Vincenzo Pecunia Associate Professor Principal Investigator of the Pecunia Group for Thin Film Optoelectronics BSc, MSc, PhD Cantab. M. Inst. P., M. MRS, M. IEEE

I am an Associate Professor and Principal Investigator at the Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials of Soochow University, China, where I founded and now lead the Pecunia Group for Thin-Film Optoelectronics. My group’s multidisciplinary research is at the intersection of physics, materials science, and electronics engineering. Specifically, I investigate emerging, environmentally-friendly, solution-processed semiconductors, such as organic semiconductors, lead-free perovskites, amorphous metal-oxide semiconductors, and carbon nanotubes. My interest in these semiconductors is motivated by their considerable potential for next-generation sustainable electronics, optoelectronics, and photovoltaics. 

My research focuses on the experimental characterisation and conditioning of the photo-electronic properties of these materials, as well as their device applications in thin-film transistors, solar cells, and photodetectors. By gaining detailed understanding of their optoelectronic and device properties, I seek to rationally realise the full potential of these semiconductors for large-area optoelectronics and energy applications. My ultimate goal is to develop semiconductor technologies that can address emerging societal challenges in sustainability and healthcare, or that can improve our quality of life.
 
Prior to establishing the Pecunia Group for Thin-Film Optoelectronics, I worked full-time for over six years at the Optoelectronics Group of the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge. Whilst there I earned my PhD in Experimental Physics and worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate under the supervision of Professor Henning Sirringhaus, FRS. Before that, I completed my BSc and MSc in Electronics Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, Italy, where the MSc also included a joint programme with the University of Texas at Austin, USA.

I have to date published numerous research articles in highly reputable journals such as Nature, Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Nano Energy, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Optical Materials, and Nano-Micro Letters. Moreover, drawing from my research experience, I have also authored the book entitled Organic Narrowband Photodetectors (Institute of Physics Publishing) and the monograph entitled Organic and Amorphous-Metal-Oxide Flexible Analogue Electronics (Cambridge University Press). Please click here  for a complete list of my publications.

I currently serve on the Editorial Boards of the journals Nanotechnology, Journal of Physics: Materials, Springer Nature Applied Sciences, and Frontiers in Electronics. I am Co-Editor of the Research Topic entitled ‘Next-Generation Optoelectronics with Emerging Hybrid Materials’ for Frontiers in Electronics, Lead Guest Editor of the Focus Issue entitled ‘Grand Challenges in Halide Perovskites: Next Generation Photodetectors’ for Journal of Physics: Materials, and Lead Guest Editor of the Focus Issue entitled ‘Green Nanomaterials for a Sustainable Internet of Things’ for Nanotechnology. I am a member of the Institute of Physics (IOP), the Materials Research Society (MRS), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Books

V. Pecunia†*, “Organic Narrowband Photodetectors: Materials, Devices and Applications”, Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing, Bristol, UK, 2019. ISBN: 9780750326629, DOI: 10.1088/978-0-7503-2663-6.

V. Pecunia†*, M. Fattori, S. Abdinia, E. Cantatore, H. Sirringhaus, “Organic and Amorphous-Metal-Oxide Flexible Analogue Electronics”, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2018. ISBN: 9781108458191, DOI: 10.1017/9781108559034

Research Papers

V. Pecunia†*, J. Zhao, C. Kim, B. R. Tuttle, J. Mei, F. Li, Y. Peng, T. Huq, R. L.Z. Hoye, N. D. Kelly, S. E. Dutton, K. Xia, J. MacManus-Driscoll, H. Sirringhaus, Assessing the Impact of Defects on Lead-Free Perovskite-Inspired Photovoltaics via Photoinduced Current Transient Spectroscopy, Advanced Energy Materials, 2021. DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202003968