Monitoring Quality of Nanostructured Thin Films in Polymer Solar Cell Manufacturing

该奖项支持捕获和破译与半导体聚合物薄膜纳米级特性相关的光学特征的基础研究，以实现高质量聚合物太阳能电池的低成本制造。该研究将通过在太阳能电池效率、聚合物薄膜的形态细节和相应的光学特征之间建立清晰的映射来实现这一目标。具体来说，该项目将首先制造一系列基准半导体聚合物薄膜样品，展示一系列与太阳能电池性能相关的特性，如厚度变化、材料覆盖范围和聚合物纳米结构的纵横比。然后，这些基准样本将使用最先进的离线方法进行表征。最后，通过测量与薄膜相交的绿色和红色激光束的光吸收，将离线数据与实时捕获的在线光学特征进行比较和关联。从这项研究中获得的知识将有助于开发聚合物太阳能电池卷对卷制造的实时质量监控工具。配备这种在线监控功能的制造平台可以实施闭环反馈控制，以提高质量一致性，从而提高产量并降低生产成本。预计从本研究中获得的实时质量保证原则也可以应用于其他聚合物半导体薄膜器件的制造过程，如固态照明和柔性电子电路。具有不同背景的研究生和本科生都将直接参与该项目的各个方面。由于该研究项目可能会产生新的创业机会，因此，积极进取的大学生将通过参加清洁能源商业计划竞赛，获得指导，并参与创建商业企业。K-12学生将从该项目中受益，通过生动的课堂演示先进的制造概念。

This award supports fundamental research to capture and decipher optical signatures associated with the nanoscale properties of semiconducting polymer thin films in order to enable low-cost manufacturing of high-quality polymer solar cells. The research will achieve this goal by establishing a clear mapping among solar cell efficiency, morphological details of polymer thin films, and corresponding optical signatures. Specifically, the project will first fabricate a collection of benchmark semiconducting polymer thin film samples exhibiting a range of properties relevant to solar cell performance such as variation in thickness, material coverage, and aspect ratio of polymer nanostructures. Then these benchmark samples will be characterized using state-of-the-art off-line methods. Finally the off-line data will be compared and correlated to in-line optical signatures captured in real-time by measuring the light absorption from green and red laser beams intersecting the films.Knowledge gained from this research will enable development of real-time quality monitoring tools in roll-to-roll manufacturing of polymer solar cells. Manufacturing platforms equipped with such in-line monitoring capability can implement closed-loop feedback controls for improved quality consistency leading to higher yield and lower production costs. It is anticipated that the real-time quality assurance principles gleaned from this research can also be applied to manufacturing processes of other polymer semiconductor thin-film devices, such as solid state lighting and flexible electronic circuits. Students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels with diversified backgrounds will directly participate in various aspects of this project. Because the research program may spawn new start-up opportunities, highly motivated college students will be mentored and engaged in the creation of business ventures through participation in clean energy business plan competitions. K-12 students will benefit from the program through vivid classroom demonstrations of advanced manufacturing concepts.