Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Tress

Work at ZHAW

Position

• Head of Novel Semiconductor Devices Team
• Professor
• Affiliated with the Physics Institute at the University of Zurich

Focus

Organic Electronics, Perovskite solar cells, Device physics, Optoelectronic characterization, Device simulation, Semiconductors, Mixed ionic-electronic conductors

Teaching

• UZH Course: Physics and Characterization of Emerging Solar Cells
• Physics for engineers, BA
• Physics on the micro and nanoscale, Master

Experience

• Marie-Curie fellow
  LMU Munich
  06 / 2019 - 03 / 2020
• Ambizione Energy fellow
  EPFL
  06 / 2017 - 05 / 2019
• Postdoc
  EPFL
  01 / 2014 - 05 / 2017
• Postdoc
  Linköping University
  04 / 2012 - 12 / 2013

Education and Continuing education

Education

• PhD. / Physics
  Technical University of Dresden
  01 / 2008 - 03 / 2012
• Master / Electrical Engineering
  University of Ulm
  10 / 2002 - 12 / 2007

Network

Membership of networks

EU PVSEC Scientific Committee

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4010-239X

Awards

• Young Scientist Sustainable Development Goals Award
  WAYS, the Wenzhou Growth Foundation for Young Scientists and the Global SDGs and Leadership Development Center
  10 / 2025
• Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher
  Web of Science
  10 / 2025
• ERC Starting Grant
  European Research Council
  08 / 2019
• SPS Award in Applied Physics
  Swiss Physical Society
  08 / 2018
• Energy & Environmental Science Readers' Choice Lectureship
  Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
  12 / 2016
• Zeno Karl Schindler Award
  EPFL
  10 / 2016
• Georg-Helm-Preis
  Association for the Promotion of Students at Technische Universität Dresden
  08 / 2013
• Emanuel Goldberg Preis
  Robert Luther Foundation
  08 / 2012

Social media

Linkedin

Media presence

The Economist, Feb 18th 2026

Projects

• Machine Learning-Driven Optimization of Polymer Encapsulation Layers for Enhanced Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells / Project leader / ongoing
• Stability investigations on perovskite solar cells / Project leader / ongoing
• Integrated Novel Bypass Element enabling stabel Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules for Mass Production / Project leader / ongoing
• Correlative Optoelectronics on the Nanoscale in Experiment and Simulation Applied to Perovskite Solar Cells / Project leader / ongoing
• Interface tailoring and modelling for perovskite solar cells / Project leader / ongoing
• Rationally Designed Thin Contact Layers enabling Large-Scale Perovskite-on-Silicon Tandem Photovoltaics / Project leader / ongoing
• Perovskite Accelerated Lifetime Assessment, degradation mechanism Comprehension for fast device reliability Enhancement / Project leader / ongoing
• Defect Engineering, Advanced Modelling and Characterization for Next Generation Opto-Electronic-Ionic Devices / Project leader / ongoing
• Voltage and quantum efficiency losses in indoor organic photovoltaic devices / Project leader / completed
• Reusing Openly Accessible research Data for Student theses / Team member / completed
• Towards stable and highly efficient lead-free perovskite white light-emitting diodes / Co-project leader / completed
• Experimental & Machine learning driven design of stable 2D/3D perovskite solar cells for outdoor applications / Project leader / completed
• Fabrication of single crystal perovskite memristor / Co-project leader / completed
• A glance into the detailed operation of perovskite solar cells / Project leader / completed
• Multifunctional Super-Continuum-Laser-Equipped Electro-Optical Probestation for Advanced Device Characterization / Project leader / completed
• Laboratory 4.0 – Digitization in applied materials research / Project leader / completed

