Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have
demonstrated a new mechanism for extracting energy from light, a finding that
could improve technologies for generating electricity from solar energy and
lead to more efficient optoelectronic devices used in communications.
Dawn Bonnell, Penn’s vice provost for research and Trustee
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering and
Applied Science, led the work, along with David Conklin, a doctoral student.
The study involved a collaboration among additional Penn researchers, through
the Nano/Bio Interface Center, as well as a partnership with the lab of Michael
J. Therien of Duke University.