Principles and Applications Of
Ch/ChE 140A
Principles and Applications of
Semiconductor Photoelectrochemistry
Instructor: Teaching Assitant:
Ch/ChE 140a TA: Josh Spurgeon Office: 218 Noyes
Phone: x3964 Email:
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Prof. Nathan Lewis
210 Noyes
Phone: (626) 395-6335
Email:
Joshua Spurgeon
218 Noyes
Phone: (626) 395-3964
Email:
Ch/ChE 140a TA: Josh Spurgeon Office: 218 Noyes
Phone: x3964 Email:
3
Ch/ChE 140a TA: Josh Spurgeon Office: 218 Noyes
Phone: x3964 Email:
3
COURSE SCHEDULE AND INFORMATION
Winter Term – 2007/2008
Class Tuesday and Thursday: 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Lecture classes will be given by Nate in 132 Noyes. Attendance is mandatory. Most of the material presented in class is also available as taught by Nate in 2000/2001 on videotapes on reserve in the Millikan library.
Office Hours
One regular office hour session will be held each week when an assignment is due. The time of this session will be worked out in the first class. However, you can always ask me (Josh) questions via email or ask to meet with me another time. You are also welcome to try swinging by my office at any time during the week to ask me something, but I can’t promise to be there anytime other than the scheduled office hour.
Work!
There will be a handful of homework assignments (~4) and a final exam in this class. The homework assignments aren’t too hard, but they’re not easy either. Some of the problems can take a while, so don’t expect to whip them off too quickly.
Collaboration Policy
You are encouraged to discuss the homework (in detail) with other students in order to understand the material. Feel free to come to either the TA (Josh) or to Nate for help in understanding any of the course material as well. Writing up the problem sets should be done on your own, and you must be able to reconstruct your work entirely on your own. Plagiarism of solutions from any source is NOT permissible.
Course Texts and References
- Books:
Robert F. Perriet, Advanced Semiconductor Fundamentals, Volume VI in the Modular Series on Solid State Devices, Gerold W. Neudeck and Robert F. Pierret, Eds.: Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (1987) Cost: ~$40
- Articles:
M. X. Tan, P. E. Laibinis, S. T. Nguyen, J. M. Kesselman, C. E. Stanton, and N. S. Lewis, “Principles and Applications of Semiconductor Photoelectrochemistry,” Progess in Inorganic Chemistry, 1994, 41, 21-143.
N. S. Lewis, and M. L. Rosenbluth, “Preparation and Characterization of Semiconductors,” in Photocatalysis : Fundamentals and Applications, Chapter 4.
Supplemental Materials
- Books:
S. M. Sze Physics of Semiconductors, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, 1981
Charles Kittel Introduction to Solid State Physics, 7th edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, 1996
J. W. Mayer and S. S. Lau Electronic Materials Science: For Integrated Circuits in Si and GaAs, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1990.
- Videotapes:
There are about 14 videotaped classes from several years ago that are on three-hour reserve at Millikan library. The picture quality is OK, but the material is there.
SYLLABUS
Winter Term – 2007/2008
I. Introduction
- The importance of solar cells and solar energy conversion
- Considerations for the harvesting of solar energy
II. Electronic Properties of Semiconductors
- Crystal structure, Miller indices, and doping
- The formation of semiconductor band structure
- Density of states, Fermi level, carrier mobility, and current
III. Semiconductor/Metal Junctions
- Fermi-level equilibration and band bending
- Depletion width, built-in voltage and the diode equation
- Fermi-level pinning
IV. Semiconductor/Liquid Junctions
A. Current-Voltage Behavior
- Charge transfer at equilibrium
- Dark current-voltage characteristics of a junction
B. Current-Voltage Behavior Under Illumination
- Current-voltage equations for illuminated semiconductor/liquid junctions
- Energy conversion pathways
V. Charge Carrier Recombination
- Five mechanistic pathways for charge carrier recombination
SYLLABUS
Ch/ChE 140B
Spring Term – 2007/2008
Major Topics to Be Covered:
I. Marcus Theory
- Introduction and overview of Marcus Theory
- Application of Marcus Theory to understand electron transfer rates at semiconductor and metal electrodes
II. Gerischer Model of Electrochemistry
III. Photoelectrochemical Cell Design
- The PN junction
- Photoelectrochemistry
- Internal and external quantum yield measurements
- Efficiency measurements
IV. Practical Lab Measurements
- Surface recombination velocities
- Mott Schottky analysis
V. History of Semiconductor Photoelectrochemistry
- Early TiO2 work
- Metal oxide semiconductors
- Stabilization of cadmium chalcogenides
- Semiconductor electrochemistry
Ch/ChE 140a TA: Josh Spurgeon Office: 218 Noyes
Phone: x3964 Email:
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