Electrical, Photoelectrochemical, and Photoelectron Spectroscopic Investigation of the Interfacial Transport and Energetics of Amorphous TiO2/Si Heterojunctions
Abstract
Solid-state electrical, photoelectrochemical, and photoelectron spectroscopic techniques have been used to characterize the behavior and electronic structure of interfaces between n-Si, n+-Si, or p+-Si surfaces and amorphous coatings of TiO2 formed using atomic-layer deposition. Photoelectrochemical measurements of n-Si/TiO2/Ni interfaces in contact with a series of one-electron, electrochemically reversible redox systems indicated that the n-Si/TiO2/Ni structure acted as a buried junction whose photovoltage was independent of the formal potential of the contacting electrolyte. Solid-state current–voltage analysis indicated that the built-in voltage of the n-Si/TiO2 heterojunction was ~0.7 V, with an effective Richardson constant ~1/100th of the value of typical Si/metal Schottky barriers. Furthermore, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic data allowed formulation of energy band-diagrams for the n-Si/TiO2, n+-Si/TiO2, and p+-Si/TiO2 interfaces. The XPS data were consistent with the rectifying behavior confirmed for amorphous TiO2 interfaces with n-Si and n+-Si surfaces and with an ohmic contact at the interface between amorphous TiO2 and p+-Si.
- Authors:
-
- California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
- California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Technical Univ. of Darmstadt (Germany)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1633784
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0004993
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Physical Chemistry. C
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 120; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 1932-7447
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Citation Formats
Hu, Shu, Richter, Matthias H., Lichterman, Michael F., Beardslee, Joseph, Mayer, Thomas, Brunschwig, Bruce S., and Lewis, Nathan S. Electrical, Photoelectrochemical, and Photoelectron Spectroscopic Investigation of the Interfacial Transport and Energetics of Amorphous TiO2/Si Heterojunctions. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b09121.
Hu, Shu, Richter, Matthias H., Lichterman, Michael F., Beardslee, Joseph, Mayer, Thomas, Brunschwig, Bruce S., & Lewis, Nathan S. Electrical, Photoelectrochemical, and Photoelectron Spectroscopic Investigation of the Interfacial Transport and Energetics of Amorphous TiO2/Si Heterojunctions. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b09121
Hu, Shu, Richter, Matthias H., Lichterman, Michael F., Beardslee, Joseph, Mayer, Thomas, Brunschwig, Bruce S., and Lewis, Nathan S. Tue .
"Electrical, Photoelectrochemical, and Photoelectron Spectroscopic Investigation of the Interfacial Transport and Energetics of Amorphous TiO2/Si Heterojunctions". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b09121. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1633784.
@article{osti_1633784,
title = {Electrical, Photoelectrochemical, and Photoelectron Spectroscopic Investigation of the Interfacial Transport and Energetics of Amorphous TiO2/Si Heterojunctions},
author = {Hu, Shu and Richter, Matthias H. and Lichterman, Michael F. and Beardslee, Joseph and Mayer, Thomas and Brunschwig, Bruce S. and Lewis, Nathan S.},
abstractNote = {Solid-state electrical, photoelectrochemical, and photoelectron spectroscopic techniques have been used to characterize the behavior and electronic structure of interfaces between n-Si, n+-Si, or p+-Si surfaces and amorphous coatings of TiO2 formed using atomic-layer deposition. Photoelectrochemical measurements of n-Si/TiO2/Ni interfaces in contact with a series of one-electron, electrochemically reversible redox systems indicated that the n-Si/TiO2/Ni structure acted as a buried junction whose photovoltage was independent of the formal potential of the contacting electrolyte. Solid-state current–voltage analysis indicated that the built-in voltage of the n-Si/TiO2 heterojunction was ~0.7 V, with an effective Richardson constant ~1/100th of the value of typical Si/metal Schottky barriers. Furthermore, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic data allowed formulation of energy band-diagrams for the n-Si/TiO2, n+-Si/TiO2, and p+-Si/TiO2 interfaces. The XPS data were consistent with the rectifying behavior confirmed for amorphous TiO2 interfaces with n-Si and n+-Si surfaces and with an ohmic contact at the interface between amorphous TiO2 and p+-Si.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b09121},
journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry. C},
number = 6,
volume = 120,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Tue Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}
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Figures / Tables:
Figure 1: Photovoltaic behavior of n-Si/TiO2 heterojunctions evaluated in a typical solar-cell measurement configuration. The black and red data sets show the J-V performances of n-Si/ TiO2, 68 nm (1500 ALD cycles)/Ni busbar devices in dark and under simulated 1-Sun illumination, respectively.
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