cfaed Seminar Series

Prof. Dr. Yana Vaynzof , Kirchhoff Institute for Physics, Heidelberg University

Emerging photovoltaic technologies: device physics, stability and energetics

05.07.2017 (Wednesday) , 15:30 - 16:30
Hermann-Krone-Bau, Room 1.11 , Nöthnitzer Str. 61 , 01187 Dresden

Abstract:

Emerging photovoltaic technologies such as organic, hybrid or perovskite solar cells offer numerous benefits to conventional Si or GaAs photovoltaics. The performance of these devices is tightly related to the nano- and electronic structure of the hetero-interfaces in these devices. In this talk we will show that the performance of organic-inorganic hybrid photovoltaic devices is significantly hindered by the formation of interfacial bound charge pair states and present various methods to supress this loss mechanism. We further describe the investigation of the environmental stability of organic and perovskite photovoltaics - a key challenge that hinders the broad application of these technologies. Finally, we will present a new spectroscopic method that is able to evaluate the energetic landscape of functional photovoltaic devices throughout their lifetime and will lead to an improved understanding of the fundamental device physics.

Bio:

Since 2014, Yana Vaynzof is a Juniorprofessor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg University (Germany), where she leads the ‘Physical Principles of Organic and Hybrid Photovoltaics’ group. She received a B.Sc degree (summa cum laude) in electrical engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (Israel) in 2006, and a M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University, (USA) in 2008. She pursued a Ph.D. degree in physics under the supervision of Prof. Sir. Richard Friend at the Optoelectronics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge (UK), and investigated the development of hybrid polymer solar cells and the improvement of their efficiency and stability. Upon completing her PhD in 2011, she joined the Microelectronics group at the University of Cambridge as a Postdoctoral Research Associate focusing on the research of surfaces and interfaces in organic and hybrid optoelectronics. Yana Vaynzof was the recipient of a number of fellowships and awards, including the Pinzi Award for Academic Excellence, Knesset (Israeli Parliament) Award for contribution to the Israeli Society, Gordon Y. Wu Fellowship, Henry Kressel Fellowship and the ERC Starting Grant.

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