SOLAR Collaborative: Photonic Enhancement of Organic Photovoltaics to Enable Higher Efficiencies and Exotic Mechanisms

这个合作项目汇集了丹佛大学和科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的教师和科学家，研究有机光化学（OPV）的新材料和概念。它结合了新的数学方法来描述光子过程与新的等离子体纳米结构，用于增强光吸收和新的有机半导体控制激子流和载流子动力学。探讨了表面等离子体中线性和非线性过程及其与有机生色团相互作用的理论基础，并研究了表面等离子体与Förster共振能量转移（FRET）之间的相互作用。合成了新的有机分子，其结合了石墨烯和具有特殊电荷传输和激发态性质的其他部分沿着液晶功能，以改善分子有序性。总体目标是提高OPV器件中产生的激子的密度，以实现更高的效率以及激发态动力学和多激子现象的相干控制。这项工作需要与国家可再生能源实验室和多伦多大学进行重要合作，该项目旨在推进OPV材料和机制的基础知识，并为将OPV作为一种可真正大规模生产的低成本太阳能技术推向更广泛的市场提供动力。该项目的跨学科性质使研究生和博士后学员接触到各种研究环境，并促进他们的学习和职业发展。该项目制作的教材通过网站和国家科学、技术、工程和数学教育数字图书馆（NSDL）广泛传播。丹佛和博尔德地区当地高中科学教师的外联活动使他们能够亲身体验太阳能和纳米技术密集讲习班。演示，展览和教学材料提供给科罗拉多机构，如落基山脉航空航天博物馆和梅米多德艾森豪威尔图书馆的翅膀。

This collaborative project brings together faculty and scientists at the University of Denver and the University of Colorado at Boulder to study new materials and concepts in organic photovoltaics (OPV). It combines new mathematical methods to describe photonic processes with novel plasmonic nanostructures for enhancing optical absorption and new organic semiconductors for control of exciton flow and charge carrier dynamics. The theoretical foundations of linear and nonlinear processes in surface plasmons and their interactions with organic chromophores are explored, and the interplay between surface plasmons and Förster Resonant Energy Transfer (FRET) is investigated. New organic molecules are synthesized that incorporate graphenic and other moieties with exceptional charge transport and excited-state properties along with liquid-crystalline functionality for improved molecular ordering. The overall goal is to enhance the density of excitons created in OPV devices to enable higher efficiencies as well as coherent control of excited state dynamics and multiexciton phenomena. The work entails significant collaborations with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Toronto.This project aims to advance the fundamental knowledge of OPV materials and mechanisms and to provide impetus for moving OPV to the broader market as a low-cost solar energy technology that can be produced on a truly large scale. The interdisciplinary nature of the project gives graduate students and postdoctoral trainees exposure to a variety of research settings and fosters their learning and career growth. The project generates educational materials that are broadly disseminated through websites and through the National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL). Outreach activities for local high school science teachers in the Denver and Boulder areas enable hands-on experience with intensive workshops on solar energy and nanotechnology. Demonstrations, exhibits, and instructional materials are provided to Colorado institutions such as the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum and the Mamie Dowd Eisenhower Library.