Light-induced performance increase of silicon heterojunction solar cells

KAUST Repository

Kobayashi, Eiji

2016-10-11

Silicon heterojunction solar cells consist of crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers coated with doped/intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) bilayers for passivating-contact formation. Here, we unambiguously demonstrate that carrier injection either due to light soaking or (dark) forward-voltage bias increases the open circuit voltage and fill factor of finished cells, leading to a conversion efficiency gain of up to 0.3% absolute. This phenomenon contrasts markedly with the light-induced degradation known for thin-film a-Si:H solar cells. We associate our performance gain with an increase in surface passivation, which we find is specific to doped a-Si:H/c-Si structures. Our experiments suggest that this improvement originates from a reduced density of recombination-active interface states. To understand the time dependence of the observed phenomena, a kinetic model is presented.

Perovskite/silicon-based heterojunction tandem solar cells with 14.8% conversion efficiency via adopting ultrathin Au contact

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Lin; Wang, Fengyou; Liang, Junhui; Yao, Xin; Fang, Jia; Zhang, Dekun; Wei, Changchun; Zhao, Ying; Zhang, Xiaodan

2017-01-01

A rising candidate for upgrading the performance of an established narrow-bandgap solar technology without adding much cost is to construct the tandem solar cells from a crystalline silicon bottom cell and a high open-circuit voltage top cell. Here, we present a four-terminal tandem solar cell architecture consisting of a self-filtered planar architecture perovskite top cell and a silicon heterojunction bottom cell. A transparent ultrathin gold electrode has been used in perovskite solar cells to achieve a semi-transparent device. The transparent ultrathin gold contact could provide a better electrical conductivity and optical reflectance-scattering to maintain the performance of the top cell compared with the traditional metal oxide contact. The four-terminal tandem solar cell yields an efficiency of 14.8%, with contributions of the top (8.98%) and the bottom cell (5.82%), respectively. We also point out that in terms of optical losses, the intermediate contact of self-filtered tandem architecture is the uppermost problem, which has been addressed in this communication, and the results show that reducing the parasitic light absorption and improving the long wavelength range transmittance without scarifying the electrical properties of the intermediate hole contact layer are the key issues towards further improving the efficiency of this architecture device. Project supported by the International Cooperation Projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology (No. 2014DFE60170), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61474065, 61674084), the Tianjin Research Key Program of Application Foundation and Advanced Technology (No. 15JCZDJC31300), the Key Project in the Science & Technology Pillar Program of Jiangsu Province (No. BE2014147-3), and the 111 Project (No. B16027).

Nanocrystalline Silicon Carrier Collectors for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells and Impact on Low-Temperature Device Characteristics

KAUST Repository

Nogay, Gizem

2016-09-26

Silicon heterojunction solar cells typically use stacks of hydrogenated intrinsic/doped amorphous silicon layers as carrier selective contacts. However, the use of these layers may cause parasitic optical absorption losses and moderate fill factor (FF) values due to a high contact resistivity. In this study, we show that the replacement of doped amorphous silicon with nanocrystalline silicon is beneficial for device performance. Optically, we observe an improved short-circuit current density when these layers are applied to the front side of the device. Electrically, we observe a lower contact resistivity, as well as higher FF. Importantly, our cell parameter analysis, performed in a temperature range from -100 to +80 °C, reveals that the use of hole-collecting p-type nanocrystalline layer suppresses the carrier transport barrier, maintaining FF s in the range of 70% at -100 °C, whereas it drops to 40% for standard amorphous doped layers. The same analysis also reveals a saturation onset of the open-circuit voltage at -100 °C using doped nanocrystalline layers, compared with saturation onset at -60 °C for doped amorphous layers. These findings hint at a reduced importance of the parasitic Schottky barrier at the interface between the transparent electrodes and the selective contact in the case of nanocrystalline layer implementation. © 2011-2012 IEEE.

Nanocrystalline Silicon Carrier Collectors for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells and Impact on Low-Temperature Device Characteristics

KAUST Repository

Nogay, Gizem; Seif, Johannes Peter; Riesen, Yannick; Tomasi, Andrea; Jeangros, Quentin; Wyrsch, Nicolas; Haug, Franz-Josef; De Wolf, Stefaan; Ballif, Christophe

