Strong and reversible modulation of carbon nanotube-silicon heterojunction solar cells by an interfacial oxide layer

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP
Yi JiaDehai Wu

Abstract

Deposition of nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes on Si wafers to make heterojunction structures is a promising route toward high efficiency solar cells with reduced cost. Here, we show a significant enhancement in the cell characteristics and power conversion efficiency by growing a silicon oxide layer at the interface between the nanotube film and Si substrate. The cell efficiency increases steadily from 0.5% without interfacial oxide to 8.8% with an optimal oxide thickness of about 1 nm. This systematic study reveals that formation of an oxide layer switches charge transport from thermionic emission to a mixture of thermionic emission and tunneling and improves overall diode properties, which are critical factors for tailoring the cell behavior. By controlled formation and removal of interfacial oxide, we demonstrate oscillation of the cell parameters between two extreme states, where the cell efficiency can be reversibly altered by a factor of 500. Our results suggest that the oxide layer plays an important role in Si-based photovoltaics, and it might be utilized to tune the cell performance in various nanostructure-Si heterojunction structures.

References

Jul 5, 2007·Nano Letters·Jinquan WeiDehai Wu
Jun 6, 2008·Nano Letters·Chen-Wei Liang, Siegmar Roth
May 24, 2011·Nano Letters·Pooja WadhwaAndrew G Rinzler

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Citations

Oct 30, 2015·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Daniel D TuneBenjamin S Flavel
Sep 10, 2015·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Maureen K PettersonAndrew G Rinzler
Jul 28, 2015·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Wenjing XuAnyuan Cao
Apr 21, 2017·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Stefano PonzoniStefania Pagliara
Mar 25, 2016·Nanoscale·John M HarrisErik K Hobbie
Jul 30, 2017·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Elisa PinnaGuido Mula
Oct 1, 2015·Advanced Materials·Xinming LiHongwei Zhu

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