticles deposited on the top of a solar cell with band electrons in a semiconductor substrate strongly enhances the damping of plasmons in metallic components, which is not accounted for in standard numerical packets using the Drude type dielectric function for metal (taken from measurements in bulk or in thin layers) as the prerequisite for the numerical e-m field calculus. Inclusion of the proper corrections to plasmon damping causes additional enhancement of the plasmon-induced photo-effect efficiency growth of a metalized photo-diode by ten percent, at least, in comparison to only effect induced by the electric field concentration near metallic nanoparticles. This happens to be consistent with the experimental observations which cannot be explained by only local increases of the electrical field near the curvature of metallic nanoparticles determined by a finite-element solution of the Maxwell&ndash, Fresnel boundary problem as given by a numerical system like Comsol. The proper damping rate for plasmons can be identified by application of the Fermi Golden Rule approach to the plasmon-band electron coupling. We demonstrate this effect including the material and size dependence in two types of solar cells, multi-crystalline Si and CIGS (copper-indium-gallium-diselenide) as idealized photo-diode semiconductor substrate modified by various metallic nano-particles, in comparison to the experimental data and Comsol simulation.

Photovoltaics is amongst the most important technologies for renewable energy sources, and plays a key role in the development of a society with a smaller environmental footprint. Key parameters for solar cells are their energy conversion efficiency, their operating lifetime, and the cost of the energy obtained from a photovoltaic system compared to other sources. The optimization of these aspects involves the exploitation of new materials and development of novel solar cell concepts and designs. Both theoretical modeling and characterization of such devices require a comprehensive view including all scales from the atomic to the macroscopic and industrial scale. The different length scales of the electronic and optical degrees of freedoms specifically lead to an intrinsic need for multiscale simulation, which is accentuated in many advanced photovoltaics concepts including nanostructured regions. Therefore, multiscale modeling has found particular interest in the photovoltaics community, as a tool to advance the field beyond its current limits. In this article, we review the field of multiscale techniques applied to photovoltaics, and we discuss opportunities and remaining challenges. © T. Abu Hamed et al., published by EDP Sciences, 2018., European Cooperation in Science and Technology: MP1406, The authors are grateful for the financial support by the COST Action MP1406 “MultiscaleSolar.”

Nanoparticles&mdash, regularly patterned or randomly dispersed&mdash, are a key ingredient for emerging technologies in photonics. Of particular interest are scattering and field enhancement effects of metal nanoparticles for energy harvesting and converting systems. An often neglected aspect in the modeling of nanoparticles are light interaction effects at the ultimate nanoscale beyond classical electrodynamics. Those arise from microscopic electron dynamics in confined systems, the accelerated motion in the plasmon oscillation and the quantum nature of the free electron gas in metals, such as Coulomb repulsion and electron diffusion. We give a detailed account on free electron phenomena in metal nanoparticles and discuss analytic expressions stemming from microscopic (Random Phase Approximation&mdash, RPA) and semi-classical (hydrodynamic) theories. These can be incorporated into standard computational schemes to produce more reliable results on the optical properties of metal nanoparticles. We combine these solutions into a single framework and study systematically their joint impact on isolated Au, Ag, and Al nanoparticles as well as dimer structures. The spectral position of the plasmon resonance and its broadening as well as local field enhancement show an intriguing dependence on the particle size due to the relevance of additional damping channels.

Plasmons are fundamental collective excitations in many particle charged systems like in free electron liquid in metals, high energy nuclear plasma in solar core or in fusion devices, in ion gas in ionosphere or in intra- and inter-galactic gas clouds. Plasmons play a central role also in small systems, in particular in metallic nanoparticles and in their arrays allowing for subdiffraction light manipulation. In analogy to metallic nanoparticles, we have developed description of the soft plasmonics in finite electrolyte systems confined in micrometer scale by insulating membranes. Plasmon-type excitations in such finite ionic systems are determined via originally formulated theoretical model allowing to describe surface and volume plasmons in confined geometry of the ion liquid. Size-effect for attenuation of surface plasmons in the finite electrolyte system is described and its various regimes are identified. The cross-over in the plasmon damping system-size-dependence is demonstrated including scattering of ions and their energy losses via irradiation. The plasmon resonances in ion systems replicate the metal cluster plasmon phenomena, though in distinct energy and size scale related to larger ion mass and lower ion concentration (in low energy plasma) in comparison to electrons in metals. The possibility for tuning plasmon resonances in finite ionic systems in a wide range by changing system size, ion, and electrolyte parameters is demonstrated.