2016-01-01

Silicon heterojunction solar cells typically use stacks of hydrogenated intrinsic/doped amorphous silicon layers as carrier selective contacts. However, the use of these layers may cause parasitic optical absorption losses and moderate fill factor (FF) values due to a high contact resistivity. In this study, we show that the replacement of doped amorphous silicon with nanocrystalline silicon is beneficial for device performance. Optically, we observe an improved short-circuit current density when these layers are applied to the front side of the device. Electrically, we observe a lower contact resistivity, as well as higher FF. Importantly, our cell parameter analysis, performed in a temperature range from -100 to +80 °C, reveals that the use of hole-collecting p-type nanocrystalline layer suppresses the carrier transport barrier, maintaining FF s in the range of 70% at -100 °C, whereas it drops to 40% for standard amorphous doped layers. The same analysis also reveals a saturation onset of the open-circuit voltage at -100 °C using doped nanocrystalline layers, compared with saturation onset at -60 °C for doped amorphous layers. These findings hint at a reduced importance of the parasitic Schottky barrier at the interface between the transparent electrodes and the selective contact in the case of nanocrystalline layer implementation. © 2011-2012 IEEE.

Plasma enhanced atomic layer deposited MoOx emitters for silicon heterojunction solar cells

OpenAIRE

Ziegler, J.; Mews, M.; Kaufmann, K.; Schneider, T.; Sprafke, A.N.; Korte, L.; Wehrsporn, R.B

2015-01-01

A method for the deposition of molybdenum oxide MoOx with high growth rates at temperatures below 200 C based on plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition is presented. The stoichiometry of the overstoichiometric MoOx films can be adjusted by the plasma parameters. First results of these layers acting as hole selective contacts in silicon heterojunction solar cells are presented and discussed

Nanopatterned Silicon Substrate Use in Heterojunction Thin Film Solar Cells Made by Magnetron Sputtering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shao-Ze Tseng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a method for fabricating silicon heterojunction thin film solar cells with an ITO/p-type a-Si : H/n-type c-Si structure by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering. A short-circuit current density and efficiency of 28.80 mA/cm2 and 8.67% were achieved. Novel nanopatterned silicon wafers for use in cells are presented. Improved heterojunction cells are formed on a nanopatterned silicon substrate that is prepared with a self-assembled monolayer of SiO2 nanospheres with a diameter of 550 nm used as an etching mask. The efficiency of the nanopattern silicon substrate heterojunction cells was 31.49% greater than that of heterojunction cells on a flat silicon wafer.

A cost roadmap for silicon heterojunction solar cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Louwen, A.; van Sark, W.; Schropp, R.E.I.; Faaij, A.

2016-01-01

Research and development of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells has seen a marked increase since the recent expiry of core patents describing SHJ technology. SHJ solar cells are expected to offer various cost benefits compared to conventional crystalline silicon solar cells. This paper analyses

A Cost Roadmap for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Louwen, A.; van Sark, W.G.J.H.M.; Schropp, Ruud; Faaij, A.

Research and development of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells has seen a marked increase since the recent expiry of core patents describing SHJ technology. SHJ solar cells are expected to offer various cost benefits compared to conventional crystalline silicon solar cells. This paper analyses

Simple processing of back-contacted silicon heterojunction solar cells using selective-area crystalline growth

KAUST Repository

Tomasi, Andrea; Paviet-Salomon, Bertrand; Jeangros, Quentin; Haschke, Jan; Christmann, Gabriel; Barraud, Loris; Descoeudres, Antoine; Seif, Johannes Peter; Nicolay, Sylvain; Despeisse, Matthieu; De Wolf, Stefaan; Ballif, Christophe

2017-01-01

For crystalline-silicon solar cells, voltages close to the theoretical limit are nowadays readily achievable when using passivating contacts. Conversely, maximal current generation requires the integration of the electron and hole contacts at the back of the solar cell to liberate its front from any shadowing loss. Recently, the world-record efficiency for crystalline-silicon single-junction solar cells was achieved by merging these two approaches in a single device; however, the complexity of fabricating this class of devices raises concerns about their commercial potential. Here we show a contacting method that substantially simplifies the architecture and fabrication of back-contacted silicon solar cells. We exploit the surface-dependent growth of silicon thin films, deposited by plasma processes, to eliminate the patterning of one of the doped carrier-collecting layers. Then, using only one alignment step for electrode definition, we fabricate a proof-of-concept 9-cm2 tunnel-interdigitated back-contact solar cell with a certified conversion efficiency >22.5%.

Simple processing of back-contacted silicon heterojunction solar cells using selective-area crystalline growth

KAUST Repository

Tomasi, Andrea

2017-04-24

For crystalline-silicon solar cells, voltages close to the theoretical limit are nowadays readily achievable when using passivating contacts. Conversely, maximal current generation requires the integration of the electron and hole contacts at the back of the solar cell to liberate its front from any shadowing loss. Recently, the world-record efficiency for crystalline-silicon single-junction solar cells was achieved by merging these two approaches in a single device; however, the complexity of fabricating this class of devices raises concerns about their commercial potential. Here we show a contacting method that substantially simplifies the architecture and fabrication of back-contacted silicon solar cells. We exploit the surface-dependent growth of silicon thin films, deposited by plasma processes, to eliminate the patterning of one of the doped carrier-collecting layers. Then, using only one alignment step for electrode definition, we fabricate a proof-of-concept 9-cm2 tunnel-interdigitated back-contact solar cell with a certified conversion efficiency >22.5%.

