Ilka Kriegel

German

Synthesis and optical properties of Cu2S nanocrystals

In recent years semiconductor nanocrystals turned out to be promising building blocks for photovoltaic application. Their high absorption cross-section enables efficient light harvesting and makes them interesting for application in solution processable solar cells. For low cost solar cell devices it is of interest to investigate new classes of materials besides the strongly investigated nanocrystals CdSe and CdTe. Cu2S appears to hold potential for such technologies because of the large abundance of the elements. Indeed, it has already been shown that Cu2S/CdS nanocrystal solar cells reach efficiencies of 1.6 %. In the last years different approaches for the synthesis of Cu2S nanocrystals have been reported whereas the electronic and optical properties remain fairly unexplored. My work comprises the synthesis of Cu2S nanocrystals of different sizes and shapes together with the investigation of its optical properties.

I. Kriegel, C. Y. Jiang, J. Rodriguez-Fernandez, R. D. Schaller, D. V. Talapin, E. da Como, J. Feldmann:
“Tuning the Excitonic and Plasmonic Properties of Copper Chalcogenide Nanocrystals”
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 134 (3):1583-1590; 10.1021/ja207798q JAN 25 2012

M. Hallermann, I. Kriegel, E. Da Como, J. M. Berger, E. von Hauff, J. Feldmann:
"Charge transfer excitons in polymer/fullerene blends: the role of morphology and chain conformation"
Adv. Funct. Mater. 19, 3662-3668 (2009)