MRI: Acquisition of a multi chamber hybrid organic/inorganic thin film deposition system

本研究的目的是实现光子到电子的能量转换效率的纳米结构的供体-受体photopolics，超过了看似棘手的约束所施加的供体-受体分子轨道能级结构。这一缺陷严重制约了有机分子、共轭聚合物、金属氧化物和量子点等光电化学的理论功率效率。该方法是获得一个集成的沉积系统，将用于制造纳米结构的photoproteics组成的多步能量梯度和光学薄填隙层。 智力优势：该仪器将使来自五个学院地区三个机构的跨学科团队能够专注于为下一代光化学领域做出持久贡献。 具有独特前线轨道可调性的新型高性能有机分子和聚合物半导体将被合成以用作能量梯度。 电力显微镜和时间分辨光谱将被用来揭示难以捉摸的基本物理的电荷动力学在供体-受体界面。 过多的泄漏电流，往往困扰纳米结构的设备将被确定使用非破坏性的热反射成像技术。 更广泛的影响：纳米结构的供体-受体光致发光材料提供了比常规光致发光材料更大的加工优势，潜在地提供了大面积可制造性、无与伦比的低成本、灵活性（甚至拉伸能力）和显著更轻重量的模块阵列，所有这些都在前所未有的规模上。无机/有机光电器件的制造和分析为学生提供了丰富的学习机会，既可以探索基础科学，又可以获得实践经验，这通常会鼓励本科生继续从事科学事业。

The objective of this research is to achieve photon to electron energy conversion efficiencies in nanostructured donor-acceptor photovoltaics that exceed the seemingly intractable constraint imposed by the donor-acceptor molecular orbital energy level structure. This is a serious limitation that restricts the theoretical power efficiency of organic molecular, conjugated polymer, metal-oxide and quantum dot photovoltaics. The approach is to acquire an integrated deposition system that will be used to fabricate nanostructured photovoltaics consisting of multi-step energy gradients and optically-thin interstitial layers. Intellectual Merit: The instrumentation will enable a cross-disciplinary team from three institutions in the Five College area to focus their efforts toward making lasting contributions to the field of next-generation photovoltaics. New high-performance organic molecular and polymer semiconductors with unique frontier orbital tunability will be synthesized to serve as energy gradients. Electric force microscopy and time-resolved spectroscopy will be employed to uncover the elusive fundamental physics of charge dynamics at the donor-acceptor interface. Excessive leakage currents that often plague nanostructured devices will be identified using a non-destructive thermoreflectance imaging technique. Broader Impact: Nanostructured donor-acceptor photovoltaics offer tremendous processing advantages over conventional photovoltaics, potentially affording large-area manufacturability, unparalleled low cost, flexibility (even stretch ability), and dramatically lighter-weight module arrays, all at unprecedented scales. Fabrication and analysis of inorganic/organic optoelectronic devices offer a wealth of learning opportunities for students, both to explore fundamental science and to gain hands-on experience that often encourages undergraduates to continue with careers in the sciences.