On 29 July 2026, Rui Bastos successfully defended his Master’s thesis in Engineering Physics at the University of Porto, developed in collaboration with the Nanofabrication, Optoelectronics, and Energy Applications (NOA) Group at INL.
The thesis, entitled “Light management strategies to tackle incomplete absorption in ultrathin CIGS solar cells,” was supervised by Jennifer Teixeira from INL and co-supervised by João Ventura from the University of Porto.
Rui’s research focused on one of the main challenges associated with ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cells. Reducing the thickness of the semiconductor absorber can lower material consumption and support the development of lightweight and flexible photovoltaic technologies, but it also reduces the amount of sunlight absorbed by the device.
To address this challenge, the work investigated light-management strategies based on nanofabricated dielectric and metallic structures designed to increase the optical path length within the solar cell and improve light harvesting. The research included the development and optimisation of SiOₓ and Au nanopillar structures, combining different nanofabrication processes and advanced structural and optical characterisation techniques.
The work contributes to NOA’s ongoing research on high-performance ultrathin and bifacial CIGS solar cells, bringing together the group’s expertise in thin-film photovoltaics, nanofabrication and photonics. The research was carried out in the framework of the European Hi-BITS project.
Congratulations to Rui on successfully completing his Master’s degree and for his contribution to the development of next-generation thin-film photovoltaic technologies.