Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin appoints Eva Unger to professorship
Eva Unger is a scientist at HZB and now a professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin as well. © K. Kolatzki / HZB
Eva Unger was now appointed as W2 professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Prof. Dr. Eva Unger leads a research group at HZB. She develops scalable technologies for the production of perovskite semiconductors for low-cost and highly efficient solar cells.
Prof. Dr Eva Unger works since 2016 as a scientist at HZB, with affiliation at Lund University in Sweden. After building up her research team as part of a BMBF-funded junior research group, she is now head of the department "Solution Processing for Hybrid Materials and Devices" at HZB.
The Unger team is developing manufacturing processes to deposit semiconductor layers of perovskite on larger surfaces. They are working on functional inks for the deposition of perovskite semiconductors and are very active in the analysis of film growth processes and the combinatorial synthesis methods.
In addition to large-area perovskite solar cell prototypes, Unger's team is working with other research groups at Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin on large-area tandem solar modules that combine perovskite with silicon layers.
Eva Unger is also involved in Open Science and Open Data projects and is building a database for perovskite solar cells together with many international partners.
Eva Unger was appointed to a W2 S professorship at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin at the end of January, made possible by the Helmholtz Association's funding programme for the initial appointment of excellent female scientists. In the summer semester, she will offer a specialisation course on "The Chemistry of Solar cells".
- 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.
- New contact material boosts the efficiency of perovskite solar cellsA newly developed material for the electron contact improves the efficiency of single perovskite solar cells and perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. The new material is based on a carborane molecule. It offers several advantages over the standard material C60, as shown by the study led by Steve Albrecht’s team. The new material has since been patented and is already commercially available.