In situ formation of indium catalysts to synthesize crystalline silicon nanowires on flexible stainless steel substrates by PECVD

Xie, Xiaobing; Zeng, Xiangbo; Wang, Chao; Wang, Qiming

doi:10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2012.03.011

Cited by 19 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…However, the requirement of a bulk wafer prevents the realization of cost-effective devices. Some groups therefore choose to use bottom-up techniques and produce nanowires using catalytic processes such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [10-12], allowing the growth of nanowires on noncrystalline substrates [13,14]. However, the production of high-density arrays of aligned nanowires is challenging with this technique because it requires a control of the density and localization of the metallic catalyst seeds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultradense and planarized antireflective vertical silicon nanowire array using a bottom-up technique

et al. 2013

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The production and characterization of ultradense, planarized, and organized silicon nanowire arrays with good crystalline and optical properties are reported. First, alumina templates are used to grow silicon nanowires whose height, diameter, and density are easily controlled by adjusting the structural parameters of the template. Then, post-processing using standard microelectronic techniques enables the production of high-density silicon nanowire matrices featuring a remarkably flat overall surface. Different geometries are then possible for various applications. Structural analysis using synchrotron X-ray diffraction reveals the good crystallinity of the nanowires and their long-range periodicity resulting from their high-density organization. Transmission electron microscopy also shows that the nanowires can grow on nonpreferential substrate, enabling the use of this technique with universal substrates. The good geometry control of the array also results in a strong optical absorption which is interesting for their use in nanowire-based optical sensors or similar devices.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultradense and planarized antireflective vertical silicon nanowire array using a bottom-up technique

et al. 2013

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“…For the NWs growth, the indium nanoparticles were served as metal catalysts. 22 The exible stainless steel (SS) was cleaned sequentially in the baths of acetone and deionized water with ultrasonic agitation. The thickness of the stainless steel is about 80 mm and its grade is 304 L. The cleaned stainless steel was sputtered thin Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) by radio frequency magnetron and then transferred into the PECVD chamber.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved open-circuit voltage of silicon nanowires solar cells by surface passivation

et al. 2013

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The surface recombination at the surface of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) deteriorates the performance of SiNWs solar cells and thus the reduction of the SiNWs surface recombination becomes a crucial issue. In this paper, we observe an improved SiNW surface passivation by hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). The results show that a thicker i-layer results in a higher open-circuit voltage V oc . That can be ascribed to the better passivation by thicker intrinsic a-Si:H. The dark current-voltage data reveal that the reverse leakage current and the diode ideality factor at high forward bias decrease monotonically with increasing the thickness of i-layer. Moreover, for the first time, we observe that the lower V oc is associated with the capacitance-voltage (C-V) curve shifting toward higher positive voltage. We propose that the shift of the curve is related to the capacitance affected by the surface states. Finally we prove that the improvement in the NW solar cell performance, especially the V oc , can be attributed to the reduction of the surface states on SiNWs.

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“…The indium nanoparticles as metal catalysts were fabricated by hydrogen plasma treatment on the indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated substrates [ 17 ], and the n-type SiNW growth is performed under plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using SiH 4 + PH 3 as the precursor gas and H 2 as the carrier gas [ 18 ]. The flexible stainless steel substrates were cleaned sequentially in baths of acetone, ethanol, and deionized water with ultrasonic agitation for 10 min.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radial n-i-p structure SiNW-based microcrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells on flexible stainless steel

Xie

Zeng

et al. 2012

Nanoscale Res Lett

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Radial n-i-p structure silicon nanowire (SiNW)-based microcrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells on stainless steel foil was fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The SiNW solar cell displays very low optical reflectance (approximately 15% on average) over a broad range of wavelengths (400 to 1,100 nm). The initial SiNW-based microcrystalline (μc-Si:H) thin-film solar cell has an open-circuit voltage of 0.37 V, short-circuit current density of 13.36 mA/cm2, fill factor of 0.3, and conversion efficiency of 1.48%. After acid treatment, the performance of the modified SiNW-based μc-Si:H thin-film solar cell has been improved remarkably with an open-circuit voltage of 0.48 V, short-circuit current density of 13.42 mA/cm2, fill factor of 0.35, and conversion efficiency of 2.25%. The external quantum efficiency measurements show that the external quantum efficiency response of SiNW solar cells is improved greatly in the wavelength range of 630 to 900 nm compared to the corresponding planar film solar cells.

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In situ formation of indium catalysts to synthesize crystalline silicon nanowires on flexible stainless steel substrates by PECVD

Cited by 19 publications

References 22 publications

Ultradense and planarized antireflective vertical silicon nanowire array using a bottom-up technique

Ultradense and planarized antireflective vertical silicon nanowire array using a bottom-up technique

Improved open-circuit voltage of silicon nanowires solar cells by surface passivation

Radial n-i-p structure SiNW-based microcrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells on flexible stainless steel

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