Tiarnan Doherty

Department of Physics.

I work on a class of materials called metal halide-perovskites that could contribute substantially to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Solar cells fabricated with perovskites are cheaper, easier, and greener to manufacture than incumbent alternatives but their commercial adoption is hindered by performance losses and material instability. My research focuses on understanding where these performance losses and instabilities originate in perovskite materials. During my PhD, we used a combination of electron microscopy techniques to show that the primary culprits were structural impurities occurring on very small (nanometre) length scales. Removing these impurities through rational material engineering will realise the next generation of efficient and stable solar cells.