To undertake novel research on the development of surface layers to improve interfacial properties in future high efficiency silicon based photovoltaic (PV) devices, to enhance the longevity and storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries and to enable high modulation efficiencies and resolution for THz metamaterial applications. I am interested in depositing surface layers by atomic layer deposition which include aluminium oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxide, hafnium oxide, aluminium nitride and silicon nitride. I'm actively involved in detecting and analysing light induced defects in gallium doped silicon materials and solar cells, and developing methods to mitigate their impact on the solar cell efficiency.
Nicholas E. Grant studied Physics at the University of Adelaide graduating with Honours in 2007. In 2008 he undertook a PhD in Photovoltaic Engineering at the Australian National University, graduating in 2012. In 2013, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, where he developed low temperature passivation methods to detect, quantify and annihilate bulk silicon defects. In 2016, he moved to the UK and undertook a research fellow position at the University of Warwick where he is working towards improving silicon photovoltaic material performance, and developing novel organic thin films. In 2021 he became an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick, where he is looking to diverse his research expertise in the fields of energy storage, metamaterials and space.
- Grant, Nicholas E., Pain, Sophie L., Khorani, Edris, Jefferies, Richard, Wratten, Ailish, McNab, S., Walker, David, Han, Yisong, Beanland, R., Bonilla, R. S., Murphy, J. D., 2024. Activation of Al2O3 surface passivation of silicon : separating bulk and surface effects. Applied Surface Science, 645
- Niewelt, T., Maischner, F., Kwapil, W., Khorani, E., Pain, S. L., Jung, Y., Hopkins, E. C. B., Frosch, P. P., Altermatt, H., Guo, H., Wang, Y. C., Grant, N. E., Murphy, J. D., 2024. Stability of industrial gallium-doped Czochralski silicon PERC cells and wafers. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 266
- Pain, Sophie L., Khorani, Edris, Yadav, Anup, Niewelt, Tim, Leimenstoll, Antonio, Healy, Brendan F. M., Walker, Marc, Walker, David, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2024. Influence of co-reactants on surface passivation by nanoscale hafnium oxide layers grown by atomic layer deposition on silicon. RSC Applied Interfaces
- Healy, Brendan F. M., Pain, Sophie L., Lloyd-Hughes, James, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2024. Quantifying photoluminescence variability in monolayer molybdenum disulfide films grown by chemical vapour deposition. Materials Research Express, 11
- Pain, S., Khorani, E., Niewelt, T., Wratten, A., Walker, M., Grant, N. E., Murphy, J. D., 2023. Stable chemical enhancement of passivating nanolayer structures grown by atomic layer deposition on silicon. Nanoscale, 15 (25), pp. 10593-10605
- Wratten, Ailish, Walker, David, Khorani, Edris, Healy, Brendan F. M., Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2023. Hafnium oxide : a thin film dielectric with controllable etch resistance for semiconductor device fabrication. AIP Advances, 13 (6)
- Khorani, Edris, Messmer, Christoph A., Pain, Sophie L., Niewelt, Tim, Healy, Brendan F. M., Wratten, Ailish, Walker, Marc, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2023. Electronic band offset determination of oxides grown by atomic layer deposition on silicon. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 13 (5), pp. 682-690
- Xu, Xiangdong, Martín?Yerga, Daniel, Grant, Nicholas E., West, Geoffrey D., Pain, Sophie L., Kang, Minkyung, Walker, Marc, Murphy, John D., Unwin, Patrick R., 2023. Interfacial chemistry effects in the electrochemical performance of silicon electrodes under lithium?ion battery conditions. Small, 19 (40)
- Wratten, Ailish, Pain, Sophie L., Yadav, Anup, Khorani, Edris, Niewelt, Tim, Black, L., Bartholazzi, G., Walker, David, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2023. Exploring hafnium oxide?s potential for passivating contacts for silicon solar cells. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 259
