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SPM-Lab

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The Scanning Probe Microscopy Laboratory was founded in 2017 by Alex Redinger in a framework of an FNR consolidator grant. 

The group focuses on the study of the surface of two types of thin film solar cells, namely Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) and hybrid organic inorganic perovskites, as well as 2D materials. We combine scanning probe microscopy techniques in ultra-high vacuum such as Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy (STS) and Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) and photoluminescence imaging (PL/TRPL) to access the electrostatic and optoelectronic properties at the surface of semiconductors.

Latest News

  • 15/04/2025

New PhD student:


 We welcome Yannick BUSCHHARDT as a new PhD student in the group

he will work on chalcogenide perovskites within the doctoral training unit SETRA

More information can be found here: 

https://www.uni.lu/research-en/research-projects/spetra/
  • 17/03/2025

New paper:


 Impact of processing atmosphere on nanoscale properties of highly efficient Cs0.05MA0.05FA0.9PbI3 perovskite solar cells

has been published in Nanoscale

Authors are: 

Muhammad Uzair Farooq, Sevan Gharabeiki, Ding Yong, Joana Ferreira Machado, Jean-Nicolas Audinot, Tom Wirtz, Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin, Susanne Sienbentritt and Alex Redinger

DOI: 10.1039/D4NR04205K
  • 08/01/2025

New paper:


  Wide‐Bandgap Cu(In, Ga)S2 Solar Cell: Mitigation of Composition Segregation in High Ga Films for Better Efficiency

has been published in Small

Authors are: 

Damilola Adeleye, Mohit Sood, Arivazhagan Valluvar Oli, Tobias Törndahl, Adam Hultqvist, Aline Vanderhaegen, Evandro Martin Lanzoni, Yucheng Hu, Gunnar Kusch, Michele Melchiorre, Alex Redinger, Rachel A Oliver, Susanne Siebentritt

https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202405221
  • 22/11/2024

New paper:


 Light-induced degradation of methylammonium tin iodide absorber layers

has been published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Authors are: 

Joana Ferreira Machado, Jeremy Hieulle, Aline Vanderhaegen, Alex Redinger

DOI: 10.1039/D4TA06361A
  • 20/08/2024

New paper:

collaboration with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL),

 Stabilization of highly efficient perovskite solar cells with a tailored supramolecular interface

has been published in Nature communications

Authors are: 

Chenxu Zhao, Zhiwen Zhou, Masaud Almalki, Michael A. Hope, Jiashang Zhao, Thibaut Gallet, Anurag Krishna, Aditya Mishra, Felix T. Eickemeyer, Jia Xu, Yingguo Yang, Shaik M. Zakeeruddin, Alex Redinger, Tom J. Savenije, Lyndon Emsley,
Jianxi Yao, Hong Zhang & Michael Grätzel

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51550-z
  • 30/07/2024

New paper:

collaboration with Università di Roma,

 A Combined Theoretical and Experimental Raman Scattering Study of BaZrS3−BaHfS3 Solid Solutions

has been published in Chem.Phys.Chem.

Authors are: 


Hasan Arif Yetkin, Phillip J Dale, Aseem Rajan Kshirsagar, Sven Reichardt, Alex Redinger, Alessandro Latini,
Andrea Ciccioli, Lorenza Romagnoli

https://doi.org/10.1002/cphc.202400340
  • 20/08/2024

New PhD student

Elham BAGHESTANI just joint the group as a PhD student. She will be working on the project EPICHALK, an FNR funded CORE project.

A warm welcome to Elham !
  • 01/06/2024

New Postdoctoral Researcher


Mirco PANIGHEL joint the group in June. He will work together with Jeremy in the project LION (Light On Perovskites)

Welcome Mirco!!
  • 06/05/2024

New paper:

collaboration with University of Siegen and KAUST

 Tin Halide Perovskite Epitaxial Films on Gold Surfaces: Atomic Structure and Stability

has been published in Advanced Functional Materials

Authors are: 

Madad AbbasliJeremy HieulleJenny SchrageDina WilksAbdus SamadUdo Schwingenschlögl
Alex Redinger
Carsten BusseRobin Ohmann

https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202403680
  • 22/04/2024

New paper:

Jonathans paper on:

Modification of Mono-layer MoS2 Through Post-Deposition Treatment and Oxidation
for Enhanced Optoelectronic Properties


has been published in APL Materials

Authors are:  Jonathan Rommelfangen, Marco A. Gonzalez-Angulo, Devendra Pareek, Levent Gütay, 
Phillip J. Dale, and Alex Redinger


https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0189378
  • 01/03/2024

New paper:

Himanshus paper on:

Quantifying recombination and charge carrier extraction in halide perovskites via hyperspectral time-resolved photoluminescence imaging

has been published in APL Energy


Authors are:  
H. Phirke  S. Gharabeiki  A. Singh  A. Krishna  S. Siebentritt  A. Redinger

https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0188166
 
  • 13/02/2024

News and Views article

Alex wrote a  "News and Views" article, which has been published in Nature Energy:

Carrier concentration resolved


https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01460-7
  • 08/12/2023

New PhD position avaiable in my group:   Position filled!!

