Look Who it Was Random video

Jay Guo | Solar Energy Color Our Lives

1,100 views · Published 7 November 2014 · 21:38 · Indexed 27 October 2026

Channel: Michigan Engineering · 2014 · Science & Technology

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Most current solar panels are fabricated via complex processes using expensive semiconductor materials, and they are rigid and heavy with a dull, black appearance. Significant amount of effort has been put forth in developing colored solar cells in recent years. Owing to their attractive appearance, they can be integrated with interiors and exteriors of a structure, allowing a large area of architectures to be efficiently used for the power generation. I will introduce dual-function solar cells based on ultra-thin dopant-free amorphous silicon embedded in an optical cavity that not only efficiently extract the photogenerated electric charges but also display distinctive color patterns with the desired angle-insensitive appearances.

About the Speaker:
Prof. L. Jay Guo
Professor of Electrical Electronics and Computer Science,
Solid State Electronics,
Macromolecular Science and Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering & Applied Physics

Falling into the world of engineering was not something Jay Guo had ever truly planned on, but, by some serendipitous coincidence, that's exactly where his professional path took him.

It all started with a piece of paper—benign and innocuous, though it may have been. A professor at the University of Minnesota, where Professor Guo was pursuing his PhD in Physics, dropped a flyer into the graduate student mailboxes seeking the help of a student researcher. The subject: quantum effect devices. Professor Guo took one look and knew he had to respond.
"As a physics student, [the word] 'quantum' was fascinating," he recalls with a smile. "That's when I went to talk to [the professor], but he was in electrical engineering—and he persuaded me to switch from Physics to EE."

And that's exactly what happened. Guo transferred fields, captivated by engineering's ability to translate the theories of physics into practical, real-world applications.

"I learned [about] quantum physics in textbooks, but it was hard for me to imagine that you could actually build devices and utilize those effects."

Professor Guo excelled in electrical engineering ("it came naturally," he says), and he made his way to U-M in 1999 after working as a research associate at Princeton. Motivated by a desire to create and implement cutting-edge technologies, he pursued research dealing with what he calls "hot topics": nanotechnology and, more specifically, devices made by nanofabrication techniques.

The field of nanotechnology provides fertile ground for a bevy of engineering interests—from developing new display technologies, improving the efficacy and potency of ultrasounds and providing the military with science-fiction-level stealth possibilities—and it's constantly expanding. Professor Guo's work has been instrumental for many of these developments, and, although they may vary in subject matter, the common thread in all of them is to affect change.

Currently, his lab is involved in a multitude of projects, including nanomanufacturing technology, photovoltaics with new functionalities, and plasmonic nano-photonics.

"We are interested in new phenomena, new discoveries," he explains. "But, being in engineering, you apply what you learn—some fundamental principles, either in physics, chemistry and so on. Hopefully, they're practical engineering applications that can have an impact on the people, on the society."

Professor Guo knows the applications of his research could truly reshape not only how we create and power technology, but also how we interact with the world itself.

And it's all thanks to a simple sheet of paper, slipped carefully into a graduate student's mailbox.

Speaker's Website:
http://www.guogroup.org/

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