Selected publications

• Thiesbrummel, J. et al. (2026) 'Ion migration in perovskite solar cells', Nature Reviews Chemistry, 10(3), pp. 179–195. doi: 10.1038/s41570-025-00790-8.
• Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. et al. (2024) 'Ion migration in mesoscopic perovskite solar cells : effects on electroluminescence, open circuit voltage, and photovoltaic quantum efficiency', Advanced Energy Materials, 15(5), p. 2403850. doi: 10.1002/aenm.202403850.
• Kumawat, N. K., Tress, W. and Gao, F. (2021) 'Mobile ions determine the luminescence yield of perovskite light-emitting diodes under pulsed operation', Nature Communications, 12(4899). doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25016-5.
• Mohammadi, M. et al. (2026) 'Integrated memristor for mitigating reverse-bias in perovskite solar cells', Nature, 651(8107), pp. 933–939. doi: 10.1038/s41586-026-10275-3.

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Lee, Y.-N. et al. (2026) 'Lattice coherency‐driven (111)‐oriented wide bandgap perovskite films', Advanced Energy Materials. doi: 10.1002/aenm.202506805.
• Mohammadi, M. et al. (2026) 'Formation and switching mechanism in high-performance perovskite memristors with ultra-wide dynamic range', Joule, 10(102473). doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2026.102473.
• Ganaie, M. M. et al. (2026) 'Lead-free layered halide double perovskites with aromatic organic cations for resistive switching memories and artificial synapses', Materials Horizons. doi: 10.1039/d5mh02220g.
• Mohammadi, M. et al. (2026) 'Integrated memristor for mitigating reverse-bias in perovskite solar cells', Nature, 651(8107), pp. 933–939. doi: 10.1038/s41586-026-10275-3.
• Hong, Y.-K. et al. (2026) 'Control of lattice strain in α‐FAPbI3 film', Small Structures, 7(2), p. e202500664. doi: 10.1002/sstr.202500664.
• Torre Cachafeiro, M. et al. (2026) 'Inverted J-V hysteresis in perovskite solar cells : insights from photovoltaic quantum efficiency', ACS Energy Letters, 11(2), pp. 2173–2178. doi: 10.1021/acsenergylett.5c04035.
• Sachsenweger, T., Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. and Tress, W. (2026) 'ChargeFabrica : a python-based finite difference multidimensional electro-ionic drift diffusion simulator applied to mesoporous perovskite solar cells', Materials Futures, 5(2), p. 025602. doi: 10.1088/2752-5724/ae27e9.
• Thiesbrummel, J. et al. (2026) 'Ion migration in perovskite solar cells', Nature Reviews Chemistry, 10(3), pp. 179–195. doi: 10.1038/s41570-025-00790-8.
• Blätte, D. et al. (2026) 'Elucidating the origin of open‐circuit voltage in ternary organic solar cells with a nonfullerene and a fullerene acceptor', InfoMat, 8(2), p. e70109. doi: 10.1002/inf2.70109.
• Kumar, R. et al. (2025) 'Mechanistic insights into ionic conduction in lead halide perovskites and perovskite‐inspired materials', Advanced Energy Materials, 15(45), p. e03331. doi: 10.1002/aenm.202503331.
• Zbinden, O. et al. (2025) 'Autoencoder for parameter estimation and current-voltage curve simulation of perovskite solar cells', npj Computational Materials, 12(7). doi: 10.1038/s41524-025-01875-0.
• Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. and Tress, W. (2025) 'Ionic losses and gains in perovskite solar cells : impact on efficiency and stability', ACS Energy Letters, 10(10), pp. 4849–4855. doi: 10.1021/acsenergylett.5c02435.
• Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. et al. (2025) 'Visualising ionic screening in perovskite solar cells : a bumpy ride along the J-V curve', EES Solar, 1(5), pp. 762–774. doi: 10.1039/d5el00133a.
• Parayil Shaji, S. and Tress, W. (2025) 'Data-driven analysis of hysteresis and stability in perovskite solar cells using machine learning : can machine learning help to extract hidden correlations from the perovskite database? – A case study on hysteresis and stability', Energy and AI, 20(100503). doi: 10.1016/j.egyai.2025.100503.
• Jeong, G.-H. et al. (2025) 'Electron-deficient intermolecular adhesives : a new class of multifunctional interlayers for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells', Journal of Energy Chemistry, 108, pp. 165–172. doi: 10.1016/j.jechem.2025.04.012.
