Exciton interactions in semiconductor nanostructures
Abstract
The electrons that hold solids together and power our computers communicate with each other through strong Coulomb interactions. In nanoscale semiconductors (which are only a few tens or hundreds of atoms thick), these strong interactions lead to electronic and optical properties that are very different than those observed in typical semiconductors that we use today. These different properties may enable more efficient solar cells, batteries, or sensors – however, the strong interactions make this class of materials hard to simulate on the computer. This proposal will develop new computational tools that enable scientists to accurately simulate the properties of nanoscale materials. Because the problem is so challenging, the computer programs must be very efficient and often must be ran on supercomputers. The simulation software that our group develops is freely available and open source, so that anyone in the community can use or modify our code. In particular, we are developing techniques to simulate the interaction between electrons and light. Typically, the absorption of light generates particles called “excitons,” which completely determine the electronic and optical properties of the material. However, in nanoscale materials, excitons can interact with electrons, other excitons, or even the vibrations of the atoms. These extra interactions are responsible for “nonlinear” optical properties: the response of a material perturbed by light is not simply proportional to the intensity of light. This proposal aims to develop new simulation tools to understand exciton interactions and concomitant nonlinear optical properties, in order to better understand the technological implications of nanoscale materials.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 14, 2022
- Source ID
- FA95501910405
Entities
People
- Timothy Berkelbach
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
- United States Air Force