SPM-Lab




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
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26/11/2021
Thibaut, our first group member successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled "Co-evaporation and scanning probe microscopy characterizations of hybrid halide perovskite thin films for solar cells". Congratulations Dr. Gallet ! Pictures can be found in the gallery.
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16/09/2021
Our collaboration (KPFM/STS on perovskites) with the Laboratory of Photomolecular Science at EPFL, and other groups, resulted in a published work in Energy & Environmental Science. You can read it here: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ee/d1ee02454j
Congratulations to everyone involved !
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15/07/2021
In July, we wecolmed our second PostDoc, Dr. Ajay Singh. He recently submitted his PhD at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. He will work on applying novel growth and characterization techniques to produce highly efficicent halide perovskite solar cells via multi-stage co-evaporation. Good luck to him !
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24/06/2021
Our paper on the impact of KPFM operation modes and environment on grain boundaries band bending in perovskite and CIGS is now out and published in Nano Energy. You can read it following this link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211285521005255Congratulations to everyone involved !
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22/06/2021
We are extremely happy that our group and research are featured in the #letzSCIENCE campaing of the Fonds Nationals de la Recherche ! A KPFM overlay of a perovskite absorber is displayed on larger 2m posters at all tram stations in Luxembourg and in selected buses !! Go read the story behind the image and have a augmented reality experience of solar energy : https://letzscience.fnr.lu/solar-energy-a-science-with-many-layers
Recent Publications
Impact of metallic potassium post-deposition treatment on epitaxial Cu(In,Ga)Se2
Evandro M. Lanzoni, Omar Ramirez, Himanshu Phirke, Amala Elizabeth, Harry Mönig and Alex Redinger
Thin Film Solids, 1, 139002
Mohit Sood, Aleksander Urbaniak, Christian Kameni Boumenou, Thomas Paul Weiss, Hossam Elanzeery, Finn Babbe, Florian Werner, Michele Melchiorre and Susanne Siebentritt
Progress in Photovoltaics 2021
Roadmap on organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite semiconductors and devices
Lukas Schmidt-Mende, Vladimir Dyakonov, Selina Olthof, Feray Ünlü, Khan Moritz Trong Lê, Sanjay Mathur, Andrei D. Karabanov, Doru C. Lupascu, Laura M. Herz, Alexander Hinderhofer, Frank Schreiber, Alexey Chernikov, David A. Egger, Oleksandra Shargaieva, Caterina Cocchi, Eva Unger, Michael Saliba, Mahdi Malekshahi Byranvand, Martin Kroll, Frederik Nehm, Karl Leo, Alex Redinger ... and Claudia Draxl
Nanoscale interfacial engineering enables highly stable and efficient perovskite photovoltaics
Anurag Krishna, Hong Zhang, Zhiwen Zhou, Thibaut Gallet, Mathias Dankl, Olivier Ouellette, Felix T. Eickemeyer, Fan Fu, Sandy Sanchez, Mounir Mensi, Shaik M. Zakeeruddin, Ursula Rothlisberger, G. N. Manjunatha Reddy, Alex Redinger, Michael Grätzel and Anders Hagfeldt
Energy & Environmental Science, 2021,14, 5552-5562