The propagation of collective wave type plasmonic excitations along infinite chains of metallic nanospheres has been analyzed, including near-, medium- and far-field contributions to the plasmon dipole interaction with all retardation effects taken into account. It is proven that there exist weakly-damped self-modes of plasmon-polaritons in the chain for which the propagation range is limited by relatively small Ohmic losses only. In this regime, the Lorentz friction irradiation losses on each nanosphere in the chain are ideally compensated by the energy income from the rest of the chain. The completely undamped collective waves were identified in the case of the presence of persistent external excitation of some fragment of the chain. The obtained characteristics of these excitations fit the experimental observations well.

We analyze the microscopic mechanism of the improvement of solar cell efficiency by plasmons in metallic components embedded in active optical medium of a cell. We focus on the explanation of the observed new channel of plasmon photovoltaic effect related to the influence of plasmons onto the internal cell electricity beyond the previously known plasmon mediated absorption of photons. The model situation we analyze is the hybrid chemical perovskite solar cell CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 &minus, &alpha, Cl &alpha, with inclusion of core&ndash, shell Au/Si0 2 nanoparticles filling pores in the Al 2 O 3 or TiO 2 porous bases at the bottom of perovskite layer, application of which improved the cell efficiency from 10.7 to 11.4% and from 8.4 to 9.5%, respectively, as demonstrated experimentally, mostly due to the reduction by plasmons of the exciton binding energy.

We address the field of soft plasmonics in finite electrolyte liquid systems ranged by insulating membranes by an analogy to the plasmonics of metallic nanostructures. The confined electrolyte systems can be encountered on a bio-cell organizational level, taking into account that the characteristics of ion plasmons fall to the micrometer size scale instead of the nanometer in metals because of at least three orders of magnitude larger masses of ions in comparison to electrons. The lower density of ions in electrolytes in comparison to density of electrons in metal may also reduce the energy of plasmons by several orders. We provide the fully analytical description of surface and volume plasmons in finite ionic micro-systems allowing for further applications. We next apply the theory of ionic plasmons to plasmon–polaritons in ionic periodic systems. The complete theory of ionic plasmon–polariton kinetics in the chain of micrometer-sized electrolyte spheres, confined by a dielectric membrane, is formulated and solved. The latter theory has next been applied to the explanation of a mysterious and unclear (for several dozen of years) problem of so-called saltatory conduction of the action potential in myelinated axons of nerve cells. Contrary to conventional models of nerve signaling, the plasmon–polariton model pretty well fits to the queer properties of the saltatory conduction. Moreover, the presented application of soft plasmonics to signaling in periodically myelinated axons may allow for identification of a different role in information processing of the white and gray matters in brain and spinal cord. We have outlined some perspectives to utilize the difference between the electricity of myelinated and non-myelinated nerve cells in brain to develop the topological concept of the memory functioning. The proposed ionic plasmon–polariton model of the saltatory conduction differently recognizes the role of the insulating myelin than previously was thought which may be helpful in the development of a better understanding of the demyelination diseases.

In heterogeneous system design, partitioning of the functional specifications into hardware (HW) and software (SW) components is an important procedure. Often, an HW platform is chosen, and the SW is mapped onto the existing partial solution, or the actual partitioning is performed in an ad hoc manner. The partitioning approach presented is novel in that it uses Bayesian belief networks (BBNs) to categorize functional components into HW and SW classifications. The BBNpsilas ability to propagate evidence permits the effects of a classification decision that is made about one function to be felt throughout the entire network. In addition, because BBNs have a belief of hypotheses as their core, a quantitative measurement as to the correctness of a partitioning decision is achieved. A methodology for automatically generating the qualitative structural portion of BBN and the quantitative link matrices is given. A case study of a programmable thermostat is developed to illustrate the BBN approach. The outcomes of the partitioning process are discussed and placed in a larger design context, which is called model-based codesign.

