Since 2012, when Nicoleta Nicoara joined the Laboratory for Nanostructured Solar Cells,  her research activity is dedicated to the development and application of advanced scanning probe microscopy tools and methodologies for the characterization of the optoelectronic properties of chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ semiconductor materials used in high efficiency solar cells.

Nicoleta Nicoara obtained a Ph.D. (2007) in Condensed Matter Physics from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) working on the nanoscale characterization of organic/inorganic interfaces used in optoelectronic devices.  As a post-doctoral researcher at UAM (2007-2011), she developed a low-temperature scanning probe microscope for atomic scale characterization of low-dimensional systems. 

• B. de la Torre, M. Ellner, P. Pou, N. Nicoara, R. Pérez, and J. M. Gómez-Rodríguez
  Atomic-Scale Variations of the Mechanical Response of 2D Materials Detected by Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 116 (2016) 24550211

• Limborço, P. M. P. Salomé, J. P. Teixeira, D. G. Stroppa, R. -Ribeiro Andrade, N. Nicoara, K. Abderrafi, J. P. Leitão, J. C. Gonzalez and S. Sadewasser
  Synthesis and formation mechanism of CuInSe₂ nanowires by one-step self-catalyzed evaporation growth
  Cryst. Eng Comm 18 (2016) 7147

• P.M.P. Salomé, J. Keller, T. Törndahl, J.P. Teixeira, N. Nicoara, R.-Ribeiro Andrade, D.G. Stroppa, J.C. González, M. Edoff, J.P. Leitão, S. Sadewasser
  CdS and Zn_1-xSn_xO y buffer layers for CIGS solar cells
  Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells 159 (2017) 272

• N. Nicoara, Th. Lepetit, L. Arzel, S. Harel, N. Barreau, and S. Sadewasser
  Effect of the KF post-deposition treatment on grain boundary properties in Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ thin films
  Scientific Reports 7 (2017) 41361