Young investigator group at HZB: Scaling perovskite cells
Dr. Eva Unger leads the Young Investigator Group Hy-Per-FORME. © privat
The new Young Investigator Group Hy-Per-FORME led by Dr. Eva Unger is working on scaling all processing steps to enable manufacturing of perovskite solar cells on larger areas, thus brigding he gap between lab and industry.
Dr. Eva Unger is starting a Young Investigator Group (YIG) at HZB, co-financed by the Federal Ministry for Education and Science (BMBF). The activities of the Unger group will be an important contribution within the newly-founded HySPRINT Innovation lab aiming at the realization of large-area, stable and efficient hybrid tandem device technology based on a combination of established silicon photovoltaic technology and emerging perovskite semiconductor devices.
To achieve this goal, developing and optimizing scalable deposition methods for the recently evolved hybrid perovskite semiconductors is one of the key aspects. The YIG of Unger therefore focusses on the formation and scaling the deposition of hybrid perovskite semiconductors using slot-die coating and ink-jet printing as a solution-based processing technology.
Originally from Germany, Eva Unger did her PhD at Uppsala University, Sweden and carried out postdoctoral work at Stanford University and Lund University through a stipend from the swedish Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation. Prior to starting the YIG, she has been working as a visiting researcher at Helmholtz Center Berlin funded by an International Career Grant co-funded by the Swedish Research Council and Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions. She will be co-affiliated with Lund University, Sweden and aims to strengthen cooperations with Lund University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Universities in Berlin and Brandenburg.
- BESSY II: Evaporated perovskites in tandem solar cells improvedPerovskite-silicon tandem solar cells achieve significantly higher efficiencies than silicon solar cells on their own. One particularly attractive method is co-evaporation of the perovskite precursor molecules on top of the silicon subcell. Scientists at HZB have analysed film growth on the nanoscale at BESSY II and found a new way to improve the quality of the perovskite layer: adding a thin seed layer of caesium chloride between the two sub-cells promotes uniform perovskite growth and suppresses the formation of undesired lead iodide at the interface.
- Hatice Mutlu appointed to the Helmholtz Institute HIPOLE in JenaProf. Dr Hatice Mutlu is the new professor of sustainable polymer chemistry at HIPOLE Jena, the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications. On 17 August 2026, she visited the HZB campus in Berlin-Adlershof including the BESSY II lightsource and discussed future collaboration with researchers and the board of directors.
- Green hydrogen with PEC electrolysers: New insights into transport processesOne method of storing solar energy is to use PEC electrolysers to produce hydrogen. However, scaling up this technology remains challenging. Now, a team at the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels has used 2D fluorescence imaging and particle velocimetry to observe the movement of ions and dissolved gases within the electrolyte during electrolysis. These new insights may prove useful in the development of larger PEC electrolysers.