Solar energy represents one of the most abundant and yet least harvested sources of renewable energy. In recent years, tremendous progress has been made in developing photovoltaics that can be potentially mass deployed. Of particular interest to cost-effective solar cells is to use novel device structures and materials processing for enabling acceptable efficiencies. In this regard, here, we report the direct growth of highly regular, single-crystalline nanopillar arrays of optically active semiconductors on aluminium substrates that are then configured as solar-cell modules. As an example, we demonstrate a photovoltaic structure that incorporates three-dimensional, single-crystalline n-CdS nanopillars, embedded in polycrystalline thin films of p-CdTe, to enable high absorption of light and efficient collection of the carriers. Through experiments and modelling, we demonstrate the potency of this approach for enabling highly versatile solar modules on both rigid and flexible substrates with enhanced carrier collection efficiency arising from the geometric configuration of the nanopillars.

Two-dimensional layered semiconductors present a promising material platform for band-to-band-tunneling devices given their homogeneous band edge steepness due to their atomically flat thickness. Here, we experimentally demonstrate interlayer band-to-band tunneling in vertical MoS2/WSe2 van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures using a dual-gate device architecture. The electric potential and carrier concentration of MoS2 and WSe2 layers are independently controlled by the two symmetric gates. The same device can be gate modulated to behave as either an Esaki diode with negative differential resistance, a backward diode with large reverse bias tunneling current, or a forward rectifying diode with low reverse bias current. Notably, a high gate coupling efficiency of ∼80% is obtained for tuning the interlayer band alignments, arising from weak electrostatic screening by the atomically thin layers. This work presents an advance in the fundamental understanding of the interlayer coupling and electron tunneling in semiconductor vdW heterostructures with important implications toward the design of atomically thin tunnel transistors.

Due to its high carrier mobility, broadband absorption, and fast response time, the semi-metallic graphene is attractive for optoelectronics. Another two-dimensional semiconducting material molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is also known as light- sensitive. Here we show that a large-area and continuous MoS2 monolayer is achievable using a CVD method and graphene is transferable onto MoS2. We demonstrate that a photodetector based on the graphene/MoS2 heterostructure is able to provide a high photogain greater than 108. Our experiments show that the electron-hole pairs are produced in the MoS2 layer after light absorption and subsequently separated across the layers. Contradictory to the expectation based on the conventional built-in electric field model for metal-semiconductor contacts, photoelectrons are injected into the graphene layer rather than trapped in MoS2 due to the presence of a perpendicular effective electric field caused by the combination of the built-in electric field, the applied electrostatic field, and charged impurities or adsorbates, resulting in a tuneable photoresponsivity.