Black phosphorus induced photo-doping for high-performance organic-silicon heterojunction photovoltaics

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhouhui Xia; Pengfei Li; Yuqiang Liu; Tao Song; Qiaoliang Bao; Shuit-Tong Lee; Baoquan Sun

2017-01-01

In conventional crystalline silicon (Si) homojunction solar cells,a strategy of doping by transporting phosphorus or boron impurities into Si is commonly used to build Ohmic contacts at rear electrodes.However,this technique involves an energy intensive,high temperature (～ 800 ℃) process and toxic doping materials.Black phosphorus (BP) is a two-dimensional,narrow bandgap semiconductor with high carrier mobility that exhibits broad light harvesting properties.Here,we place BP:zinc oxide (ZnO) composite films between Si and aluminum (Al) to improve their contact.Once the BP harvests photons with energies below 1.1 eV from the crystalline Si,the ZnO carrier concentration increases dramatically due to charge injection.This photo-induced doping results in a high carrier concentration in the ZnO film,mimicking the modulated doping technique used in semiconductor heterojunctions.We show that photo-induced carriers dramatically increase the conductivities of the BP-modified ZnO films,thus reducing the contact resistance between Si and Al.A photovoltaic power conversion efficiency of 15.2％ is achieved in organic-Si heterojunction solar cells that use a ZnO:BP layer.These findings demonstrate an effective way of improving Si/metal contact via a simple,low temperature process.

High Detectivity Graphene-Silicon Heterojunction Photodetector.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xinming; Zhu, Miao; Du, Mingde; Lv, Zheng; Zhang, Li; Li, Yuanchang; Yang, Yao; Yang, Tingting; Li, Xiao; Wang, Kunlin; Zhu, Hongwei; Fang, Ying

2016-02-03

A graphene/n-type silicon (n-Si) heterojunction has been demonstrated to exhibit strong rectifying behavior and high photoresponsivity, which can be utilized for the development of high-performance photodetectors. However, graphene/n-Si heterojunction photodetectors reported previously suffer from relatively low specific detectivity due to large dark current. Here, by introducing a thin interfacial oxide layer, the dark current of graphene/n-Si heterojunction has been reduced by two orders of magnitude at zero bias. At room temperature, the graphene/n-Si photodetector with interfacial oxide exhibits a specific detectivity up to 5.77 × 10(13) cm Hz(1/2) W(-1) at the peak wavelength of 890 nm in vacuum, which is highest reported detectivity at room temperature for planar graphene/Si heterojunction photodetectors. In addition, the improved graphene/n-Si heterojunction photodetectors possess high responsivity of 0.73 A W(-1) and high photo-to-dark current ratio of ≈10(7) . The current noise spectral density of the graphene/n-Si photodetector has been characterized under ambient and vacuum conditions, which shows that the dark current can be further suppressed in vacuum. These results demonstrate that graphene/Si heterojunction with interfacial oxide is promising for the development of high detectivity photodetectors. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Indium oxide/n-silicon heterojunction solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Tom; Ghosh, Amal K.

1982-12-28

A high photo-conversion efficiency indium oxide/n-silicon heterojunction solar cell is spray deposited from a solution containing indium trichloride. The solar cell exhibits an Air Mass One solar conversion efficiency in excess of about 10%.

Development of laser-fired contacts for amorphous silicon layers obtained by Hot-Wire CVD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munoz, D.; Voz, C.; Blanque, S.; Ibarz, D.; Bertomeu, J.; Alcubilla, R.

2009-01-01

In this work we study aluminium laser-fired contacts for intrinsic amorphous silicon layers deposited by Hot-Wire CVD. This structure could be used as an alternative low temperature back contact for rear passivated heterojunction solar cells. An infrared Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) has been used to locally fire the aluminium through the thin amorphous silicon layers. Under optimized laser firing parameters, very low specific contact resistances (ρ c ∼ 10 mΩ cm 2 ) have been obtained on 2.8 Ω cm p-type c-Si wafers. This investigation focuses on maintaining the passivation quality of the interface without an excessive increase in the series resistance of the device.

