Phd Position New Luminescent Materials for

3 maanden geleden


Delft, Nederland TU Delft Voltijd

PhD Position New Luminescent Materials for Sustainable Energy Technology: Towards Electricity Generating Windows-
**_Would you enjoy becoming an expert in the fundamental physics processes of luminescence materials and enable electricity generating windows? Contact us today_**

Job description

You will combine your creativity with analytical

In this PhD research project you will develop luminescent materials for building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology. You will make and study new types of strongly absorbing luminescent solar absorber materials of just a few hundred nm thick, that can convert the UV+VIS part of the solar spectrum into infra-red luminescence. When applied as a coating to windows, these materials can enable a cost-effective electricity generating PV-window following the principle of a Luminescent Solar Concentrator (LSC). A LSC can harvest sunlight by absorbing, re-emitting, and subsequently guiding light, like in an optical fibre, to solar cells integrated in the windowpane that convert the light in electric power.

To successfully develop new valuable luminescent absorber materials, it is crucial you will get fundamental understanding of the physical processes underlying the luminescence mechanism of the materials. One of the scientific challenges is to understand how generated electron-hole pairs can transfer their energy to the luminescence centres. The strongest possible absorptions in an inorganic material are so-called bandgap absorptions in which an electron is excited from the valence band (VB) to the conduction band (CB) leaving behind a hole in the VB. Although there are many materials (hosts) with a small bandgap that absorb the entire visible part of the solar spectrum (black materials), very few show efficient luminescence of doping ions. Host-to-doping ion energy transfer is often described by a resonant process between (self-trapped) exciton emission and doping ion absorption. The materials of this project have a smaller bandgap and are selected to have a small exciton binding energy causing transfer involving excitons to be inefficient. In the new materials, sequential transfer of first the electron followed by the hole is the anticipated transfer process to the luminescence centres.

The fundamental insights are obtained first by time and temperature resolved optical and luminescence spectroscopy combined with a variety of techniques to analyse the structure, (defect) composition and morphology of the films. Secondly fundamental understanding involves data interpretation and model development using knowledge of solid-state physics, optics and quantum mechanics. Ideally the obtained insights will be used to select other materials with improved properties during your project.

In this project you will learn the ins and outs of reactive DC, RF and pulsed magnetron sputtering, the working horse technology in glass coating industry, to make the luminescence materials. Targeted materials are rare earth (like Yb) and transition metal (like Mn) doped inorganic semiconducting materials, emitting in the infra-red spectral range, where silicon solar cells have high conversion efficiency.

**Requirements**:
You enjoy solving complex challenges related to for example solid state physics and optics.

After a well defined start of your PhD project with pre-selected materials and methods we expect you to take the lead in your project more and more to solve unexpected problems and use your growing knowledge, experience and creativity to discover new exciting materials. We strive to actively support your professional growth and project skills to enable you to utilise your full potential.

Please show in your motivation letter and CV that you have
- a university master in physics or a master specialised in inorganic (physical) chemistry.
- strong analytical skills to develop models describing luminescence mechanisms and fit models to experimental data.
- a proven interest in, and experience with, experimental (materials) research.

It is beneficial but not mandatory to have experience with any of the topics mentioned in the job description.

Conditions of employment

From 1 September next, a salary increase of 3.7% applies due to a Collective Agreement amendment, followed by an additional 1% increase on 1 January 2025. In addition, most employees employed on 1 September 2024 will receive a one-off payment of €300 gross based on full-time employment.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

TU Delft (Delft University of T



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