This work studies the use of gold (Au) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles in multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) and copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) solar cells. Au and Ag nanoparticles are deposited by spin-coating method, which is a simple and low cost process. The random distribution of nanoparticles by spin coating broadens the resonance wavelength of the transmittance. This broadening favors solar cell applications. Metal shadowing competes with light scattering in a manner that varies with nanoparticle concentration. Experimental results reveal that the mc-Si solar cells that incorporate Au nanoparticles outperform those with Ag nanoparticles. The incorporation of suitable concentration of Au and Ag nanoparticles into mc-Si solar cells increases their efficiency enhancement by 5.6% and 4.8%, respectively. Incorporating Au and Ag nanoparticles into CIGS solar cells improve their efficiency enhancement by 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively. The enhancement of the photocurrent in mc-Si solar cells is lower than that in CIGS solar cells, owing to their different light scattering behaviors and material absorption coefficients.

An inclusion of the Lorentz friction to the damping of plasmons in metallic nanosphere is performed within the random phase approximation quasiclassical approach. The explanation of the experimentally observed anomalous red shift of plasmon resonance frequency with increase of the metallic particle radius for a large size limit is given and the perfect coincidence of the measured plasmon resonance red shift for Au nanospheres with radii 10 – 75 nm and the theory with accurately included Lorentz friction is demonstrated.

Surface plasmons in metallic nanostructures including metallically nanomodified solar cells are conventionally studied and modeled by application of the Mie approach to plasmons or by the finite element solution of differential Maxwell equations with imposed boundary and material constraints (e.g., upon commercial COMSOL software system). Both approaches are essentially classical ones and neglect quantum particularities related to plasmon excitations in metallic components. We demonstrate that these quantum plasmon effects are of crucial importance especially in theoretical simulations of plasmon-aided photovoltaic phenomena. Quantum corrections considerably improve both the Mie and COMSOL approaches in this case. We present the semiclassical random phase approximation description of plasmons in metallic nanoparticles and apply the quantumFermi golden rule scheme to assess the sunlight energy transfer to the semiconductor solar cell mediated by surface plasmons in metallic nanoparticles deposited on the top of the battery. In addition, short-ranged electron-electron interaction in metals is discussed in the framework of the semiclassical hydrodynamic model. The significance of the related quantum corrections is illustrated by the quantumly improved COMSOL simulations. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

In equidistant infinite chain of metallic nanospheres the collective mode of surface plasmons propagates without radiative losses, i.e., the Lorentz friction losses in each nanosphere are compensated by energy income in near-, medium- and far-field from the rest of the chain. Within an approximate approach including numerical studies in Green function framework it has been indicated superluminal propagation of some plasmon-polariton modes. By the exact solution of the nonlinear dynamic equation we demonstrate that the superluminal modes were an artifact of the perturbation solution type and we show that the group velocities for both polarizations are limited by light velocity, though vary in large range depending on chain parameters and are typically one order lower than the light velocity.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of plasmon excitations in metallic nano-crystals rapidly grew up mainly due to possible applications in photo-voltaics and microelectronics. A significant enhancement of absorption of incident light in photo-diode-systems with active surfaces covered with nano-size metallic particles (of Au, Ag or Cu) with planar density 108-1010/cm2 was observed [24, 25, 27, 30, 32, 34]. These findings are of practical importance for enhancement of solar cell efficiency, especially for development of thin film cell technology. On the other hand, hybridized states of surface plasmons and photons result in plasmon-polaritons [20, 36], which are of high importance for applications in photonics and microelectronics [10, 20], in particular, for sub-diffraction transportation of converted light energy and information in metallically modified structures in nano-scale [21, 36].

The random-phase-approximation semiclassical scheme for description of plasmon excitations in large metallic nanospheres, with radius range 10-60 nm, is formulated in an all-analytical version. The spectrum of plasmons is determined including both surface and volume type excitations and their mutual connections. The various channels for damping of surface plasmons are evaluated and the relevant resonance shifts are compared with the experimental data for metallic nanoparticles of different size located in dielectric medium or on the semiconductor substrate. The strong enhancement of energy transfer from the surface plasmon oscillations to the substrate semiconductor is explained in the regime of a near-field coupling in agreement with recent experimental observations for metallically nanomodified photo-diode systems.

