Theresa Saenz is a postdoctoral researcher working on low-cost metallization and processing methods for III-V solar cells. Her research focuses on the use of low-cost metals like copper for III-V solar cell contacts, as well as developing photolithography free methods of III-V solar cell processing, including screen printing, inkjet printing, and laser-based methods. She is also interested in epitaxy, semiconductor defect management, nanoimprint lithography, and alternative, low-cost substrates for III-V epitaxy. 
 
Theresa received her bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from Purdue University in 2017. Before beginning her doctoral studies, she worked with the III-V group at Fraunhofer ISE in Germany on a Fulbright grant. She completed her doctorate in 2023 at the Colorado School of Mines. For her doctoral thesis research, which she carried out at NREL, she studied the direct epitaxial growth of III-V solar cells on nanopatterned V-groove silicon substrates. During her doctorate, she worked at TU Ilmenau in Germany under Thomas Hannappel as a visiting researcher through a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Fellowship in 2020. 
 
For additional information, see Theresa Saenz's LinkedIn Profile.

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Low-cost III-V solar cells 

III-V solar cells 

Hybrid tandem solar cells 

Epitaxy 

Solar cell metallization 

Lithography-free processing techniques