Nanostructured Copper Sulfide Alloys for Solar Energy Conversion

用于太阳能转换的纳米结构硫化铜合金

• 批准号: 1006190
• 负责人: Sue Carter
• 金额: $ 42万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-01 至 2014-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1006190&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Nanostructured; Copper; Sulfide; Alloys; Solar

Technical: The scientific goal of this project is to understand and control film growth and penetration of atomic layer deposited copper sulfide semiconductors onto mesoporous oxide templates. Critical to this research is use of atomic layer deposition to control the material growth at atomic resolutions to achieve ultrathin conformal copper sulfide-based semiconducting films that follow the contours of nanostructured oxides, and a suite of characterization tools to understand the mechanisms for film growth and resulting materials properties. The industrial partner, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., provides custom metal organic precursors, which enable unprecedented control over material stoichiometry and phase, a major issue with previous attempts to utilize Cu-based materials for solar energy conversion. The ability of the atomic layer deposition precursors to conformally coat the mesoporous nanoparticle and nanowire templates as a function of material processing conditions is studied using high resolution electron microscopy and optical studies. Focus is placed on understanding and controlling the material phase and homogeneity, trap state density, structural defects, and electronic structure as evaluated by X-ray synchrotron measurements, photothermal deflection spectroscopy, and the transport properties of materials and devices.Non-technical: The project addresses basic research issues in a topical area of materials science with high technological relevance. It contributes to the development of semiconductor materials based on abundant, non-toxic elements that could be used for solar energy conversion. The PIs plan to expand their successful track record of training underrepresented physics students through collaborations with local Hispanic-serving community colleges and organizations. Much of this work is performed at the UCSC Advanced Studies Laboratory, providing students exposure to both NASA and industrial collaborators.

技术支持：本项目的科学目标是了解和控制薄膜生长和原子层沉积硫化铜半导体到介孔氧化物模板上的渗透。这项研究的关键是使用原子层沉积来控制原子分辨率下的材料生长，以实现遵循纳米结构氧化物轮廓的共形硫化铜基半导体薄膜，以及一套表征工具来了解薄膜生长和所得材料特性的机制。工业合作伙伴空气产品和化学品公司，提供了定制的金属有机前体，其能够对材料化学计量和相进行前所未有的控制，这是先前尝试将Cu基材料用于太阳能转换的主要问题。使用高分辨率电子显微镜和光学研究的原子层沉积前体的共形涂层的介孔纳米粒子和纳米线模板作为材料加工条件的函数的能力进行了研究。重点放在理解和控制材料的相位和均匀性，陷阱态密度，结构缺陷，和电子结构的X射线同步加速器测量，光热偏转光谱，以及材料和器件的输运性能的评估。非技术：该项目涉及材料科学的一个主题领域与高技术相关的基础研究问题。它有助于开发基于丰富无毒元素的半导体材料，可用于太阳能转换。PI计划通过与当地西班牙裔服务社区学院和组织合作，扩大他们在培训代表性不足的物理学生方面的成功记录。这项工作的大部分是在UCSC高级研究实验室进行的，为学生提供接触NASA和工业合作者的机会。