Solar photovoltaics and wind constitute more than 70% of the global annual net new generation capacity. We are at the pivotal point of a massive revolution in favour of renewable energy sources. However, as impressive as the recent growth has been, renewable energy still only contributes towards <5% of the current global energy consumption. Our generation is faced with the uphill task of enabling a rapid acceleration of renewable energy sources, in a revolution that sees silicon PV presently being the leading candidate as the primary and permanent source of a truly clean energy source for humanity. The PV industry is projected to grow up to 10 fold becoming a multi-trillion-dollar industry within the coming decades towards supporting the global green economy.
We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate for a project in the field of Silicon Photovoltaic Engineering, to develop advanced manufacturing technologies that will bring about transformative change to the PV industry.
If successful, you will participate in a collaborative group environment, with direct mentoring from a panel of supervisors who are leading experts in the field, with the goal of contributing towards the development of next-generation silicon PV technologies within industry-linked projects. Specifically, the field of research is in the engineering of interface layers deposited via Plasma Enhanced Vapour Chemical Deposition, Sputter coating, and Atomic Layer Deposition, and its application in the next generation of high-efficiency industrial silicon solar cells. The successful outcome of the materials development will lead towards application in commercially viable device architectures such as TOPCon, bifacial, interdigitated-back-contact (IBC), and perovskite-Silicon tandem solar cells in industry-linked projects.
The PhD will be undertaken in ANU’s state-of-the-art laboratories equipped with various semiconductor fabrication processes, such as diffusion (phosphorous and boron), oxidation, chemical vapour deposition (PECVD and LPCVD), sputtering, atomic layer deposition, laser-based cutting and doping, photolithography, wet chemical processes, metal and semiconductor evaporation, metal plating, etc. Our characterisation facilities include state-of-the-art optical, electrical, and microscopic tools such as luminescence spectroscopy and imaging, solar simulator, transmission electron microscopes, focus ion beam tools, etc. The well-established, world-class laboratory will serve as a great sandbox environment to nurture research creativity and as an excellent training ground for a future career in research and engineering in the field of advanced energy device manufacturing.
The project will be supervised by Dr. Kean Chern Fong and Prof. Daniel Macdonald at ANU.
Key Tasks & Responsibilities
- Conduct research and development of key technologies in the chosen area of specialisation,
- Contribute to the writing of scientific papers and reports,
- Participation in international conferences and workshops relevant to the project
Requirements
- Prospective students graduated or expecting to graduate with degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, Applied Science, Chemistry, or related disciplines, with a GPA above 8 out of 10, or 3.5 out of 4.0, or high distinction (HD), or equivalent are invited to apply.
- However, to be competitive for a scholarship, international students will need to have outstanding GPA rankings within their departments (usually the top 5%, preferably top 2%).