Nanostructured Inorganic Materials for Hybrid Photovoltaics SystemsHybrid solar cells allow the versatility of organic and polymeric systems (reflected in their precisely tunable band gaps and carrier mobilities) to be married to the robustness and performance of solid-state inorganic materials. The integration of highly ordered anisotropic nanostructured semiconducting materials within bulk heterojunction organic solar cells represents a vital goal for development of the next generation of photovoltaics architectures. Such integration is imperative to realize breakthrough improvements of light-harvesting and photocurrent generation in hybrid solar cells technologies. Herein, our research interest relies on the fundamental and theoretical studies of photovoltaics interfaces towards improvement of the overall light harvesting of solar cell systems.

We perform comprehensive X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies on the local and coordination environment as well as distortions introduced to at the molecular level. Recently, we have started to perform synchrotron experiments on vertically oriented n-type semiconductors decorated with self-assembled monolayers in order to determine their alignment and further interactions in hybrid photovoltaic systems.

Fundamental Studies on Phase Change Memory NanostructuresThe influence of finite size in altering the phase stabilities of strongly correlated materials gives rise to the interesting prospect of achieving additional tunability of solid–solid phase transitions such as those involved in metal–insulator switching, ferroelectricity, and superconductivity. The peculiarities in the electronic structure of the seemingly simple binary vanadium oxide VO2, as manifested in a pronounced metal—insulator phase transition in proximity to room temperature, have made it the subject of extensive theoretical and experimental investigations over the last several decades. Our research pointed towards using phase change memory nanostructures as suitable materials for Mott field-effect transistors, optical switching devices, thermochromic coatings, and electronic devices exhibiting sharp thresholdlike variation of electrical and optical properties in response to external stimuli such as temperature and voltage.