- Butler-Caddle, Edward, Grant, Nicholas E., Pain, Sophie L., Murphy, John D., Jayawardena, K. D. G. Imalka, Lloyd-Hughes, James, 2023. Terahertz photoconductance dynamics of semiconductors from sub-nanosecond to millisecond timescales. Applied Physics Letters, 122 (1)
- Mrnka, Michal, Penketh, Harry, Hooper, Ian R., Saxena, Sonal, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., Phillips, David B., Hendry, Euan, 2023. Terahertz imaging through emissivity control. Optica, 10 (12), pp. 1641-1646
- 'Renz, Arne Benjamin, 'Vavasour, Oliver J., 'Gammon, Peter M., 'Li, Fan, 'Dai, Tianxiang, 'Baker, Guy, 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Murphy, John D., 'Mawby, P. A. (Philip A.), 'Shah, Vishal, 'Gott, James A., 2022. '(Invited, Digital Presentation) Improved reliability of 4H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor devices utilising atomic layer deposited layers with enhanced interface quality. ECS Transactions, 108 (2), pp. 43-49
- Pain, Sophie L., Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2022. Room temperature enhancement of electronic materials by superacid analogues. ACS Nano
- Niewelt, T., Steinhauser, B., Richter, A., Veith-Wolf, B., Fell, A., Hammann, B., Grant, Nicholas E., Black, L., Tang, J., Youssef, A., Murphy, J. D., Schmidt, J., Schubert, M. C., Glunz, S. W., 2022. Reassessment of the intrinsic bulk recombination in crystalline silicon. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 235
- 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Pain, Sophie, 'White, Joshua T., 'Walker, Marc, 'Prokes, Ivan, 'Murphy, John D., 2022. 'Enhanced surface passivation of sub-nanometer silicon dioxide films by superacidic treatments. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 5 (2), pp. 1542-1550
- 'Murphy, J. D., 'Grant, N. E., 'Pain, S. L., 'Niewelt, T., 'Wratten, A., 'Khorani, E., 'Markevich, V. P., 'Peaker, A. R., 'Altermatt, P. P., 'Lord, J. S., 'Yokoyama, K., 2022. 'Carrier lifetimes in high-lifetime silicon wafers and solar cells measured by photoexcited muon spin spectroscopy. Journal of Applied Physics, 132 (6)
- 'Pain, Sophie L., 'Khorani, Edris, 'Niewelt, Tim, 'Wratten, Ailish, 'Paez Fajardo, Galo J., 'Winfield, Ben, 'Bonilla, Ruy S., 'Walker, Marc, 'Piper, Louis F. J., 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Murphy, John D., 2022. 'Electronic characteristics of ultra-thin passivation layers for silicon photovoltaics. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 9 (28)
- Renz, A. B., Vavasour, Oliver J., Gammon, Peter M., Li, Fan, Dai, Tianxiang, Baker, G. W. C., Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., Mawby, Philip A., Shah, Vishal, 2022. The improved reliability performance of post-deposition annealed ALD-SiO2. Materials Science Forum, 1062, pp. 325-329
- Renz, A. B., Li, F., Vavasour, Oliver J., Gammon, P. M., Dai, T., Baker, G. W. C., Via, F. La, Zielinski, M. (Marcin), Zhang, L., Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., Mawby, P. A. (Philip A.), Jennings, M. R. (Michael R.), Shah, V. A., 2021. Initial investigations into the MOS interface of freestanding 3C-SiC layers for device applications. Semiconductor Science and Technology, 36 (5)
- Zhu, Yan, Rougieux, Fiacre, Grant, Nicholas E., de Guzman, Joyce Ann T., Murphy, John D., Markevich, Vladimir P., Coletti, Gianluca, Peaker, Anthony R., Hameiri, Ziv, 2021. Electrical characterization of thermally activated defects in n-type float-zone silicon. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 11 (1), pp. 26-35
- Renz, A. B., Vavasour, Oliver J., Gammon, P. M., Li, Fan, Dai, Tianxiang, Antoniou, M., Baker, G. W. C., Bashar, E., Grant, N. E, Murphy, J. D., Mawby, P. A., Shah, V. A., 2021. The improvement of atomic layer deposited SiO2/4H-SiC interfaces via a high temperature forming gas anneal. Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, 122
- Grant, Nicholas E., Altermat, Pietro P., Niewelt, Tim, Post, Regina, Kwapil, Wolfram, Schubert, Martin C., Murphy, John D., 2021. Gallium-doped silicon for high-efficiency commercial passivated emitter and rear solar cells. Solar RRL, 5
- 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Pointon, Alex I., 'Jefferies, Richard, 'Hiller, Daniel, 'Han, Yisong, 'Beanland, Richard, 'Walker, Marc, 'Murphy, John D., 2020. 'Atomic level termination for passivation and functionalisation of silicon surfaces. Nanoscale, 12, pp. 17332-17341
