Enhanced performance of thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells with a top film of 2.85 nm silicon nanoparticles

Corrigendum: Enhancement in c-Si solar cells using 16 nm InN nanoparticles (2016Mater. Res. Express3056202)

“…From the reflection and transmission curves of InN NPs coated glass (figure 4) and using the Kubelka-Munk function, the band gap of the InN NPs was found to be ∼1.5 eV (shown in figure 10) which is close to the peak of enhancement seen in figure 9. We believe that effect of downshifting becomes more prominent at a wavelength closer to the band gap of InN NPs which was also found while studying other semiconductor NPs like Si NPs [36]. Solar cells coated with Si NPs show broader IQE enhancement with two different peaks.…”

“…Solar cells coated with Si NPs show broader IQE enhancement with two different peaks. The increase between 360-530 nm had been attributed to the efficient charge separation and collection from Si NPs to ITO which happens due to favorable positioning of the conduction bands of Si NPs and ITO (electron affinity of Si NPs is 2.8 eV and ITO is 4.2 eV) and enhancement between 530-610 nm was due to downshifting of electrons with energy close to the band gap energy of Si NPs (2.03 eV) [36]. For InN NPs, we do not see such enhancement in the shorter wavelength range due to the presence of a barrier between the conduction bands of InN NPs and ITO (electron affinity of InN NPs is 4.6 eV and ITO is 4.2 eV) which prevents charge separation and collection.…”

“…Due to this property, a high energy photon is absorbed by a material which then re-emits a photon with lower energy. Detailed reviews of luminescence downshifting and its application in different types of solar cells can be found in [21,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] which include some of our previous works focusing on the effect of semiconductor nanoparticles on solar cells. Several mechanisms are believed to have contributed towards this enhancement, including wavelength down conversion from higher energy to lower energy, which is due to radiative recombination of photoexcited excitons that allows solar cells to absorb more light, separation of excitonic charge and transport of charge in the film (top solar cell), or improved light coupling and propagation (ARC) [35,[40][41][42][43].…”

Experimental and theoretical study of ultraviolet-induced structural/optical instability in nano silicon-based luminescence

“…In fact, nanoSi is promising new generation of highly sensitive emitters, optical interconnects, fluorescent tags, markers, sensors or detectors for use in a number of UV intensive environments. UV intensive applications include deep space exploration; security, commercial, and consumer applications including military high temperature propulsion (rockets, missiles, fighter jets, and nuclear detonation) [16][17][18][19][20][21]; solar photovoltaics [22][23] as well as particle detectors in high energy accelerators [24]. Recent measurements however showed that nanoSi-based devices are limited as the material exhibits partial quenching, with time characteristic of minutes to hours depending on the UV intensity, beyond which it develops stability at ~ 50% level [25][26].…”

Microwave plasma-assisted silicon nanoparticles: cytotoxic, molecular, and numerical responses against cancer cells

“…4 For various applications, it's necessary to obtain well characterized nanocrystals of SiNPs as varying the size of nanomaterials can change their fundamental properties and generate various properties such as electronic, optical, magnetic, and catalytic properties, associated with their nanoscale or quantum-scale dimensions. 5 There is a wide range of applications for silicon and its nanoparticles, many of which are well-established, such as bioimaging, 6,7 inorganic/organic light emitters, 8,9 solar cells, 10,11 dye-sensitized solar cells, 12 lithium-ion batteries, 13,14 corrosion shields, 15 anti-static lms and coatings, 16 energy storage 17 and catalysts. 18 To get nanostructures in the form of nanoparticles, various physicochemical methods have been adopted, such as the chemical solution method, 19 sol-gel method, 20 hydrothermal method, 21 ball milling method, 22 one-pot synthesis, 23 electrochemical etching, 24 hydrogen-terminated solution process, 25 reverse micelle process 26 and the micro-emulsion technique.…”