• Ebadi, F. et al. (2025) 'Effects of tail states in Cs2AgBiBr6 double perovskites on solar cell performance : a temperature-dependent study of photovoltaic external quantum efficiency, open-circuit voltage, and luminescence', Advanced Energy Materials, 15(30), p. 2500758. doi: 10.1002/aenm.202500758.
• Othman, M. et al. (2025) 'Suppression of stacking faults for stable formamidinium‐rich perovskite absorbers', Advanced Materials, 37(26), p. 2502142. doi: 10.1002/adma.202502142.
• Luo, W. et al. (2025) 'Photochromic control in hybrid perovskite photovoltaics', Advanced Materials, 37(20), p. 2420143. doi: 10.1002/adma.202420143.
• Zbinden, O., Knapp, E. and Tress, W. (2024) 'Identifying performance limiting parameters in perovskite solar cells using machine learning', Solar RRL, 8(6), p. 2300999. doi: 10.1002/solr.202300999.
• Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. et al. (2024) 'Ion migration in mesoscopic perovskite solar cells : effects on electroluminescence, open circuit voltage, and photovoltaic quantum efficiency', Advanced Energy Materials, 15(5), p. 2403850. doi: 10.1002/aenm.202403850.
• Schiller, A. et al. (2024) 'Assessing the influence of illumination on ion conductivity in perovskite solar cells', The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 15(45), pp. 11252–11258. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c02403.
• Zhou, J. et al. (2024) 'Highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells via a multifunctional hole transporting material', Joule, 8(6), pp. 1691–1706. doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2024.02.019.
• Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. et al. (2024) 'Pulsed operation of perovskite LEDs : a study on the role of mobile ions', National Science Review, 12(5), p. nwae128. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwae128.
• Wu, H. et al. (2024) 'Decreasing exciton dissociation rates for reduced voltage losses in organic solar cells', Nature Communications, 15(2693). doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46797-5.
• Wu, H. et al. (2023) 'Impact of donor halogenation on reorganization energies and voltage losses in bulk-heterojunction solar cells', Energy & Environmental Science, 16(3), pp. 1277–1290. doi: 10.1039/D3EE00174A.
• Feng, S.-P. et al. (2023) 'Roadmap on commercialization of metal halide perovskite photovoltaics', Journal of Physics: Materials, 6(3), p. 032501. doi: 10.1088/2515-7639/acc893.
• Kong, T. et al. (2023) 'A newly crosslinked-double network PEDOT:PSS@PEGDMA toward highly-efficient and stable tin-lead perovskite solar cells', Small, 19(40), p. e2303159. doi: 10.1002/smll.202303159.
• Xu, T. et al. (2023) 'Interface modification for efficient and stable inverted inorganic perovskite solar cells', Advanced Materials, 35(31), p. e2303346. doi: 10.1002/adma.202303346.
• Tan, L. et al. (2023) 'Combined vacuum evaporation and solution process for high-efficiency large-area perovskite solar cells with exceptional reproducibility', Advanced Materials, 35(13), p. e2205027. doi: 10.1002/adma.202205027.
• Wang, S. et al. (2022) 'Over 24% efficient MA-free CsxFA1−xPbX3 perovskite solar cells', Joule, 6(6), pp. 1344–1356. doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2022.05.002.
• Fakharuddin, A. et al. (2022) 'Perovskite light-emitting diodes', Nature Electronics, 5(4), pp. 203–216. doi: 10.1038/s41928-022-00745-7.
• Li, M. et al. (2022) 'Brominated PEAI as multi‐functional passivator for high‐efficiency perovskite solar cell', Energy & Environmental Materials, 6(3), p. e12360. doi: 10.1002/eem2.12360.
• Sirtl, M. T. et al. (2022) '2D/3D hybrid Cs2AgBiBr6 double perovskite solar cells : improved energy level alignment for higher contact‐selectivity and large open circuit voltage', Advanced Energy Materials, 12(7), p. 2103215. doi: 10.1002/aenm.202103215.
