Investigating the behaviour of semiconductor materials under extreme pressures. The study of materials at extreme pressures is important and interesting from both a technological and a fundamental perspective. This project will significantly advance the understanding of how semiconductors react to high-pressure environments by exploiting new and innovative approaches to both the application of the extreme pressure and the in-situ measurement of the resultant structures. It will establish a compr ....Investigating the behaviour of semiconductor materials under extreme pressures. The study of materials at extreme pressures is important and interesting from both a technological and a fundamental perspective. This project will significantly advance the understanding of how semiconductors react to high-pressure environments by exploiting new and innovative approaches to both the application of the extreme pressure and the in-situ measurement of the resultant structures. It will establish a comprehensive understanding of the deformation behaviour of semiconductors that will be essential in the search for advanced materials with entirely new properties that may be useful in semiconducting device applications.Read moreRead less
The development of inexpensive negatively charged films to increase the efficiency of commercial solar cells. This project aims to reduce the cost of solar electricity by developing inexpensive, negatively charged dielectric films. When deposited on the surfaces of commercial solar cells, these films will significantly increase cell efficiency, thereby producing more power from a given area.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100235
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,000.00
Summary
Interfacial mapping facility. New electronic materials and devices impact on everyday life in areas such as photovoltaics, biotechnology and healthcare. This facility will provide researchers with the unique capability of mapping both the structure and electronic properties of materials on the nanoscale. It will be an essential tool for developing new electronics based on nanotechnology.
Understanding the structure and unusual properties of ion implanted amorphous germanium. This project explores the properties of a semiconductor (germanium) that has become important in fast electronic applications. Its disordered form has unusual properties and their understanding is a main project aim. Outcomes are: fundamental understanding of an important material, and enabling its technological applications to be fully realised.
Revealing the atoms that control performance in photoactive perovskites. This project aims to develop new electron microscopy techniques that will unambiguously determine the elusive structures of photoactive perovskite compounds under static and operational conditions, while correlating crystal structure with solar cell device performance. Photoactive perovskites are promising photovoltaic materials, however, many are sensitive to air and irradiation. This has impeded a huge international resea ....Revealing the atoms that control performance in photoactive perovskites. This project aims to develop new electron microscopy techniques that will unambiguously determine the elusive structures of photoactive perovskite compounds under static and operational conditions, while correlating crystal structure with solar cell device performance. Photoactive perovskites are promising photovoltaic materials, however, many are sensitive to air and irradiation. This has impeded a huge international research effort to determine their structure reliably at the atomic scale. With these new techniques applied to leading compounds and devices, it is expected this project will reveal the structural effects controlling electrical properties and device performance and so enable the design of superior perovskite photovoltaics.Read moreRead less
The effect of stress on the production and evolution of defects in ion-implanted silicon. This project aims to improve the reliability of semiconductor devices by understanding how stresses created within the device during processing affect the formation and migration of defects, and by using this information to improve device modelling and process simulation.
Towards phase, composition and homogeneity control in ternary nanowires. Semiconductor nanowires have enormous potential for large scale industry manufacturing as each individual nanowire represents one device. The aim of this project is the catalyst-free growth of ternary nanowires with control over structure, composition and homogeneity within the wire. Detailed electron microscopy analyses are essential to reconstruct a three-dimensional view of the nanowires and understand the growth mechani ....Towards phase, composition and homogeneity control in ternary nanowires. Semiconductor nanowires have enormous potential for large scale industry manufacturing as each individual nanowire represents one device. The aim of this project is the catalyst-free growth of ternary nanowires with control over structure, composition and homogeneity within the wire. Detailed electron microscopy analyses are essential to reconstruct a three-dimensional view of the nanowires and understand the growth mechanism at work. These structural characteristics determine the optical properties. It is expected that precise control over growth will allow the emission wavelength of the nanowires to be tuned and allow their use in optoelectronic device structures. Two innovative techniques are proposed using strain and patterned substrates for ternary nanowire growth.Read moreRead less
Exploiting shear to form new structures of carbon. This project aims to create new, technologically-interesting, materials by combining shear (sliding forces) with high pressure. The work will use both modelling and experiments to understand the pathways to form new materials such as a different form of diamond that is predicted to be harder than regular diamond. Such a material could be used in coatings for cutting tools or ultra-low-scratch surfaces. Expected outcomes include both an understan ....Exploiting shear to form new structures of carbon. This project aims to create new, technologically-interesting, materials by combining shear (sliding forces) with high pressure. The work will use both modelling and experiments to understand the pathways to form new materials such as a different form of diamond that is predicted to be harder than regular diamond. Such a material could be used in coatings for cutting tools or ultra-low-scratch surfaces. Expected outcomes include both an understanding of the importance of shear in the study of high-pressure science, and as a tool to manufacture new functional materials.Read moreRead less
Understanding helium induced nanostructure formation. This project addresses the interaction dynamics of high-flux helium particles with materials that drives surface nanowire growth. These dynamics are important to nuclear reactor materials and to developing new nanotechnology materials for high energy density lithium-ion battery anodes and water splitting catalysts. Through model and experiment, this project expects to generate new knowledge of processes that drive sub-surface nano-bubble form ....Understanding helium induced nanostructure formation. This project addresses the interaction dynamics of high-flux helium particles with materials that drives surface nanowire growth. These dynamics are important to nuclear reactor materials and to developing new nanotechnology materials for high energy density lithium-ion battery anodes and water splitting catalysts. Through model and experiment, this project expects to generate new knowledge of processes that drive sub-surface nano-bubble formation and surface nanowire growth in materials exposed to helium particles. This project will result in improved understanding of material degradation during nuclear reactor operation and will make a new contribution to high-value manufacturing capabilities for next generation energy systems.Read moreRead less
Nanoclusters with Extraordinary Properties Made out of Ordinary Materials. Ultrafast laser deposition - a process pioneered by the Applicants - has already demonstrated record yields in the production of carbon-based nano-clustered materials with better control over the size of the nano-particles than any other process. This project aims to improve fundamental understanding of the ultra-fast laser deposition method of nano-fabrication through theoretical and experimental studies, which accurate ....Nanoclusters with Extraordinary Properties Made out of Ordinary Materials. Ultrafast laser deposition - a process pioneered by the Applicants - has already demonstrated record yields in the production of carbon-based nano-clustered materials with better control over the size of the nano-particles than any other process. This project aims to improve fundamental understanding of the ultra-fast laser deposition method of nano-fabrication through theoretical and experimental studies, which accurately correlate the ablation conditions to the structural, electronic, magnetic and optical properties of resulting nano-particles. The results will be applied to efficiently produce nano-clustered materials with tuneable properties for a wide range of new technologies such as spintronics, biophotonics, and nanoclinics.Read moreRead less