Bismuth-Catalyzed and Doped Silicon Nanowires for One-Pump-Down Fabrication of Radial Junction Solar Cells

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are becoming a popular choice to develop a new generation of radial junction solar cells. We here explore a bismuth- (Bi-) catalyzed growth and doping of SiNWs, via vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mode, to fabricate amorphous Si radial n–i–p junction solar cells in a one-pump-down...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nano letters 2012-08, Vol.12 (8), p.4153-4158
Main Authors: Yu, Linwei, Fortuna, Franck, O’Donnell, Benedict, Jeon, Taewoo, Foldyna, Martin, Picardi, Gennaro, Roca i Cabarrocas, Pere
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Catalysts
Catalytic methods
Condensed Matter
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Doping
Electronics
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Materials
Materials Science
Methods of nanofabrication
Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization
Nanostructure
Nanowires
Natural energy
Open circuit voltage
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaic conversion
Physics
Quantum wires
Silicon
Solar cells
Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells
Solar energy
Trapping
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Summary:Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are becoming a popular choice to develop a new generation of radial junction solar cells. We here explore a bismuth- (Bi-) catalyzed growth and doping of SiNWs, via vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mode, to fabricate amorphous Si radial n–i–p junction solar cells in a one-pump-down and low-temperature process in a single chamber plasma deposition system. We provide the first evidence that catalyst doping in the SiNW cores, caused by incorporating Bi catalyst atoms as n-type dopant, can be utilized to fabricate radial junction solar cells, with a record open circuit voltage of V oc = 0.76 V and an enhanced light trapping effect that boosts the short circuit current to J sc = 11.23 mA/cm2. More importantly, this bi-catalyzed SiNW growth and doping strategy exempts the use of extremely toxic phosphine gas, leading to significant procedure simplification and cost reduction for building radial junction thin film solar cells.
ISSN:1530-6984
1530-6992
DOI:10.1021/nl3017187