IAS Distinguished Lecture - Halide Perovskite Semiconductors: A Journey into the Nanoscale

Abstract

Halide perovskite solar cells are generating enormous excitement owing to their use in high-performance optoelectronic devices including solar cells, LEDs and radiation detectors1. However, their true potential in performance, stability and functionality has not yet been realised. In this talk, the speaker will outline a series of multimodal microscopy methodologies to unveil nanoscale insights into state-of-the-art halide perovskite materials, providing detailed information about the impact of defects on both performance and stability for solar cells. Correlations between local structural and carrier trapping measurements reveal nanoscale sites that act as carrier traps and sites that seed degradation2,3, as well as other exotic quantum phenomena4. Diffuse scattering measurements reveal important local structure phenomena that dictate macroscopic properties5. Finally, the speaker will showcase the wide versatility of halide perovskites to generate new electronically tuneable materials, including use of electroactive molecular components6 and epitaxial, layer-by-layer growth of 2D/3D heterojunctions with clean interfaces7.

1. Stranks, S. D. & Snaith, H. J. Metal-halide perovskites for photovoltaic and light-emitting devices. Nat. Nanotechnol. 10, 391–402 (2015).
2. Doherty, T. A. S. et al. Stabilized tilted-octahedra halide perovskites inhibit local formation of performance-limiting phases. Science 374, 1598–1605 (2021).
3. Macpherson, S. et al. Local nanoscale phase impurities are degradation sites in halide perovskites. Nature 607, 294–300 (2022).
4. Guo, D. et al. Picosecond quantum transients in halide perovskite nanodomain superlattices. Nat. Nanotechnol. 20, 1771–1778 (2025).
5. Dubajic, M. et al. Dynamic nanodomains dictate macroscopic properties in lead halide perovskites. Nat. Nanotechnol. 20, 755–763 (2025).
6. Boeije, Y. et al. Tailoring Interlayer Charge Transfer Dynamics in 2D Perovskites with Electroactive Spacer Molecules. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 145, 21330–21343 (2023).
7. Lu, Y. et al. Layer-by-layer epitaxial growth of perovskite heterostructures with tunable band offsets. Science 390, 716–721 (2025).


About the Speaker

Prof. Sam STRANKS is Professor of Energy Materials & Optoelectronics in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology and a Joint Member in the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge. He is also a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and an elected Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Physics. He graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2007 with a BA (German and Applied Mathematics), BSc Hons (Physics and Physical Chemistry) and a University Medal. He completed his PhD as a Rhodes Scholar at The University of Oxford, receiving the 2012 Institute of Physics Roy Thesis Prize. From 2012-2014, he was a Junior Research Fellow at The University of Oxford and Worcester College, Oxford, before holding a Marie Curie Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2014-2016). Prof. Stranks established his research group in Cambridge in 2017.

Prof. Stranks' research focuses on the optical and electronic properties of emerging semiconductors including halide perovskites, carbonallotropes and organic semiconductors for low-cost electronics applications such as photovoltaics, lighting and detectors. He has ledmulti-centre projects from funders such as ERC, EPSRC, Leverhulme Trust and Royal Society totalling over £25M (£15M as PI). He received the 2016 IUPAP Young Scientist in Semiconductor Physics Prize, the 2017 Early Career Prize from the European Physical Society, the 2018 Henry Moseley Award and Medal from the Institute of Physics the 2019 Marlow Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry, the 2021 IEEE Stuart Wenham Award, the 2021 Leverhulme Prize in Physics, the 2021 EES Lectureship, the 2022 Lem Prize, a Finalist Award in the 2024 Blavatnik Awards in the UK and the 2025 Nevill Mott Award and Medal from the Institute of Physics. He is a TED Fellow and in 2017 was listed by the MIT Technology Review as one of the 35 under 35 innovators in Europe. Prof. Stranks is co-founder of Swift Solar, a startup developing high-performance perovskite PV panels, Clarity Sensors, developing high-performance detectors for medical imaging, and Sustain/Ed, a not-for-profit developing education for school-age children around climate change solutions. He is also an Associate Editor at the AAAS journal Science Advances, and sits on the Editorial Boards for the journals ACS Energy Letters, Advanced Energy Materials, PRX Energy and Energy & Environmental Science.


For Attendees' Attention

Seating is on a first come, first served basis.