High-performance Si microwire photovoltaics
- 7 January 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in Energy & Environmental Science
- Vol. 4 (3), 866-871
- https://doi.org/10.1039/c0ee00549e
Abstract
Crystalline Si wires, grown by the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) process, have emerged as promising candidate materials for low-cost, thin-film photovoltaics. Here, we demonstrate VLS-grown Si microwires that have suitable electrical properties for high-performance photovoltaic applications, including long minority-carrier diffusion lengths (Ln ≫ 30 µm) and low surface recombination velocities (S ≪ 70 cm·s−1). Single-wire radial p–n junction solar cells were fabricated with amorphous silicon and silicon nitride surface coatings, achieving up to 9.0% apparent photovoltaic efficiency, and exhibiting up to ∼600 mV open-circuit voltage with over 80% fill factor. Projective single-wire measurements and optoelectronic simulations suggest that large-area Si wire-array solar cells have the potential to exceed 17% energy-conversion efficiency, offering a promising route toward cost-effective crystalline Si photovoltaics.Keywords
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