In this thesis, interdigitated back-contacted silicon heterojunction (IBC SHJ) solar cells have been investigated. This technology enables record power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 26.7%, but suffers from increased fabrication complexity as photolithography is not feasible in the cost-driven photovoltaics (PV) industry. Two patterning techniqu...
There is evidence that a stably stratified layer of fluid, which is not penetrated by the convective flow of fluid in the bulk of the outer core, is located below the Core-Mantle Boundary (CMB). The question considered in this thesis is whether such a layer also affects the core-mantle coupling. If so, minute variations in the Length of Day (LOD) c...
Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) is a novel remote sensing technique that exploits the GNSS signals after being reflected off the Earth's surface. Monitoring of ocean wind is one of the applications and the main objective of recently launched satellite missions. This thesis aims at the development and characterization of th...
Wind turbines are large and complex machines which operate in a highly unsteady environment. Due to the spatially and temporally stochastic nature of the wind resource, a large amount of simulation data is needed when one wants to assess the lifetime of such a machine. Both extreme events, such as storms, strong gusts or significant wind direction ...
Background: Track noise is one of the main issues in the development of railway networks. It is well-known that rail dampers, as a cost-effective, passive means of vibration reduction, do reduce the noise, still neither the mechanism behind their action, nor the influential parameters are well understood. Purpose: The main purpose of this work is t...
The stress state in the volume of contacting bodies may essentially influence the material behavior. For evaluating various modes of inelastic behavior and/or failure, such as plastic deformation, crack initiation, and propagation or fatigue, the complete stress tensor beneath the contact interface may be of importance. For many geotechnical and bi...
Controlling the shape and position of moving and pinned droplets on a solid surface is an important feature often found in microfluidic applications. However, automating them, e.g., for high-throughput applications, rarely involves model-based optimal control strategies. In this work, we demonstrate the optimal control of both the shape and positio...
In the last decade, silicon germanium (SiGe) bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS) technologies opened a new cost-efficient market for the mm-wave applications. Starting with the commercial use of automotive radars at 77 GHz, the market now has a strong interest on radar, sensor and imaging products at mm-wave and sub-THz frequen...
Druckerhöhende Verbrennung (engl. Pressure Gain Combustion, PGC) gilt als Schlüsseltechnologie zur Erschließung einer signifikanten Effizienzsteigerung in technischen Verbrennungssystemen. Auf dem derzeitigen Entwicklungsstand stellen Brenner mit kontinuierlich umlaufender Detonationswelle (engl. Rotating Detonation Combustors, RDCs) eines der viel...
Durchstimmbare Halbleiterlaser als miniaturisierte optische Quellen mit der Fähigkeit bei verschiedenen Wellenlängen zu emittieren sind Schlüsselelemente in diversen Anwendungen, von Telekommunikation bis Sensorik. Viele Ansätze wurden in der Literatur untersucht um integrierte Lösungen anzubieten, die sowohl ihre Miniaturisierung als auch ihre Koi...