- Hiller, Daniel, Markevich, Vladimir P., de Guzman, Joyce Ann T., König, Dirk, Prucnal, Slawomir, Bock, Wolfgang, Julin, Jaakko, Peaker, Anthony R., Macdonald, Daniel, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2020. Kinetics of bulk lifetime degradation in Float-Zone (FZ) silicon : fast activation and annihilation of grown-in defects and the role of hydrogen vs light. Physica Status Solidi (a), 217 (17)
- 'Pointon, Alex I., 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Pain, Sophie, 'White, Joshua, 'Murphy, John D., 2020. 'Sub-2 cm/s passivation of silicon surfaces by aprotic solutions. Applied Physics Letters, 116
- Grant, Nicholas E., Scowcroft, Jennifer R., Pointon, A. I., Al-Amin, Mohammad, Altermatt, Pietro P., Murphy, John D., 2020. Lifetime instabilities in gallium doped monocrystalline PERC silicon solar cells. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 206
- Kho, Teng Choon, Fong, Kean, McIntosh, Keith, Franklin, Evan, Grant, Nicholas E., Stocks, Matthew, Phang, Sieu Pheng, Wan, Yimao, Wang, Er-Chien, Vora, Kaushal, Ngwe, Zin, Blakers, Andrew, 2019. Exceptional silicon surface passivation by an ONO dielectric stack. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 189, pp. 245-253
- Zhu, Yan, Rougieux, Fiacre, Grant, Nicholas E., Mullins, Jack, De Guzman, Joyce Ann, Murphy, John D., Markevich, Vladimir P., Coletti, Gianluca, Peaker, Anthony R., Hameiri, Ziv, 2019. New insights into the thermally activated defects in n-type float-zone silicon. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2147 (1)
- Pointon, A. I., Grant, Nicholas E., Bonilla, R. S., Wheeler-Jones, Evé, Walker, Marc, Wilshaw, P. R., Dancer, Claire E. J., Murphy, John D., 2019. Exceptional surface passivation arising from bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)-based solutions. ACS Applied Electronic Materials, 1 (7), pp. 1322-1329
- Murphy, John D., Pointon, A. I., Grant, Nicholas E., Shah, V. A., Myronov, Maksym, Voronkov, Vladimir V., Falster, R. J., 2019. Minority carrier lifetime in indium doped silicon for photovoltaics. Progress in Photovoltaics : Research and Applications, 27 (10), pp. 844-855
- Al-Amin, Mohammad, Grant, Nicholas E., Pointon, A. I., Murphy, J. D., 2019. Iodine-ethanol surface passivation for measurement of millisecond carrier lifetimes in silicon wafers with different crystallographic orientations. Physica Status Solidi A, 216 (17)
- 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Kho, T. C., 'Fong, K. C., 'Franklin, E., 'McIntosh, K. R., 'Stocks, M., 'Wan, Y., 'Wang, Er-Chien, 'Zin, N. S., 'Murphy, John D., 'Blakers, A., 2019. 'Anodic oxidations : excellent process durability and surface passivation for high efficiency silicon solar cells. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 203
- Pointon, A. I., Grant, Nicholas E., Wheeler-Jones, Evé, Altermatt, P. P., Murphy, J. D., 2018. Superacid-derived surface passivation for measurement of ultra-long lifetimes in silicon photovoltaic materials. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 183, pp. 164-172
- Niewelt, T., Richter, A., Kho, T. C., Grant, Nicholas E., Bonilla, R. S., Steinhauser, B., Polzin, J.-I., Feldmann, F., Hermle, M., Murphy, John D., Phang, S. P., Kwapil, W., Schubert, M. C., 2018. Taking monocrystalline silicon to the ultimate lifetime limit. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 185, pp. 252-259
- Rahman, T., To, A., Pollard, M. E., Grant, Nicholas E., Colwell, J., Payne, D. N. R., Murphy, John D., Bagnall, D. M., Hoex, B., Boden, S. A., 2018. Minimising bulk lifetime degradation during the processing of interdigitated back contact silicon solar cell. Progress in Photovoltaics, 26 (1), pp. 38-47
- Pointon, A. I., Grant, Nicholas E., Wheeler-Jones, E.C., Altermatt, P.P., Murphy, John D., 2018. Superacid-derived surface passivation for measurement of ultra-long lifetimes in silicon photovoltaic materials. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 183, pp. 164-172
