Research topics

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Here's some examples of the many scientific advances that have been demonstrated by our team:

Wave-optical front structuring for light management in solar cells

Illustrative results of numerical modeling (a), advanced nano-fabrication (b) and device validation (c) from a work developed by my PV team in CENIMAT-UNINOVA, aimed at optimizing front photonic coatings, composed of either TiO2 or TCO nanostructures produced by our innovative Colloidal-Lithography method, for light trapping in thin-film silicon solar cells. The results of this work were disseminated in various scientific presentations and articles, such as M. J. Mendes et al. Nano Energy.


Plasmonic-enhanced thin-film solar cells

Results of optimized plasmonic back reflectors (PBRs), fabricated by an innovative colloidal wet-coating method developed by myself in IMM-CNR, applied on the rear contact of thin film silicon solar cells produced in CENIMAT-UNINOVA. (a) and (b) show, respectively, a depiction and cross-sectional SEM of the devices with the colloidal metal (Au) nanoparticles (NPs) at the rear, which enable the pronounced broadband photocurrent enhancements observed in the spectral response of the solar cells (c). The results of this work were disseminated in various scientific presentations and journal publications, such as M. J. Mendes et al. Nanoscale.


Quantum-structured intermediate-band solar cells

My pioneer PhD work addressed, for the first time, the application of near-field plasmonic effects to boost the absorption in quantum-dot (QD) electronic systems. The strong electric field produced next to the equator of metal nanoparticles sustaining localized surface plasmons can be used to enhance the light absorption in nearby QDs, as depicted in (a). This unprecedented idea can unlock the extraordinary potential of QD intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs), with energy band diagram sketched in (b), since the absorption of the intermediate transitions via the dots can be amplified by more than 2 orders of magnitude when the energy of such transitions matches that of the plasmon resonance, as shown in (c). The results of this work led to a patent (US2013/0092221) and to several publications and presentations.