Silicon nanostructures for third generation photovoltaic solar cells

Structural and optoelectronical characterization of Si–SiO2/SiO2 multilayers with applications in all Si tandem solar cells

“…The resistivity at room temperature for each sample can be deduced from the Rᮀ values by taking into account sample thickness ͑e͒ and the positions of the tips. Values of 77 and 197 ⍀ .cm were obtained for samples M1 and M2, respectively, similar to those referred to by Conibeer et al 3 These samples being similar except for the thickness, the difference of Rᮀ values can therefore be explained either by a possible contribution from the Si substrate in the case of M1 MLs and/or by a higher density of structural defects due to higher number of interfaces for M2 MLs. In this latter case, such defects could affect negatively the carrier transport process and hence increase Rᮀ.…”

“…The quantum effects associated with the size of the silicon nanoparticles, which permits bandgap tuning, increase the absorption and efficiency, or even enhance the carrier transport, as demonstrated by third generation photovoltaic cells. 3,4 Indeed if Si nanoparticles are integrated in silicon based matrices, such as SiO 2 , SiN, or SiC, a completely silicon based cell could be developed, facilitating the improvement of integrated silicon technology. Some recent works [5][6][7] analyzed the morphology and optical properties of these structures, although few works were focused on electrical characterization.…”

Efficiency limits of Si/SiO2 quantum well solar cells from first-principles calculations

“…34 However, although it has an adequate band gap of around 1.8 eV, amorphous silicon is currently lacking a sufficiently high short circuit current to make current matching with high quality solar cells like c-Si possible. Therefore, superlattice absorber materials using SiO 2 / Si, [35][36][37][38][39] SiN x / Si, 40 or SiC/Si 41,42 quantum wells or quantum dots are currently investigated experimentally by different research groups. Deposition of such stacks is possible, for instance, with plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of alternating layers of Si and SiO 2 followed by a rapid thermal annealing step.…”

Picosecond transient photoluminescence in high-density Si-nanodisk arrays fabricated using bio-nano-templates

“…Si nanostructures have extensively been studied owing to their potential applications in future photovoltaics and optoelectronics. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Si nanostructures with dimensions of less than 10 nm can behave as quantum dots (QDs) due to a three-dimensional quantum confinement effect for carriers. Minibands of carriers will arise from overlapping of the confined wavefunctions in high-density QDs regularly aligned.…”

“…Minibands of carriers will arise from overlapping of the confined wavefunctions in high-density QDs regularly aligned. 3,4 However, typical Si nanocrystals produced using conventional fabrication techniques show significant distributions in the shape, size, and spacing. Moreover, in these fabrication processes, a large amount of defect-induced local energy levels can be easily formed.…”