Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009
IEEE SCV Electron Devices Chapter
(EDS), with the Nanotechnology Council
"Combining Dissimilar Materials at
Nanometer-scale for Energy Harvesting”
Speaker: Prof. Nobuhiko Kobayashi, Electrical Engineering Dept.,
UC Santa Cruz.
Time: 6:00 PM - Pizza , 6:15 PM – Lecture
Cost: Free
Location: National Semiconductor,
Building E1, Conference Center ,
2900 Semiconductor Drive , Santa Clara , CA 95051
.
See the NSC Building location map and directions
Contact: Toshi Yamada
Web link: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/eds/
Two-line Summary:
Energy can be efficiently harvested from light and heat by using semiconductor nanowires or metallic nanoparticles coupled to micro-semiconductor structures.
Abstract:
Development of next-generation energy
resources that are reliable and economically/ environmentally acceptable is a
key to harnessing and providing the resources essential for the life of
mankind. Our research focuses on the development of novel semiconductor
platforms that would significantly benefit energy harvesting, in particular,
from light and heat. In these critical application fields, traditional
semiconductor solid-state devices, such as photovoltaic (PV) and thermoelectric
(TE) devices based on a stack of single-crystal semiconductor thin films or
single-crystal bulk semiconductor have several drawbacks, for instance;
Scalability-limits when ultra-large-scale implementation is envisioned for PV
devices and Performance-limits for TE devices in which the interplay of both
electronic and phonon systems is important. In our research, various types of
nanometer-scale semiconductor structures (e.g., nanowires and nanoparticles) coupled
to or embedded within a micrometer-scale semiconductor structure (i.e.,
semiconductor nano-micrometer hybrid platforms) are explored to build a variety
of non-conventional PV and TE devices. Two core projects are to develop
semiconductor nano-micrometer hybrid platforms based on (1) semiconductor
nanowires electrically connected to an array of micrometer-scale semiconductor
pillars or thin films and (2) metallic nanoparticles embedded within a
micrometer-scale semiconductor thick film. The semiconductor nano-micrometer
hybrid platforms are studied within the context of their basic electronic,
optical, thermal properties, and their dependence on chemical interactions with
environment, which will be further assessed and validated by comparison with
theoretical approaches to draw comprehensive pictures of physicochemical
properties of these semiconductor platforms.
Biography:
Nobuhiko P. Kobayashi is a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz
(UCSC). Current research projects include synthesis and characterization of
nanometer-scale materials and devices with emphasis on solid-state energy
conversion (sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Program Agency and Office of
Naval Research) and future computing systems (sponsored by Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
and NASA). Prior to joining UCSC, Prof. Kobayashi was involved in developing
electronic materials for ultra-high density electrical switches to build
memories and logics required for future computing systems at Hewlett-Packard
Laboratories. He was also involved in semiconductor nanowire photonics for
optical interconnect necessary for advanced computing systems. Prior to
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Prof. Kobayashi worked at Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, developing semiconductor materials for both ultra-high
speed diagnosis systems for the National Ignition Facility funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy and the optical code division multiple access
(optical-CDMA) funded by Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. From 1999 to
2001, Prof. Kobayashi was at Agilent Laboratories, developing light emitting
diodes, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, and ultra-wide band
fiber-optics and wireless communications. Prof. Kobayashi earned his M.S. and
Ph.D. degrees in materials science from University of Southern California in
1994 and 1998. Prof. Kobayashi published over 100 journal and conference papers
including more than 15 invited talks and papers and contributed to 4 book
chapters. Prof. Kobayashi is currently serving on various program committee
members/conference chairs/co-chairs including SPIE International Symposium on
Defense, Security and Sensing 2009, SPIE Optics and Photonics/Nanoscience and
Engineering, WCECS ICCE 2009, and ICCCAS/Memristors and Memristive Systems 2009
as well as a proposal reviewer of the U.S. Department of Energy
-------------------------------------------------------------------
More information at the IEEE Santa
Clara Valley EDS Chapter Home Page
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/eds/
Subscribe or Invite your friends to sign up for
our mailing list and get to hear about
exciting electron-device relevant talks. We promise no spam and try to minimize
email. You can unsubscribe easily.
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/eds/dlist.html