Indium and Nitrogen -- "where are they now?"

[phantom power]

This article came out in 2002. It seemed like a pretty big deal to me then, and still does. But I haven't seen or heard anything about it since.

Anybody out there know what's going on with indium-nitride pv cells these days?

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BERKELEY, CA — Researchers in the Materials Sciences Division (MSD) of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, working with crystal-growing teams at Cornell University and Japan's Ritsumeikan University, have learned that the band gap of the semiconductor indium nitride is not 2 electron volts (2 eV) as previously thought, but instead is a much lower 0.7 eV.

The serendipitous discovery means that a single system of alloys incorporating indium, gallium, and nitrogen can convert virtually the full spectrum of sunlight -- from the near infrared to the far ultraviolet -- to electrical current.

"It's as if nature designed this material on purpose to match the solar spectrum," says MSD's Wladek Walukiewicz, who led the collaborators in making the discovery.

What began as a basic research question points to a potential practical application of great value. For if solar cells can be made with this alloy, they promise to be rugged, relatively inexpensive -- and the most efficient ever created.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021119072756.htm

[Caution]

1. Said the technology is 3-4 years away from pracitcal application n/t

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Here's the original press release

It has some interesting photographs of LEDs, as well as a spectrum chart that better illustrates the photoelectric phenomena.

www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/MSD-full-spectrum-solar-cell.html.

Several recent developments have brought affordable photovoltaic energy closer than ever. And we'll be needing it real soon!

--bkl

[GreenGreenLimaBean]

3. Great Stuff!

But Exxon-Mobile probably bought off all researchers in this field
by now.