Theresa Saenz is a postdoctoral researcher working on low-cost metallization and processing methods for III-V solar cells. Her research focuses on the use of low-cost metals like copper for III-V solar cell contacts, as well as developing photolithography free methods of III-V solar cell processing, including screen printing, inkjet printing, and laser-based methods. She is also interested in epitaxy, semiconductor defect management, nanoimprint lithography, and alternative, low-cost substrates for III-V epitaxy. 
 
Theresa received her bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from Purdue University in 2017. Before beginning her doctoral studies, she worked with the III-V group at Fraunhofer ISE in Germany on a Fulbright grant. She completed her doctorate in 2023 at the Colorado School of Mines. For her doctoral thesis research, which she carried out at NREL, she studied the direct epitaxial growth of III-V solar cells on nanopatterned V-groove silicon substrates. During her doctorate, she worked at TU Ilmenau in Germany under Thomas Hannappel as a visiting researcher through a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Fellowship in 2020. 
 
For additional information, see Theresa Saenz's LinkedIn Profile.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed on LinkedIn are the author’s own, made in the author's individual capacity, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NREL. 

Research Interests

Low-cost III-V solar cells 

III-V solar cells 

Hybrid tandem solar cells 

Epitaxy 

Solar cell metallization 

Lithography-free processing techniques 

Education

Ph.D., Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines

B.S., Materials Science & Engineering, Purdue University

Featured Work

Coalescence of GaP on V-Groove Si Substrates, ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. (2023)

High-Temperature Nucleation of GaP on V-Grooved Si, ACS Cryst. Growth Des. (2020) 

Efficient Light-Trapping in Ultrathin GaAs Solar Cells Using Quasi-Random Photonic Crystals, Nano Energy (2022) 

Enabling Low-Cost III-V/Si Integration Through Nucleation of GaP on V-Grooved Si Substrates, IEEE 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (2018) 

GaAs Solar Cells on Nanopatterned Si Substrates, IEEE J. Photovolt. (2018) 

Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells With Effectively Transparent Front Contacts, Sustainable Energy Fuels (2017) 

Patents

Methods for Depositing III-V Compositions on Silicon, U.S. Patent No. 11120990 (2021)

Awards and Honors

DAAD Research Fellowship, Germany (2020) 

Fulbright Student Research Fellowship, Germany (2017)

Stamps Leadership Scholar (2015)