Current Awards from DOE EPSCoR
Idaho was awarded a DOE EPSCoR Implementation grant in 2004. It has been renewed for another three years, for $1,320,000. This project is a collaboration between Idaho State University, Boise State University and University of Idaho.
Title: Incorporation of Novel Nanostructured Materials into Solar Cells and Nanoelectronic Devices
Division of Material Sciences and Engineering, Office of Basic Energy Research
Abstract: Researchers in physics and chemistry from Idaho State University (three groups), Boise State University (two groups), and the University of Idaho (four groups) will collaborate in two of the Idaho EPSCoR areas of primary focus: nanotechnology and device application in alternative energy. The ongoing DOE EPSCoR project (that ends in August 2007) has developed several novel high quality nanoscale materials, reported in more than 25 research papers published in leading science journals including Nano Letters, Nanotechnology, Nature Materials, Physical Review B and Applied Physics Letters. These materials include dilute magnetic semiconductor oxides that demonstrated carrier-mediated ferromagnetism at room temperature, photonic materials with well controlled optical properties, size controlled synthesis of metal oxide and chalocopyrite nanoparticles from single source precursors, and core-shell structured nanoparticles. This renewal proposal will focus on ways to employ these new materials in practical applications such as solar cells, spintronic and photonic devices, and gas and chemical nanosensors.