Progress in biophysics and molecular biology, Jan 13, 2018
We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H-W) the... more We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H-W) thesis of Cometary (Cosmic) Biology. Much of this physical and biological evidence is multifactorial. One particular focus are the recent studies which date the emergence of the complex retroviruses of vertebrate lines at or just before the Cambrian Explosion of ∼500 Ma. Such viruses are known to be plausibly associated with major evolutionary genomic processes. We believe this coincidence is not fortuitous but is consistent with a key prediction of H-W theory whereby major extinction-diversification evolutionary boundaries coincide with virus-bearing cometary-bolide bombardment events. A second focus is the remarkable evolution of intelligent complexity (Cephalopods) culminating in the emergence of the Octopus. A third focus concerns the micro-organism fossil evidence contained within meteorites as well as the detection in the upper atmosphere of apparent incoming life-bearing particles fr...
The dark and illuminated I–V characteristics of simple, p–n junction crystalline silicon solar ce... more The dark and illuminated I–V characteristics of simple, p–n junction crystalline silicon solar cells having microcrystalline or epitaxial emitters have been studied at various temperatures. Low temperature (<600°C) ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) plasma-assisted CVD has been used to deposit the emitter layers. The two-diode solar cell model has been used to fit the I–V characteristics and extract cell parameters such
ABSTRACT The passivation of crystalline Si solar cells using nitrous oxide (N2O) electron cyclotr... more ABSTRACT The passivation of crystalline Si solar cells using nitrous oxide (N2O) electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma discharges has been studied and compared with ECR hydrogen passivation. The cells consisted of ECRCVD grown microcrystalline Si emitter layers on single crystal Si (sc-Si) and multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) substrates, without anti-reflective coatings or surface texturing. For cells on sc-Si substrates, hydrogen passivation is more effective at a substrate temperature of 300 °C and low microwave power (300 W). With increased power (500 W) H2 is less effective than N2O due to hydrogen plasma damage leading to a significant fall in the cell fill factor. In comparison with H2, N2O discharges lead to a significantly better (by > a factor of 2) improvement in the performance of cells on mc-Si substrates for treatment times of ≤15 min at a passivation temperature of 300 °C and 300 W microwave power. XPS measurements suggest that a surface oxide layer containing N and C atoms is formed by the N2O plasma which, most likely, reduces the surface state density and, hence, carrier recombination.
We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H-W) the... more We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H-W) thesis of Cometary (Cosmic) Biology. Much of this physical and biological evidence is multifactorial. One particular focus are the recent studies which date the emergence of the complex retroviruses of vertebrate lines at or just before the Cambrian Explosion of ~500 Ma. Such viruses are known to be plausibly associated with major evolutionary genomic processes. We believe this coincidence is not fortuitous but is consistent with a key prediction of H-W theory whereby major extinction-diversification evolutionary boundaries coincide with virus-bearing cometary-bolide bombardment events. A second focus is the remarkable evolution of intelligent complexity (Cephalopods) culminating in the emergence of the Octopus. A third focus concerns the micro-organism fossil evidence contained within meteorites as well as the detection in the upper atmosphere of apparent incoming life-bearing particles fr...
Progress in biophysics and molecular biology, Jan 13, 2018
We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H-W) the... more We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H-W) thesis of Cometary (Cosmic) Biology. Much of this physical and biological evidence is multifactorial. One particular focus are the recent studies which date the emergence of the complex retroviruses of vertebrate lines at or just before the Cambrian Explosion of ∼500 Ma. Such viruses are known to be plausibly associated with major evolutionary genomic processes. We believe this coincidence is not fortuitous but is consistent with a key prediction of H-W theory whereby major extinction-diversification evolutionary boundaries coincide with virus-bearing cometary-bolide bombardment events. A second focus is the remarkable evolution of intelligent complexity (Cephalopods) culminating in the emergence of the Octopus. A third focus concerns the micro-organism fossil evidence contained within meteorites as well as the detection in the upper atmosphere of apparent incoming life-bearing particles fr...
The dark and illuminated I–V characteristics of simple, p–n junction crystalline silicon solar ce... more The dark and illuminated I–V characteristics of simple, p–n junction crystalline silicon solar cells having microcrystalline or epitaxial emitters have been studied at various temperatures. Low temperature (<600°C) ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) plasma-assisted CVD has been used to deposit the emitter layers. The two-diode solar cell model has been used to fit the I–V characteristics and extract cell parameters such
ABSTRACT The passivation of crystalline Si solar cells using nitrous oxide (N2O) electron cyclotr... more ABSTRACT The passivation of crystalline Si solar cells using nitrous oxide (N2O) electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma discharges has been studied and compared with ECR hydrogen passivation. The cells consisted of ECRCVD grown microcrystalline Si emitter layers on single crystal Si (sc-Si) and multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) substrates, without anti-reflective coatings or surface texturing. For cells on sc-Si substrates, hydrogen passivation is more effective at a substrate temperature of 300 °C and low microwave power (300 W). With increased power (500 W) H2 is less effective than N2O due to hydrogen plasma damage leading to a significant fall in the cell fill factor. In comparison with H2, N2O discharges lead to a significantly better (by > a factor of 2) improvement in the performance of cells on mc-Si substrates for treatment times of ≤15 min at a passivation temperature of 300 °C and 300 W microwave power. XPS measurements suggest that a surface oxide layer containing N and C atoms is formed by the N2O plasma which, most likely, reduces the surface state density and, hence, carrier recombination.
We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H-W) the... more We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H-W) thesis of Cometary (Cosmic) Biology. Much of this physical and biological evidence is multifactorial. One particular focus are the recent studies which date the emergence of the complex retroviruses of vertebrate lines at or just before the Cambrian Explosion of ~500 Ma. Such viruses are known to be plausibly associated with major evolutionary genomic processes. We believe this coincidence is not fortuitous but is consistent with a key prediction of H-W theory whereby major extinction-diversification evolutionary boundaries coincide with virus-bearing cometary-bolide bombardment events. A second focus is the remarkable evolution of intelligent complexity (Cephalopods) culminating in the emergence of the Octopus. A third focus concerns the micro-organism fossil evidence contained within meteorites as well as the detection in the upper atmosphere of apparent incoming life-bearing particles fr...
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