search

CFN BNL

Electronic Nanomaterials

Contact: Charles Black

Developing sufficient sustainable energy resources for powering the world has emerged as the greatest technological challenge of our time. Every survey of non-fossil fuel based options highlights the immense energy resource supplied by solar radiation. Roughly 120,000 terawatts reach the earth’s surface – more than 10,000 times the present yearly-averaged world energy consumption rate. Effective use of this resource ultimately depends on our capability to collect solar energy and convert it to more useable forms.

Approximately one fifth of the energy consumed in the United States is in the form of electricity. Efficient use of solar energy can immediately impact this aspect of global consumption through the photovoltaic effect – the process by which materials convert optical energy directly into electricity. The main impediment to widespread implementation of photovoltaic power conversion systems is the cost of energy production compared to established fossil fuel methods. Photovoltaic devices must deliver higher electrical power output per unit cost, a ratio demanding improved efficiency, lower manufacturing costs, and reduced maintenance expenses.

Our research program in Electronic Nanomaterials utilizes nanometer-scale materials with precisely defined and tunable internal dimensions for understanding and improving the three critical steps of photovoltaic conversion: solar light absorption by the active photovoltaic material; dissociation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs into free charge carriers; and charge collection. Nanostructure processes provide an experimental platform for understanding and improving each step in the photovoltaic energy conversion.

Without an accompanying capability for storage (for times when the sun goes down, for example), solar energy is too sporadic to serve as society’s primary energy source. Our research program includes exploring chemical synthesis methods for photocatalytic materials suitable for producing hydrogen fuel. Our expertise in synthesis of nanometer-scale materials provides a valuable complement to strong catalysis programs in the Brookhaven Chemistry Department.

Associated Group Facilities

The Electronic Nanomaterials Group includes three laboratory facilities available to our User Community. The Nanofabrication Facility supports thin-film material and device processing in a cleanroom environment and electrical device characterization. The Materials Synthesis Laboratories include capabilities for inorganic nanomaterial synthesis by solution-phase chemistry and chemical vapor deposition methods, as well as organic and inorganic thin-film processing. The Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory supports spectroscopy of photoinitiated processes at sub-picosecond time scales.

Group Members

 

Top of Page

Last Modified: May 6, 2008
Please forward all questions about this site to: Stephen Giordano.

 


DOE, Office of ScienceOne of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

Privacy and Security Notice  | Contact Web Services for help