Ahmad Ridwan Tresna Nugraha

We investigate the thermoelectric (TE) properties of nodal line semimetals (NLSs) using a combination of semi-analytical calculations within Boltzmann's linear transport theory and the relaxation time approximation along with first-principles calculations for the so-called type-I and type-II NLSs. We consider the conduction and valence bands that cross near the Fermi level of these materials through first-principles calculations of typical type-I (TiS) and type-II (Mg₃Bi₂) NLSs and use the two-band model fit to find the Fermi velocity v _F and effective mass m that will be employed as the initial energy dispersion parameters. The optimum curvature value for each energy band is searched by tuning both v _F and m to improve the TE properties of the NLSs. By systematically analyzing the calculation results, we observe that tuning v _F significantly improves TE properties in both types of NLS compared to tuning m. We also find that in all TE metrics, the type-I NLS surprisingly can surpass the type-II NLS, which seems counter-intuitive to the fact that within the two-band model, the type-I NLS contains a parabolic band while the type-II NLS possesses a higher-order, Mexican-hat band. Our study demonstrates that optimizing the curvature of energy bands by tuning v _F can significantly improve the TE performance of NLSs. This approach could guide future efforts in exploring other semimetals as potential TE materials by manipulating their band structures.

We theoretically investigate the optical absorption of an undoped graphene monolayer when put in a one-dimensional multilayer stack. Using the transfer matrix method, we perform numerical simulations and derive explicit analytical formulas for the optical absorption of the graphene monolayer at the center of the dielectric stack and find that the optical absorption uniquely depends on repetition number (r) and the unit layers structure. When sandwiched between unit layers structure composed of three dielectric materials (referred to as the ‘ABC’ structure) with even values of r, the graphene monolayer absorbs 2.3% of visible to near-infrared light. This behavior is the same as if graphene were free-standing, not sandwiched between the dielectric stack. In contrast to that situation, in the ABC structure with odd values of r, also when the graphene monolayer is sandwiched between four materials (the ‘ABCD’ structure) with any values of r, we can obtain optical absorption as large as 50% at particular refractive indices (n) of the constituent dielectric materials. The 50% absorption is, in fact, the maximum optical absorption for any undoped monolayer material in the symmetric dielectric stacks. By varying r and n within the ABC or ABCD structures, we can finely adjust the optical absorption of graphene within the range of 0%–50%, facilitating precise control for various optoelectronic applications.

We propose and investigate the performance of a hybrid quantum battery, the so-called Kerr quantum battery, which consists of two interacting quantum oscillators, i.e., the charger is a harmonic oscillator and the battery is an anharmonic oscillator involving the Kerr nonlinearity. Such a setup creates nonuniform spacing between energy levels of the quantum oscillator that increases with the energy level. We find that the Kerr quantum battery can store more energy than the qubit battery and reaches maximum stored energy faster than the harmonic oscillator battery. In particular, the average charging power of the Kerr quantum battery is larger than the qubit battery. Furthermore, most of the stored energy in the Kerr quantum battery can be extracted for work. All of the properties of the Kerr quantum battery are controlled by the strength of nonlinearity, in which the enhancement of the nonlinearity transforms the battery from a harmonic oscillator to a qubit.

We propose and investigate the performance of a hybrid quantum battery, the so-called Kerr quantum battery, which consists of two interacting quantum oscillators, i.e., the charger is a harmonic oscillator and the battery is an anharmonic oscillator involving the Kerr nonlinearity. Such a setup creates nonuniform spacing between energy levels of the quantum oscillator that increases with the energy level. We find that the Kerr quantum battery can store more energy than the qubit battery and reaches maximum stored energy faster than the harmonic oscillator battery. In particular, the average charging power of the Kerr quantum battery is larger than the qubit battery. Furthermore, most of the stored energy in the Kerr quantum battery can be extracted for work. All of the properties of the Kerr quantum battery are controlled by the strength of nonlinearity, in which the enhancement of the nonlinearity transforms the battery from a harmonic oscillator to a qubit.

We investigate the performance of thermoradiative (TR) cells using the III–V group of semiconductors, which include GaAs, GaSb, InAs, and InP, with the aim of determining their efficiency and finding the best TR cell materials among the III–V group. The TR cells generate electricity from thermal radiation, and their efficiency is influenced by several factors such as the bandgap, temperature difference, and absorption spectrum. To create a realistic model, we incorporate sub-bandgap and heat losses in our calculations and utilize density-functional theory to determine the energy gap and optical properties of each material. Our findings suggest that the absorptivity of the material, especially when the sub-bandgap and heat losses are considered, can decrease the efficiency of TR cells. However, careful treatment of the absorptivity indicates that not all materials have the same trend of decrease in the TR cell efficiency when taking the loss mechanisms into account. We observe that GaSb exhibits the highest power density, while InP demonstrates the lowest one. Moreover, GaAs and InP exhibit relatively high efficiency without the sub-bandgap and heat losses, whereas InAs display lower efficiency without considering the losses, yet exhibit higher resistance to sub-bandgap and heat losses compared to the other materials, thus effectively becoming the best TR cell material in the III–V group of semiconductors.