Plasma-enhanced atomic-layer-deposited MoO{sub x} emitters for silicon heterojunction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ziegler, Johannes; Schneider, Thomas; Sprafke, Alexander N. [Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, mu-MD Group, Institute of Physics, Halle (Germany); Mews, Mathias; Korte, Lars [Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fuer Materialien und Energie GmbH, Institute for Silicon-Photovoltaics, Berlin (Germany); Kaufmann, Kai [Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP, Halle (Germany); University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Anhalt Koethen, Koethen (Germany); Wehrspohn, Ralf B. [Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, mu-MD Group, Institute of Physics, Halle (Germany); Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM Halle, Halle (Germany)

2015-09-15

A method for the deposition of molybdenum oxide (MoO{sub x}) with high growth rates at temperatures below 200 C based on plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition is presented. The stoichiometry of the over-stoichiometric MoO{sub x} films can be adjusted by the plasma parameters. First results of these layers acting as hole-selective contacts in silicon heterojunction solar cells are presented and discussed. (orig.)

Simple fabrication of back contact heterojunction solar cells by plasma ion implantation

Science.gov (United States)

Koyama, Koichi; Yamaguchi, Noboru; Hironiwa, Daisuke; Suzuki, Hideo; Ohdaira, Keisuke; Matsumura, Hideki

2017-08-01

A back-contact amorphous-silicon (a-Si)/crystalline silicon (c-Si) heterojunction is one of the most promising structures for high-efficiency solar cells. However, the patterning of back-contact electrodes causes the increase in fabrication cost. Thus, to simplify the fabrication of back-contact cells, we attempted to form p-a-Si/i-a-Si/c-Si and n-a-Si/i-a-Si/c-Si regions by the conversion of a patterned area of p-a-Si/i-a-Si/c-Si to n-a-Si/i-a-Si/c-Si by plasma ion implantation. It is revealed that the conversion of the conduction type can be realized by the plasma ion implantation of phosphorus (P) atoms into p-a-Si/i-a-Si/c-Si regions, and also that the quality of passivation can be kept sufficiently high, the same as that before ion implantation, when the samples are annealed at around 250 °C and also when the energy and dose of ion implantation are appropriately chosen for fitting to a-Si layer thickness and bulk c-Si carrier density.

22.5% efficient silicon heterojunction solar cell with molybdenum oxide hole collector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geissbühler, Jonas, E-mail: jonas.geissbuehler@epfl.ch; Werner, Jérémie; Martin de Nicolas, Silvia; Hessler-Wyser, Aïcha; Tomasi, Andrea; Niesen, Bjoern; De Wolf, Stefaan [Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory, Institute of Microengineering (IMT), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Rue de la Maladière 71b, CH-2000 Neuchâtel (Switzerland); Barraud, Loris; Despeisse, Matthieu; Nicolay, Sylvain [CSEM PV-Center, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2000 Neuchâtel (Switzerland); Ballif, Christophe [Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory, Institute of Microengineering (IMT), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Rue de la Maladière 71b, CH-2000 Neuchâtel (Switzerland); CSEM PV-Center, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2000 Neuchâtel (Switzerland)

2015-08-24

Substituting the doped amorphous silicon films at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells with wide-bandgap transition metal oxides can mitigate parasitic light absorption losses. This was recently proven by replacing p-type amorphous silicon with molybdenum oxide films. In this article, we evidence that annealing above 130 °C—often needed for the curing of printed metal contacts—detrimentally impacts hole collection of such devices. We circumvent this issue by using electrodeposited copper front metallization and demonstrate a silicon heterojunction solar cell with molybdenum oxide hole collector, featuring a fill factor value higher than 80% and certified energy conversion efficiency of 22.5%.

Electroluminescence analysis for spatial characterization of parasitic optical losses in silicon heterojunction solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Nuha; Zhang, Lei; Sriramagiri, Gowri; Das, Ujjwal; Hegedus, Steven

2018-04-01

Electroluminescence (EL) coupled with reflection measurements are used to spatially quantify optical losses in silicon heterojunction solar cells due to plasmonic absorption in the metal back contacts. The effect of indium tin oxide back reflector in decreasing this plasmonic absorption is found to increase the reflection from the back nickel (Ni)-aluminum (Al) and Al metals by ˜12% and ˜41%, respectively, in both bifacial and front junction silicon solar cells. Losses due to back reflection are calculated by comparison between the EL emission signals in high and low back reflection samples and are shown to be in agreement with standard reflection measurements. We conclude that the optical properties of the back contact can significantly influence the EL intensity which complicates the interpretation of EL as being primarily due to recombination especially when comparing two different devices with spatially varying back surface structures.

