Dr Hieu Nguyen, ANU Research School of Electrical, Energy and Materials Engineering
Faulty mobile phones and solar cells could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a ground-breaking invention developed at The Australian National University (ANU). Engineers have developed a powerful new tool to help manufacturers spot defects or unwanted features in everyday technology - such as mobile phones, batteries and solar cells - more easily and much earlier in the fabrication process. Lead author Dr Hieu Nguyen said the invention worked by capturing high-resolution images of semiconductor materials, including many potential defects, within seconds. "We're calling it 'the miracle of speed and space'. It's not just several times faster than techniques currently being used - it's tens of thousands of times faster," said Dr Nguyen from the ANU Research School of Electrical, Energy and Materials Engineering. "This opens the door to a new generation of ultra-high resolution, precise characterisation and defect-detection tools for both research and industry sectors." The ANU researchers, in collaboration with scientists from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US, discovered the light emitted from various semiconductor materials, including silicon, perovskites and many thin films, had some very distinct qualities. Dr Nguyen said once this light is captured on camera, the optical images can be used to gather important information about how the material works.
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