QMHP: Exploring the Limits of Energy Scavenging - from Microwave to Nanoscale

提案编号：0801408提案标题：QMHP：探索能量清除的极限-从微波到纳米PI姓名： Trew，Robert J.PI机构：北卡罗来纳州州立大学从波波维奇最近的开创性工作开始，微波电子界已经证明，我们可以通过收集环境中杂乱无章的微波能量来提取少量但有用的电力。这项新的但成熟的技术使用具有微尺寸特征的天线，以便从微波中提取能量。这个新项目的目标是通过使用纳米级结构来从太赫兹辐射频率中提取能量，从而发现可以从更高频率的环境辐射中提取多少能量。该项目将从理论建模和分析，设计，制造和测试系统，旨在从优化的极性半导体的热表面激发中提取尽可能多的能量。智力优点使用当前的理论工具，很难预测当这种技术移动到纳米级时实际会发生什么。例如，众所周知如何计算化学物质在室温下的自由能分量，作为总焓的份额，但类似的分解对于一般的电磁辐射源是不可用的。此外，量子效应在纳米级发挥作用。该项目将从最好的现有最先进的模型开始，在一定程度上解释量子效应;然而，对科学的最大好处将是有机会将最有趣的理论预测与高度可复制的经验结果进行比较。 更广泛的好处如果这个项目真的能产生一种有用的新的小型电力来源，用于传感器和小型通信节点等便携式设备，那么变革性的好处将是巨大的。预计在任何情况下，本地固态光谱和近场显微镜，作为纳米技术的推动者越来越重要的技术的好处。这项研究将与新的NSF支持的网站在NCSU本科生的研究经验合作进行。本科生将被招募到该项目工作，并获得先进的模拟技术和实验室测量程序的经验。

Proposal Number: 0801408Proposal Title: QMHP: Exploring the Limits of Energy Scavenging - from Microwave to NanoscalePI Name: Trew, Robert J.PI Institution: North Carolina State UniversityStarting from the recent seminal work of Popovic, the microwave electronics community has proven that we can extract small but useful amounts of electricity by harvesting the energy of ambient, disorganized microwave energy in the environment. That new but well-established technology uses antennas with micro-sized features, in order to extract energy from microwaves. The goal of this new project is to discover how much can be extracted from higher frequencies of ambient radiation, by using nano-scaled structures tuned to extract energy from terahertz frequencies of radiation. The project will proceed from theoretical modeling and analysis, to design, fabrication and testing of systems designed to extract as much energy as possible from the thermal surface excitation of an optimized polar semiconductor.Intellectual MeritUsing current theoretical tools, it is difficult to predict what will actually happen as one moves this kind of technology to the nanoscale. For example, it is well known how to calculate the free energy component of chemical materials at room temperatures, as a share of total enthalpy, but a similar decomposition is not available for general sources of electromagnetic radiation. Also, quantum effects come into play at the nanoscale. This project will start from the best available state-of-the-art modeling of what to expect, accounting for quantum effects to some degree; however, the greatest benefit to science will be the opportunity to compare the most interesting theoretical predictions with highly replicable empirical results. Broader BenefitsIf this project should actually result in a useful new source of small-scale electricity for use in portable devices like sensors and small communications nodes, the transformative benefits would be enormous. Benefits are expected in any case to local solid-state spectroscopy and near field microscopy, technologies of growing importance as enablers for nanotechnology. This research will be performed in collaboration with the new NSF-supported site for Research Experiences for Undergraduates at NCSU. Undergraduates will be recruited to work on the project and gain experience in advanced simulation techniques and laboratory measurement procedures.