Overview
Personal Profile
Steve Johnston is a senior scientist on the Microscopy and Imaging team of the Materials Science center of NLR. He received his B.S. in Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM); M.S. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in Electrical Engineering; and Ph.D. from CSM in Materials Science. He worked for more than two years at Texas Instruments with clean-room semiconductor processing and measurement equipment. He has experience with NLR in minority-carrier lifetime, capacitance-related, and imaging-based measurement techniques for solar cell materials.
Research Interests
Microwave reflection photoconductive decay, transient free-carrier absorption, and time-resolved photoluminescence for minority-carrier lifetime and light-beam induced current for quantum efficiency and diffusion length measurements.
Electroluminescence imaging, photoluminescence imaging, and lock-in thermography for material and cell characterization.
Capacitance/voltage, admittance spectroscopy, and deep-level transient spectroscopy for characterization of carrier concentration and defect and impurity levels.
Education/Academic Qualification
PhD, Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines
Bachelor, Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
Master, Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Collaborations and Top Research Areas From the Past 5 Years
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A New UV Spot Test for Quality Control
Repins, I., Johnston, S., Silverman, T., Palmiotti, E., Deceglie, M. & Gaulding, E. A., 2026, In: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Multiscale Characterization of Electrode-Induced Degradation in Perovskite Solar Cells
Paul, G., Schall, J., Guthrey, H., Migliozzi, M., Tirawat, R., Roberts, D., Johnston, S., Al-Jassim, M., Jiang, C.-S., Palmstrom, A. & Kern, D., 2026, In: ACS Applied Energy Materials. 9, 5, p. 2503-2512 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Toward Quality Control in Perovskite Solar Cell Fabrication: Spot-Like Processing Defects Disrupt Charge Transport Layers and Promote Ag Metal Electrode Intrusion: Article No. 114161
Guthrey, H., Norman, A., Dutta, N., Johnston, S., Schall, J., Louks, A., Palmstrom, A. & Kern, D., 2026, In: Solar Energy. 303, 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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UV-Induced Degradation and Associated Metastability in TOPCon Photovoltaic Modules: Understanding Kinetics and Cell Variance
Kern, D., Wai, R., Terwilliger, K. & Johnston, S., 2026, In: Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications. 34, 5, p. 589-599 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A Comparison of Simultaneous Degradations in Silicon Solar Cells under UV Weathering Conditions
Wai, R., Hanna, X., Newkirk, J., Terwilliger, K., Johnston, S., Miller, D., Hacke, P. & Kern, D., 2025. 6 p.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
Awards and Honors
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NREL Distinguished Member of Research Staff
Zhu, K. (Recipient), Vidal, J. (Recipient), Tao, L. (Recipient), Tan, J. (Recipient), Smith, W. (Recipient), Schaidle, J. (Recipient), Reese, M. (Recipient), Parilla, P. (Recipient), Palmintier, B. (Recipient), Musial, W. (Recipient), Moriarty, P. (Recipient), Mann, M. (Recipient), Mai, T. (Recipient), Luther, J. (Recipient), Laurens, L. (Recipient), King, J. (Recipient), Johnston, S. (Recipient), Jackson, R. (Recipient), Hodge, B.-M. (Recipient), Heath, G. (Recipient), Hale, E. (Recipient), Habas, S. (Recipient), Gruchalla, K. (Recipient), Gevorgian, V. (Recipient), Geisz, J. (Recipient), Fleming, P. (Recipient), Farrell, J. (Recipient), Ding, F. (Recipient), Denholm, P. (Recipient), Ciesielski, P. (Recipient), Churchfield, M. (Recipient), Bomble, Y. (Recipient) & Blackburn, J. (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Honorary award