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".
- CIGS-perovskite tandem cell achieves record efficiency of 25.5 %A Berlin-based team from HZB and Center for the Science of Materials Berlin (CSMB) at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has set a new record for a tandem solar cell. Using a combination of a CIGS semiconductor layer and perovskite, along with several optimised intermediate layers, they were able to convert 25.5% of sunlight into electrical energy. The previous record for this combination of materials and this size of cell stood at 24.6%. The new record has been certified and is visible in the prestigious Solar Cell Efficiency Tables (the "Green Tables"), which serve as the definitive ledger for the global photovoltaic community.
- Disorder creates new properties in compound semiconductorsAn international research team has demonstrated that the intrinsic disorder of the compound semiconductor CuInSnS₄ can be exploited to influence its optical properties. While the atomic vibrations also sense the local disorder, their response is averaged over many different local environments and therefore appear isotropic, as expected for a cubic crystal. In contrast, the optical excitations, known as excitons, are much more sensitive to the local arrangement of atoms. Surprisingly, they show a direction-dependent optical response even though the average crystal structure is cubic. These findings shed new light on the relationship between disorder and material properties, opening up new options for targeted 'disorder engineering' in optoelectronic and photocatalytic devices.
- Perovskite solar cells: Predictions of long-term stabilityReliable statements about the long-term stability of perovskite solar cells are still difficult to make. However, a new study by Dr Carolin Ulbrich’s team, published in the renowned journal Joule, highlights which methods are useful for this purpose and identifies areas where further research is needed.