Please use the following link to apply.

http://emea3.mrted.ly/3kg8r

A
few more details on the project. This is an FNR funded project focussed on a material class named CIGSe, which is used to make very effcient thin film solar cells. In this project, there will be two PhD positions available. One in the group of Prof. Susanne Siebentritt and one in my group. We will receive epitaxially grown CIGSe absorbers from the Siebentritt group and will study the cleaved surfaces of CIGSe. This will be done with AFM, KPFM and STM. The goal is to atomically resolve the CIGSe cross section, identidy defects and disorder in the material. Furthermore, we want to study full devices in cross section via KPFM. The measurements will be carried out in UHV with an Omicron VT system and with a Park Systems AFM system, that was recently aquired in our department and that will arrive early next year.
I need a very motivated student with an excellent background in solid state physics and semiconductors. Previous experience with scanning probe techniques are certainly an advantage.

Looking forward to your application
 
  • 01/12/2023

New paper in Energy & Environmental Science;

Understanding and decoupling the role of wavelength and defects in light-induced degradation of metal-halide perovskites (rsc.org)

Why do halide perovskites become unstable and decompose when illuminated. One important aspect is excess PbI2. We show how PbI2 acts as seeds for decomposition, we show that the light induced deterioration depends on the wavelength. Experimental data is supplemented with DFT calculations to better understand why and under which circumstances the perovskites decompose. Samples from EPFL, DFT calculations performed in the Tkatchenko group at UL, HIM SIMS mapping performed at LIST, XPS, KPFM, STM performed by the SPM group. 
  • 12/05/2023

Recent Publications

March 2025

Impact of processing atmosphere on nanoscale properties of highly efficient Cs 0.05 MA 0.05 FA 0.9 PbI 3 perovskite solar cells

Muhammad Uzair Farooq, Sevan Gharabeiki, Ding Yong, Joana Ferreira Machado, Jean-Nicolas Audinot, Tom Wirtz, Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin, Susanne Sienbentritt, Alex Redinger

Nanoscale 17(14), 8861-8871

January 2025

Wide‐Bandgap Cu(In, Ga)S2 Solar Cell: Mitigation of Composition Segregation in High Ga Films for Better Efficiency

Damilola Adeleye, Mohit Sood, Arivazhagan Valluvar Oli, Tobias Törndahl, Adam Hultqvist, Aline Vanderhaegen, Evandro Martin Lanzoni, Yucheng Hu, Gunnar Kusch, Michele Melchiorre, Alex Redinger, Rachel A Oliver, Susanne Siebentritt

Small 2025, 21, 2405221 

November 2024

Light-induced degradation of methylammonium tin iodide absorber layers

Joana Ferreira Machado, Jeremy Hieulle, Aline Vanderhaegen, Alex Redinger

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, 13, 517

August 2024

Stabilization of highly efficient perovskite solar cells with a tailored supramolecular interface

Chenxu Zhao, Zhiwen Zhou, Masaud Almalki, Michael A. Hope, Jiashang Zhao, Thibaut Gallet, Anurag Krishna, Aditya Mishra, Felix T. Eickemeyer, Jia Xu, Yingguo Yang, Shaik M. Zakeeruddin, Alex Redinger, Tom J. Savenije, Lyndon Emsley,Jianxi Yao, Hong Zhang & Michael Grätzel

Nature Communications 15 (1), 7139

July 2024

A Combined Theoretical and Experimental Raman Scattering Study of BaZrS3−BaHfS3 Solid Solutions

Hasan Arif Yetkin, Phillip J Dale, Aseem Rajan Kshirsagar, Sven Reichardt, Alex Redinger, Alessandro Latini, Andrea Ciccioli, Lorenza Romagnoli

ChemPhysChem, 25 (23), e202400340

June 2024

Grain boundaries are not the source of Urbach tails in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers

Sevan Gharabeiki, Muhammad Uzair Farooq, Taowen Wang, Mohit Sood, Michele Melchiorre,Christian A Kaufmann, Alex Redinger, Susanne Siebentritt

Journal of Physics: Energy 6 (3), 035008

May 2024

Tin Halide Perovskite Epitaxial Films on Gold Surfaces: Atomic Structure and Stability

Madad AbbasliJeremy HieulleJenny SchrageDina WilksAbdus SamadUdo Schwingenschlögl

Alex RedingerCarsten BusseRobin Ohmann

Advanced Functional Materials, 2403680

April 2024

Modification of mono-layer MoS2 through post-deposition treatment and oxidation

for enhanced optoelectronic properties

Jonathan Rommelfangen, Marco A. Gonzalez-Angulo, Devendra Pareek, Levent Gütay, Phillip J. Dale, and

Alex Redinger

APL Materials 12 (4)

 

March 2024

Quantifying recombination and charge carrier extraction in halide perovskites via hyperspectral time-resolved photoluminescence imaging

H. Phirke  S. Gharabeiki  A. Singh  A. Krishna  S. Siebentritt  A. Redinger

APL Energy 2 (1)

February 2024

Carrier concentration resolved

A Redinger

Nature Energy 9 (2), 117-118

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