Characterization of Transition Metal Oxide/Silicon Heterojunctions for Solar Cell Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis G. Gerling

2015-10-01

Full Text Available During the last decade, transition metal oxides have been actively investigated as hole- and electron-selective materials in organic electronics due to their low-cost processing. In this study, four transition metal oxides (V2O5, MoO3, WO3, and ReO3 with high work functions (>5 eV were thermally evaporated as front p-type contacts in planar n-type crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells. The concentration of oxygen vacancies in MoO3−x was found to be dependent on film thickness and redox conditions, as determined by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. Transfer length method measurements of oxide films deposited on glass yielded high sheet resistances (~109 Ω/sq, although lower values (~104 Ω/sq were measured for oxides deposited on silicon, indicating the presence of an inversion (hole rich layer. Of the four oxide/silicon solar cells, ReO3 was found to be unstable upon air exposure, while V2O5 achieved the highest open-circuit voltage (593 mV and conversion efficiency (12.7%, followed by MoO3 (581 mV, 12.6% and WO3 (570 mV, 11.8%. A short-circuit current gain of ~0.5 mA/cm2 was obtained when compared to a reference amorphous silicon contact, as expected from a wider energy bandgap. Overall, these results support the viability of a simplified solar cell design, processed at low temperature and without dopants.

The Silicon:Colloidal Quantum Dot Heterojunction

KAUST Repository

Masala, Silvia; Adinolfi, Valerio; Sun, Jon Paul; Del Gobbo, Silvano; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Kramer, Illan J.; Hill, Ian G.; Sargent, Edward H.

2015-01-01

A heterojunction between crystalline silicon and colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) is realized. A special interface modification is developed to overcome an inherent energetic band mismatch between the two semiconductors, and realize the efficient collection of infrared photocarriers generated in the CQD film. This junction is used to produce a sensitive near infrared photodetector. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Silicon:Colloidal Quantum Dot Heterojunction

KAUST Repository

Masala, Silvia

2015-10-13

A heterojunction between crystalline silicon and colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) is realized. A special interface modification is developed to overcome an inherent energetic band mismatch between the two semiconductors, and realize the efficient collection of infrared photocarriers generated in the CQD film. This junction is used to produce a sensitive near infrared photodetector. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Asymmetric band offsets in silicon heterojunction solar cells: Impact on device performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seif, Johannes Peter, E-mail: johannes.seif@alumni.epfl.ch; Ballif, Christophe; De Wolf, Stefaan [Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory, Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Rue de la Maladière 71b, CH-2002 Neuchâtel (Switzerland); Menda, Deneb; Özdemir, Orhan [Department of Physics, Yıldız Technical University, Davutpasa Campus, TR-34210 Esenler, Istanbul (Turkey); Descoeudres, Antoine; Barraud, Loris [CSEM, PV-Center, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002 Neuchâtel (Switzerland)

2016-08-07

Amorphous/crystalline silicon interfaces feature considerably larger valence than conduction band offsets. In this article, we analyze the impact of such band offset asymmetry on the performance of silicon heterojunction solar cells. To this end, we use silicon suboxides as passivation layers—inserted between substrate and (front or rear) contacts—since such layers enable intentionally exacerbated band-offset asymmetry. Investigating all topologically possible passivation layer permutations and focussing on light and dark current-voltage characteristics, we confirm that to avoid fill factor losses, wider-bandgap silicon oxide films (of at least several nanometer thin) should be avoided in hole-collecting contacts. As a consequence, device implementation of such films as window layers—without degraded carrier collection—demands electron collection at the front and hole collection at the rear. Furthermore, at elevated operating temperatures, once possible carrier transport barriers are overcome by thermionic (field) emission, the device performance is mainly dictated by the passivation of its surfaces. In this context, compared to the standard amorphous silicon layers, the wide-bandgap oxide layers applied here passivate remarkably better at these temperatures, which may represent an additional benefit under practical operation conditions.

Silicon heterojunction solar cell passivation in combination with nanocrystalline silicon oxide emitters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gatz, H.A.; Rath, J.K.; Verheijen, M.A.; Kessels, W.M.M.; Schropp, R.E.I.

2016-01-01

Silicon heterojunction solar cells (SHJ) are well known for their high efficiencies, enabled by their remarkably high open-circuit voltages (VOC). A key factor in achieving these values is a good passivation of the crystalline wafer interface. One of the restrictions during SHJ solar cell production

Device physics underlying silicon heterojunction and passivating-contact solar cells: A topical review

KAUST Repository

Chavali, Raghu V. K.; De Wolf, Stefaan; Alam, Muhammad A.