- Mullins, Jack, Markevich, Vladimir P., Vaqueiro-Contreras, Michelle, Grant, Nicholas E., Jensen, Leif, Jab?o?ski, Jaros?aw, Murphy, John D., Halsall, Matthew P., Peaker, Anthony R., 2018. Thermally activated defects in float zone silicon : effect of nitrogen on the introduction of deep level states. Journal of Applied Physics, 124 (3)
- Grant, Nicholas E., Niewelt, Tim, Wilson, Neil R., Wheeler-Jones, Evé, Bullock, James, Al-Amin, Mohammad, Schubert, Martin C., van Veen, André C., Javey, Ali, Murphy, John D., 2017. Superacid-treated silicon surfaces : extending the limit of carrier lifetime for photovoltaic applications. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 7 (6), pp. 1574-1583
- Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2017. Temporary surface passivation for characterisation of bulk defects in silicon : a review. Physica Status Solidi Rapid Research Letters, 11 (11)
- Al-Amin, Mohammad, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2017. Low-temperature saw damage gettering to improve minority carrier lifetime in multicrystalline silicon. Physica Status Solidi Rapid Research Letters, 11 (10)
- Niewelt, T., Selinger, M., Grant, Nicholas E., Kwapil, W. M., Murphy, John D., Schubert, M. C., 2017. Light-induced activation and deactivation of bulk defects in boron-doped float-zone silicon. Journal of Applied Physics, 121 (18)
- De Guzman, Joyce Ann T., Markevich, Vladimir P., Mullins, Jack, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., Hiller, Daniel, Halsall, Matthew P., Peaker, Anthony R., 2022. Formation and elimination of electrically active thermally-induced defects in float-zone-grown silicon crystals. SiliconPV 2021, the 11th International Conference on Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaics, Hamelin, Germany, 19?23 Apr 2021, Published in AIP Conference Proceedings
- Healy, Brendan F. M., Pain, Sophie L., Lloyd-Hughes, James, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2024. Dataset to support: "Quantifying photoluminescence variability in monolayer molybdenum disulfide films grown by chemical vapour deposition". University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Khorani, Edris, Messmer, Christoph A., Pain, Sophie L., Niewelt, Tim, Healy, Brendan F. M., Wratten, Ailish, Walker, Marc, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2023. Dataset to support Electronic band offset determination of oxides grown by atomic layer deposition on silicon. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Wratten, Ailish, Pain, Sophie L., Yadav, Anup, Khorani, Edris, Niewelt, Tim, Black, L., Bartholazzi, G., Walker, David, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2023. Data in support of Exploring hafnium oxide?s potential for passivating contacts for silicon solar cells. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Wratten, Ailish, Pain, Sophie L., Walker, David, Renz, A. B., Khorani, Edris, Niewelt, Tim, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2023. Data for Mechanisms of silicon surface passivation by negatively charged hafnium oxide thin films. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Grant, Nicholas E., Pain, Sophie L., Khorani, Edris, Jefferies, Richard, Wratten, Ailish, McNab, Shona, Walker, D., Han, Yisong, Beanland, R., Bonilla, R. S., Murphy, John D., 2023. Dataset to support "Activation of Al2O3 surface passivation of silicon: separating bulk and surface effects". University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Niewelt, Tim, Maischner, F., Kwapil, Wolfram, Khorani, Edris, Pain, Sophie L., Jung, Y., Hopkins, E. C. B., Frosch, M., Altermatt, P. P., Guo, H., Wang, Y. C., Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2023. Dataset to support "Stability of industrial gallium-doped Czochralski silicon PERC cells and wafers". University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Pain, Sophie L., Khorani, Edris, Yadav, Anup, Niewelt, Tim, Leimenstoll, Antonio, Healy, Brendan F. M., Walker, Marc, Walker, David, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2023. Dataset to support - "Influence of co-reactants on surface passivation by nanoscale hafnium oxide layers grown by atomic layer deposition on silicon". RSC Applied Interfaces, University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Pain, Sophie, 'White, Joshua T., 'Walker, Marc, 'Prokes, Ivan, 'Murphy, John D., 2022. 