Magnetic Field Alignment of Randomly Oriented, High Aspect Ratio Silicon Microwires into Vertically Oriented Arrays

External magnetic fields have been used to vertically align ensembles of silicon microwires coated with ferromagnetic nickel films. X-ray diffraction and image analysis techniques were used to quantify the degree of vertical orientation of the microwires. The degree of vertical alignment and the minimum field strength required for alignment were evaluated as a function of the wire length, coating thickness, magnetic history, and substrate surface properties. Nearly 100% of 100 μm long, 2 μm diameter, Si microwires that had been coated with 300 nm of Ni could be vertically aligned by a 300 G magnetic field. For wires ranging from 40 to 60 μm in length, as the length of the wire increased, a higher degree of alignment was observed at lower field strengths, consistent with an increase in the available magnetic torque. Microwires that had been exposed to a magnetic sweep up to 300 G remained magnetized and, therefore, aligned more readily during subsequent magnetic field alignment sweeps. Alignment of the Ni-coated Si microwires occurred at lower field strengths on hydrophilic Si substrates than on hydrophobic Si substrates. The magnetic field alignment approach provides a pathway for the directed assembly of solution-grown semiconductor wires into vertical arrays, with potential applications in solar cells as well as in other electronic devices that utilize nano- and microscale components as active elements

Synthesis and photovoltaic application of coper (I) sulfide nanocrystals

We present the rational synthesis of colloidal copper(I) sulfide nanocrystals and demonstrate their application as an active light absorbing component in combination with CdS nanorods to make a solution-processed solar cell with 1.6percent power conversion efficiency on both conventional glass substrates and flexible plastic substrates with stability over a 4 month testing period

Controlling Light to Make the Most Energy From the Sun

Representing the Light-Material Interactions in Energy Conversion (LMI), this document is one of the entries in the Ten Hundred and One Word Challenge. As part of the challenge, the 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers were invited to represent their science in images, cartoons, photos, words and original paintings, but any descriptions or words could only use the 1000 most commonly used words in the English language, with the addition of one word important to each of the EFRCs and the mission of DOE energy. The mission of LMI to tailor the morphology, complex dielectric structure, and electronic properties of matter so as to sculpt the flow of sunlight and heat, enabling light conversion to electrical and chemical energy with unprecedented efficiency

Seeded Growth of Highly Luminescent CdSe/CdS Nano-Heterostructures with Rod and Tetrapod Morphologies

We have demonstrated that seeded growth of nanocrystals offers a convenient way to design nanoheterostructures with complex shapes and morphologies by changing the crystalline structure of the seed. By using Use nanocrystals with wurtzite and zinc blende structure as seeds for growth of US nanorods, we synthesized CdSe/CdS heterostructure nanorods and nanotetrapods, respectively. Both of these structures showed excellent luminescentproperties, combining high photoluminescence efficiency (similar to 80 and similar to 50percent for nanorods and nanotetrapods, correspondingly), giant extinction coefficients (similar to 2 x 10(7) and similar to 1.5 x 10(8) M-1 cm (-1) at 350 nm for nanorods and nanotetrapods, correspondingly), and efficient energy transfer from the US arms into the emitting CdSe Core

Selective Facet Reactivity During Cation Exchange in Cadmium Sulfide Nanorods

The partial transformation of ionic nanocrystals through cation exchange has been used to synthesize nanocrystal heterostructures. We demonstrate that the selectivity for cation exchange to take place at different facets of the nanocrystal plays an important role in determining the resulting morphology of the binary heterostructure. In the case of copper I (Cu+) cation exchange in cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanorods, the reaction starts preferentially at the ends of the nanorods such that copper sulfide (Cu2S) grows inwards from either end. The resulting morphology is very different from the striped pattern obtained in our previous studies of silver I (Ag+) exchange in CdS nanorods where non-selective nucleation of silver sulfide (Ag2S) occurs. From interface formation energies calculated for several models of epitaxialconnections between CdS and Cu2S or Ag2S, we infer the relative stability of each interface during the nucleation and growth of Cu2S or Ag2S within the CdS nanorods. The epitaxial connections of Cu2S to the end facets of CdS nanorods minimize the formation energy, making these interfaces stable throughout the exchange reaction. However, as the two end facets of wurtzite CdS nanorods are crystallographically nonequivalent, asymmetric heterostructures can be produced

