SEAS Graduate Student Wins Best Presentation Prize

Joseph Faucher, a second year graduate student in electrical engineering, won a best oral presentation prize at the fall meeting of the Materials Research Society (MRS) held in Boston, MA last week. Faucher's presentation, "GaAsP solar cells on SiGe/Si virtual substrates for dual-junction applications," was ranked first among 68 contributed talks in Symposium E: Photovoltaic Technologies–Materials, Devices, and Systems.

Joseph Faucher (center) with symposium organizers Rao Tatavarti and Lan Fu.

Minjoo Larry Lee, assistant professor of electrical engineering and senior author said, "Joseph's work is important, since integrating high-efficiency III-V materials with Si has been identified as one of the most promising strategies for reducing the cost of photovoltaic energy."

Faucher recently demonstrated the highest-voltage GaAsP solar cells on Si, and in his talk, he presented a detailed analysis of their electrical performance and microstructural characteristics. The interdisciplinary project includes collaborators from both industry and academia, and Faucher's co-authors were: A. Gerger, S. Tomasulo, C. Ebert, A. Lochtefeld, and A. Barnett. For winning the prize, Joseph received a plaque and a check for $500.