半導體量子元件及奈米結構之高效能與節能應用( I )

Abstract

自本世紀之初，天然資源的快速消耗及油價高漲已經對我們日常生活造成威脅。如果想 要維持現在甚至將來的生活水準，開源節流成為一個必需的課題。 在節能的概念下，能源再生及能源有效利用是一體兩面的，更是能源政策中兩大重要支 柱，所以需要同時對這兩種議題的相關科技應用進行研究發展。 這個計畫的主旨是在發展多種節能且高效率的奈米尺寸元件。在我們構想藍圖中，是要 利用半導體奈米結構及量子元件去製作出一系列新穎高效率元件來達到節能的目標，這 些元件包括半導體電漿子冷光致冷器、可利用磁場加強放光效率的發光元件、及增強光 電轉換率的量子點太陽能晶片。 現階段大部份以上所提到的元件都僅止於理論的探索及初步的實稔結果，要製作出 真實可以利用的元件將是一項很大的挑戰。我們的團隊集結了各種領域的專家，包括理 論與實驗範疇的物理學家及工程師，這使得我們有著可以從不同的角度去切入並共同解 決問題的優勢。這個計畫可以畫分為四個相關的部份：(1)半導體致冷晶片，(2)高效能 光電奈米元件，(3)高光電轉換率量子點太陽能晶片，(4)綠能電子學的模型理論計算。 我們綜合了本世紀中重要的奈米、材料及光電技術來進行研究，並期望能整合這些技術 提供全新的功能應用來回饋社會。 計畫中的研究目的及技術優勢總合如下：

The fast depletion of natural energy sources and the rising cost of fossil fuels have already been threatening our daily life since the turn of this century. If we are going to keep the same level of living standard in the future and for the future generations, energy saving and a more efficient energy usage are a must for all of us living today. The concepts of renewable energy and energy efficiency go hand in hand. These two concepts are considered to be the “twin pillars” of the policies regarding sustainable energy. To make the most of the sustainable energy policy there needs to be simultaneous application of strategies regarding renewable energy and efficient use of energy. The proposed program presented here targets at the development of a wide variety of nanoscale devices with potential applications in energy saving and high efficiency. The aim of this program is to propose, fabricate and characterize novel energy-efficient devices based on semiconductor nanostructures and quantum devices for achieving desired figures of merit. These include semiconductor plasmonic luminescent coolers, light emitting devices of enhanced luminescence efficiency with magnetic field, and embedded QDs for conversion efficiency enhancement in solar cells. However, most of the designs are still in the stage of theoretical investigation and there is a big challenge to integrate them in real applications. This is a collaborative program among theoreticians and experimentalists, physicists and technologists. The combined and diverse talents of this team will enable us to tackle the problem from different angles. This project is made up of four separate but strongly related parts: (1) semiconductor cooling chips (2) energy-efficient optoelectronic nanodevices (3) quantum dot embedded solar cells for better energy efficiency (4) model, characterization, and theoretical analysis of nanostructures for green electronics. We propose a comprehensive research plan which builds at the intersection of several important nano, material and optical technologies of this century. We plan to investigate areas in which these technologies overlap to provide new functionality. Some key technical goals and operational features of our plan are: • Development of semiconductor luminescent coolers incorporated with plasmonics for higher cooling power and lower temperature operations • Demonstrate effects of applied magnetic field on photocurrent generation in light emitting devices and solar cells • Development and adjustment of novel nanolithography and controlled self-assembled growth techniques of Si, InAs, InSb, and GaSb quantum dots embedded in photovoltaic cells of various kinds of host materials • Demonstration of photo-response and energy conversion in nanoscale photovoltaic cells • To develop a computational multiscale approach for the optimization of the highly efficient semiconductor nanodevices. • To identify and model nanoscale size effects and characteristics, which are crucial for the field control, optical properties, and thermal management of semiconductor nano-devices • A team of researchers who have substantial research experience in their respective fields and have a demonstrated commitment to collaborative research • Strong support and commitment from the Center of Nano Science and Technology at the National Chiao Tung University to support the research needs of this program The eventual success of this program is dependent upon our thorough understanding on material itself and at the same time a viable technology that combines the nanotechnology with state-of-the-art characterization techniques. The proposed program is designed to tackle the most critical issues of energy conservation and energy efficiency built from semiconductor nanostructures.