Harnessing Carrier Multiplication in Silicon Solar Cells Using UV Photons

Chen, Kexun; Setälä, Olli E.; Radfar, Behrad; Kroth, U.; Vähänissi, Ville; Savin, Hele

doi:10.1109/lpt.2021.3124307

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In contrast, the fs-laser etching results in much larger structures with hierarchical micro-and nano-sized features. These observations agree with those obtained from larger areas previously [1],[3]- [5], [29]- [31]. However, it is also well known that the morphology of the etched structures depends heavily on the used etching parameters.…”

Section: A Alignment and Pattern Transfer Accuracy And Surface Morpho...supporting

confidence: 91%

“…LACK silicon (bSi) is well-known for its surface that consists of micro and/or nanoscale structures, which can significantly improve the performance of different types of devices via, e.g., the reduction of optical losses [1]- [7] or the improvement of electrical properties [8], [9]. Indeed, there are extensive reports on different bSi fabrication techniques, such as plasma etching, metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) and laser etching, the resulting material properties, the performance of the final devices [10]- [13] as well as the economic aspects [14], [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, there are extensive reports on different bSi fabrication techniques, such as plasma etching, metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) and laser etching, the resulting material properties, the performance of the final devices [10]- [13] as well as the economic aspects [14], [15]. However, the previous studies focus on surface texturing of a large area or even the whole wafer [1]- [21], while there are plenty of applications that require a small active area, even as small as a few µm for singlephoton detectors or detector arrays [22]. To meet these This work was funded by Business Finland through the "FemtoBlack" project (7479/31/2019) and by the EMPIR programme co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through "NanoWires" project (19ENG05).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perspectives on Black Silicon in Semiconductor Manufacturing: Experimental Comparison of Plasma Etching, MACE, and Fs-Laser Etching

Liu

Radfar

Chen

et al. 2022

IEEE Trans. Semicond. Manufact.

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In semiconductor manufacturing, black silicon (bSi) has traditionally been considered as a sign of unsuccessful etching. However, after more careful consideration, many of its properties have turned out to be so superior that its integration into devices has become increasingly attractive. In devices where bSi covers the whole wafer surface, such as solar cells, the integration is already rather mature and different bSi fabrication technologies have been studied extensively. Regarding the integration into devices where bSi should cover only small selected areas, existing research focuses on device properties with one specific bSi fabrication method. Here, we fabricate bSi patterns with varying dimensions ranging from millimeters to micrometers using three common bSi fabrication techniques, i.e., plasma etching, metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) and femtosecond-laser etching, and study the corresponding fabrication characteristics and resulting material properties. Our results show that plasma etching is the most suitable method in the case of µm-scale devices, while MACE reached surprisingly almost the same performance. Femtosecondlaser has potential due to its maskless nature and capability for hyperdoping, however, in this study its moderate accuracy, large silicon consumption and spreading of the etching damage outside the bSi region left room for improvement.

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Section: A Alignment and Pattern Transfer Accuracy And Surface Morpho...supporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perspectives on Black Silicon in Semiconductor Manufacturing: Experimental Comparison of Plasma Etching, MACE, and Fs-Laser Etching

Liu

Radfar

Chen

et al. 2022

IEEE Trans. Semicond. Manufact.

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“…The fabrication followed a simplified version of the previously reported process flow used for fabricating Si solar cells (see the details in Supporting Information ). 37 The samples were encapsulated with hot glue, leaving an active area of 1–1.3 cm 2 exposed on the front side surface. After this the samples were divided into two batches.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron Injection in Metal Assisted Chemical Etching as a Fundamental Mechanism for Electroless Electricity Generation

Chen

Vähänissi

et al. 2022

J. Phys. Chem. Lett.

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Metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) is a widely applied process for fabricating Si nanostructures. As an electroless process, it does not require a counter electrode, and it is usually considered that only holes in the Si valence band contribute to the process. In this work, a charge carrier collecting p–n junction structure coated with silver nanoparticles is used to demonstrate that also electrons in the conduction band play a fundamental role in MACE, and enable an electroless chemical energy conversion process that was not previously reported. The studied structures generate electricity at a power density of 0.43 mW/cm 2 during MACE. This necessitates reformulating the microscopic electrochemical description of the Si-metal-oxidant nanosystems to separately account for electron and hole injections into the conduction and valence band of Si. Our work provides new insight into the fundamentals of MACE and demonstrates a radically new route to chemical energy conversion by solar cell-inspired devices.

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“…En [6] se propone que la multiplicación portadora causada por la absorción de fotones ultravioleta (UV) se puede usar en células solares de silicio cristalino, logrando una eficiencia cuántica por encima de la unidad, sin comprometer el rendimiento eléctrico del emisor.…”

Section: Introducci óNunclassified

Technologies and MPPT algorithms for solar energy applications

Fuentes

Rojas

Rivera

et al. 2021

2021 IEEE CHILEAN Conference on Electrical, Electronics Engineering, Information and Communication Technologies (CHILECON)

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Due to environmental policies and the advancement of solar technology, the generation of electrical energy based on photovoltaic cells has become an important contributor to the renewable energy resource mix. In recent years, the development of photovoltaic cells has increased conversion efficiencies and, along with the advancement of power electronics, this has allowed the efficient integration of these photovoltaic systems into the electricity supply grid as well as in stand-alone applications. This paper presents an overview of photovoltaic solar energy, presenting topics such as solar energy, configuration and types of photovoltaic cells, the sizing of photovoltaic panels, and maximum power point tracking algorithms.

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Harnessing Carrier Multiplication in Silicon Solar Cells Using UV Photons

Cited by 11 publications

References 18 publications

Perspectives on Black Silicon in Semiconductor Manufacturing: Experimental Comparison of Plasma Etching, MACE, and Fs-Laser Etching

Perspectives on Black Silicon in Semiconductor Manufacturing: Experimental Comparison of Plasma Etching, MACE, and Fs-Laser Etching

Electron Injection in Metal Assisted Chemical Etching as a Fundamental Mechanism for Electroless Electricity Generation

Technologies and MPPT algorithms for solar energy applications

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