Laser-based solar cell manufacturing is attracting increased interest because it enables rapid, low-temperature fabrication of perovskite solar cells. George Wilkes, a Ph.D. student in the Charles L. Brown Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, demonstrated a champion 17.1% efficient and flexible perovskite solar cell, earning a best student paper award from the National Institute of Aerospace. Wilkes used a novel pulsed ultraviolet laser to form the solar cell's metal-oxide electron transporting layer. The laser's shallow absorption depth and short pulse duration anneals the electron transporting layer without disturbing the underlying indium-tin oxide thin film or the cell's substrate. Wilkes co-authored the paper, “Laser Annealing of TiO2 Electron-Transporting Layer in Perovskite Solar Cells,†with his academic advisor Mool C. Gupta, UVA Langley Distinguished Professor; Joshua J. Choi, assistant professor of chemical engineering; and Xiaoyu Deng, a Ph.D. student in chemical engineering at UVA. Their paper ispublishedin Applied Materials & Interfaces, a refereed journal of the American Chemical Society.