Ionizing radiation effect on structural, photoelectric and superconducting properties of next-generation optoelectronic devices

Collaborative Research Program for 2022-2024

At NU we have a number of exciting, cutting-edge research projects and resources that overlap in various areas of material science. It is clear that even better science output would occur if we used the opportunity of this proposal to plan and fund coordinated activities. Our first area of activity is the investigation of the materials science and device physics of organic and hybrid perovskite solar cells and photodiodes in a harsh radiation environment such as space or nuclear reactor environments. This study can take advantage of the device fabrication and characterization facilities at NU and accelerator facilities of NU, KazNU, and the Institute of Nuclear Physics to do advanced experiments on materials and devices subjected to radiation exposure. Another activity related to the irradiation of materials for optoelectronic devices is the tailoring of materials properties with nanosecond pulses of charged particles at the recently established NU accelerator INURA (Inovative Nazarbayev University’s Accelerator). Finally, we can follow this sort of work from the design selection of materials to the fabrication and even use of devices in our microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) subprogram. Here we use the fabrication facilities of NU, our collaborators' expertise at UC Berkeley, and the Energetic Cosmos Laboratory (ECL) cryogenic laboratories to apply advanced materials science work to developing these next-generation sensor devices, testing them, and finally improving them. These activities are led as follows:
>Understanding materials science and device physics of the low-intensity ionizing radiation damage of
organic and perovskite solar cells and photodiodes. Lead: Prof. Brus, Prof. Zholdybaev, Prof. Ng
>Tailoring materials properties of functional optoelectronic layers by nanosecond high-intensity pulses of
proton and electron fluxes. Lead: Prof. Tikhnov, Dr. Kaikanov, Dr. Kemelbay
>Materials science and device engineering of next-generation MKIDs. Lead: Prof. Smoot, Dr. Grossan
This program will facilitate long-term, multifaceted, interdisciplinary, cutting-edge research collaboration at the interface between semiconductor materials science and device physics, nanofabrication and device engineering, accelerator physics, observation astrophysics and optical instrumentation. NU will be established and promoted as the crystallization center of the diverse network fabric comprising leading Kazakh institutions KazNU and the Institute of Nuclear Physics, as well as the internationally renowned UC Berkeley (USA).