International audience; Metallic nanospheres (Au, Ag, Cu) deposited on PV-active semiconductor surface can act as light converters, collecting energy of incident photons in plasmon oscillations. This energy can be next transferred to semiconductor substrate via a near-field channel, in a more efficient manner in comparison to the direct photo-effect. We explain this enhancement by inclusion of indirect inter-band transitions in semiconductor layer due to the near-field coupling with plasmon radiation in nanoscale of the metallic components, where the momentum is not conserved as the system is not translationally invariant. The model of the nano-sphere plasmons is developed (RPA, analytical version, adjusted to description of large metallic clusters, with radius of 10 − 60 nm) including surface and volume modes. Damping of plasmons is analyzed via Lorentz friction, and irradiation losses in far- and near-field regimes. Resulting resonance shifts are verified experimentally for Au and Ag colloidal water solutions with respect to particle size. Probability of the electron interband transition (within the Fermi golden rule) in substrate semiconductor induced by coupling to plasmons in near-field regime turns out to be significantly larger than for coupling of electrons to planarwave photons. This is of practical importance for enhancement of thin-film solar cell efficiency, both for semiconductor type (like III-V semiconductor based cells) and for Mechanism of plasmon-mediated enhancement of PV efficiency 2 conjugate-polymer-based or dye organic plastic cells, intensively developed at present. We have described also a non-dissipative collective mode of surface plasmons in a chain of near-field-coupled metallic nanospheres, for particular size, separation parameters and wave-lengths. This would find an application in sub-diffraction electro-photonic circuit arrangement and for possible energy transport in solar cells, in particular in organic materials with low mobility of carriers.

The random-phase-approximation semiclassical scheme for description of plasmon excitations in large metallic nanospheres (with radius 10--100 nm) is developed for a case of presence of dynamical electric field. The spectrum of plasmons in metallic nanosphere is determined including both surface and volume type excitations and their mutual connections. It is demonstrated that only surface plasmons of dipole type can be excited by a homogeneous dynamical electric field. The Lorentz friction due to irradiation of e-m energy by plasmon oscillations is analysed with respect to the sphere dimension. The resulting shift of resonance frequency due to plasmon damping is compared with experimental data for various sphere radii. Collective of wave-type oscillations of surface plasmons in long chains of metallic spheres are described. The undamped region of propagation of plasmon waves along the chain is found in agreement with some previous numerical simulations.

Semiconductor quantum dots which trap simultaneously electrons and holes are called quantum dots of type-I. Contrary to these structures, empty dots of type-II attract only one type of charged carriers and repel the other. Particularities of confining potential are unaccessible by any direct measurements, thus recognition of quantum dot type by indirect method is highly desired. Our proposal is to distinguish between the two types of quantum dots via a comparison of photoluminescence spectra of these structures, which differ in both cases qualitatively.

In this paper we present results of calculations for quantum dots matrix acting as an active medium in novelty proposal of far-infrared laser. The proposal is based on the pumping laser by rapid (nonadiabatic) switching on in-plane electric field which allows us to obtain population inversion. The numerical analysis of electron-photon system kinetics was performed for various electric fields and temperatures. These calculation utilises the method of solving the Cauchy problem for infinite chain of linear differential equations. Also the contribution of dynamics of non-radiative transitions mediated by the phonons has been taken account. The obtained results indicate that by the properly chosen of QDs parameters it is possible to reduce the rate of these transitions in the degree that allows us to obtain good laser efficiency at low temperatures.

A mathematical model is presented of kinematics of a redundant planar manipulator that is able to determine the next configuration on the basis of the preceding one and the required shift of the end-effector. The new configuration is synthesized by the following scheme: synthesis of a hypothetical configuration, verification of its technical realizability, and modification. The introduction of parameters into the model allows configurations that meet diverse criteria to be obtained. An application of the model in a robot motion planer is presented. >