This paper presents an investigation on the effects of micropillar physical parameters (height, pitch and diameter) on the optical and electrical performance of ZnO/ZnTe core-shell micropillar solar cells. It also studies the effect of the doping level in the absorber layer on the device's performance considering the impact of Auger's recombination. A Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) solver, Lumerical, is used for the numerical analysis. Based on the range of parameters analyzed it was concluded that for a core-shell ZnO/ZnTe micropillar solar cell a 4 m height, a 0.5 m pitch, a 70 nm ZnTe shell thickness and a 2.16 x 10 19 cm-3 doping concentration for ZnTe achieves an efficiency of 17%.

Tuning the bandgap of superlattice structures creates devices with unique optical, electronic and mechanical properties. Designing solar cells with superlattice structures increases the range of light energy absorbed from the solar spectrum in the device. A superlattice is a nanostructure composed of alternating thin layers of two materials. The thickness of the constituent materials alters the optical bandgap of the superlattice. This paper discusses a mathematical model which computes the effective bandgap of a CdTe/PbTe superlattice based on a given thickness of the CdTe and PbTe films. The output of this model is verified by fabricating superlattices with different thickness and measuring their effective bandgaps. The electrochemical atomic layer deposition method is used to fabricate the superlattice structures. The advantage of this method over other vacuum techniques is that it is inexpensive and operates at room temperature. This paper also discusses a method to mitigate the lattice mismatch between the substrate and the superlattice. The optical bandgaps, crystallinity, grain size and chemical composition of the structures are measured using a spectrometer, diffractometer, transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope, respectively. The bandgaps of the fabricated superlattices were in agreement with the simulated values. This model can be used for designing the bandgaps of superlattices which can be incorporated in solar cells.

Thin films of lead telluride (PbTe) and zinc telluride (ZnTe) have been electrodeposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates. The electrochemical deposition procedures for fabricating these films are described. The as-deposited films have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy, electron dispersive spectroscopy, and optical absorption spectrometry. The results of this structural and optical characterization are presented in this paper.

Silicon micropillars have been suggested as one of the techniques for improving the efficiency of devices. Fabrication of micropillars has been done in several ways—Metal Assisted Chemical Etching (MACE) and Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) being the most popular techniques. These techniques include etching through the surface which results in surface damage that affects the carrier lifetime. This paper presents a study that compares the carrier lifetime of micropillars fabricated using RIE and MACE methods. It also looks at increasing carrier lifetime by surface treatment using three main approaches: surface passivation by depositing Al2O3, surface passivation by depositing SiO2/SiN, and surface passivation by etching using KOH and Hydrofluoric Nitric Acetic (HNA) solution. It was concluded that passivating with SiO2 and SiN results in the highest carrier lifetime on the MACE and RIE pillars.

This study reports the cycle chemistries involved in depositing CdTe and PbTe nanofilms. An automated thin-layer flow cell electrodeposition system was used to deposit the films at room temperature. Cyclic voltammetry was used to study the Underpotential Deposition (UPD) of the compounds. The monolayer/cycle deposition rate was also monitored in order to insure that the film is depositing at a uniform rate. The chemical composition of the films was characterized using Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) on a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The crystallinity of the films was studied using a glancing angle X-ray diffractometer. The bandgaps of the films were calculated using measured optical reflection data.