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  • Revolutionary Solar-Friendly Form of Silicon Shines - ScienceDaily

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    Metallic substances conduct electrical current easily, whereas insulating (nonmetallic) materials conduct no current at all. Semiconducting materials exhibit midrange electrical conductivity. When semiconducting materials are subjected to an input of a specific energy, bound electrons can move to higherenergy, conducting states. The specific energy required to make this jump to the conducting state is defined as the "band gap." While direct band gap materials can effectively absorb and emit light, indirect band gap materials, like diamondstructured silicon, cannot. In order for silicon to be more attractive for use in new technology, its indirect band gap needed to be altered. Strobel and his teamCarnegie's Duck Young Kim, Stevce Stefanoski and Oleksandr Kurakevych (now at Sorbonne) were able to synthesize a new form of silicon with a quasidirect band gap that falls within the desired range for solar absorption, something that has never before been achieved.

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    Metallic substances conduct electrical current easily, whereas insulating (nonmetallic) materials conduct no current at all. Semiconducting materials exhibit midrange electrical conductivity. When semiconducting materials are subjected to an input of a specific energy, bound electrons can move to higherenergy, conducting states. The specific energy required to make this jump to the conducting state is defined as the "band gap." While direct band gap materials can effectively absorb and emit light, indirect band gap materials, like diamondstructured silicon, cannot. In order for silicon to be more attractive for use in new technology, its indirect band gap needed to be altered. Strobel and his teamCarnegie's Duck Young Kim, Stevce Stefanoski and Oleksandr Kurakevych (now at Sorbonne) were able to synthesize a new form of silicon with a quasidirect band gap that falls within the desired range for solar absorption, something that has never before been achieved.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    29 views2 pages

    Revolutionary Solar-Friendly Form of Silicon Shines - ScienceDaily

    Uploaded by

    thymez
    Metallic substances conduct electrical current easily, whereas insulating (nonmetallic) materials conduct no current at all. Semiconducting materials exhibit midrange electrical conductivity. When semiconducting materials are subjected to an input of a specific energy, bound electrons can move to higherenergy, conducting states. The specific energy required to make this jump to the conducting state is defined as the "band gap." While direct band gap materials can effectively absorb and emit light, indirect band gap materials, like diamondstructured silicon, cannot. In order for silicon to be more attractive for use in new technology, its indirect band gap needed to be altered. Strobel and his teamCarnegie's Duck Young Kim, Stevce Stefanoski and Oleksandr Kurakevych (now at Sorbonne) were able to synthesize a new form of silicon with a quasidirect band gap that falls within the desired range for solar absorption, something that has never before been achieved.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    11/28/2014

    RevolutionarysolarfriendlyformofsiliconshinesScienceDaily

    Revolutionarysolarfriendlyformofsiliconshines
    Date:

