Advanced Device Concepts for Next-Generation Photovoltaics
A number of fully funded studentship projects are available and will be associated with an exciting new EPSRC/UKRI-funded Programme Grant, a collaborative project that brings together expertise in photovoltaic materials synthesis and device fabrication, advanced characterisation and modelling. The ambition for this project is to carry out multidisciplinary research, via inter-linked work streams, that will explore and conceive four new photovoltaic device concepts and paradigms, enabling the next major step-change in photovoltaic efficiency. New devices architectures, concentrator PV, quantum cutting, hot-carrier collection and photon transport, will be explored and enabled by absorber materials based on metal-halide perovskites, silicon, and novel low-band-gap chalcogenide-halide semiconductors, supported by fundamental experimental characterisation and materials modelling. Addressing these future advanced concepts through a holistic approach will enable key scientific discoveries and important major technical advances enabling the next generation of PV technologies for beyond 2030.
Applicants for DPhil studentships are invited to choose amongst projects focusing on the following areas:
Development of novel device architectures
o Snaith group: Projects will focus on the development of multijunction devices and concentrator PV as well as the development of semiconductor materials and interlayers which enable these devices
o Johnston group: Projects will focus on the development of hot-carrier solar cells and will involve device design via bandstructure engineering and fabrication of photovoltaic cells using dry vacuum deposition techniques.
Computational first-principles modelling
o Filip group: Projects will utilise first-principles computational modelling techniques to predict and understand ground and excited state properties of new materials, functional interfaces and defects
Design, synthesis and discovery of new inorganic semiconductors with new optoelectronic functionality
o Noel group: Projects will focus on the synthesis, processing and characterisation of novel semiconductors for optoelectronic applications
o Snaith group: Projects will focus on the synthesis and processing of low band-gap chalcohalide semiconductors
Advanced experimental characterisation and spectroscopy
o Herz group: Projects will focus on the use of advanced spectroscopic techniques to develop fundamental understanding of processes and mechanisms underpinning the novel device architectures
o Johnston group: Projects will focus on the development of advanced instrumentation for solar cell characterisation, including Fourier transform photocurrent spectroscopy and novel millimetre wave probes
o Noel group: Projects will focus on the use of advanced electron imaging and diffraction techniques to understand the impact of nanoscale structure on optoelectronic properties
To be considered, applicants must apply for a “DPhil in Condensed Matter Physics” through the University’s online portal (DPhil in Condensed Matter Physics | University of Oxford) and state the above project title and preferred supervisor(s) on their application. The deadline is the 8th January 2025.