UNS: Exploring the feasibility of plasmonic nanocrystal solar cells utilizing strongly confined radiation.

PI姓名：Mikhail Zamkov提案编号：1510503太阳是地球上最丰富的潜在可持续能源。 太阳能电池通过使用昂贵的光伏（PV）材料将阳光转换为电力。 降低光伏材料制造成本的一种方法是将称为量子点的纳米半导体晶体悬浮液浇铸成连续的薄片，这一过程称为溶液加工。 然而，通过该方法制造的薄膜PV材料在提供良好的太阳能吸收所需的厚度与通过膜的良好导电性之间具有差的权衡。 为了解决这个问题，该项目的目标是将另一种类型的纳米尺寸的金属颗粒引入到溶液处理方案中，这将提高薄膜的功率转换性能。这种特殊设计的金属粒子称为等离子体粒子，它利用了称为受限辐射的量子力学原理来提高薄膜的光吸收，从而可能提高功率转换效率。 与该项目相关的教育活动将通过建设俄亥俄州的可持续能源未来（BOSEF）计划让本科生参与研究。基于溶液的胶体半导体纳米晶体（量子点）制造成薄膜光伏（PV）器件提供了一条低成本制造的路线。 不幸的是，溶液浇铸半导体PV薄膜的导电性差，需要不能完全吸收入射光的非常薄的膜。 拟议研究的总体目标是制造和研究光伏电池的性能，该电池依赖于金属纳米颗粒的近场天线发射，将太阳能集中到吸收层中。理论上，这种类型的等离子体激元辐射可以增强光伏器件的光密度，超过大多数等离子体激元或光子增强晶体电池所采用的常规远场散射。 如果成功，这种增强的吸收层可以在保持低传导损耗所需的膜厚度下完全吸收光，从而提高光伏性能。 为了实现近场发射到电力的光伏转换，将通过用电绝缘的金属纳米颗粒掺杂半导体固体来组装等离子体膜，其中远场发射被抑制。 以这种方式，近场发射将通过将等离子体激元辐射直接耦合到半导体纳米晶体的共振跃迁来收获。 光电导和时间分辨光谱将用于测量近场能量转换为电能。热倾向的金属纳米颗粒的热影响将通过使用基质封装方法来减轻，其中胶体纳米晶体嵌入到具有可调颗粒间距离的全无机基质中。 这项研究将与赖特光电技术创新和商业化中心（PVIC）合作进行，学生将接受行业级设备的培训，并与行业合作伙伴建立科学关系。

PI Name: Mikhail ZamkovProposal number: 1510503The sun represents the most abundant potential source of sustainable energy on earth. Solar cells convert sunlight to electricity through the use of photovoltaic (PV) materials, which are expensive. One method to reduce the cost of making PV materials is to cast suspensions of nano-sized semiconductor crystals called quantum dots into a continuous thin sheet, a process called solution processing. However, thin-film PV materials made by this method have a poor trade off with respect to the thickness needed to provide good solar energy absorption versus good electrical conduction through the film. To address this issue, the goal of this project is to introduce another type of nano-sized metal particle into the solution processing scheme that will improve the power conversion performance of the thin film. This specially designed metal particle, called a plasmonic particle, exploits a quantum mechanical principle called confined radiation to improve the light absorption of the film, leading to potential improvements in the power conversion efficiency. The educational activities associated with the project will involve undergraduates in research through the Building Ohio's Sustainable Energy Future (BOSEF) program.The solution-based fabrication of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots) into thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices offers a route for low-cost manufacture. Unfortunately, the electrical conductivity in solution-cast semiconductor PV thin films is poor, requiring exceptionally thin films that cannot fully absorb the incident light. The overall goal of the proposed research is to fabricate and study the performance of photovoltaic cells which rely on the near-field antenna emission of metal nanoparticles to funnel solar energy into the absorber layer. Theoretically, this type of plasmon radiation can enhance the optical density of photovoltaic devices beyond the conventional far-field scattering employed by most plasmonic or photonically-enhanced crystal cells. If successful, this enhanced absorption layer can fully absorb light at film thicknesses needed to maintain low conduction losses, leading to enhanced photovoltaic performance. To enable the photovoltaic conversion of near-field emission into electric power, plasmonic films will be assembled by doping the semiconductor nanocrystal solids with electrically-insulated metal nanoparticles where the far-field emission is suppressed. In this way, the near-field emission will be harvested by coupling the plasmon radiation directly to resonant transitions of semiconductor nanocrystals. Photoconductivity and time-resolved spectroscopy will be used to measure near-field energy conversion into electrical power. The thermal impact of heat-prone metal nanoparticles will be alleviated by using a matrix-encapsulation approach, where colloidal nanocrystals are imbedded into all-inorganic matrices that have tunable interparticle distances. The proposed research will be conducted in collaboration with the Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC), where students will be trained the industry-grade equipment and build scientific relationships with industry partners.