Solar Energy Scavenging Using Nano-Antennas and Tunneling Diodes

我们将开发新型蝴蝶结纳米天线和共振隧穿二极管，将太阳光谱的中红外部分转换为电能。我们将利用避雷针效应和差距等离子体激元共振产生的大的增强电场来增强面内电场。结？并增加电子隧穿的效率。拟议活动的智力价值是什么？我们的方法最初将通过转换来自地球的红外黑体辐射来补充太阳能电池，在晚上，在雨天或从白天低效的太阳能转换产生的热量。然后，我们将把这项技术扩展到更高的频率，并将挑战目前的太阳能电池，用于可见光谱的太阳能转换。这项研究将增强我们对中红外和可见光谱中纳米天线有效耦合的理解，并将帮助我们理解在非常高的频率下隧道效应的物理学，这一点还没有得到很好的理解。拟议活动的广泛影响是什么？我们的新设备将影响太阳能收集领域，并将允许从以前被忽略的光谱区域收集能量。我们预计，我们的新技术将消除对大量相对昂贵的半导体的需求，并将允许从环境辐射中更广泛地收集能量。一个新的实验将在我们的光电本科班引入能量收集，并将补充我们部门正在建立的太阳能实验室。

We will develop novel bowtie nanoantennas and resonant tunneling diodes to convert the mid-IR portion of the solar spectrum to electric power. We will take advantage of the large enhanced electric field by the lightning rod effect and by the gap plasmon resonances to enhance the in-plane electric field in the ?knot? of the bowtie and increase the efficiency of electron tunneling. What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?Our approach will initially complement solar cells by converting infrared blackbody radiation from the earth, at night, during rainy days or from heat generated by the inefficient solar energy conversion during day time. Then, we will extend this technology to higher frequencies and will challenge current solar cells for solar energy conversion of the visible spectrum. This research will enhance our understanding of efficient coupling to nanoantenna in the mid-IR and the visible spectrum and will help us understand the physics of tunneling at very high frequencies which is not well understood. What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?Our new devices will impact the field of solar energy collection and will allow collection of energy from spectral regions that were previously ignored. We anticipate that our novel technology will eliminate the need for large volumes of relatively expensive semiconductors and will allow for much more extensive harvesting of energy from ambient radiation. A new experiment on energy scavenging will be introduced in our undergraduate class in optoelectronics and will complement the solar energy laboratory being established in our Department.