n‐GaAs/InGaP/p‐GaAs Core‐Multishell Nanowire Diodes for Efficient Light‐to‐Current Conversion

Gutsche, Christoph; Lysov, Andrey; Braam, Daniel; Regolin, I.; Keller, Gregor; Li, Zi‐An; Geller, M.; Spasova, Marina; Prost, W.; Tegude, F.‐J.

doi:10.1002/adfm.201101759

Cited by 59 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…3a). This efficiency is higher than what has previously been reported [17][18][19] , but still considerably lower than the theoretical Shockley-Queisser limit, which for a 1.7 eV bandgap is 29%, I SC B23 mA cm À 2 , V OC B1.4 V and FFB0. 9 (ref.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 58%

“…The nanowires have intrinsic properties that overcome the requirements for lattice matching, as well as the difference in thermal expansion coefficient and polar/non-polar interface, which until now have hampered III-V on silicon growth. A surface-passivated GaAsP SNWSC has achieved a 1-sun record efficiency of 10.2%, which effectively doubles the previous SNWSC record [17][18][19] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

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Surface-passivated GaAsP single-nanowire solar cells exceeding 10% efficiency grown on silicon

Holm¹,

Jørgensen²,

et al. 2013

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Continued development of high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells requires growth of latticemismatched materials. Today, the need for lattice matching both restricts the bandgap combinations available for multi-junctions solar cells and prohibits monolithic integration of high-efficiency III-V materials with low-cost silicon solar cells. The use of III-V nanowires is the only known method for circumventing this lattice-matching constraint, and therefore it is necessary to develop growth of nanowires with bandgaps 41.4 eV. Here we present the first gold-free gallium arsenide phosphide nanowires grown on silicon by means of direct epitaxial growth. We demonstrate that their bandgap can be controlled during growth and fabricate core-shell nanowire solar cells. We further demonstrate that surface passivation is of crucial importance to reach high efficiencies, and present a record efficiency of 10.2% for a core-shell single-nanowire solar cell. I mproving the cost/efficiency ratio of III-V-based multijunction cells can be done through efficiency enhancements, by adding additional junctions to the cell stack 1 or through the lowering of cost by replacing the expensive germanium substrate with silicon. Integrating III-V semiconductors and silicon requires overcoming their differences in lattice parameters and thermal expansion coefficient, as well as their polar/non-polar interfaces 2,3 . When constrained to a silicon-bottom cell, the optimum dualjunction solar cell, the simplest multi-junction solar cell, has a theoretical 1-sun peak efficiency between 33 and 43% (refs 4,5) when combined with a 1.7 eV bandgap top cell; this can be achieved with a III-V semiconductor consisting of GaAs 0.8 P 0.2.The small contact interface between the nanowire and the silicon substrate ensures that strain from lattice mismatch is relaxed within the first few monolayers 6 . Using the method of gallium (Ga)-assisted growth, gold-free perfect single crystal, gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanowires have been grown directly on silicon 7 . Higher bandgap gallium phosphide (GaP) 8 and gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) 9,10 nanowires have also been grown, but only using gold as growth catalyst. Gold is incompatible with silicon 11 , and has been shown to incorporate into the III-V crystal 12 and degrade the optoelectronic properties of the nanowires 13 . In addition, a sparse array of nanowires can absorb almost all incoming light 14 , meaning that only minute amounts of the expensive III-V material is needed for making a nanowire top cell. Devices consisting of a contacted ensemble of free-standing nanowires have been exposed to temperature changes of up to 200 K, demonstrating that their strain-relieving ability is able to overcome the difference in thermal expansion 15 . To fully utilize their advantage with regards to non-lattice-matched growth, the nanowires themselves must also be able to function well as solar cells. ResultsGa-assisted GaAs 0.8 P 0.2 nanowire growth. High-quality GaAsP nanowires were grown without the use of a buffer la...

