February 2013 Vol. 27, No. 1 www.PhotonicsSociety.org The Opto-Electronics of Solar Cells Recent Advances in Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaics Also Inside: • IEEE Photonics Society 2013 Fellows • 2013–15 Elected Members of Board of Governors PDLE-101: PDL Source/Emulator Complete Instrument Suite for Testing PolarizationPo Performance of 100G Systems T X POD-101D Polarization is critical for the successful SOP Variation Monitoring deployment of 100G coherent detection systems. Coherent receivers’ polarization demultiplexing, PMD compensation, and PDL mitigation functions must be fully characterized as part of system development and PMD-1000: PMD Source/Emulator PMD-1000: PMD Source/Emulator testing. General Photonics instruments enable all polarization related tests, including: • PMD tolerance, tracking speed, and recovery time • SOP tracking speed and MPC-202: SOP Emulator recovery time • PDL tolerance, tracking speed, and recovery time If the problem is polarization, General Photonics is the answer. Call (909) 590-5473 Online at www.generalphotonics.com February 2013 Vol. 27, No. 1 www.PhotonicsSociety.org The Opto-Electronics of Solar Cells Recent Advances in Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaics Cover Image: Improvement in solar cell efficiency: good external luminescence is good for solar cell efficiency. Also Inside: • IEEE Photonics Society 2013 Fellows • 2013–15 Elected Members of Board of Governors February 2013 Volume 27, Number 1 FEATURES Research Highlights: . .4 – The Opto-Electronics of Solar Cells – Recent Advances in Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaics �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �6 7 News . .14 . X • Newly Elected Members to the Board of Governors 2013–2015 • Tingye Li—The High-Tech “Diplomat” bridging the West and the East—passed away on 27 December 2012, aged 81 X • Call for Fellow Nominations • Nomination for IEEE Photonics Society 2013 Distinguished Service Award • IEEE Photonics Society 2013 Awards Reminder EmptyEmpty Halogen-FilledHalogen-Filled • IEEE Medal 2014 Call for Nominations TrenchTrench TrenchTrench Organic Hybrid Careers and Awards . 21 . • IEEE Photonics Society Awards Deadline • John Tyndall Award Recipient:James Coleman • IEEE Photonics Society 2013 Fellows Announced • IEEE Photonics Society 2013 Young Investigator Award Recipient:Alexandra Boltasseva Membership . .26 . • Benefits of IEEE Senior Membership • Newly Elevated Senior Members Conferences . .27 . • IPS Conference Calendar • Conference (OFC/NFOEC) 2013 • OFC/NFOEC 2013 Preview • Optical Interconnect Conference 2013 24 • Summer Topicals Call for Papers • Group IV Photonics 2013 • Avionics, Fiber-Optics & Photonics Call for Papers • IEEE Photonics Conference Call for Papers • Conference Help • Forthcoming meetings with ICO participation • 2013 IPS Co-Sponsored Calendar Publications . .39 . • Call for Papers: – JSTQE: Optical Modulators – Technologies and Applications – JSTQE: Graphene Optoelectronics – JSTQE: Biophotonics – JSTQE: Nanobiophotonics – JSTQE: Silicon Photonics COLUMNS Editor’s Column . 2 President’s Column . 3 February 2013 IEEE PHOTONICS SOCieTY NEWSLETTER 1 Editor’s IEEE Photonics Society Column HON TSANG President Newsletter Staff Hideo Kuwahara Executive Editor Fujitsu Laboratories In this first issue of 2013, I would like to take this op- Hon K. Tsang 4-1-1, Kamikodanaka, Nakahara Department of Electronic Engineering portunity to thank the many authors who have contrib- Kawasaki, 211-8588, Japan The Chinese University of Hong Kong Tel: +81 44 754 2068 uted to the Newsletter, the associate editors in finding Shatin, Hong Kong Fax: +81 44 754 2580 Tel: +852 - 39438254 so many high quality articles, and Lisa Manteria’s help Email: [email protected] Fax: +852 - 26035558 in particular for getting each issue of the Newsletter out Email: [email protected] on time. I am writing this editorial before Christmas and Past President Associate Editor of Asia & Pacific James Coleman so I also wish to extend the seasons greeting to all read- Christina Lim Dept of E & C Engineering Department of Electrical & ers and wish you all a happy New Year (perhaps not as University of Illinois Electronic Engineering 208 N. Wright Street belated as the first day of the Chinese New Year, the Year The University of Melbourne Urbana, IL 81801-2355 VIC 3010 Australia of the Snake, is on 10 February 2013). I know that it Tel: +217 333 2555 Email: [email protected] Tel: +61-3-8344-4486 takes many long hours for authors to write their articles Email: [email protected] for the newsletter and I hope that we will continue to Associate Editor of Canada get high quality contributions from our readers in 2013; Secretary-Treasurer Dalma Novak Lawrence R. Chen