April 10 - 14, 2023
San Francisco, California
2023 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit

Symposium EL15-Radiation—Hard and Lightweight Next-Generation Semiconductor Electronics

Radiation-hard semiconductors are emerging as a new frontier in Materials Science & Engineering research due to the promise of space-based solar power, and increasing penetration of the near-Earth orbits by satellites and internet constellations. Solar power installation in space is expected to increase from the current value of 5 MW to a GW in the near future. This necessitates discovery of lightweight, low-cost, radiation-tolerant semiconductor electronics that can power the Internet-of-Space (IoS) revolution. This symposium will invigorate new research directions to explore next-generation lightweight semiconductors for applications where radiation-tolerance is needed, including space missions and biosciences.

The symposium will feature invited talks by experts from academia (universities, national labs) and industry to discuss next-generation semiconductors that are tolerant to space radiation (protons, electrons, alpha particles, neutrons, gamma photons, and X-rays) and other space stressors including thermal cycling and atomic oxygen. Such semiconductor candidates are also attractive for radiation detection in bioscience applications. Major focus of the symposium will be on metal-halide perovskites, and ultrathin Si & III-V technologies that are beginning to show remarkable promise and have already been launched into the low-Earth orbit (LEO) for long-term testing. The symposium will develop an understanding of space-compatibility and radiation-hardness of these novel semiconductors at a fundamental science level, and bring scientists and engineers together to establish these as a near-future space semiconductor technology. Abstracts will be solicited in areas including radiation-hardness of metal-halide perovskites, radiation-matter interactions in thin-film electronics, development of robust radiation barriers, space tandem solar cells, ultrathin Si and III-V space solar cells, novel space-compatible substrates based on polymers, and radiation detection using thin-film semiconductor devices beyond Si.

Topics will include:

  • Radiation-hardness of metal-halide perovskite semiconductors
  • Radiation-matter interactions in thin-film electronics
  • Ultrathin Si and III-V semiconductors for space applications
  • Inorganic metal-oxides and semiconductor nanocrystals for radiation tolerance and detection applications
  • Novel device architectures for space compatibility
  • Robust radiation barrier layers and encapsulation schemes
  • Space-compatible substrates based on polymers
  • Organic semiconductors for radiation detection
  • Radiation detection with beyond-Si electronics
  • Technoeconomic analysis for next-generation thin-film space solar cells

Invited Speakers:

  • Henk Bolink (Universitat de València, Spain)
  • Wing Chung Tsoi (Swansea University, United Kingdom)
  • Aldo di Carlo (Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy)
  • Giles Eperon (Swift Solar Inc., USA)
  • Beatrice Fraboni (Università di Bologna, Italy)
  • Nancy Haegel (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA)
  • Md. Amanul Haque (The Pennsylvania State University, USA)
  • Anita Ho-Baillie (The University of Sydney, Australia)
  • Jinsong Huang (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)
  • Seth Hubbard (Rochester Institute of Technology, USA)
  • Oana Jurchescu (Wake Forest University, USA)
  • Michael Kelzenberg (California Institute of Technology, USA)
  • Felix Lang (University of Potsdam, Germany)
  • Joseph Luther (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA)
  • Michael McGehee (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
  • Jesse Mee (Air Force Research Laboratory, USA)
  • Tsotomu Miyasaka (Toin Gakuen, Japan)
  • Aditya Mohitye (Rice University, USA)
  • Peter Müller-Buschbaum (Technische Universität München, Germany)
  • Heinz-Christoph Neitzert (Salerno University, Italy)
  • Timothy Peshek (NASA Glenn Research Center, USA)
  • Bayram Saparov (University of Oklahoma, USA)
  • Ian Sellers (University of Oklahoma, USA)
  • Sam Stranks (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
  • Don Walker (The Aerospace Corporation, USA)
  • Robert Walters (Air Force Research Laboratory, USA)
  • Hongxia Wang (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)

Symposium Organizers

Ahmad Kirmani
Rochester Institute of Technology
School of Chemistry and Materials Science
USA

Brandon Durant
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
USA

Lyndsey McMillon-Brown
NASA Glenn Research Center
Glenn Research Center
USA

Bibhudutta Rout
University of North Texas
Department of Physics
USA

Topics

additive manufacturing defects efficiency III-V perovskites radiation effects thermal stresses thin film x-ray diffraction (XRD)