Formation mechanism and properties of CdS-Ag2S nanorod superlattices

The mechanism of formation of recently fabricated CdS-Ag{sub 2}S nanorod superlattices is considered and their elastic properties are predicted theoretically based on experimental structural data. We consider different possible mechanisms for the spontaneous ordering observed in these 1D nanostructures, such as diffusion-limited growth and ordering due to epitaxial strain. A simplified model suggests that diffusion-limited growth partially contributes to the observed ordering, but cannot account for the full extent of the ordering alone. The elastic properties of bulk Ag{sub 2}S are predicted using a first principles method and are fed into a classical valence force field (VFF) model of the nanostructure. The VFF results show significant repulsion between Ag{sub 2}S segments, strongly suggesting that the interplay between the chemical interface energy and strain due to the lattice mismatch between the two materials drives the spontaneous pattern formation

Selective Facet Reactivity During Cation Exchange in Cadmium Sulfide Nanorods

The partial transformation of ionic nanocrystals through cation exchange has been used to synthesize nanocrystal heterostructures. We demonstrate that the selectivity for cation exchange to take place at different facets of the nanocrystal plays an important role in determining the resulting morphology of the binary heterostructure. In the case of copper I (Cu+) cation exchange in cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanorods, the reaction starts preferentially at the ends of the nanorods such that copper sulfide (Cu2S) grows inwards from either end. The resulting morphology is very different from the striped pattern obtained in our previous studies of silver I (Ag+) exchange in CdS nanorods where non-selective nucleation of silver sulfide (Ag2S) occurs. From interface formation energies calculated for several models of epitaxial connections between CdS and Cu2S or Ag2S, we infer the relative stability of each interface during the nucleation and growth of Cu2S or Ag2S within the CdS nanorods. The epitaxial connections of Cu2S to the end facets of CdS nanorods minimize the formation energy, making these interfaces stable throughout the exchange reaction. However, as the two end facets of wurtzite CdS nanorods are crystallographically nonequivalent, asymmetric heterostructures can be produced

Building Structural Complexity in Semiconductor Nanocrystals through Chemical Transformations

Methods are presented for synthesizing nanocrystal heterostructures comprised of two semiconductor materials epitaxially attached within individual nanostructures. The chemical transformation of cation exchange, where the cations within the lattice of an ionic nanocrystal are replaced with a different metal ion species, is used to alter the chemical composition at specific regions of a nanocrystal. Partial cation exchange was performed in cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanorods of well-defined size and shape to examine the spatial organization of materials within the resulting nanocrystal heterostructures. The selectivity for cation exchange to take place at different facets of the nanocrystal plays an important role in determining the resulting morphology of the binary heterostructure. The exchange of copper (I) (Cu+) cations in CdS nanorods occurs preferentially at the ends of the nanorods. Theoretical modeling of epitaxial attachments between different facets of CdS and Cu2S indicate that the selectivity for cation exchange at the ends of the nanorods is a result of the low formation energy of the interfaces produced. During silver (I) (Ag+) cation exchange in CdS nanorods, non-selective nucleation of silver sulfide (Ag2S), followed by partial phase segregation leads to significant changes in the spatial arrangement of CdS and Ag2S regions at the exchange reaction proceeds through the nanocrystal. A well-ordered striped pattern of alternating CdS and Ag2S segments is found at intermediate fractions of exchange. The forces mediating this spontaneous process are a combination of Ostwald ripening to reduce the interfacial area along with a strain-induced repulsive interaction between Ag2S segments. To elucidate why Cu+ and Ag+ cation exchange with CdS nanorods produce different morphologies, models for epitaxial attachments between various facets of CdS with Cu2S or Ag2S lattices were used to calculate interface formation energies. The formation energies indicate the favorability for interface nucleation at different facets of the nanorod and the stability of the interfaces during growth of the secondary material (Cu2S or Ag2S) within the CdS nanocrystal. The physical properties of the CdS-Ag2S and CdS-Cu2S binary nanorods are discussed in terms of the electronic structure of their components and the heterostructure morphology