CNR NANO - Istituto Nanoscienze Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

- 28.04.2021 - FIM-S3 SEMINAR - Prof Ray LaPierre
Date and Time: Wednesday April 28th, 16:00
Link (Google Meet): https://meet.google.com/yud-upbp-mno

Speaker: Prof Ray LaPierre - Mc Master University (Canada)

Title: Semiconductor nanowires for betavoltaics, photovoltaics and energy harvesting

Abstract:
III-V compound semiconductor nanowires (NWs) are being developed for the next generation of optoelectronic devices such as photodetectors, photovoltaics, betavoltaics and thermoelectrics. The self-assisted vapor-liquid-solid method is now a well-established technique for the growth of III-V NWs on silicon substrates.
In this method, an array of holes in a SiO2 film is used for metal droplet formation, which seeds the growth of vertically oriented NWs within a periodic array. The free lateral surfaces of NWs allow elastic relaxation of lattice misfit strain without the generation of dislocations, permitting unique heterostructures and the direct integration of III-V materials on inexpensive silicon substrates.
Furthermore, NWs permit high optical absorption due to an optical antenna effect. The optical absorption in NW arrays can exceed that due to a thin film of equivalent thickness, enabling high efficiency NW-based photovoltaic devices. Optical resonances that depend on the NW diameter allow multispectral absorption for infrared camera applications. Embedding a radioisotope in the space between nanowires enables betavoltaic devices, a type of nuclear nano-battery. Some of the challenges associated with NW materials and devices will be illustrated.

Host: Marco Gibertini (FIM, UNIMORE) and Claudia Cardoso (S3, CNR-NANO)

The flyer can be found here

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