Overview
Personal Profile
Google Scholar
Joining NLR in 2000, Craig Perkins is a senior scientist in the laboratory’s Interfacial and Surface Science group, where he works with photovoltaic and energy materials. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Florida in 1990, going on to study gas-phase chemistry of van der Waals molecules at the University of Central Florida. He switched gears to the solid state in 1992, investigating the surfaces of metal boride single crystals under the supervision of Professor Michael Trenary at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 1998, the newly minted Perkins began a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. There Perkins worked with Michael Henderson to understand chemical and physical processes that occur during photochemical reactions on surfaces of transition metal oxide crystals such as TiO2(110) and CeO2(111).
Research Interests
Surface chemical reactions
Electronic structure and band alignments
Hybrid organic-inorganic materials
Interface engineering
Metal chalcogenides
Self-assembled monolayers
Nanoparticles, two-dimensional materials
Single crystals, model systems
Professional Experience
Senior Scientist, Interfacial and Surface Science Group, National Center for Photovoltaics, NLR (2000–present)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (1998–2000)
Education/Academic Qualification
Bachelor, Chemistry, University of Florida
PhD, Physical/Analytical Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and Top Research Areas From the Past 5 Years
-
Collaborative R&D with REEL Solar Inc (REEL) to Understand and Overcome Performance Limitations in CdTe Solar Cells: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-16-00602
Nemeth, B., Perkins, C., Kuciauskas, D., Warren, E., Duenow, J., Young, M., Stradins, P. & Harvey, S., 2026, 13 p.Research output: NLR › Technical Report
-
Gold-Induced Chemical Perturbations in CdTe-Based Photovoltaic Cells
Muzzio, R., Kuciauskas, D., Sartor, B. E., Brown, J., Nawash, J., Duenow, J., Lott, H., Lee, C., Reese, M. & Perkins, C., 2026, In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 18, 12, p. 18417-18427 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Comprehensive Model for Evaluating Voltage Losses and Performance Improvements in Thin-Film Photovoltaic Devices: Article No. 034019
Nardone, M., Gupta, S., Mulloy, E., Johnston, S., Colegrove, E., Duenow, J., Good, B., Perkins, C., Kuciauskas, D. & Reese, M., 2025, In: Physical Review Applied. 23, 3, 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
5 Scopus Citations -
Electronic and Reactivity Changes in Epitaxially Grown Ce1-Xzrxo2-..delta.. (111) Thin Films: Article No. 122739
Mishra, A., Robinson, A., Perkins, C., Karp, E. & Medlin, J., 2025, In: Surface Science. 757, 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Scopus Citations -
Selective Isolation of Surface Grain Boundaries by Oxide Dielectrics Improves Cd(Se,Te) Device Performance
Sartor, B. E., Muzzio, R., Jiang, C.-S., Lee, C., Perkins, C., Taylor, A. & Reese, M., 2025, In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 17, 5, p. 7641-7647 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
6 Scopus Citations
Activities
-
American Association for the Advancement of Science (External organization)
Ginley, D. (Member), Green, J. (Fellow), Tumas, B. (Fellow), Perkins, C. (Member), Sanyal, J. (Member), McCann, M. (Fellow), Martin, M. (Member), Seibert, M. (Fellow), Margolis, R. (Member), Rom, C. (Member), Marder, S. (Fellow), Wiley, S. (Member), Brady, N. (Member), Kar, B. (Member), Nozik, A. (Fellow) & Carpita, N. (Fellow)
0001Activity: Membership › Membership of network
-
American Chemical Society (External organization)
Ginley, D. (Member), Ware, L. (Member), Allen, B. (Fellow), Rumbles, G. (Member), Perkins, C. (Member), Johnson, D. (Member), Ferrell, J. (Member), Arellano Trevino, M. (Member), Neale, N. (Member), Bell, R. (Member), Klein, R. (Member), Aubry, T. (Member), Bharadwaj, V. (Member), Wieliczka, B. (Member), Hermosilla Palacios, A. (Member), Puente-Urbina, A. (Member), Maughan, A. (Member), Wiley, S. (Member), Kluherz, T. (Member), Kurtz, S. (Member), Schichtl, Z. (Member), Dong, Y. (Member), Thodika, M. (Member), Carvalho, Q. (Member), Truong, T. (Member), Clarke, R. (Member), Kiani, D. (Member), Lee, M. (Member), McGeehan, J. (Member), Brady, N. (Member), Yang, B. (Member), Nozik, A. (Member), Pennell, S. (Member), Wu, I. (Member), Lany, S. (Member) & Myers, A. (Member)
0001Activity: Membership › Membership of network
-
American Vacuum Society (External organization)
Perkins, C. (Member), Roberts, D. (Member), Young, J. L. (Member), Ghoshal, D. (Member), Ahrenkiel, R. (Fellow) & Harvey, S. (Member)
0001Activity: Membership › Membership of network
-
Renewable & Sustainable Energy Institute (External organization)
Himmel, M. (Fellow), Perkins, C. (Member), Johnson, J. (Fellow) & Nozik, A. (Fellow)
0001Activity: Membership › Membership of network
-
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (External organization)
Ginley, D. (Member), Nagarajan, A. (Member), Markel, A. (Member), Bernstein, A. (Member), Solanki, B. (Member), Hodge, B.-M. (Member), Uriarte, C. (Member), Barrows, C. (Member), Perkins, C. (Member), Palmintier, B. (Member), Thomas, D.-M. (Member), Saleem, D. (Member), DeVoto, D. (Member), Khan, F. (Member), Seo, G.-S. (Member), Moreno, G. (Member), Johnson, G. (Member), Cavraro, G. (Member), Dunham, H. (Member), Jorgenson, J. (Member), Zhang, J. (Member), Sanyal, J. (Member), Kisacikoglu, J. (Member), Rivera, J. (Member), Duwadi, K. (Member), Doubleday, K. (Member), Panda, K. (Member), Sedzro, K. S. (Member), Panossian, N. (Member), Guba, N. (Member), Martin, M. (Member), Guerra Fernandez, O. J. (Member), Baggu, M. (Member), Emami, P. (Member), Paret, P. (Member), Koralewicz, P. (Member), Awara, S. (Member), McFly, S. (Member), Dhulipala, S. C. (Member), Ovaitt, S. (Member), Paul, S. (Member), Abraham, S. A. (Member), De Silva M, T. (Member), Singh, V. K. (Member), Zhang, X. (Member), Zhou, X. (Member), Agalgaonkar, Y. (Member), Wright, J. (Member), Pao, L. (Member), Kekelia, B. (Member), Chang, C.-Y. (Member), Kiboma, L. (Member), Ramirez Arbelaez, L. (Member), Chaudhary, R. (Member), Wijekoon, R. (Member), Ahrenkiel, R. (Fellow), Kurtz, S. (Member), Truong, T. (Member), Poudyal, A. (Member), Sekulic, W. (Member), Pawaskar, V. (Member) & Emery, K. (Member)
0001Activity: Membership › Membership of network
Awards and Honors
-
-
NREL RPP Outstanding Mentor Award
Hodge, B.-M. (Recipient) & Perkins, C. (Recipient), 2014
Prize: Honorary award