• Xu, T. et al. (2022) 'Simultaneous lattice engineering and defect control via cadmium incorporation for high-performance inorganic perovskite solar cells', Advanced Science, 9(36), p. 2204486. doi: 10.1002/advs.202204486.
• Jiang, C. et al. (2022) 'Double layer composite electrode strategy for efficient perovskite solar cells with excellent reverse-bias stability', Nano-Micro Letters, 15(1), p. 12. doi: 10.1007/s40820-022-00985-4.
• Li, M. et al. (2022) 'Multifunctional succinate additive for flexible perovskite solar cells with more than 23% power-conversion efficiency', The Innovation, 3(6), p. 100310. doi: 10.1016/j.xinn.2022.100310.
• Chen, Z. et al. (2022) 'A transparent electrode based on solution-processed ZnO for organic optoelectronic devices', Nature Communications, 13(1), p. 4387. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32010-y.
• Li, H. et al. (2022) 'Sequential vacuum-evaporated perovskite solar cells with more than 24% efficiency', Science Advances, 8(28), p. eabo7422. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abo7422.
• Kim, M. et al. (2022) 'Conformal quantum dot-SnO2 layers as electron transporters for efficient perovskite solar cells', Science, 375(6578), pp. 302–306. doi: 10.1126/science.abh1885.
• Xiang, W., Liu, S. (. and Tress, W. (2021) 'Interfaces and interfacial layers in inorganic perovskite solar cells', Angewandte Chemie: International Edition, 2021(60). doi: 10.1002/anie.202108800.
• Sadegh, F. et al. (2021) 'Copolymer‐templated nickel oxide for high‐efficiency mesoscopic perovskite solar cells in inverted architecture', Advanced Functional Materials, 31(33). doi: 10.1002/adfm.202102237.
• Tress, W. and Sirtl, M. T. (2021) 'Cs2AgBiBr6Double perovskites as lead‐free alternatives for perovskite solar cells?', Solar RRL. doi: 10.1002/solr.202100770.
• Chen, Z. et al. (2021) 'An underestimated photoactive area in organic solar cells based on a ZnO interlayer', Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 9(35), pp. 11753–11760. doi: 10.1039/D1TC00745A.
• Teng, P. et al. (2021) 'Degradation and self-repairing in perovskite light-emitting diodes', Matter, 4(11), pp. 3710–3724. doi: 10.1016/j.matt.2021.09.007.
• Ummadisingu, A. et al. (2021) 'Crystal‐size‐induced band gap tuning in perovskite films', Angewandte Chemie: International Edition, 60(39), pp. 21368–21376. doi: 10.1002/anie.202106394.
• Xiang, W., Liu, S. (. and Tress, W. (2021) 'A review on the stability of inorganic metal halide perovskites : challenges and opportunities for stable solar cells', Energy & Environmental Science, 14(4), pp. 2090–2113. doi: 10.1039/D1EE00157D.
• Jacobsson, T. J. et al. (2021) 'An open-access database and analysis tool for perovskite solar cells based on the FAIR data principles', Nature Energy, 7, pp. 107–115. doi: 10.1038/s41560-021-00941-3.
• Chen, X.-K. et al. (2021) 'A unified description of non-radiative voltage losses in organic solar cells', Nature Energy, 6(8), pp. 799–806. doi: 10.1038/s41560-021-00843-4.
• Kumawat, N. K., Tress, W. and Gao, F. (2021) 'Mobile ions determine the luminescence yield of perovskite light-emitting diodes under pulsed operation', Nature Communications, 12(4899). doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25016-5.
• Sirtl, M. T. et al. (2021) 'The bottlenecks of Cs2AgBiBr6 solar cells : how contacts and slow transients limit the performance', Advanced Optical Materials, 9(14), p. 2100202. doi: 10.1002/adom.202100202.
• Ebadi Garjan, F. et al. (2021) 'When photoluminescence, electroluminescence, and open-circuit voltage diverge : light soaking and halide segregation in perovskite solar cells', Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 9(24), pp. 13967–13978. doi: 10.1039/D1TA02878B.
• Lu, H. et al. (2020) 'Vapor-assisted deposition of highly efficient, stable black-phase FAPbI3 perovskite solar cells', Science, 370(6512), p. eabb8985. doi: 10.1126/science.abb8985.
• Yang, B. et al. (2020) 'Outstanding passivation effect by a mixed-salt interlayer with internal interactions in perovskite solar cells', ACS Energy Letters, 5(10), pp. 3159–3167. doi: 10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01664.