although the newsletter articles are not in IEEE Xplore, Pharad, LLC Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering hardcopies of the newsletter are sent directly to most 797 Cromwell Park Drive Suite V McConnell Engineering Building, members of IEEE Photonics Society, and all the volumes Glen Burnie, MD 21061 Rm 633 of the Newsletter are archived online and freely they are Tel: +410 590 3333 McGill University Email: [email protected] 3480 University St. as freely available as any open access journal at http:// Montreal, Quebec Canada H3A-2A7 photonicssociety.org/content/newsletters. Board of Governors Tel: +514 398 1879 In this month’s issue the Research Highlights has the J. S. Aitchison P. Andrekson Fax: 514 398 3127 S. Bigo M. Dawson Email: [email protected] theme of solar energy. Prof Eli Yablonovitch, Director P. J uod a w l k i s A . K i r k of the NSF Center for Energy Efficient Electronics Sci- F. Koyama J. McInerney Associate Editor of Europe/ M. Nakazawa D. Novak Mid East/Africa ence, a multi-University Center based at U.C. Berkeley, P. Sm ow to n M . Wu Kevin A. Williams describes the recent breakthrough in energy efficient Eindhoven University of Technology Inter-University Research Institute solar cells. Professor Yablonovitch is perhaps better Vice Presidents COBRA on Communication known for his pioneering works on photonic bandgap, Conferences - D. Plant Technology Finance & Administration – C. Jagadish Department of Electrical for which he received the 2012 IEEE Photonics Award, Membership & Regional Engineering but he has also made many important contributions in Activities – J. Kash PO Box 513 photovoltaics, including the 4n2 light trapping factor Publications – B. Tkach 5600 MB Eindhoven, Technical Affairs – K. Choquette The Netherlands which increased the theoretical efficiency of solar cells Email: [email protected] and is sometimes called the Yablonovitch limit. The Staff Editor second research highlights article feature work at the Lisa Manteria University of Toronto. Susanna Thon and Ted Sargent IEEE Photonics Society 445 Hoes Lane describe their work on colloidal quantum dots (CQD) Piscataway, NJ 08854 for thin film solar cells and the dramatic improvements Tel: 1 732 465 6662 Fax: 1 732 981 1138 in energy conversion efficiency from about 1% in 2005 Email: [email protected] to 7% today using CQD, with the potential to achieve 49% efficiency for triple junction colloidal quantum dot IEEE prohibits discrimination, harassment, and bullying. For more information, visit http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/whatis/policies/p9-26.html. solar cells. With OFC coming in March 2013, we also feature a IEEE Photonics Society News (USPS 014-023) is published bimonth- preview of this major conference which will be held in ly by the Photonics Society of the Institute of Electrical and Anaheim this year. Electronics Engineers, Inc., Corporate Office: 3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10017-2394. Printed in the USA. One dollar per Finally I would like to remind readers of the com- member per year is included in the Society fee for each member ing deadlines for nominations in the IEEE Photonics of the Photonics Society. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address Society: The IEEE Photonics Society Distinguished changes to Photonics Society Newsletter, IEEE, 445 Hoes Lane, Lecturer nominations are due on 16 February 2013 Piscataway, NJ 08854. and several awards (e.g., Quantum Electronics Award, Copyright © 2013 by IEEE: Permission to copy without fee all or part of any material without a copyright notice is granted pro- Aron Kressel Award, Engineering Achievement vided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct com- Award) have a nomination deadline in early April— mercial advantage, and the title of the publication and its date appear on each copy. To copy material with a copyright notice please see http://www.photonicssociety.org/award-info requires specific permission. Please direct all inquiries or requests for further information. to IEEE Copyrights Office. Hon Tsang 2 IEEE PHOTONICS SOCIETY NEWSLETTER February 2013 President’s Column HIDEO KUWAHARA Photonics Technology for These are just a few examples, and I think photonics tech- Safe and Secure Society nologies that serve to make society safer and more secure are Last November, the north-east region of the USA suffered con- becoming more and more important. Surely, photonics is a siderable damage from hurricane Sandy. New Jersey and New technical area that is becoming one of the main areas of in- York were among the areas that were hit hardest, and IEEE terest in the future. Again, we still have much work to do in Headquarters also suffered damage, with blackouts and server