About
About Us
The world demand for, and consumption of, energy is dramatically increasing, with an increasing demand for renewable non-fossil based sources of electricity.
As well, there is an ever-growing demand for increased power and sophistication in the satellite systems orbiting our planet, driven by our increasing reliance on high speed communication and data links. Research is Dr. Hubbard’s group is focused on energy generation though photovoltaics, low energy consumption optical devices enabled by nanomaterials, and heterogeneous integration of multifunctional devices that include on-board generation capabilities. Our focus is new materials synthesis, device modeling and simulation, solar and hybrid device fabrication and demonstrating proof-of-principle of devices that will deliver a major boost to the world’s pursuit of innovative and transformative energy conversion products.
The vision of our lab is to elevate the vast, and essentially free, solar energy resource to a viable and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, and at the same time provide higher density and longer life sources of power to the space power community. We do this by developing new paradigms for photovoltaic conversion that enable use of highly efficient materials, at lower cost and in ways that have not yet been attempted.
Our team’s expertise lies in vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) of III-V photonic devices and nanostructures, bandgap engineering using epitaxial nanostructures, novel photovoltaic devices, optical and electrical characterization, simulation and testing. Funding is provided through multiple state and federal agencies as well as collaboration with small and medium businesses. Our work leverages students, faculty and industrial collaborators with a truly interdisciplinary nature spanning physics, engineering, materials science and chemistry. In addition, we have strived to use our research program to further strengthen our student’s training as well as enhance RIT educational outreach and industrial collaboration.
Mission
The mission of our research group is to accelerate scientific breakthroughs in the discovery of nanoscale materials and structures that will advance the frontier of the conversion of light to electricity. Our focus is new materials synthesis, solar device fabrication, device modeling and simulation, materials and space radiation effects characterization, and demonstrating proof-of-principle of devices that will deliver a major boost to the world’s pursuit of innovative and transformative energy conversion products.
Vision
The vision of our lab is to elevate the vast, and essentially free, solar energy resource to a viable and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, and at the same time provide higher density and longer life sources of power to the space power community. We will do this by developing new paradigms for photovoltaic conversion that enable use of highly efficient materials, at lower cost and in ways that have not yet been attempted.
Objectives
- Develop photovoltaics with higher power conversion efficiency
- Identify methods for reduction of cost in III-V solar cells using low cost deposition techniques and alternative engineered substrates
- Investigate new photovoltaics designs and paradigms (intermediate bands, tandems and hot carriers)
- Synthesis of new (novel) materials for tandem photovoltaic devices
- Innovate photovoltaic designs for the space environment (radiation hardening, temperature effects and long term reliability)
- Train the next generation of photovoltaic engineers and scientists at both the graduate and undergraduate level
- Invent and develop knowledge of how to use our energy resources wisely and efficiently
Current Research Interests
- Photovoltaics with higher power conversion efficiency
- Innovate photovoltaic designs for the space environment (radiation hardening, temperature effects and long term reliability)
- Low cost approaches to high efficiency III-V epitaxy
- Nano-structures (quantum wells) for enhanced efficiency photovoltaic cells
- Light management and photonic light trapping
- Micro-scale light emitting diodes (LED)
- Heterogeneous Integration of data and power
- High efficiency photonic power converters
- Novel Approaches to Power Conversion: Thermoradiative Converters
- Transfer printing applications in photonic integrated circuits (PICs)
- Synthesis of new (novel) materials for tandem photovoltaic devices