Book chapters, peer-reviewed

• Tress, W. (2022) 'Physics of perovskite solar cells : efficiency, open‐circuit voltage, and recombination', in Miyasaka, T. (ed.) Perovskite Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics: From Fundamentals to Advanced Applications. Weinheim: Wiley, pp. 127–172. doi: 10.1002/9783527826391.ch5.
• Tress, W. (2021) 'Hysteresis in J–V characteristics', in Fujiwara, H. (ed.) Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells: Characteristics and Operation. Weinheim: Wiley, pp. 429–461. doi: 10.1002/9783527825851.ch16.
• Le Corre, V. M. et al. (2020) 'Device modeling of perovskite solar cells : insights and outlooks', in Ren, J. and Kan, Z. (eds) Soft-Matter Thin Film Solar Cells. AIP Publishing. doi: 10.1063/9780735422414_004.

Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed

Ebadi, F. et al. (2025) 'Temperature-dependent study of EQE, VOC, and luminescence in Cs₂AgBiBr₆ solar cells', in 10th International Conference on Next Generation Solar Energy (NGSE), Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, 9-10 December 2025.

Other publications

Zeder, S. et al. (2023) 'Photon recycling in metal halide perovskites : its modeling and relevance to optoelectronic devices', in Martínez-Pastor, J. P., Boix, P. P., and Xing, G. (eds) Metal Halide Perovskites for Generation, Manipulation and Detection of Light. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 507–545. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-91661-5.00001-5.

