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Stanford researchers stretch a thin crystal to get better solar cells
https://engineering.stanford.edu/news/stanford-researchers-stretch-thin-crystal-get-better-solar-cells[font face=Serif][font size=5]Stanford researchers stretch a thin crystal to get better solar cells[/font]
[font size=4]Crystalline semiconductors such as silicon can catch photons and convert their energy into electron flows. New research shows that a little stretching could give one of silicon's lesser-known cousins its own place in the sun.[/font]
By Tom Abate | Stanford Engineering
[font size=3]…
Now an interdisciplinary team at Stanford has made a semiconductor crystal with a variable band gap. Among other potential uses, this variable semiconductor could lead to solar cells that absorb more energy from the sun by being sensitive to a broader spectrum of light.
[font size=1]A colorized image, enlarged 100,000 times, shows an ultrathin layer of molybdenum disulfide stretched over the peaks and valleys of part of an electronic device. Just 3 atoms thick, this semiconductor material is stretched in ways to enhance its electronic potential to catch solar energy. (Photo: Hong Li)[/font]
…
By stretching the lattice, the Stanford researchers were able to shift the atoms in the monolayer. Those shifts changed the energy required to move electrons. Stretching the monolayer made MoS₂ something new to science and potentially useful in electronics: an artificial crystal with a variable band gap.
"With a single, atomically thin semiconductor material we can get a wide range of band gaps," Manoharan said. "We think this will have broad ramifications in sensing, solar power and other electronics."
…[/font][/font]
[font size=4]Crystalline semiconductors such as silicon can catch photons and convert their energy into electron flows. New research shows that a little stretching could give one of silicon's lesser-known cousins its own place in the sun.[/font]
By Tom Abate | Stanford Engineering
[font size=3]…
Now an interdisciplinary team at Stanford has made a semiconductor crystal with a variable band gap. Among other potential uses, this variable semiconductor could lead to solar cells that absorb more energy from the sun by being sensitive to a broader spectrum of light.
[font size=1]A colorized image, enlarged 100,000 times, shows an ultrathin layer of molybdenum disulfide stretched over the peaks and valleys of part of an electronic device. Just 3 atoms thick, this semiconductor material is stretched in ways to enhance its electronic potential to catch solar energy. (Photo: Hong Li)[/font]
…
By stretching the lattice, the Stanford researchers were able to shift the atoms in the monolayer. Those shifts changed the energy required to move electrons. Stretching the monolayer made MoS₂ something new to science and potentially useful in electronics: an artificial crystal with a variable band gap.
"With a single, atomically thin semiconductor material we can get a wide range of band gaps," Manoharan said. "We think this will have broad ramifications in sensing, solar power and other electronics."
…[/font][/font]
