What are the responsibilities and job description for the PV fabrication and characterization engineer position at Mesodyne?
Mesodyne is a startup company commercializing small, lightweight, compact thermophotovoltaic generators. We are seeking a highly motivated Photovoltaics Engineer to develop cutting-edge low-bandgap InGaAs PV cells. In this role, you will play a pivotal part in transitioning the LightCell technology to its first commercial product and beyond.
Company
Mesodyne is a startup company revolutionizing power generation with its innovative LightCell technology--using thermophotovoltaics to provide efficient, silent, reliable, long-endurance power from any fuel. By bridging the gap between batteries and internal combustion engines, Mesodyne's LightCell technology provides more than a 10x improvement in endurance for unmanned vehicles, wearables, and various other equipment. At Mesodyne, we are committed to bringing groundbreaking products to the industrial and defense sectors, with multiple existing contracts and numerous upcoming business opportunities.
Mesodyne’s LightCell is a solid state generator building on research at MIT: combustion heats a nanophotonic emitter to incandescence and the resulting infrared radiation drives specialized PV cells. The emitter and PV cells are engineered to be spectrally matched at the LightCell's operation temperatures, enabling efficient energy conversion in a lightweight, compact form factor without moving parts.
Responsibilities
- Own the design, fabrication, integration, testing, and optimization of photovoltaic cells in the LightCell
- Develop new PV cell designs including lattice mismatched with an optimized bandgap, back contacted, multijunction, etc.
- Work towards productization by transitioning from prototype to scalable, manufacturable designs.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to build prototypes for deployment in government and commercial pilot projects.
Qualifications and skills
- PhD in electrical engineering, material science, physics/applied physics, or a related field with a focus on semiconductor devices.
- A working understanding of PV cell physics and behavior. An understanding of PV cell modeling and simulation is desired but not required. Prior experience with III-V materials for thermophotovoltaics, concentrator, multijunction, space or other high performance PV devices is particularly relevant.
- Strong hands-on microfabrication experience is required, including metalization, etching, lithography and thin film deposition. Must be capable of working at local academic cleanrooms.
- Hands-on PV electrical and optical characterization experience by methods such as IV, EQE, reflectance, Hall, CV, and TLM is required.
- Knowledge of III-V epitaxial growth is desirable but not required.
Location
This position is based at our facility in Somerville, MA and will require working at local academic cleanrooms.