Oral conference contributions and abstracts

• Sachsenweger, T., Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. and Tress, W. (2026) 'ChargeFabrica : a python-based finite difference multidimensional electro-ionic drift diffusion simulator applied to mesoporous perovskite solar cells', in Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV26). doi: 10.29363/nanoge.hopv.2026.003.
• Tress, W. (2025) 'Ion-induced photocurrent losses studied by spectrally resolved measurements', in Proceedings of the MATSUS Spring 2026 Conference. Fundació de la comunitat valenciana SCITO. doi: 10.29363/nanoge.matsusspring.2026.741.
• Mohammadi, M. and Tress, W. (2025) 'High-performance perovskite memristors', in Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2025 Conference. Fundació de la comunitat valenciana SCITO. doi: 10.29363/nanoge.matsusfall.2025.338.
• Tress, W. and Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. (2025) 'Insights into ion-modulated charge collection in perovskite solar cells using spectrally resolved measurements'. Fundació de la comunitat valenciana SCITO. doi: 10.29363/nanoge.perfunpro.2025.023.
• Torre Cachafeiro, M. et al. (2025) 'Ionic screening and its impact on J-V curves in carbon-based perovskite solar cells', in Proceedings of International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics and Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO25). Fundació de la comunitat valenciana SCITO. doi: 10.29363/nanoge.nipho.2025.004.
• Schiller, A. et al. (2024) 'Assessing the influence of illumination on ion conductivity in perovskite solar cells', in Proceedings of the MATSUS Spring 2025 Conference. Fundació de la comunitat valenciana SCITO. doi: 10.29363/nanoge.matsusspring.2025.418.
• Zbinden, O., Knapp, E. and Tress, W. (2024) 'Machine learning for surpassing limits in perovskite solar cells', in International Conference on Simulation of Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics 2024. ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, p. 34. Available at: https://www.zhaw.ch/storage/engineering/institute-zentren/icp/veranstaltungen/simoep-2024/boa-simoep-24-v-august30.pdf.
• Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. et al. (2024) 'Visualizing ionic field screening in perovskite solar cells via photovoltaic quantum efficiency', in International Conference on Simulation of Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics (SimOEP), Winterthur, Switzerland, 2-4 September 2024.
• Tress, W. (2022) 'Mixed ionic electronic conductivity in metal halide perovskites and its effects on solar cells', in ATHENA Intensive Course in Metal Halide Perovskites: From Materials to Applications, online, 7-10 November 2022.
• Mohammadi, M., Ebadi Garjan, F. and Tress, W. (2022) 'Performance boosting polymeric finish layer for perovskite solar cells', in 8th International Conference on Simulation of Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics (SimOEP), Winterthur, Switzerland, 7-9 September 2022.
• Torre Cachafeiro, M. A. et al. (2022) 'Simulating the transient luminescence of perovskite light-emitting diodes under pulsed operation', in 8th International Conference on Simulation of Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics (SimOEP), Winterthur, Switzerland, 7-9 September 2022.
• Tress, W. (2022) 'Device physics of perovskite solar cells', in International Conference on Photovoltaic Science and Technologies (PVCON), Hatay, Turkey, 5-7 July 2022.
• Tress, W. (2022) 'Mixed conductivity in organic and hybrid materials', in Gordon Research Seminar "Electronic Processes in Organic Materials', Lucca, Italy, 25-26 June 2022.
• Tress, W. (2021) 'Characterizing perovskite solar cells and LEDs.', in ICAMD21, Korea (online), 6-9 December 2021.
• Tress, W. (2021) 'Physics of perovskite optoelectronic devices', in nanoGe Fall Meeting, online, 18-22 October 2021.
• Tress, W. (2021) 'Perovskite solar cells', in XVII encuentro de fisica, online, Quito, Ecuador, 25-29 October 2021.
• Ebadi Garjan, F., Yang, B. and Tress, W. (2021) 'In-Operando PL measurements on perovskite solar cells with and without phase-segregation', in 38th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EUPVSEC), online, 6-10 September 2021.
• Tress, W. (2021) 'The various effects of ion migration on perovskite devices', in HOPV21, online, 24-28 May 2021.
• Tress, W. (2020) 'Device physics of perovskite solar cells', in 8th International Conference on Nanostructures (ICNS8), Tehran, Iran, 18-20 November 2020.
• Tress, W. and Ebadi Garjan, F. (2020) 'Negative capacitance in perovskite solar cells', in 37th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC), Online, 7-11 September 2020.
• Tress, W., Wang, Z. and Ebadi Garjan, F. (2020) 'Understanding transient optoelectronic measurements and operation of perovskite solar cells', in 7th International Conference on Simulation of Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics (SimOEP), online, 31 August - 2 September 2020.

Publications before appointment at the ZHAW

Full list

Research data

Ganaie, Mubashir Mushtaq; Mohammadi, Mahdi; Loizos, Michalis; Rogdakis, Konstantinos; Ansari, Rashid M.; Bravetti, Gianluca; Ghasemi, Maryam; Golobostanfard, Mohammad Reza; Kumar, Kishan; Ahmad, Shahab; Sahu, Satyajit; Kymakis, Emmanuel; Tress, Wolfgang; Milić, Jovana V.; Kumar, Mahesh, 2026. Lead-free layered halide double perovskites with aromatic organic cations for resistive switching memories and artificial synapses. Zenodo. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18866700

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