Perovskite PV Materials Scientist — Space Solar

starpath.space; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision benefits

Retirement plans

Paid time off

Job summary

Starpath Robotics seeks a Thin-Film PV Materials Scientist to own the chemistry behind perovskite solar cells for space solar applications. You will drive precursor formulation, deposition, interfaces, and encapsulation integration to maximize efficiency, stability, and yield in extreme environments.

Join a mission-driven team focused on enabling lunar and Martian infrastructure with robust materials and scalable manufacturing strategies.

Qualifications

• Graduate research experience with perovskite, thin-film photovoltaic, or related optoelectronic materials.
• Demonstrated ability to connect materials chemistry to device performance through characterization and analysis.

Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize precursor formulations and solution-processed deposition routes for perovskite solar cells, including film growth, post-treatment, and process scaling.
• Engineer charge transport layers, interfaces, and contact stacks to maximize cell efficiency and operational stability.
• Drive root-cause investigations on yield, efficiency, and degradation issues — connecting chemistry to electrical and optical performance.
• Develop environmental stability strategies — moisture, oxygen, thermal, UV, and radiation tolerance — and partner with the polymer/encapsulation team on integration.
• Characterize materials, interfaces, and devices using techniques such as XRD, XPS, photoluminescence, and IV/EQE.
• Translate bench chemistry into stable, reproducible, high-yield processes in partnership with manufacturing engineering.
• Push back on unnecessary complexity — simplify chemistries, reduce process steps, and cut overhead wherever it doesn't add value.

Skills

Materials chemistry

Device-performance linkage

Education

Master's or PhD in chemistry

PhD in relevant discipline

Job description

Starpath Robotics seeks a Thin-Film PV Materials Scientist to own the chemistry behind perovskite solar cells for space solar applications. You will drive precursor formulation, deposition, interfaces, and encapsulation integration to maximize efficiency, stability, and yield in extreme environments.

Join a mission-driven team focused on enabling lunar and Martian infrastructure with robust materials and scalable manufacturing strategies.