Thanks to a new microscope, new discoveries have been made about a promising solar cell material
A team of scientists from the Department of National Laboratory have developed a new characterization tool that allows them to gain unique insight into material for solar cells
Under the leadership of Jigang Wang from Ames Lab, developed a microscope that uses terahertz waves to collect data on material samples.
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microscope is unique because it makes use of two features. One is its ability to measure changes in surface charge while scanning.
First, the terahertz range of electromagnetic waves is used to collect data on materials
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This range is below the visible light spectrum, falling between the infrared and microwave frequencies.
Nanometer light sources can be used to enhance the capabilities of a microscope . First, they provide a powerful beam of coherent light to illuminate the sample
for this terahertz light, the wavelength is about a millimeter and we used this sharp metallic tip that is sharpened to a 20-nanometer radius curvature
Scientists are excited about a new type of material, which might be useful in solar cells.
These semiconductors can transport an electric charge
Wang and Kim expected that MAPbI3 should behave like an insulator when they exposed it to terahertz light.
Terahertz light-scattering spectroscopy can detect variations in the molecular.
there was a lot of variation in light scattering along the boundary between the grains.
Kim said that metal-like materials have a high level of light while less metal-like materials have a low level of light scattering. The wide variation of light scattering detected along the grain boundaries
The team continued to collect data on the material, and data collected in that time showed the degradation process through changes in the levels of light scatterings
This information can be used to improve and manipulate the material in the future.