Minoli K. Pathirane

PhD

Minoli profile picture
Minoli's research has been on using nanowire structures to improve the performance of low-cost and flexible energy harvesting solar cells, which are fabricated using hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film. Characteristics of the 3-D a-Si:H solar cells upon applied bending are also investigated. Minoli’s work has involved numerical simulation of the nanowire networks as well as nanowire growth, and material/device fabrication and characterization. Her studies focus on current theoretical and processing limitations so that methods to overcome these challenges and improve power conversion efficiencies of the low-cost and flexible a-Si:H solar cells can be realized.

Minoli successfully defended her PhD in the summer of 2016.

Publications

  • M. K. Pathirane, H. Hosseinzadeh-Khaligh, I. A. Goldthorpe, and W. S. Wong, "AZO/Ag-nanowire Composite Electrodes for Flexible 3-Dimensional Nanowire Solar Cells", just accepted, Scientific Reports, 2017
  • M. K. Pathirane and W. S. Wong, "Optical and Electrical Characteristics of Hybrid ZnO Nanowire/a-Si:H Solar Cells on Flexible Substrates under Mechanical Bending”, Small,vol. 12, no. 19, pp. 2554-2558, 2016
  • N. Dhindsa, J. Walia, M. Pathirane, I. Khodadad, W. Wong and S. S. Saini, “Adjustable Optical Response of Amorphous Silicon Nanowires Integrated with Thin Films”,Nanotechnology, vol. 27, no. 14, pp. 1-9, 2016.

  • M. Pathirane, B. Iheanacho, A. Tamang, C.-H. Lee, R. Lujan, D. Knipp, and W. S. Wong, “Hybrid ZnO nanowire/a-Si:H thin-film radial junction solar cells using nanoparticle front contacts”, Applied Physics Letters, vol. 107, no. 14, pp. 1-5, 2015.

  • A. Tamang, M. Pathirane, R. Parsons, M. M. Schwarz, B. Iheanacho, V. Jovanov, V. Wagner, W. S. Wong, and D. Knipp, “Zinc oxide nanowire arrays for silicon core/shell solar cells”, Optics Express, vol. 22, no. S3, pp. A622-A632, 2014.
  • W. S. Wong, M. J. Chow, M. Pathirane, B. Iheanacho, and C-H Lee, “Heterogeneously integrated nanowires and thin films for flexible electronics”, IEEE AM-FPD, pp. 37-40, 2014.

  • M. Moradi, M. Pathirane, A. Sazonov, R. Chaji, and A. Nathan, “TFTs with High Overlay Alignment for Integration of Flexible Display Backplanes”, IEEE/OSA Journal of Display Technology, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 104-107, 2012.

Selected Awards and Honours (2014/2015)

  • Best Poster Nomination, Materials Research Society (MRS), Spring 2015 

  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), Government of Canada, 2015, one year 

  • University of Waterloo President’s Scholarship, 2015, one year

  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), Government of Canada, 2014, one year

Selected Conferences (2014 - 2016)

  • Gavirneni P., Pathirane M. K., and Wong W. S., (2016) Self-Cleaning and Flexible Radial-Junction Nanowire Solar Cells, Electronics Materials Conference (EMC), Newark, DE
  • Pathirane M. K., Gavirneni P., and Wong W. S., (2016) Mechanical Manipulation of Flexible Nanowire Solar Cells, Materials Research Society (MRS), Phoenix, AZ
  • Pathirane M., Hosseinzadeh H., Goldthorpe I., and Wong W. S., (2015) Transparent Ag Nanowire Electrodes for 3D Structured Solar Cells, Electronics Materials Conference (EMC), Columbus, OH 
  • Pathirane M., Iheanacho B., Hosseinzadeh H., Lee C-H., Goldthorpe I., and Wong W. S., (2015) Amorphous Silicon Nanowire Solar Cells on Flexible Substrates, TechConnect World Innovation, Washington, DC 
  • Pathirane M., Iheanacho B., Hosseinzadeh H., Tamang A, Lee C-H., Goldthorpe I., Knipp D., and Wong W. S., (2015) Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon-based Flexible Nanowire Solar Cells, Materials Research Society (MRS), San Francisco, CA 
  • Pathirane M., Papadopoulos N., Lee C-H., and Wong W. S., (2014) Heterogeneous Integration for Flexible Electronics, Devices and Sensors, Waterloo, ON