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 58%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Surface-passivated GaAsP single-nanowire solar cells exceeding 10% efficiency grown on silicon

Holm¹,

Jørgensen²,

et al. 2013

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“…For IR detection, GaAs systems are the most widely investigated. Examples include GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell [104,[110][111][112][113] and GaAs/InGaP/GaAs core-multishell NWs [114]. Among them, an NIR photodetector based on a coreshell GaAs/AlGaAs NW exhibited a peak photoresponsivity of 0.57 A/W at room temperature, comparable to large-area planar commercial GaAs photodetectors, and a high detectivity of 7.2 × 10 10 cm Hz 1/2 W −1 at λ = 855 nm [115].…”

Section: Heterostructure Nw Irpdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging technologies for high performance infrared detectors

2017

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Infrared photodetectors (IRPDs) have become important devices in various applications such as night vision, military missile tracking, medical imaging, industry defect imaging, environmental sensing, and exoplanet exploration. Mature semiconductor technologies such as mercury cadmium telluride and III-V material-based photodetectors have been dominating the industry. However, in the last few decades, significant funding and research has been focused to improve the performance of IRPDs such as lowering the fabrication cost, simplifying the fabrication processes, increasing the production yield, and increasing the operating temperature by making use of advances in nanofabrication and nanotechnology. We will first review the nanomaterial with suitable electronic and mechanical properties, such as two-dimensional material, graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, and metal oxides. We compare these with more traditional lowdimensional material such as quantum well, quantum dot, quantum dot in well, semiconductor superlattice, nanowires, nanotube, and colloid quantum dot. We will also review the nanostructures used for enhanced lightmatter interaction to boost the IRPD sensitivity. These include nanostructured antireflection coatings, optical antennas, plasmonic, and metamaterials.

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“…GaAs, InP, InGaAs, InGaP, InAsP, GaAsP, and InGaN compound semiconductors have been used in the development of NW SCs in the form of both single NW and array structures [21,298,[301][302][303][304]. The study of single NW SC can provide valuable information on the intrinsic limiting factors and ways of improvement.…”

Section: Solar Energy Harvestersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elongated nanostructures for radial junction solar cells

et al. 2013

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In solar cell technology, the current trend is to thin down the active absorber layer. The main advantage of a thinner absorber is primarily the reduced consumption of material and energy during production. For thin film silicon (Si) technology, thinning down the absorber layer is of particular interest since both the device throughput of vacuum deposition systems and the stability of the devices are significantly enhanced. These features lead to lower cost per installed watt peak for solar cells, provided that the (stabilized) efficiency is the same as for thicker devices. However, merely thinning down inevitably leads to a reduced light absorption. Therefore, advanced light trapping schemes are crucial to increase the light path length. The use of elongated nanostructures is a promising method for advanced light trapping. The enhanced optical performance originates from orthogonalization of the light's travel path with respect to the direction of carrier collection due to the radial junction, an improved anti-reflection effect thanks to the three-dimensional geometric configuration and the multiple scattering between individual nanostructures. These advantages potentially allow for high efficiency at a significantly reduced quantity and even at a reduced material quality, of the semiconductor material. In this article, several types of elongated nanostructures with the high potential to improve the device performance are reviewed. First, we briefly introduce the conventional solar cells with emphasis on thin film technology, following the most commonly used fabrication techniques for creating nanostructures with a high aspect ratio. Subsequently, several representative applications of elongated nanostructures, such as Si nanowires in realistic photovoltaic (PV) devices, are reviewed. Finally, the scientific challenges and an outlook for nanostructured PV devices are presented.

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n‐GaAs/InGaP/p‐GaAs Core‐Multishell Nanowire Diodes for Efficient Light‐to‐Current Conversion

Cited by 59 publications

References 35 publications

Surface-passivated GaAsP single-nanowire solar cells exceeding 10% efficiency grown on silicon

Surface-passivated GaAsP single-nanowire solar cells exceeding 10% efficiency grown on silicon

Emerging technologies for high performance infrared detectors

Elongated nanostructures for radial junction solar cells

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