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Title: Surface Passivation and Carrier Collection in {110}, {100} and Circular Si Microwire Solar Cells

Journal Article · · Advanced Energy Materials
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Integrated Electronics and Biointerfaces Lab. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Integrated Electronics and Biointerfaces Lab. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Materials Science and Engineering Program. Dept. of NanoEngineering
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Surface recombination is a major bottleneck for realizing highly efficient micro/nanostructure solar cells. Parametric studies of the influence of Si microwire (SiMW) surface-facet orientation (rectangular with flat-facets, {110}, {100} and circular), with a fixed height of 10 µm, diameter (D = 1.5–9.5 µm), and sidewall spacing (S = 2.5–8.5 µm), and mesh-grid density (1–16 mm-2) on recombination and carrier collection in SiMW solar cells with radial p-n junctions are reported. An effective surface passivation layer composed of thin thermally grown silicon dioxide (SiO2) and silicon nitride (SiNx) layers is employed. For a fixed D of 1.5 µm, tight SiMW spacing results in improved short-circuit current density (Jsc = 30.1 mA cm-2) and sparse arrays result in open-circuit voltages (Voc = 0.552 V) that are similar to those of control Si planar cells. For a fixed S, smaller D results in better light trapping at shorter wavelengths and higher Jsc while larger D exhibits better light trapping at larger wavelengths and a higher Voc. With a mesh-grid electrode the power conversion efficiency increases to 15.3%. Finally, these results provide insights on the recombination mechanisms in SiMW solar cells and provide general design principles for optimizing their performance.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396; ECCS-1351980
OSTI ID:
1480007
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1479520
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-18-28250
Journal Information:
Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 33; ISSN 1614-6832
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 4 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
Material Science
microwire facet
Si
solar cell
surface passivation
surface recombination