In this career development plan, the PI outlines his initiatives to attract and retain students into the sciences and engineering and to improve teaching at the K-12, undergraduate and graduate level. These initiatives are closely tied to the PI's research efforts in organic photovoltaics, the broader socio-economical impact of which attracts a wider range of students and more likely inspires students who would otherwise shy away from engineering.
The PI has committed to mentoring high school students and will hire a local full-time high school teacher every summer, aiming at transplanting some of the excitement of laboratory research to the high school classroom. He also proposes to offer extracurricular project and summer research opportunities to undergraduate students. These activities may stimulate students to pursue careers in science and engineering and the hands-on learning will result in better material assimilation and retention. The PI is engaged in curriculum revisions that are currently taking place in his department. He is committed to designing two fun, hands-on courses to attract students to electrical engineering and to offer creative design opportunities to senior students. Finally, the PI is co-writing a textbook on organic electronics.
In the second part, the PI describes a research proposal that concentrates on developing a next generation of organic solar cells that can be produced at low-cost in a roll-to-roll fashion while exhibiting efficiencies approaching or exceeding those of crystalline silicon cells. This is in contrast with efficiencies of up to ~5% that characterize the state-of-the-art of the current generation of organic solar cells. To achieve the substantially higher efficiencies, the PI proposes to integrate several material systems into multifunction solar cell stacks by exploiting a major technological advantage of organic materials. In this approach, cells with different absorption characteristics are stacked and connected in series via ohmic contacts between adjacent cells. Using realistic assumptions, the achievable efficiency of a six-cell multijunction cell is estimated at 21.4%, a two-fold improvement over the maximum efficiency of a single junction solar cell of 11.4% under the same assumptions.
The proposed research program relies on core technologies that were recently developed such as cell stacking using metal nanoclusters and organic vapor phase deposition to realize the objective of demonstrating a multijunction solar cell with a power conversion efficiency exceeding 10%. To address the challenge of wide spectral coverage, organic / low bandgap inorganic semiconductor nanocrystal composite solar cells will be investigated. In addition, the complex optimization of multijunction cells will be addressed by experimentally calibrated, predictive computer models. Finally, a new deposition tool that is based on the organic vapor phase deposition method will be developed. This tool will be used for the deposition of composite organic/inorganic nanoparticle structures without disturbing the underlying layers. This unique capability will allow for the realization of the proposed multijunction structures. Firmly establishing the proposed research effort with the help of NSF funding over the next five years will put the PI's research group on the forefront of the organic electronics discipline.
Intellectual Merit The PI's career development plan includes innovative initiatives to attract and retain students in science and engineering that are reflections of the PI's personal experiences. The proposed research plan makes a clear case for a new generation of organic solar cells and a novel fabrication method. The plan is unique, innovative and timely and addresses an important scientific challenge. The PI's prior research accomplishments in organic photovoltaics form a strong foundation for the execution of the proposed research.
Broader Impacts The successful demonstration of the proposed efficient organic / inorganic multijunction solar cells would represent a true breakthrough in the field of photovoltaics. These solar cells will be cheap, will exhibit high efficiencies, and will be manufactured without significant pollution. The socio-economical payoffs to society of such a renewable technology would be enormous in terms of reducing the emission of greenhouse gas and pollutants, reducing our dependence on oil reserves, creating new jobs and improving the image of science and engineering. This research effort is furthermore likely to attract a wider spectrum of students to science and engineering.
