Descrizione del progetto
Uno sguardo più attento alle proprietà dell’effetto fotovoltaico di massa
La chiave per le tecnologie a energia pulita del futuro è la conversione rapida ed efficiente della luce in elettricità. L’effetto fotovoltaico di massa (BPVE, Bulk Photovoltaic Effect) è un processo di assorbimento non lineare in grado di convertire la luce in corrente elettrica in maniera intrinseca. In tale contesto, il progetto PhotoWann, finanziato dall’UE, studierà le proprietà del BPVE con l’obiettivo di sviluppare un algoritmo per calcolarle. Lo studio sarà incentrato su materiali innovativi come i semi-metalli di Weyl, la cui fotocorrente, come noto dalle misurazioni effettuate, raggiunge valori estremamente elevati. Inoltre, il progetto svolgerà un’indagine combinata teorico-sperimentale con il gruppo di T. Neupert dell’Università di Zurigo (UZH), per analizzare un materiale 2D recentemente sintetizzato, che rappresenta un candidato di primo piano per applicazioni future.
Obiettivo
PhotoWann aims to shed light into the exceptional properties related to the bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) - a nonlinear absorption process - of cutting edge materials like Weyl semimetals, whose photocurrent has very recently been measured to reach colossal values. Thanks to a newly developed method, the track record of the applicant and the expertise of the Host in this field, we are in a privileged position for quantitatively accessing the structure of the BPVE that emerges from narrow k-space regions surrounding the Weyl points, hence shedding light into the breakthrough experimental measurements as well as proposing novel ones. As an additional major goal for the project, we will perform a combined theoretical-experimental investigation (secondment) with the group of T. Neupert in UZH Zurich for analyzing the beta phase of GeSe, a newly synthesized 2D material that is expected to show unconventional nonlinear absorption properties thanks, among other features, to its unusually large electronic density of states, making it a realistic candidate for future applications. In parallel with these two major objectives, we plan to undertake yet another ambitious goal, namely the development and implementation of a robust and efficient computational algorithm for the calculation of the various properties related to the BPVE within the well-established free-software package WANNIER90. This will undoubtedly benefit a substantial part of the scientific community in this field, as it will turn the up-to-now cumbersome and almost prohibitive calculation of this type of processes into a fairly routine task. Our work will therefore generate a fundamental and systematic understanding of nonlinear physics of solids not only through our particular investigations, but also from many other researcher's via the developed and shared computational algorithm.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
48940 Leioa
Spagna