Physics Alumni Dr. Yuan Li's Ph.D Thesis Highlighted in Nature Photonics

Dr. Li’s Ph.D. thesis was highlighted in Nature Photonics. In this work, he summarizes the progress that has been made in designing and constructing three-dimensional solar cells, which have gained popularity owing to their excellent light-collection capabilities and high efficiency. The text describes how analytical tools such as equivalent circuit models, ray-tracing optics and absorber spectral response can be used to assess a cell's key parameters, such as its short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage, fill factor and external quantum efficiency. Three-dimensional solar cells that exploit fiber bundles, tandem designs, dye-sensitized tubes and zinc oxide nanorods are discussed.

Dr. Li graduated from the Department of Physics at WFU in 2012, and his Ph.D work was supervised by Prof. David Carroll. His thesis was selected as “Outstanding Ph.D Research” by Springer and published as a book in 2012.