Universite à United States

Contract : CDD

Duration : 3 years

Statut : PhD student

The Centre for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (C2N) is a joint research unit between the CNRS and Université Paris-Saclay. The center develops research in the fields of material science, nanophotonics, nanoelectronics, and nanotechnologies, covering all the range from fundamental to applied sciences. The PhD thesis offered here will take place in the Sunlit Team,
which develops innovative approaches for solar cells, aiming at high efficiencies, cost reduction and reliability of the devices. The thesis project offered here will take place in collaboration with the Institut Photovoltaïque d’Île-de-France (IPVF), a global Research, Innovation and Education
center, which mission is to accelerate energy transition through science & technology.

Websites:

https://www.c2n.universite-paris-saclay.fr/en/,

https://www.ipvf.fr/

Photovoltaic is playing a major role in the energy transition, and its share in electricity generation is expected to continue rising to contribute to the net zero emission goals by 2050. 90 % of the currently produced solar panels are using silicon solar cells with gradually decreasing costs and increasing efficiency. Nevertheless, this efficiency is nearing its physical limit of 29.4 %, with 26.8 % obtained in laboratory. In order to overcome this limit, the next generation of solar cells will consist in tandem devices, that combine two materials of different bandgaps. In the laboratories involved in this project in particular, III-V on silicon and perovskite on silicon devices are being produced.

Those new devices present exciting challenges: new fabrication steps, new materials and combinations of materials, new aging mechanisms and failure modes… All those aspects call for a better understanding of their working principles, through new characterization methods and data analysis. We propose in this thesis to take advantage of the recognized know-how of the C2N and partners, in terms of device characterization and state-of-the-art equipment.

Existing methods will be used, and new ones will be developed. In particular, an innovative approach will be considered, based on simultaneous electrical and optical carrier injection in solar cells, with which we showed that we can access the current collection efficiency in each subcells, with a spatial resolution. A rich variety of solar cells will be investigated (with III-V, silicon, perovskites, and their combination, with and without accelerated degradation), thanks several collaborators.

This thesis comprises an extensive part of experimental work in the laboratory as well as data treatment. We expect the PhD candidate to propose further developments of the techniques already existing at the laboratory, as well as to suggest the exploration of new methods. He / she will propose models to explain the observed phenomena, and design experiments for their validation, using his / her own knowledge as well as the scientific literature. He / she will take advantage of the unique luminescence characterization platform of the partner laboratories as well as complementary methods (solar simulator, quantum efficiency). This environment will provide the candidate various opportunities to tackle this project challenge and gain experience.

The candidate must possess solid knowledges in material physics and characterization. He must show good project management skills, for the development of measurement procedures involving numerous parameters. He will be able to work independently and suggest innovative solutions to reach the project objectives. Collaborative work being at the core of the program, communication skills are required for team working as well as regular presentation of work progress in internal meetings.

Feel free to contact us for more information about our offers.

• +33(0)1 69 86 58 60
• contact@ipvf.fr