Karyomorphological studies in some parasitic species of the Scrophulariaceae,I

A karyomorphological comparison of four genera of the tribe Buchnereae and two genera of the tribe Euphrasieae, root parasites of the subfamily Rhinanthoideae of the Scrophulariaceae, is presented along with 12 new chromosome counts. The interphase nuclei are of the simple chromocenter type. Macranthera and Aureolaria have more subtelocentric chromosomes than those of the other genera studied, which indicates higher asymmetric variation in their karyotypes. In all the karyotypes decrease in size from the longest to the shortest chromosomes is gradual. All the species studied show karyotypic heteromorphology and heteromorphic homologous chromosomes.     

Improved Heterojunction Quality in Cu2O-based Solar Cells Through the Optimization of Atmospheric Pressure Spatial Atomic Layer Deposited Zn1-xMgxO

Atmospheric pressure spatial atomic layer deposition (AP-SALD) was used to deposit n-type ZnO and Zn_1-xMg_xO thin films onto p-type thermally oxidized Cu₂O substrates outside vacuum at low temperature. The performance of photovoltaic devices featuring atmospherically fabricated ZnO/Cu₂O heterojunction was dependent on the conditions of AP-SALD film deposition, namely, the substrate temperature and deposition time, as well as on the Cu₂O substrate exposure to oxidizing agents prior to and during the ZnO deposition. Superficial Cu₂O to CuO oxidation was identified as a limiting factor to heterojunction quality due to recombination at the ZnO/Cu₂O interface. Optimization of AP-SALD conditions as well as keeping Cu₂O away from air and moisture in order to minimize Cu₂O surface oxidation led to improved device performance. A three-fold increase in the open-circuit voltage (up to 0.65 V) and a two-fold increase in the short-circuit current density produced solar cells with a record 2.2% power conversion efficiency (PCE). This PCE is the highest reported for a Zn_1-xMg_xO/Cu₂O heterojunction formed outside vacuum, which highlights atmospheric pressure spatial ALD as a promising technique for inexpensive and scalable fabrication of Cu₂O-based photovoltaics.