Graduate Student, Physics
van der Waals Heterostructures for Solar Energy Conversion
Searching for new materials and designs for optimal solar energy conversion is crucial to the future of solar energy technology. One type of these materials that recently emerged as a promising candidate is the atomically thin crystalline semiconductors, namely monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. They are two-dimensional materials that are stable and strong, in addition to their outstanding ability to absorb light and convert the energy into electricity. My research in CEI project is to investigate these monolayer semiconductors and to construct and optimize the structure to collect solar energy efficiently. Toward this effort, both the lateral and vertical PN heterostructures consisting of different monolayers, key components for solar energy conversion, are synthesized and studied. These studies may impact developing the next generation of ultrathin, transparent, and flexible solar cells.