# 08 - Design of Structural and Chemical Disorder in Metal Oxide Thin Films for Enhanced Light Absorption (EnLight)

**Source**: https://www.cs.tum.de/spp1839/projects/1st-period-2015-2018/08.html
**Parent**: https://www.cs.tum.de/spp1839/projects.html

The interdisciplinary project - EnLight - will
develop innovative materials modification processes to improve the
light-management properties of metal oxide semiconductor films by
laser-assisted periodic surface structuring (correlated disorder) of
SnO2, TiO2, CeO2 films grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and
chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques. In addition, plasma-assisted
surface reduction of the above-mentioned metal oxide surfaces will be
undertaken to induce valence-exchange and chemical gradient in the
films that have been reported to drastically alter the optical and
electrical properties. The focused nature of laser beams and random
nature of plasma plume will allow evaluating tailored disorder against
random disorder in terms of optical and electrical properties. This
effort is focused to demonstrate that correlated structural disorder
created by laser-assisted patterning of metal oxides nanolaminates and
chemical (phase) disorder locally induced by chemical transformations
that can create composite structures, for instance, metal
nanostructures embedded in oxide matrices that can modify the optical
properties such as refractive index and haze value, by transforming
bimetallic oxides (e.g. spinels M'M''2O4) into M/M2O3 composites by
laser irradiation. Starting from the fabrication of phase pure thin
films with low defect concentration using CVD and ALD approaches, laser
and plasma modification will be carried out, supported by in depth
chemical, structural and functional characterization as well as
simulation of laser irradiation effects to gain a detailed insight into
the underlying reaction mechanisms of disorder formation. Finally the
structured substrates will be tested as components in
organo-lead-halide perovskite solar cells to elucidate the potential of
tailored disorder in a working prototype. The expertise gained in this
project will serve as a platform for other members of the Priority
Program 1839 for tailored disorder of metal oxide thin films, which can
be extended to flexible substrates.

## Contributors

- [Prof. Evgeny Gurevich](http://www.lat.rub.de/inhalt/lehrstuhl/mitarbeiter/gurevich/index.html#)
- [Prof. Sanjay Mathur](http://mathur.uni-koeln.de/)

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