'Data for Enhanced surface passivation of sub-nanometer silicon dioxide films by superacidic treatments. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- 'Pain, Sophie L., 'Khorani, Edris, 'Niewelt, Tim, 'Wratten, Ailish, 'Paez Fajardo, Galo J., 'Winfield, Ben, 'Bonilla, Ruy S., 'Walker, Marc, 'Piper, Louis F. J., 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Murphy, John D., 2022. 'Data for Electronic characteristics of ultra-thin passivation layers for silicon photovoltaics. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Altermatt, Pietro P., 'Niewelt, Tim, 'Post, Regina, 'Kwapil, Wolfram, 'Schubert, Martin C., 'Murphy, John D., 2021. 'Data for Gallium-doped silicon for high-efficiency commercial passivated emitter and rear solar cells. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- 'Pain, Sophie L., 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Murphy, John D., 2021. 'Data for Room temperature enhancement of electronic materials by superacid analogues. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Pointon, Alex I., 'Jefferies, Richard, 'Hiller, Daniel, 'Han, Yisong, 'Beanland, Richard, 'Walker, Marc, 'Murphy, John D., 2020. 'Data for Atomic level termination for passivation and functionalisation of silicon surfaces. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Kho, T. C., 'Fong, K. C., 'Franklin, E., 'McIntosh, K. R., 'Stocks, M., 'Wang, Y., 'Wang, Er-Chien, 'Zin, N. S., 'Murphy, John D., 'Blakers, A., 2020. 'Data for Anodic oxidations : excellent process durability and surface passivation for high efficiency silicon solar cells. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- 'Pointon, Alex I., 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Pain, Sophie, 'White, Joshua T., 'Murphy, John D., 2020. 'Data for Sub-2 cm/s passivation of silicon surfaces by aprotic solutions. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Pointon, A. I., Grant , Nicholas E., Bonilla, R. S., Wheeler-Jones, Evé, Walker, Marc, Wilshaw, P. R., Dancer, Claire E. J., Murphy, John D., 2019. Data for Exceptional surface passivation arising from bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)-based solutions. School of Engineering, University of Warwick
- Al-Amin, Mohammad, Grant, Nicholas E., Pointon, A. I., Murphy, J. D., 2019. Data for Iodine-ethanol surface passivation for measurement of millisecond carrier lifetimes in silicon wafers with different crystallographic orientations. Physica Status Solidi A, School of Engineering
- 'Grant, Nicholas E., 'Scowcroft, Jennifer R., 'Pointon, A. I., 'Al-Amin, Mohammad, 'Altermatt, Pietro P., 'Murphy, John D., 2019. 'Data for Lifetime instabilities in gallium doped monocrystalline PERC silicon solar cells. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Pointon, A. I., Grant, Nicholas E., Wheeler-Jones, Evé, Altermatt, P. P., Murphy, John D., 2018. Data for Superacid-derived surface passivation for measurement of ultra-long lifetimes in silicon photovoltaic materials. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Al-Amin, Mohammad, Grant, Nicholas E., Murphy, John D., 2017. Data for Low-temperature saw damage gettering to improve minority carrier lifetime in multicrystalline silicon. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
- Grant, Nicholas E., Niewelt, Tim, Wilson, Neil R., Wheeler-Jones, Evé, Bullock, James, Al-Amin, Mohammad, Schubert, Martin C., van Veen, André C., Javey, Ali, Murphy, John D., 2017. Data for Superacid-Treated Silicon Surfaces: Extending the Limit of Carrier Lifetime for Photovoltaic Applications. University of Warwick, School of Engineering
Title | Funder | Award start | Award end |
---|---|---|---|
Charged oxide inversion layer (COIL) solar cells | EPSRC | 01 Dec 2021 | 31 Aug 2025 |
A silicon pillared photo-modulator: advancing THz imaging capabilities | University of Manchester | 01 Oct 2024 | 28 Apr 2025 |
Dark matter and the ultimate performance limit of semiconductor silicon | Leverhulme Trust | 01 Apr 2021 | 31 Mar 2024 |
Computational spectral imaging in the THz band | EPSRC | 01 Sep 2019 | 29 Feb 2024 |
A collaboration to advance gallium doped silicon for high efficiency solar cells | EPSRC | 01 Apr 2022 | 30 Sep 2023 |
Atomic Layer Deposition of Nanoscale Coatings for Battery Anodes | Royal Society | 31 Jan 2022 | 31 Mar 2023 |