Phil Parilla is the group manager for the Thin-Film Material Science and Processing group at NREL, which focuses on relevant thin-film technologies, especially thin-film photovoltaic materials and devices such as cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). The group also has activities in atmospheric processing of films using ink-based precursor materials, scaling up these films using, e.g., roll-to-roll processing and atomic layer deposition for applications. He also manages the majority of X-ray characterization equipment at NREL, specifically X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence instrumentation. Additionally, he has a comprehensive background in measuring and analyzing electronic transport properties such as AC and DC conductivity, Hall and Seebeck effects, magnetoresistivity, and thermal conductivity.

Research Interests

Phil Parilla's research interests cover photovoltaic materials, hydrogen sorption materials, thermoelectric materials and devices, carbon nanotubes, inorganic fullerenes, metal oxides for battery and electronic applications, and high-temperature superconductors.

He is an expert in measuring the hydrogen sorption properties of materials using the manometric technique, and NREL serves as the validation center for EERE's Hydrogen Storage program. He is also an expert in X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence. Currently, he is active in characterizing thermoelectric generators and measuring the thermal conductivity of materials.

Education

University of California, Berkeley, CA, Physics, Ph.D. 1989

University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, Physics, A.B. Honors 1979

Featured Work

J.D. Fields, M.I. Ahmad, V.L. Pool, J. Yu, D.G. Van Campen, P.A. Parilla, M.F. Toney, and M.F.A.M. van Hest, "The formation mechanism for printed silver-contacts for silicon solar cells," Nat. Commun. 7, 11143 (2016), DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11143.

P.A. Parilla, K. Gross, K. Hurst, and T. Gennett, "Recommended volumetric capacity definitions and protocols for accurate, standardized and unambiguous metrics for hydrogen storage materials," Appl. Phys. A: Mater. Sci. Process. 122, 1–18 (2016), DOI: 10.1007/s00339-016-9654-1.

K.E. Hurst, P.A. Parilla, K.J. O'Neill, and T. Gennett, "An international multi-laboratory investigation of carbon-based hydrogen sorbent materials," Appl. Phys. A: Mater. Sci. Process. 122, 1–9 (2016), DOI: 10.1007/s00339-015-9537-x.

B.R. Ortiz, C.M. Crawford, R.W. McKinney, P.A. Parilla, and E.S. Toberer, "Thermoelectric properties of bromine filled CoSb3 skutterudite," J. Mater. Chem. A 4, 8444–8450 (2016), DOI: 10.1039/C6TA02116F.

P.A. Parilla, A.C. Dillon, B.A. Parkinson, K.M. Jones, J.L. Alleman, G. Riker, D.S. Ginley, and M.J. Heben "Formation of nanooctahedra in molybdenum disulfide and molybdenum diselenide using pulsed laser vaporization" J. Phys. Chem. B 108, 6197 (2004).

P.A. Parilla, A.C. Dillon, K.M. Jones, D.S. Ginley, and M.J. Heben, "The first true inorganic fullerenes?," Nature, 397, 114 (1999).