2018-01-01

The device physics of commercially dominant diffused-junction silicon solar cells is well understood, allowing sophisticated optimization of this class of devices. Recently, so-called passivating-contact solar cell technologies have become prominent

Observation of a photoinduced, resonant tunneling effect in a carbon nanotube–silicon heterojunction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carla Aramo

2015-03-01

Full Text Available A significant resonant tunneling effect has been observed under the 2.4 V junction threshold in a large area, carbon nanotube–silicon (CNT–Si heterojunction obtained by growing a continuous layer of multiwall carbon nanotubes on an n-doped silicon substrate. The multiwall carbon nanostructures were grown by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD technique on a 60 nm thick, silicon nitride layer, deposited on an n-type Si substrate. The heterojunction characteristics were intensively studied on different substrates, resulting in high photoresponsivity with a large reverse photocurrent plateau. In this paper, we report on the photoresponsivity characteristics of the device, the heterojunction threshold and the tunnel-like effect observed as a function of applied voltage and excitation wavelength. The experiments are performed in the near-ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelength range. The high conversion efficiency of light radiation into photoelectrons observed with the presented layout allows the device to be used as a large area photodetector with very low, intrinsic dark current and noise.

Cost analysis of two silicon heterojunction solar cell designs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Louwen, A.; van Sark, W.G.J.H.M.; Schropp, R.E.I.; Turkenburg, W.C.; Faaij, A.P.C.

2013-01-01

Research and Development of Silicon Heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells has seen a marked increase since the recent expiry of core patents describing SHJ technology. This paper investigates the production costs associated with two different SHJ cell designs investigated within the FLASH programme, a

Realization of dual-heterojunction solar cells on ultra-thin ∼25 μm, flexible silicon substrates

KAUST Repository

Onyegam, Emmanuel U.; Sarkar, Dabraj; Hilali, Mohamed M.; Saha, Sayan; Mathew, Leo; Rao, Rajesh A.; Smith, Ryan S.; Xu, Dewei; Jawarani, Dharmesh; Garcia, Ricardo; Ainom, Moses; Banerjee, Sanjay K.

2014-01-01

Silicon heterojunction (HJ) solar cells with different rear passivation and contact designs were fabricated on ∼ 25 μ m semiconductor-on-metal (SOM) exfoliated substrates. It was found that the performance of these cells is limited by recombination at the rear-surface. Employing the dual-HJ architecture resulted in the improvement of open-circuit voltage (Voc) from 605 mV (single-HJ) to 645 mV with no front side intrinsic amorphous silicon (i-layer) passivation. Addition of un-optimized front side i-layer passivation resulted in further enhancement in Voc to 662 mV. Pathways to achieving further improvement in the performance of HJ solar cells on ultra-thin SOM substrates are discussed. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Realization of dual-heterojunction solar cells on ultra-thin ∼25 μm, flexible silicon substrates

KAUST Repository

Onyegam, Emmanuel U.

2014-04-14

Silicon heterojunction (HJ) solar cells with different rear passivation and contact designs were fabricated on ∼ 25 μ m semiconductor-on-metal (SOM) exfoliated substrates. It was found that the performance of these cells is limited by recombination at the rear-surface. Employing the dual-HJ architecture resulted in the improvement of open-circuit voltage (Voc) from 605 mV (single-HJ) to 645 mV with no front side intrinsic amorphous silicon (i-layer) passivation. Addition of un-optimized front side i-layer passivation resulted in further enhancement in Voc to 662 mV. Pathways to achieving further improvement in the performance of HJ solar cells on ultra-thin SOM substrates are discussed. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Silicon heterojunction solar cells with novel fluorinated n-type nanocrystalline silicon oxide emitters on p-type crystalline silicon

Science.gov (United States)

Dhar, Sukanta; Mandal, Sourav; Das, Gourab; Mukhopadhyay, Sumita; Pratim Ray, Partha; Banerjee, Chandan; Barua, Asok Kumar

2015-08-01

A novel fluorinated phosphorus doped silicon oxide based nanocrystalline material have been used to prepare heterojunction solar cells on flat p-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) Czochralski (CZ) wafers. The n-type nc-SiO:F:H material were deposited by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Deposited films were characterized in detail by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Raman, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and optoelectronics properties have been studied using temperature dependent conductivity measurement, Ellipsometry, UV-vis spectrum analysis etc. It is observed that the cell fabricated with fluorinated silicon oxide emitter showing higher initial efficiency (η = 15.64%, Jsc = 32.10 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.630 V, FF = 0.77) for 1 cm2 cell area compare to conventional n-a-Si:H emitter (14.73%) on flat c-Si wafer. These results indicate that n type nc-SiO:F:H material is a promising candidate for heterojunction solar cell on p-type crystalline wafers. The high Jsc value is associated with excellent quantum efficiencies at short wavelengths (<500 nm).