    November17,2014

    Source: CarnegieInstitution
    Siliconisthesecondmost
    abundantelementinEarth's
    crust.Whenpurified,ittakes
    onadiamondstructure,which
    isessentialtomodern
    electronicdevicescarbonis
    tobiologyassiliconisto
    technology.Ateamof
    Carnegiescientistsledby
    TimothyStrobelhas
    synthesizedanentirelynew
    formofsilicon,onethat
    promisesevengreaterfuture
    applications.
    Theirworkispublishedin
    NatureMaterials.
    Althoughsiliconisincredibly
    commonintoday's
    technology,itssocalled
    indirectbandgap
    ViewthroughthechannelsofSi24.Thisnewzeolitetypeallotropeofsilicon
    semiconductingproperties
    (isotypicwiththezeoliteCAS)hasanopenframeworkcomprisedof5,6and8
    preventitfrombeing
    memberedsp3bondedsiliconrings.
    consideredfornext
    Credit:TimothyStrobel
    generation,highefficiency
    applicationssuchaslight
    emittingdiodes,higher
    performancetransistorsandcertainphotovoltaicdevices.
    Metallicsubstancesconductelectricalcurrenteasily,whereasinsulating(nonmetallic)materialsconductnocurrentat
    all.Semiconductingmaterialsexhibitmidrangeelectricalconductivity.Whensemiconductingmaterialsaresubjected
    toaninputofaspecificenergy,boundelectronscanmovetohigherenergy,conductingstates.Thespecificenergy
    requiredtomakethisjumptotheconductingstateisdefinedasthe"bandgap."Whiledirectbandgapmaterialscan
    effectivelyabsorbandemitlight,indirectbandgapmaterials,likediamondstructuredsilicon,cannot.
    Inorderforsilicontobemoreattractiveforuseinnewtechnology,itsindirectbandgapneededtobealtered.Strobel
    andhisteamCarnegie'sDuckYoungKim,StevceStefanoskiandOleksandrKurakevych(nowatSorbonne)were
    abletosynthesizeanewformofsiliconwithaquasidirectbandgapthatfallswithinthedesiredrangeforsolar
    absorption,somethingthathasneverbeforebeenachieved.
    Thesilicontheycreatedisasocalledallotrope,whichmeansadifferentphysicalformofthesameelement,inthe
    samewaythatdiamondsandgraphitearebothformsofcarbon.Unliketheconventionaldiamondstructure,thisnew
    siliconallotropeconsistsofaninterestingopenframework,calledazeolitetypestructure,whichiscomposedof
    channelswithfive,sixandeightmemberedsiliconrings.
    Theycreateditusinganovelhighpressureprecursorprocess.First,acompoundofsiliconandsodium,Na4Si24,was
    formedunderhighpressureconditions.Next,thiscompoundwasrecoveredtoambientpressure,andthesodiumwas
    completelyremovedbyheatingundervacuum.Theresultingpuresiliconallotrope,Si24,hastheidealbandgapfor
    solarenergyconversiontechnology,andcanabsorb,andpotentiallyemit,lightfarmoreeffectivelythanconventional
    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141117130613.htm

    1/2

    11/28/2014

    RevolutionarysolarfriendlyformofsiliconshinesScienceDaily

    diamondstructuredsilicon.Si24isstableatambientpressuretoatleast842degreesFahrenheit(450degrees
    Celsius).
    "Highpressureprecursorsynthesisrepresentsanentirelynewfrontierinnovelenergymaterials,"remarkedStrobel.
    "Usingtheuniquetoolofhighpressure,wecanaccessnovelstructureswithrealpotentialtosolvestandingmaterials
    challenges.Herewedemonstratepreviouslyunknownpropertiesforsilicon,butourmethodologyisreadilyextendibleto
    entirelydifferentclassesofmaterials.Thesenewstructuresremainstableatatmosphericpressure,solargervolume
    scalingstrategiesmaybeentirelypossible."
    "Thisisanexcellentexampleofexperimentalandtheoreticalcollaboration,"saidKim."Advancedelectronicstructure
    theoryandexperimenthaveconvergedtodeliverarealmaterialwithexcitingprospects.Webelievethathighpressure
    researchcanbeusedtoaddresscurrentenergychallenges,andwearenowextendingthisworktodifferentmaterials
    withequallyexcitingproperties."
    StorySource:
    TheabovestoryisbasedonmaterialsprovidedbyCarnegieInstitution.Note:Materialsmaybeeditedforcontentand
    length.
    JournalReference:
    1. DuckYoungKim,StevceStefanoski,OleksandrO.Kurakevych,TimothyA.Strobel.Synthesisofanopen
    frameworkallotropeofsilicon.NatureMaterials,2014DOI:10.1038/nmat4140
    CiteThisPage:
    MLA

    APA

    Chicago

    CarnegieInstitution."Revolutionarysolarfriendlyformofsiliconshines."ScienceDaily.ScienceDaily,17November
    2014.<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141117130613.htm>.

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141117130613.htm

    2/2

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