Monitoring Quality of Nanostructured Thin Films in Polymer Solar Cell Manufacturing

该奖项支持基础研究，以捕捉和破译与半导体聚合物薄膜的纳米级特性相关的光学特征，以便能够以低成本制造高质量的聚合物太阳能电池。这项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。具体地说，该项目将首先制作一系列基准半导体聚合物薄膜样品，展示与太阳能电池性能相关的一系列特性，如聚合物纳米结构的厚度、材料覆盖率和长宽比的变化。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光和红光的光吸收，将离线数据与实时捕获的在线光学特征进行比较和关联。本研究获得的知识将为开发卷到卷制造聚合物太阳能电池的实时质量监控工具提供支持。配备这种在线监控能力的制造平台可以实施闭环反馈控制，以提高质量一致性，从而提高产量和降低生产成本。预计从这项研究中收集到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工艺，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将直接参与这个项目的各个方面。由于研究项目可能会催生新的创业机会，高积极性的大学生将通过参加清洁能源商业计划竞赛来指导和参与创业。通过生动的先进制造概念课堂演示，K-12学生将从该计划中受益。

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.