Method for forming indium oxide/n-silicon heterojunction solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Tom; Ghosh, Amal K.

1984-03-13

A high photo-conversion efficiency indium oxide/n-silicon heterojunction solar cell is spray deposited from a solution containing indium trichloride. The solar cell exhibits an Air Mass One solar conversion efficiency in excess of about 10%.

Silicon passivation and tunneling contact formation by atomic layer deposited Al2O3/ZnO stacks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Garcia-Alonso Garcia, D.; Smit, S.; Bordihn, S.; Kessels, W.M.M.

2013-01-01

The passivation of Si by Al2O3/ZnO stacks, which can serve as passivated tunneling contacts or heterojunctions in silicon photovoltaics, was investigated. It was demonstrated that stacks with Al2O3 thicknesses >3 nm lead to lower surface recombination velocities (Seff,max <4 cm s-1) on n- and p-type

Improvement in IBC-silicon solar cell performance by insertion of highly doped crystalline layer at heterojunction interfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bashiri, Hadi; Azim Karami, Mohammad; Mohammadnejad, Shahramm

2017-01-01

By inserting a thin highly doped crystalline silicon layer between the base region and amorphous silicon layer in an interdigitated back-contact (IBC) silicon solar cell, a new passivation layer is investigated. The passivation layer performance is characterized by numerical simulations. Moreover, the dependence of the output parameters of the solar cell on the additional layer parameters (doping concentration and thickness) is studied. By optimizing the additional passivation layer in terms of doping concentration and thickness, the power conversion efficiency could be improved by a factor of 2.5%, open circuit voltage is increased by 30 mV and the fill factor of the solar cell by 7.4%. The performance enhancement is achieved due to the decrease of recombination rate, a decrease in solar cell resistivity and improvement of field effect passivation at heterojunction interface. The above-mentioned results are compared with reported results of the same conventional interdigitated back-contact silicon solar cell structure. Furthermore, the effect of a-Si:H/c-Si interface defect density on IBC silicon solar cell parameters with a new passivation layer is studied. The additional passivation layer also reduces the sensitivity of output parameter of solar cell to interface defect density. (paper)

22.5% efficient silicon heterojunction solar cell with molybdenum oxide hole collector

OpenAIRE

Geissbühler Jonas; Werner Jérémie; Martin de Nicolas Silvia; Barraud Loris; Hessler-Wyser Aïcha; Despeisse Matthieu; Nicolay Sylvain; Tomasi Andrea; Niesen Bjoern; De Wolf Stefaan; Ballif Christophe

2015-01-01

Substituting the doped amorphous silicon films at the front of silicon heterojunction solar cells with wide bandgap transition metal oxides can mitigate parasitic light absorption losses. This was recently proven by replacing p type amorphous silicon with molybdenum oxide films. In this article we evidence that annealing above 130?°C—often needed for the curing of printed metal contacts—detrimentally impacts hole collection of such devices. We circumvent this issue by using electrodeposited c...

Buried MoO x/Ag Electrode Enables High-Efficiency Organic/Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells with a High Fill Factor.

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Zhouhui; Gao, Peng; Sun, Teng; Wu, Haihua; Tan, Yeshu; Song, Tao; Lee, Shuit-Tong; Sun, Baoquan

2018-04-25

Silicon (Si)/organic heterojunction solar cells based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and n-type Si have attracted wide interests because they promise cost-effectiveness and high-efficiency. However, the limited conductivity of PEDOT:PSS leads to an inefficient hole transport efficiency for the heterojunction device. Therefore, a high dense top-contact metal grid electrode is required to assure the efficient charge collection efficiency. Unfortunately, the large metal grid coverage ratio electrode would lead to undesirable optical loss. Here, we develop a strategy to balance PEDOT:PSS conductivity and grid optical transmittance via a buried molybdenum oxide/silver grid electrode. In addition, the grid electrode coverage ratio is optimized to reduce its light shading effect. The buried electrode dramatically reduces the device series resistance, which leads to a higher fill factor (FF). With the optimized buried electrode, a record FF of 80% is achieved for flat Si/PEDOT:PSS heterojunction devices. With further enhancement adhesion between the PEDOT:PSS film and Si substrate by a chemical cross-linkable silance, a power conversion efficiency of 16.3% for organic/textured Si heterojunction devices is achieved. Our results provide a path to overcome the inferior organic semiconductor property to enhance the organic/Si heterojunction solar cell.

