The broad materials library of halide perovskites and their versatility have made this class of semiconductors exciting for a wide range of optoelectronic applications. Much of this success is based on the unique tunability of composition, dimensionality, optical and electronic properties as well as their defect tolerance. A better understanding of their properties and synthesis mechanisms is, however, needed for further progress and development. Here, advanced characterization methods and the ever-evolving theoretical framework help to observe and better understand these properties, which need to be addressed over several length and time scales.
This symposium aims to bring the community together to present these recent advances in our fundamental understanding of halide perovskites and discuss how theory as well as spectroscopy and microscopy tools can be applied to increase our knowledge base. We will explore new materials chemistries, optical and electronic behavior, the role of dimensionality, crystallization mechanisms in solution- and vapor-processing and defect dynamics. We invite contributions from a diverse set of speakers from a variety of scientific backgrounds to emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of the field that has been foundational to its success.
- Physics and fundamental aspects of 3D and 2D perovskites
- Novel and emerging synthesis methods
- Advanced characterization techniques
- Defect physics and effect of interfaces
- Interface characterization
Selina Olthof studied physics at the University of Stuttgart (Germany) and completed her master's thesis at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research. In 2010, she earned her Ph.D. from the University of Dresden under Karl Leo, followed by a two-year postdoctoral stay at Princeton University with Antoine Kahn. From 2012 to 2024, she led the Surface Science Research Group in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cologne. Recently, she was appointed Full Professor at the University of Wuppertal, where she established the Chair of Material and Surface Analysis. Her research focuses on advancing the understanding of the electronic structure of novel semiconducting materials, particularly organic semiconductors and hybrid perovskites.
Hendrik (Henk) Bolink obtained his PhD in Materials Science at the University of Groningen in 1997 under the supervision of Prof. Hadziioannou. After that he worked at DSM as a materials scientist and project manager in the central research and new business development department, respectively. In 2001 he joined Philips, to lead the materials development activity of Philips´s PolyLED project.
Since 2003 he is at the Instituto de Ciencia Molecular (ICMol )of the University of Valencia where he initiated a research line on molecular opto-eletronic devices. His current research interests encompass: inorganic/organic hybrid materials such as transition metal complexes and perovskites and their integration in LEDs and solar cells.
Sascha is a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Physical Chemistry and Head of the Laboratory for Energy Materials at EPFL (Switzerland), while he is also maintaining strong ties with the Harvard community and in particular Winthrop House which he regularly visits as NRT and SCR member.
His team employs light-matter interactions to understand the next generation of soft semiconductors with the overarching goal of maximizing energy efficiency for a sustainable future by unlocking applications ranging from flexible light-weight solar cells & displays all the way to entirely new applications in quantum information processing.
Previously, he was a research group leader and Rowland Fellow at Harvard University. Before starting his lab at Harvard, Sascha studied Chemistry at Heidelberg University (Germany) and completed a PhD in Physics at the University of Cambridge (UK), where he subsequently worked as EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellow.
Antoine Kahn is a professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University in 1978. His current research interests include the structural, electronic and chemical properties of surfaces and interfaces of intrinsic and doped organic and hybrid semiconductor films. Recent work includes (i) the physics and applications of n- and p-type molecular dopants in organic thin films, (ii) organic/organic heterojunctions, (iii) transition metal oxides in organic electronics, and (iv) organo-metal perovskites. Kahn has co-authored over 380 refereed regular and review articles. He was the recipient of a Presidential Young Investigator Award (1984-85), of the Joseph Meyerhoff Visiting Professorship (2002) and of the Weston Visiting Professorship (2009-12), Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. He is a Fellow of the AVS (1999) and APS (2002). He was listed among the “World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds”, Thomson Reuters 2014.
