Collaborative Proposal: Designer Glass Ceramics

非技术描述：这项研究为太阳能电池创造了特殊的涂层，增加了电池可以利用的太阳能量，使它们更有效率。这种涂层还有助于减少太阳能电池的加热，这会浪费能源。这些涂层可以与目前可用的太阳能电池材料一起使用，使其作为一种商业产品具有更具吸引力的可行性。这种涂层还可以应用于发光二极管，帮助在较宽的温度范围内控制光的颜色。虽然不是本次调查的重点，但这些涂层在医疗X射线成像、无损评估和国土安全方面还有其他应用。这些研究工作与教育活动相结合，使研究生接触到现实世界中的节能问题，以及通过撰写论文和介绍研究、旅行、拨款和教学的形式传播信息的完整学术经验。作为推广活动的一部分，高中生和本科生可以参加暑期实习，这使每年有一小部分学生有机会了解更多关于科学研究的知识，进行实验，发表演讲，并参与科学事业的许多其他方面。技术描述：这项活动的目的是开发基于改性氟锆酸盐玻璃组合物的新型‘设计者’玻璃陶瓷，并探索其发光行为。最终目标是获得洞察力，从而优化这些设计型纳米复合材料，作为与太阳能电池和发光二极管的上、下变频器相关的波长移位器应用。脉冲激光沉积用于合成层状纳米复合材料，从而实现了对光学活性掺杂剂和纳米晶结构的精细控制，从而导致了具有增强光输出的微晶玻璃的发展。对光学行为的系统研究，作为参数的函数，例如玻璃基质中光学活性元件层的设计分布以及光学掺杂剂和纳米晶体的相对浓度，使得能够理解如何控制发光掺杂剂原子和纳米晶体之间的能量转移(从而光学效率)。原位电子显微镜、椭偏仪和X射线衍射仪的结合使结构-性质关系得以可视化并联系在一起。例如，通过研究原位加热过程中掺杂的扩散路径，可以实现对最佳掺杂位置的关键控制。

Non-technical Description: This research creates special coatings for solar cells that increase the amount of the sun's energy that the cells can use, making them more efficient. The coatings also help reduce heating of the solar cells, which wastes energy. These coatings can be used with currently-available solar cell materials, enabling more attractive viability as a commercial product. The coatings may also be applied to light emitting diodes, helping control the color of light over a wide temperature range. Although not the focus of this investigation, the coatings have additional applications in medical X-ray imaging, non-destructive evaluation and homeland security. These research efforts are integrated with educational activities exposing graduate students to real world problems of energy saving as well as the full academic experience of information dissemination in the form of writing papers and presenting research, travel, grant writing and teaching. As part of the outreach activities, a summer internship is available for high school and undergraduate students, which gives a small number of students, each year, the opportunity to learn more about scientific research, perform experiments, give presentations, and participate in many other aspects of a scientific career. Technical Description: The aim of this activity is to develop novel 'designer' glass ceramics based on a modified fluorozirconate glass composition, and to explore their luminescence behavior. The ultimate goal is to gain insights leading to optimization of these designer nanocomposites for applications as wavelength shifters pertaining to up- and down-converters in solar cells and light emitting diodes. Pulsed laser deposition is used to synthesize layered nanocomposite materials so that very fine control of the distribution of the optically-active dopant and the nanocrystalline structure responsible for the optical behavior is achieved, leading to the development of a glass ceramic with enhanced light output. Systematic studies of optical behavior, as a function of parameters such as the designed distribution of the optically-active component layers within the glass matrix and the relative concentrations of optical dopants and nanocrystals, enable an understanding of how energy transfer between the luminescent dopant atoms and the nanocrystals (and thus the optical efficiency) can be controlled. The combination of in situ¬ transmission electron microscopy, ellipsometry and X-ray diffraction enables the structure-property relationships to be visualized and linked together. For example, critical control over optimum dopant position can be achieved by studying the diffusion paths of the dopants during in situ heating.