Jacinto Sá

Plasmonics

Our research is focused on the development and understanding of plasmon-based photosystems capable of producing fuel and high-value chemicals with light (artificial photosynthesis and photo-redox catalysis), solar electricity and other cool stuff.

Spin-out for transparent plasmonic solar cells

Jacinto Sá is the founder of Peafowl Plasmonics AB, a spin-out company that is developing a highly transparent, direct plasmonic solar cell to power smart things like IoT sensors

Full professor of Physical-Chemistry at Uppsala University and associate professor at Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland. Also, Chief Inventor & co-founder of Peafowl Plasmonic.

Graduated from the Universidade of Aveiro, Portugal in 2003 with master thesis at TU Vienna, Austria. PhD from the University of Aberdeen, the UK. Postdoc and senior research at Queen's University Belfast (UK), ETH Zurich, Paul Scherrer Institute and EPFL (Switzerland) and TU Munich (Germany).

My research group focuses on light-matter fundamental interactions, specifically how light is converted into electrical charges on plasmonics. We use advanced laser-based spectroscopies to resolve the processes in real-time. The acquired understanding guides the development of photosystems for producing chemicals and fuels and ultrathin photovoltaics that are fully transparent and colourless "invisible solar cells". The latter action led to Peafowl Plasmonics, which uses these solar cells as energy harvesters to power intelligent devices, such as IoT sensors, e-paper displays, dynamic glass, and eventually wearables.