CAREER: Finite-Absorption-Bandwidth Nanomaterials for Multijunction Photovoltaics and Narrow-Band Photodetectors

职业生涯：用于多结光伏和窄带光电探测器的有限吸收带宽纳米材料ECCS#1846239；PI：Susanna Tone非技术：光传感器和太阳能电池等设备中使用的材料的颜色很重要，因为颜色决定了这些设备对入射光的响应方式。缺乏只吸收不可见红外线的天然材料。这个问题限制了下一代太阳能电池和红外光传感器的效率。这个项目通过在纳米尺度上人工构建吸光材料来控制它们的颜色来解决这个问题。这些新材料将用于制造高效太阳能电池和颜色选择性光传感器。通过该项目开发的见解和新技术可能会有广泛的应用。可能受到影响的领域包括可持续能源采集、危险气体传感、夜视系统和生物医学成像。研究活动将与跨学科教育和外联活动相结合。其中包括为本科生和研究生水平的纳米技术和可再生能源课程开发课程。研究小组成员还将为巴尔的摩市公立学校的小学生担任STEM导师。技术：拟议的研究目标是基于强吸收材料中的光子能带工程，设计和制造新型具有有限吸收带宽(FAB)的颜色调谐纳米材料，并将其用于制造成本效益高的多结太阳能电池和窄带光电探测器。这项研究旨在通过开发具有红外响应性的胶体量子点薄膜和通过控制面内光子能带结构实现可见光透明的新型FAB材料来解决缺乏能够独立控制光谱吸收和透过率的红外光学材料的问题。将采用的方法包括电磁模拟、化学合成、溶液处理器件制造和光电子器件表征。该项目的主要目标是(1)利用电磁模拟和耦合振子理论建立光子能带结构如何依赖于材料吸收的定量理论，(2)利用光子能带工程和自组装制造技术构建FAB材料，以及(3)使用FAB材料构建多结太阳能电池和窄带红外光电探测器。如果成功，拟议的工作将产生一种新的方法，通过引入一类仅在红外中吸收的光电活性材料来提高当前太阳能电池和光电探测器技术的效率。该项目寻求在多个长度尺度上促进对纳米结构材料中基本能量传递过程的理解，并利用突发体效应来构建新的光电子器件。这些新的见解和设备有可能使具有可控光谱分布的光活性材料可用于照明、传感和成像应用的其他领域的研究成为可能，例如，除了实验工作外，为了解材料在多个长度尺度上的行为提供理论和计算基础的目标应该通过增加可用于新应用的材料和效应的工具箱来拓宽材料和设备的总体研究。该项目的综合教育和推广部分旨在吸引小学、本科生和研究生在纳米技术和工程领域。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

CAREER: Finite-Absorption-Bandwidth Nanomaterials forMultijunction Photovoltaics and Narrow-Band PhotodetectorsECCS #1846239; PI: Susanna ThonNontechnical:The color of materials used in devices such as light sensors and solar cells is important because color determines how these devices respond to incident light. There is a lack of natural materials that only absorb invisible infrared light. This problem limits the efficiency of next-generation solar cells and infrared light sensors. This project addresses this problem by artificially structuring light-absorbing materials on the nanometer scale to control their color. These new materials will be used to make high-efficiency solar cells and color-selective light sensors. The insights and new technologies developed through this project could have wide-ranging applications. Areas that could be impacted include sustainable energy harvesting, hazardous gas sensing, night vision systems, and biomedical imaging. The research activities will be integrated with interdisciplinary educational and outreach activities. These include curriculum development for undergraduate and graduate level classes on nanotechnology and renewable energy. Research team members will also serve as STEM mentors for elementary school students in Baltimore City public schools.Technical:The objectives of the proposed research are to design and build new color-tuned nanomaterials with finite-absorption-bandwidths (FABs) based on photonic band engineering in strongly absorbing materials and use them to make cost-effective multijunction solar cells and narrow-band photodetectors. The proposed research aims to solve the problem of a lack of infrared (IR) optical materials with spectral absorption and transmission profiles that can be independently controlled through the development of new FAB materials composed of colloidal quantum dot thin films for IR responsivity and photonic structuring for visible transparency via control of the in-plane photonic band structure. Methods to be employed include electromagnetic simulations, chemical synthesis, solution-processed device fabrication, and optoelectronic device characterization. The main goals of the project are to (1) establish a quantitative theory for how photonic band structure depends on material absorption using electromagnetic simulations and coupled oscillator theory, (2) build FAB materials using photonic band engineering and self-assembled fabrication techniques, and (3) use the FAB materials to build multijunction solar cells and narrow-band IR photodetectors. If successful, the proposed work will result in a new method for improving the efficiency of current solar cell and photodetector technology by introducing a new class of optoelectronically-active materials that absorb only in the infrared. The project seeks to advance the understanding of fundamental energy transfer processes in nanostructured materials on multiple length scales and use emergent bulk effects to build new optoelectronic devices. These new insights and devices have the potential to enable research in other fields where photoactive materials with controllable spectral profiles could be used for lighting, sensing, and imaging applications, e.g. In addition to the experimental work, the goal of providing a theoretical and computational underpinning for understanding materials behavior on multiple length scales should broaden materials and device research in general by adding to the toolbox of materials and effects that can be exploited for novel applications. The integrated educational and outreach components of the project are designed to engage elementary, undergraduate, and graduate students in the fields of nanotechnology and engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.