CNRS - PhD Thesis - Innovative encapsulation of solar cells and modules by Atomic Layer Deposition • IPVF - L’Institut Photovoltaïque d’Île-de-France

CNRS – PhD Thesis – Innovative encapsulation of solar cells and modules by Atomic Layer Deposition

28/05/2025

Contract : CDD

Duration : 3 years

Statut : PhD student

Starting date : 09/2025

Location : IPVF – 18 boulevard Thomas Gobert, 91120 Palaiseau

Supervisor: Nathanaëlle SCHNEIDER

IPVF – Institut Photovoltaïque d’Île-de-France

The Photovoltaic Institute of Île-de-France, institute for energy transition, is a scientific and technical center dedicated to the research and development of solar technologies. On its site located in Paris-Saclay, it brings together its own staff, employees of its partners and those of external companies. The IPVF aims to ambition to become one of the main global centers for research, innovation and training in the field of energy transition.

The IPVF aims to primary objective of improving the performance and competitiveness of photovoltaic cells and developing disruptive technologies relying on four levers:

• An ambitious research program;
• The reception, on its Paris-Saclay site, of more than 200 researchers and their laboratories;
• A cutting-edge technological platform (8 m²) open to players in the photovoltaic sector, and bringing together more than 100 cutting-edge equipment located in clean rooms.
• A training program mainly based on a master’s degree, supervision of doctoral students, and continuing education.

Websites:

https://www.ipvf.fr/

JOB CONTEXT

The nation-wide “Programme et Equipement Prioritaire de Recherche” PEPR TASE (“Technologies Avancées des Systèmes Energétiques”) aims to promote the development of a French industry for new energy technologies, for greater independence, creating jobs and capable of meeting current and future global demand of renewable energies and electrification of uses. The National Strategy has identified three priority sectors, including photovoltaics.

The “BioFlexPV – Biosourced encapsulation materials for flexible photovoltaic modules” project addresses the pressing need for innovative encapsulation technologies that facilitate dismantling and recycling of photovoltaic (PV) modules, while preserving their performance and reliability. Achieving a durable (module lifetime > 25 years), cost-effective encapsulation solution is essential to support the market deployment of PV technologies.

For organic and perovskite-based flexible modules, encapsulation typically involves laminating a plastic barrier film onto the module and sealing it with a UV-curable epoxy resin. These components, derived from non-renewable resources, can represent up to two-thirds of the module’s total weight.

BioFlexPV aims to develop new, efficient encapsulation materials sourced from bio-based feedstocks, in order to significantly reduce the environmental impact across various PV technologies. By combining biomass-derived polymers with dense inorganic layers from abundant resources, the project seeks to produce encapsulation films with high gas barrier performance. These new materials will be integrated into a range of flexible PV modules—including crystalline silicon (c-Si), organic PV (OPV), perovskite, and CIGS—and their long-term stability and performance will be thoroughly evaluated.

Thin-film encapsulation using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) has already proven effective for devices such as OLEDs. However, several challenges must be overcome for PV applications, including flexibility, temperature tolerance, long- term stability, cost, and throughput. At IPVF, nanolaminate encapsulation layers composed of hybrid organic-inorganic and purely inorganic thin films have been developed using ALD. A key objective of BioFlexPV is to adapt these advanced ALD-based encapsulation strategies to bio-sourced substrates.

SCIENTIFIC PROJECT

The doctoral researcher will benefit from IPVF expertise and unique capabilities in both ALD material development and photovoltaics.

She/he will integrate a dynamic and talented team driven by innovation and results. Using their unique capabilities, her/his main missions will consist in the development of efficient barrier layers for solar cells, ie:

👉 Development of nanolaminates of inorganic layers (Al2O3, TiO2, SnO2, ZnO) or nanolaminates of hybrid inorganic-organic layers (alucone, titancone, tincone, zincone, … ) on polymer (reference and bio-sourced) substrates
👉Characterization of the main material properties required for efficient encapsulation to identify best material solution and understand their behavior: composition, morphology, pinhole density, optical characterizations
👉 Determination of WVTR measurements of ALD monolayers and multilayers
👉 Develop analytical models to predict barrier properties of multilayers
👉 Perform photovoltaic devices encapsulation, ageing

Some characterization will be performed at project partners. In particular, determination of permeation properties and ageing experiments will be performed at CEA INES (Le Bourget du Lac).

PROFILE

Background in materials science
Knowledge of optical instrumentation
Experience in thin film characterization
Hands-on experience with thin films is a strong advantage
Proficiency in data analysis and treatment
Ability to clearly communicate scientific results
Curious and enterprising mindset
Autonomous and self-motivated
Strong organizational and collaborative skills
Results-oriented approach

👉 CONTACT

Cover letter, academic records and résumé (including the name and contact details of at least two references) to be sent to Nathanaelle Schneider, n.schneider@cnrs.fr