School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering

Until April 2008 Ayodhya Nath Tiwari was a Professor of Photovoltaics and Thin Films in CREST. He joined Loughborough University in October 2002. Prior to that he worked at ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Zürich, Switzerland for about 14 years. At ETH Zürich he has been leading the Photovoltaics Group of about 12 scientists and technicians, he is holding a part-time employment at ETH Zurich.

For more than 22 years he has been involved in the research and development of thin film deposition processes, material and interface characterisation, and solar cells. His group at ETHZ has numerous contributions in compound semiconductor thin film solar cells and holds the world records of cell efficiency of 13.2 % for flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (called CIGS) and 11.4% for flexible CdTe solar cells on polyimde films - 19th European Photovoltaics Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition 7-11 June 2004, Paris, France.

Prof. Tiwari is the organiser of the topic 4 symposium: CIS, CdTe and other (II-VI) ternary thin film cells. - European Materials Research Society 2004 Spring Meeting. He is a co-organiser of the symposium on thin film chalcogenide photovoltaic materials.

25 projects sponsored by the European and national agencies

• European Union collaboration: Principal investigator of the ETHZ contribution on 9 projects on thin film solar cells based on CIGS (EUROCIS, FLEXIX, WIDE GAP CPV, PROCIS, METAFLEX, NEBULES) and CdTe (EUROCAD, LACTEL, CADBACK).
• European Space Agency: Principal investigator and coordinator of a project involving an industrial partner on the development of flexible CIGS solar cell on polymer.
• Collaboration on a project coordinated by Contraves Space, Switzerland on the assessment of various thin film solar cell technologies for space applications.
• Swiss National Science Foundation: Coordination of 3 international projects. PI of 4 other projects.
• Commission for technology and innovation, Switzerland: Principle investigator of 2 projects involving an Industry.
• Other funding agencies in Switzerland: Principal investigator of 2 projects and co-investigator of 3 projects.

Thin Film Physics Group

Ayodhya Nath Tiwari (born on 19. 10. 1958 in India) is a physicist by education. He did his B Sc in 1978 from DBS College, Dehra Doon, India, M Sc (Physics) in 1980 from the Roorkee University, India, and Ph D in 1986 from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, India. After working at IIT Delhi for about two years as a senior scientific officer, he joined AFIF (Industrial Research Unit) at ETH Zürich, Switzerland in 1988 as a post doctoral fellow to start a new activity on thin film solar cells. During these years he established a laboratory, internationally known in the field of CIGS and CdTe solar cells. His doctoral students have won 6 awards in different international conferences for their work on thin film solar cells. Prof. Tiwari is on the advisory boards of the EU sponsored Centres of Excellence in PV at Tallinn University, Estonia, and of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. He has been involved in the scientific committees of the international conferences on photovoltaics including:

Science and technology of thin films and opto-electronic devices, especially thin film solar cells and infrared sensors. Growth and characterisation of heteroepitaxial layers of II-VI, IV-VI, III-V,IIaffluorides, YBaCuOx on Si substrates. Growth and characterisation of polycrystalline layers of II-VI, I-III-VI compounds, and transparent conducting oxide layers on glass, polymer and metal foils. Development of CdTe and CIGS thin film solar cell device structures and processes for improved efficiency, performance stability, and advance applications. Microstructural, chemical and opto-electronic properties of layers and interfaces in hetero-structures. Long term stability of solar cells for terrestrial and space applications. Process modifications and strategies for industrial production.