On Field-Effect Photovoltaics: Gate Enhancement of the Power Conversion Efficiency in a Nanotube/Silicon-Nanowire Solar Cell

Petterson, Maureen K.; Lemaitre, Maxime G.; Shen, Yu; Wadhwa, Pooja; Hou, Jie; Vasilyeva, Svetlana V.; Kravchenko, Ivan I.; Rinzler, Andrew G.

doi:10.1021/acsami.5b05010

Title: On Field-Effect Photovoltaics: Gate Enhancement of the Power Conversion Efficiency in a Nanotube/Silicon-Nanowire Solar Cell

Journal Article · Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b05010· OSTI ID:1265827

Petterson, Maureen K. ^[1]; Lemaitre, Maxime G. ^[1]; Shen, Yu ^[1]; Wadhwa, Pooja ^[1]; Hou, Jie ^[1]; Vasilyeva, Svetlana V. ^[1]; Kravchenko, Ivan I. ^[2]; Rinzler, Andrew G. ^[1]

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in crystalline silicon Schottky junction solar cells distinguished by the use of low density of electronic states (DOS) nanocarbons (nanotubes, graphene) as the metal contacting the Si. Recently, unprecedented modulation of the power conversion efficiency in a single material system has been demonstrated in such cells by the use of electronic gating. The gate field induced Fermi level shift in the low-DOS carbon serves to enhance the junction built-in potential, while a gate field induced inversion layer at the Si surface, in regions remote from the junction, keeps the photocarriers well separated there, avoiding recombination at surface traps and defects (a key loss mechanism). Here, we extend these results into the third dimension of a vertical Si nanowire array solar cell. A single wall carbon nanotube layer engineered to contact virtually each n-Si nanowire tip extracts the minority carriers, while an ionic liquid electrolytic gate drives the nanowire body into inversion. The enhanced light absorption of the vertical forest cell, at 100 mW/cm² AM1.5G illumination, results in a short-circuit current density of 35 mA/cm² and associated power conversion efficiency of 15%. These results highlight the use of local fields as opposed to surface passivation as a means of avoiding front surface recombination. Finally, a deleterious electrochemical reaction of the silicon due to the electrolyte gating is shown to be caused by oxygen/water entrained in the ionic liquid electrolyte. While encapsulation can avoid the issue, a nonencapsulation-based approach is also implemented.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1265827

Journal Information:: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol. 7, Issue 38; ISSN 1944-8244

Publisher:: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 9 works

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Title: On Field-Effect Photovoltaics: Gate Enhancement of the Power Conversion Efficiency in a Nanotube/Silicon-Nanowire Solar Cell

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