Dr Robert LEE CHIN

Employment experience:

2020 – 2023: Research Fellow (UNSW)

2015 – 2019: Tutoring UG and Master courses (UNSW)

Education:

2016 – 2020: Doctor of Philosophy in Photovoltaic Engineering (UNSW)

2011 – 2016: Bachelor of Photovoltaics Engineering (UNSW)

Research interests:

• Micro-photoluminescence (μPL)

• Spectral photoluminescence (silicon and perovskites)

• Defect luminescence (silicon)

• Two-photon absorption time-resolved photoluminescence (silicon)

• Injection-dependent lifetime (perovskites)

Why is your research important?

Helps the fundamental understanding of the nature of defects in solar materials. Luminescence in general is a versatile technique because it can be used to quantify losses from defects in solar cells at any stage of fabrication (precursors to cells) and any type of solar cell absorbers (from silicon to perovskites, III-V materials, kesterites). When combined with a microscope setup and different detection methods, such as spectrally-resolved and injection-dependent, you can extract rich information about the recombination mechanisms, especially from the defects in the absorber.

Why do you like research? 

Flexible work hours and flexibility in research topics. When you complete a pretty graph that summarises a few months hard work, that's also quite satisfying. If you have a good supervisor, they will sometimes treat you with a baklava.

What do you like to do when you are not saving the world?

Sleep, eat, workout, dating.