ND Energy Faculty Luncheon Seminars are held monthly with interested faculty to facilitate cross-disciplinary research collaborations and to enable development of proposal ideas for upcoming funding opportunities. All interested faculty from diverse fields are invited to attend.

The discussion topic for this luncheon will be centered around a presentation by Prof. László Forró on "Novel Photovoltaic Perovskites: Beyond Solar Cells."

This 35-40 minute talk will be followed by discussion with Prof. Forró focused on (1) cross-disciplinary basic research needs, (2) potential avenues for external and internal collaborations, (3) funding sources to target, and if everyone is agreeable, (4) 'follow-up actions' that we can track. With all the faculty engaging in the discussion part of this luncheon after the talk, we expect to have a very stimulating and inspiring exchange of ideas.

For more information on the ND Energy Faculty Luncheon Seminars, contact Subhash L. Shinde at sshinde@nd.edu.

Abstract

Novel photovoltaic perovskites, the organo-metallic lead halides (e.g. CH₃NH₃PbI₃), have revolutionized the field of solar cells by their high photon to electron conversion efficiency η of 25%.  But due to their chemical and structural tunability (one can grow crystals from nanometer size to 1000 cm³), they offer to study a wealth of exciting physical phenomena and open further possibilities for applications. To illustrate them, a selected set of measurements will be reported together with some device prototypes.

Biography

László Forró obtained his BS in physics at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and his MS at Université Paris XI. He then received his Ph.D. from the University of Zagreb in 1985. He was full professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, holding the chair of Nanostructures and Novel Electronic Materials. Summer 2021 he moved to the University of Notre Dame, IN (USA), where he will create and direct the Stavropoulos Center for Complex Quantum Matter. Through his work, Professor Forró develops experiment-driven partnerships, with a focus on correlated matter, the design of new nanostructured materials and biological physics. This vision has led him to founding and organizing a bi-annual conference in Dubrovnik with the theme: From Solid State to Biophysics. Throughout his career, he has achieved many honors and awards, including the Spiridon Brusina Award of the Croatian Society of Natural Sciences and the Serbian Material Science Society Award. He is also a Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Szeged and the Technical University of Budapest, and a Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Croatian Academy of Sciences, and the Serbian Academy of Sciences.