Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2010
Volume 55, Number 2
Monday–Friday, March 15–19, 2010; Portland, Oregon
Session J3: Energy Research and Applications: Future Materials and Systems |
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: GERA Chair: Joseph Poon, University of Virginia Room: Oregon Ballroom 203 |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 11:15AM - 11:51AM |
J3.00001: Basic Science for a Secure Energy Future Invited Speaker: Anticipating a doubling in the world's energy use by the year 2050 coupled with an increasing focus on clean energy technologies, there is a national imperative for new energy technologies and improved energy efficiency. The Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) supports fundamental research that provides the foundations for new energy technologies and supports DOE missions in energy, environment, and national security. The research crosses the full spectrum of materials and chemical sciences, as well as aspects of biosciences and geosciences, with a focus on understanding, predicting, and ultimately controlling matter and energy at electronic, atomic, and molecular levels. In addition, BES is the home for national user facilities for x-ray, neutron, nanoscale sciences, and electron beam characterization that serve over 10,000 users annually. To provide a strategic focus for these programs, BES has held a series of ``Basic Research Needs'' workshops on a number of energy topics over the past 6 years. These workshops have defined a number of research priorities in areas related to renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy -- as well as cross-cutting scientific grand challenges. These directions have helped to define the research for the recently established Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) and are foundational for the newly announced Energy Innovation Hubs. This overview will review the current BES research portfolio, including the EFRCs and user facilities, will highlight past research that has had an impact on energy technologies, and will discuss future directions as defined through the BES workshops and research opportunities. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 11:51AM - 12:27PM |
J3.00002: Condensed Matter Physics Issues in Inorganic Photovoltaics Invited Speaker: This talk will identify some of the outstanding fundamental issues and research opportunities in inorganic PV that, in my view, condensed matter physicists could help solve. These include: (1) Understanding what limits the introduction of electrons or holes (``doping'' ) into semiconductors and finding how to overcome such bottlenecks. The fact is that, with very few exceptions, most semiconductors can be doped either by holes ( e. g tellurides and antimonides) or by electrons ( e. g, some oxides and arsenides) but not by both (one notable exception is Si). This PV-limiting factor has been recently understood to reflect an intrinsic tendency of semiconductors to develop ``anti-bodies'' ( i.e., spontaneously generated defects that negate the deliberately introduced carriers) in response to added free-carriers.(ii) Understanding the rare coexistence of optical transparency with electric conductivity. Indeed, ``Transparent Conductors" are required in both organic and inorganic PV solar cells, but designing them and making them is limited by our current understanding of such seemingly contradictory phenomena.(iii) The need to *systematically* search ( or even design) new PV-enabling materials and nanostructures which overcome the current bottlenecks .Such bottlenecks include the need to avoid rare ( e.g. In) or toxic ( e.g., Cd ) elements and,most importantly,avoid materials that manifest light-induced metastabilities ( e.g, DX-like centers)which ``pin'' the Fermi level.The role of first-principles theory of defects in quantitatively predicting such behavior, and of ``Inverse Design'' in surveying astronomic spaces in search for the material with desired target properties will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 12:27PM - 1:03PM |
J3.00003: Impacting Energy Utilization: the Role of Thermoelectrics Invited Speaker: The dawn of the 21$^{st}$ Century has starkly illuminated new challenges in the area of energy production and use: a rapidly increasing worldwide demand, dwindling supply, and the overarching threat of environmental damage due to energy utilization. These are not temporary inconveniences but rather harsh realities of a new world: energy reserves whose creation took millions of years are being depleted by an increasingly energy-hungry global society. How can science respond to these new challenges? To answer this question it is useful to think in terms of both short-term and long-term strategies. In the long term, we must develop sustainable carbon-free energy technologies. In the short-term, we must impact \textit{utilization} of traditional sources of energy, especially in terms of increasing the efficiency of energetic processes. Here we note that in terms of overall energy usage in the United States, more than half of the energy produced by traditional energy sources is lost, mostly in the form of heat. This ``lost'' energy, which arises due to the inefficiency of thermal processes, represents a vast amount of energy that can be made available for usage now. \textit{Increasing the efficiency of industrial processes }thus should be a major goal of a short-term energy research effort. A very promising approach to this problem is the development of new semiconducting thermoelectric materials capable of efficiently converting heat to electricity. A better understanding of the electronic and thermal transport properties of solids, new synthesis methods, and the use of nanotechnology have brought fresh and exciting progress to this old problem. We describe some of the materials science successes and remaining challenges in thermoelectric energy conversion and how these materials might be implemented in future devices and systems. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 1:03PM - 1:39PM |
J3.00004: Defect Physics of Structural Materials under Extreme Conditions Invited Speaker: ``Crystals are like people: it is the defects in them that make them interesting.'' This oft quoted quip of Sir Charles Frank speaks to the heart of structural alloys. Indeed, the extent to which the collective effects of defects can be manipulated and controlled determines the combination of structural materials properties that underpins modern energy and transportation technologies. Furthermore, the bounds on performance of current structural materials generally result from limitations in our understanding of defects, rather than insurmountable physical principles. I will describe research in the \textit{Center for Defect Physics}\footnote{The CDP is an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences.} in three thrust areas: \begin{itemize} \item \textit{Fundamental Physics of Defect Formation and Evolution during Irradiation } \item \textit{Fundamental Physics of Defect Interactions during Deformation } \item \textit{Quantum Theory of Defects and Interactions } \end{itemize} Specifically, I will described ongoing and planned research that is based on the realization that we are on the verge of a new era of ``quantitative measurement'' and ``direct quantum simulation'' of defects and their interactions enabled by major national facilities (APS, SNS, and LCLS) and the PFlop/s computing (NCCS and NERSC). [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 1:39PM - 2:15PM |
J3.00005: Physics for Sustainable Personal Transportation Invited Speaker: Often portrayed as the major villain in discussion of global climate change, the modern automobile is a surprisingly efficient transportation appliance. Measured by CO2 emissions per passenger mile, a compact hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) with two occupants compares well with mass transportation. However, so long as automobile ownership remains an aspiration in the developing world and a necessity in many parts of the developed world, continuous reductions in in-use and life-cycle environmental impact will be necessary if this form of highly-capable personal transportation is to remain a viable option in a sustainable future. The automobile is an unusual consumer product in that over its lifetime, the energy that 'moves through' it is many time that required to create and dismantle it. In this presentation, the life-cycle of an automobile is considered as a series of transformations of material and energy. This construct illustrates the many places where research in various areas of physics will play a role in reducing that environmental impact. Several important Ford research projects will be highlighted. While many of those efficiency opportunities may seem merely incremental, the shear number of conversions associated with each vehicle, the energy that moves through each vehicle and the global vehicle population hugely magnifies even the smallest improvement. The development and deployment of the requisite technologies in products that are efficient, appealing and affordable is the key to sustainable personal transportation. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700