Photovoltaic nanopillar radial junction diode architecture enhanced by integrating semiconductor quantum dot nanocrystals as light harvesters

Güzeltürk, Burak; Mutlugün, Evren; Wang, Xiaodong; Pey, K. L.; Demir, Hilmi Volkan

doi:10.1063/1.3485294

Cited by 22 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Among these SiNH-based SCs, the 200 nm SiNH-based SC had the highest CE of 10.03%, which is not only 48% higher than our single-side polished SC control but also is one of the highest CE compared with other Si nanostructure-based SCs. 4,6,15,25,26 Additionally, in this case, the corresponding I sc and V oc are 26.46 mA and 590 mV, respectively, approximating 38% higher than those of the single-side polished SC controls (in I sc ). However, as the length of the SiNHs increased, the CE of the SiNH-based SCs gradually diminished, which could result from the considerable surface recombination that occurred because of the increased number of surface defects 29 and the longer SiNHs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Applying Silicon Nanoholes with Excellent Antireflection for Enhancing Photovoltaic Performance

Yang

Huang

Lee

et al. 2011

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Currently the efficiency-to-cost ratio among the diverse photovoltaic techniques remains too low to compete with fossil energy. To boost this ratio, it is critical to enhance the conversion efficiency (CE) or to lower the cost of solar cells (SCs). Therefore, in this study we employ a series of wet and room-temperature electrochemical processes to fabricate low-cost Si nanohole-based solar cells (SiNH-based SCs). The SiNH-based SCs demonstrate excellent antireflective properties, resulting in a leading CE of 10.03% with a low cost in the field of Si-nanostructured SCs. In addition, these SiNH-based SCs possess additional advantages of robust structures and greater fill factor, and can be readily employed for practical photovoltaic applications.Pursuing an alternative energy source is an important global endeavor because of the shortcomings of fossil energy and growing environmental concerns. Among the various renewable energy sources, solar energy captured with photovoltaic (PV) cells is promising because of its permanence and cleanness. Of the various types of solar cells (SCs), Si-based SCs currently dominate the PV market, with a share greater than 90%, 1 because they have two quintessential advantages over other types of SCs. First, Si is the second most abundant element on the earth; second, the fabrication process is compatible with the mature integrated-circuit industry. Nevertheless, currently, Si-based SCs still cannot compete with fossil energy, mainly because of their relatively poor efficiency-to-cost ratios. 2 Thus, it is an important challenge to reduce this ratio by lowering the cost of solar cells (SCs) or by improving the performance. One way to enhance the efficiency-to-cost ratio is to introduce an innovative architecture, such as the radial p-n junction SC. This special architecture decouples the routes of light absorption and the diffusion paths of minor carriers to two orthogonal directions, 3 significantly improving the conversion efficiency (CE) of the cell with a shallow active layer; the high-aspect-ratio Si nanostructures are the best candidates from this point of view. 4-6 Another way to increase the efficiency-to-cost ratio is to employ a good antireflection (AR) layer. Typically, however, the fabrication of the AR layer requires a series of tedious and expensive procedures, so the cost of SCs is still not competitive with that of fossil energy.Recently, it has been reported that Si nanowires (SiNWs) 7-10 and Si nanoholes (NHs) 11 with high aspect ratios possess significant light-trapping capabilities and could serve as an AR layer for SCs. Several methods have been used to fabricate SiNWs, including vapor-liquid-solid growth, 5, 12-14 deep reactive-ion etching, 8,15 solution-grown processing 16 and oxide-assisted growth, 17, 18 but they are unfeasible for practical applications because of the following drawbacks: high process temperatures, 5, 12-14, 16-18 random growth orientations, 5, 12-14, 16-18 saturated impurities of the catalysts 5, 12-14, 16 and expensive fabrication costs. 5,...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Applying Silicon Nanoholes with Excellent Antireflection for Enhancing Photovoltaic Performance

Yang

Huang

Lee

et al. 2011

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…In 2007, a CSSC based on Si nanowire with coaxial p-i-n junction was first reported, which achieved a power efficiency of ∼3.4% [10]. Recently, several groups reported nano-CSSC arrays basing on Si nanowire, aiming at fabricating highly efficient CSSC in large area for the future power supply [11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. By boron doping, Si nanowire CSSC array showed an efficiency of 5.3% [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Many researchers focused on Si nanowire solar cells, where the nanowires are expected to enhance the power conversion efficiency [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Core-shell solar cell (CSSC), or so-called radial p-n junction solar cell, which can maximize utility of p-n junction interface of nano/microwire, is one of the most promising photovoltaic devices to realize high efficiency and low cost [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. In 2007, a CSSC based on Si nanowire with coaxial p-i-n junction was first reported, which achieved a power efficiency of ∼3.4% [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-efficiency core–shell solar cell array from Si wafer

et al. 2012

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High-efficiency micro core-shell solar cell (µ-CSSC) arrays are fabricated from Si wafer by using traditional lithography and phosphorus diffusion. The p-n junction depth is around 450 nm, indicating that it forms coreshell structure in micropillars by using phosphorus diffusion. The µ-CSSC arrays have high minority carrier lifetime of 23 µs and long diffusion length of ∼150 µm. The best power efficiency of the µ-CSSC reaches to 9.2%. It is a convenient method for fabricating Si µ-CSSC arrays in wafer scale for future applications.

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“…Previously, in order to enhance optical absorption of bulk Si, several techniques have been proposed including light trapping, 2 plasmonic field enhancement, 3 and external light sensitization. 4 For the efficiency enhancement, fluorescent sensitizers of Si using colloidal quantum dots (QDs) have been proposed owing to the tunable optical properties and large absorption cross-section of the QDs. Because of their superior properties, QDs are very promising materials for various optoelectronic applications.…”

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confidence: 99%

Excitonic enhancement of nonradiative energy transfer to bulk silicon with the hybridization of cascaded quantum dots

Yeltik

Güzeltürk

Hernández‐Martínez

et al. 2013

Applied Physics Letters

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We report enhanced sensitization of silicon through nonradiative energy transfer (NRET) of the excitons in an energy-gradient structure composed of a cascaded bilayer of green- and red-emitting CdTe quantum dots (QDs) on bulk silicon. Here NRET dynamics were systematically investigated comparatively for the cascaded energy-gradient and mono-dispersed QD structures at room temperature. We show experimentally that NRET from the QD layer into silicon is enhanced by 40% in the case of an energy-gradient cascaded structure as compared to the mono-dispersed structures, which is in agreement with the theoretical analysis based on the excited state population-depopulation dynamics of the QDs. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC

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Photovoltaic nanopillar radial junction diode architecture enhanced by integrating semiconductor quantum dot nanocrystals as light harvesters

Abstract: Acoustic phonon strain induced mixing of the fine structure levels in colloidal CdSe quantum dots observed by a polarization grating technique

Cited by 22 publications

References 21 publications

Applying Silicon Nanoholes with Excellent Antireflection for Enhancing Photovoltaic Performance

Applying Silicon Nanoholes with Excellent Antireflection for Enhancing Photovoltaic Performance

High-efficiency core–shell solar cell array from Si wafer

Excitonic enhancement of nonradiative energy transfer to bulk silicon with the hybridization of cascaded quantum dots

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