Nanostructure-based energy devices such as solar-cell devices provide a new alternative to traditional Si-based solar-cell devices. Understanding the transport processes, charge injection, and band bending in nanostructure-based energy devices is important in guiding their design and fabrication. This short book (volume II in a series) provides a concise yet adequate theoretical representation of carrier transport in nanostructured energy devices.
The book’s seven chapters discuss different carrier transport models in energy devices: drift transport (chapter 1); diffusion transport (chapter 2); drift-diffusion transport (chapter 3); transport mechanisms in disordered media, such as hopping, single-level and two-level trapping, multiple trapping, and variable range hopping (chapter 4); configurations of thin-film transistors (chapter 5); space-charge-limited transport for insulator materials (chapter 6); and frequency-domain impedance spectroscopy characterization (chapter 7). Most discussions are independent of the nanomaterials in the nanostructured devices, but there are also discussions specific to organic materials, dye-sensitized solar-cell devices, and single-layer MoS2 transistors.
This reference book should be of particular interest for researchers in related experimental fields who want to understand the theoretical framework needed for solar-cell devices. It is also a good reference for beginning researchers in device simulation and modeling. Anyone with knowledge of electrodynamics and quantum mechanics should be able to read the book without much effort. Step-by-step derivations are provided for readers. Plenty of figures, such as energy diagrams, schematics of devices, diagrams of density of states, and current–voltage (I–V) characterizations are provided throughout the book to help readers understand the theoretical narratives. At the end of each chapter, adequate and up-to-date references are listed. Overall, this book is very well written and definitely worth reading for students, researchers, and engineers in relevant fields. The unique aspect of this book is that it is short yet adequate, especially for experimentalists.
Reviewer: Gen Long, assistant professor of physics, St. John’s University, USA.