Marianna KemellMaksym Kovalenko has been a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at ETH Zurich since July 2011 and Associate professor from January 2017. His group is also partially hosted by EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) to support his highly interdisciplinary research program. He completed graduate studies at Johannes Kepler University Linz (Austria, 2004-2007, with Prof. Wolfgang Heiss), followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago (USA, 2008-2011, with Prof. Dmitri Talapin). His present scientific focus is on the development of new synthesis methods for inorganic nanomaterials, their surface chemistry engineering, and assembly into macroscopically large solids. His ultimate, practical goal is to provide novel inorganic materials for optoelectronics, rechargeable Li-ion batteries, post-Li-battery materials, and catalysis. He is the recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant 2018, ERC Starting Grant 2012, Ruzicka Preis 2013 and Werner Prize 2016. He is also a Highly Cited Researcher 2018 (by Clarivate Analytics).
Annamaria Petrozza received her PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge (UK) in 2008 with a thesis on the study of optoelectronic processes at organic and hybrid semiconductors interfaces under the supervision of Dr. J.S. Kim and Prof Sir R.H. Friend. From July 2008 to December 2009 she worked as research scientist at the Sharp Laboratories of Europe, Ltd on the development of new market competitive solar cell technologies (Dye Sensitized Solar cells/Colloidal Quantum Dots Sensitized Solar cells). Since January 2010 she has a Team Leader position at the Center for Nano Science and Technology -IIT@POLIMI. She is in charge of the development of photovoltaic devices and their characterization by time-resolved and cw Photoinduced Absorption Spectroscopy, Time-resolved Photoluminescence and electrical measurements. Her research work mainly aims to shed light on interfacial optoelectronic mechanisms, which are fundamental for the optimization of operational processes, with the goal of improving device efficiency and stability.
Paulina Plochocka, Directrice de recherché de 2e classe (DR2) in Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses (LNCMI), CNRS in Toulouse.
P. Plochocka obtained her PhD cum-laude in 2004 at the University of Warsaw working on the dynamics of many-body interactions between carriers in doped semi-magnetic quantum wells (QW). During her first post doc at Weizmann Institute of science, she started working on the electronic properties of a high mobility 2D electron gas in the fractional and integer quantum Hall Effect regime. She continued this topic during second post doc in LNCMI Grenoble, where she was holding individual Marie Curie scholarship. At the same time, she enlarged her interest of 2D materials towards graphene and other layered materials as TMDCs or black phosphorus. In 2012 she obtained permanent position in LNCMI Toulouse, where she created the Quantum Electronics group, which investigates the electronic and optical properties of emerging materials under extreme conditions of high magnetic field and low temperatures. Examples include semiconducting layer materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides, GaAs/AlAs core shell nanowires and organic inorganic hybrid perovskites.
Shuxia Tao is a compuational materials scientist and she studies how photons, electrons and ions interact with each other and how such interactions determine the formation, function and degradation of materials. Currently, she leads the Computational Materials Physics group at the department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands.
Tao's group focuses on multiscale modelling of energy and optoelectronic materials, studying the growth of nanomaterials and developing theory of light-matter interactions. The ultimate goal is perfecting the quality of these materials and maximizing their efficiency for converting and storing energy and information. Her recent contribution to PV materials focuses on halide perovskites, where she made important contribution in the understanding of the electronic structure, the defect chemistry/physics and the nucleation and growth of halide perovskites. Recently, she also expanded the research to the interactions of perovskites with other contact materials in devices and novel optoelectronic properties, such as optical chirality and chiral induced spin selevetivity.
Michael ToneyMichael Toney is a Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Materials Science Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is a pioneer in the use of X-ray scattering and spectroscopy for the determination of atomic structure in materials for sustainable energy applications, especially inorganic and organic solar cells, interfacial electrochemistry, and electrochemical energy storage. Toney received his B.S. from Caltech and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Washington. After a NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Denmark, he joined the IBM Research Division to focus on the use of X-ray scattering methods for structure determination for polymer thin films and interfaces. He joined the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) in 2003 where he initiated science programs in sustainable energy materials. In 2020, he joined CU Boulder. Toney has reviewed several honors including a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Farrell W Lytle Award and the CU Boulder Deans Performance Award in Research. He is a Thomson Reuters highly cited researchers in Materials Sciences from 2015 – present.