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Contact Radius And Insulator-Metal Transition In Films Comprised Of Touching Semiconductor Nanocrystals, Deanna M. Lanigan
Contact Radius And Insulator-Metal Transition In Films Comprised Of Touching Semiconductor Nanocrystals, Deanna M. Lanigan
McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations
Nanocrystal assemblies are being explored for a number of optoelectronic applications such as transparent conductors, photovoltaic solar cells, and electrochromic windows. Majority carrier transport is important for these applications, yet it remains relatively poorly understood in films comprised of touching nanocrystals. Specifically, the underlying structural parameters expected to determine the transport mechanism have not been fully elucidated. In this report, we demonstrate experimentally that the contact radius, between touching heavily doped ZnO nanocrystals, controls the electron transport mechanism. Spherical nanocrystals are considered, which are connected by a circular area. The radius of this circular area is the contact radius. For …
Theory Of Carrier Transport From First Principles: Applications In Photovoltaic And Thermoelectric Materials, Alireza Faghaninia
Theory Of Carrier Transport From First Principles: Applications In Photovoltaic And Thermoelectric Materials, Alireza Faghaninia
McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations
New sources of energy that are environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and renewable are essential if we are to combat the effects of global climate change. Two of these sources are solar photovoltaic (PV) cells to convert sunlight into electricity and thermoelectric (TE) devices to convert heat to electricity. To be practical on a large scale, the properties (e.g. electrical conductivity, band gap, Seebeck coefficient, etc) of the the underlying materials must be improved significantly through judicious control of structure and composition. Significant understanding of materials properties is required to design and engineer new high-performing materials. First principles calculations using density functional …