McGehee Group

Classes

MSE 302: Solar Cells (Fall)

Theory of conventional pn junction and excitonic solar cells. Design, fabrication and characterization of crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, CdTe, CIGS, tandem and organic solar cells. Emerging solar cell concepts, such as intermediate band gap and bioinspired solar cells. The materials science aspects of solar cells research will be emphasized, but module design and economic hurdles that must be overcome for solar cell technology to generate a significant fraction of the world’s electricity will also be addressed. Students will explore one solar cell approach in more depth by completing a group project. (Autumn)

MSE 161: Nanocharacterization Laboratory (Spring)

The development of standard lab procedures for materials scientists emphasizing microscopy, metallography, and technical writing. Techniques: optical, scanning-electron, atomic-force microscopy and metallographic specimen preparation. The relationships among microscopic observation, material properties and processing.