Increasing the efficiency of silicon heterojunction solar cells and modules by light soaking

KAUST Repository

Kobayashi, Eiji

2017-06-24

Silicon heterojunction solar cells use crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers as optical absorbers and employ bilayers of doped/intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) to form passivating contacts. Recently, we demonstrated that such solar cells increase their operating voltages and thus their conversion efficiencies during light exposure. We found that this performance increase is due to improved passivation of the a-Si:H/c-Si interface and is induced by injected charge carriers (either by light soaking or forward-voltage biasing of the device). Here, we discuss this counterintuitive behavior and establish that: (i) the performance increase is observed in solar cells as well as modules; (ii) this phenomenon requires the presence of doped a-Si:H films, but is independent from whether light is incident from the a-Si:H(p) or the a-Si:H(n) side; (iii) UV and blue photons do not play a role in this effect; (iv) the performance increase can be observed under illumination intensities as low as 20Wm (0.02-sun) and appears to be almost identical in strength when under 1-sun (1000Wm); (v) the underlying physical mechanism likely differs from annealing-induced surface passivation.

Silicon homo-heterojunction solar cells: A promising candidate to realize high performance more stably

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miao Tan

2017-08-01

Full Text Available We have investigated the influences of diverse physical parameters on the performances of a silicon homo-heterojunction (H-H solar cell, which encompasses both homojunction and heterojunction, together with their underlying mechanisms by the aid of AFORS-HET simulation. It is found that the performances of H-H solar cell are less sensitive to (i the work function of the transparent conductive oxide layer, (ii the interfacial density of states at the front hydrogenated amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon (a-Si:H/c-Si interface, (iii the peak dangling bond defect densities within the p-type a-Si:H (p-a-Si:H layer, and (iv the doping concentration of the p-a-Si:H layer, when compared to that of the conventional heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT counterparts. These advantages are due to the fact that the interfacial recombination and the recombination within the a-Si:H region are less affected by all the above parameters, which fundamentally benefit from the field-effect passivation of the homojunction. Therefore, the design of H-H structure can provide an opportunity to produce high-efficiency solar cells more stably.

Silicon homo-heterojunction solar cells: A promising candidate to realize high performance more stably

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Miao; Zhong, Sihua; Wang, Wenjie; Shen, Wenzhong

2017-08-01

We have investigated the influences of diverse physical parameters on the performances of a silicon homo-heterojunction (H-H) solar cell, which encompasses both homojunction and heterojunction, together with their underlying mechanisms by the aid of AFORS-HET simulation. It is found that the performances of H-H solar cell are less sensitive to (i) the work function of the transparent conductive oxide layer, (ii) the interfacial density of states at the front hydrogenated amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon (a-Si:H/c-Si) interface, (iii) the peak dangling bond defect densities within the p-type a-Si:H (p-a-Si:H) layer, and (iv) the doping concentration of the p-a-Si:H layer, when compared to that of the conventional heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) counterparts. These advantages are due to the fact that the interfacial recombination and the recombination within the a-Si:H region are less affected by all the above parameters, which fundamentally benefit from the field-effect passivation of the homojunction. Therefore, the design of H-H structure can provide an opportunity to produce high-efficiency solar cells more stably.

Transparent back contacts for P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sendova-Vassileva, M; Dikov, H; Popkirov, G; Lazarova, E; Vitanov, P; Gancheva, V; Grancharov, G; Tsocheva, D; Mokreva, P

2014-01-01

A new combination of layers functioning as a transparent contact is proposed and tested in real solar cells. The contacts consist of TiO 2 layers and thin metal layers (Ag, Cu) and are deposited by magnetron sputtering. The optical transmission and electrical conductivity of the transparent contact layers (TCL) are measured. The TCLs are applied as back contacts in bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells deposited on ITO covered glass and consisting of the following layers: ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PCBM/back contact. The organic layers are deposited by spin-coating. For comparison, the same bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells are prepared with a sputtered Ag back contact. The first results show a dependence of the current-voltage parameters of the studied solar cells on the thickness of the different component layers of the transparent back contacts. There is a balance that has to be observed between the electrical characteristics of the contacts and their optical transparency. Future plans involve their inclusion as intermediate contacts in tandem organic solar cells.

The Development of High-Density Vertical Silicon Nanowires and Their Application in a Heterojunction Diode

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Chung Chang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Vertically aligned p-type silicon nanowire (SiNW arrays were fabricated through metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE of Si wafers. An indium tin oxide/indium zinc oxide/silicon nanowire (ITO/IZO/SiNW heterojunction diode was formed by depositing ITO and IZO thin films on the vertically aligned SiNW arrays. The structural and electrical properties of the resulting ITO/IZO/SiNW heterojunction diode were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM, X-ray diffraction (XRD, and current−voltage (I−V measurements. Nonlinear and rectifying I−V properties confirmed that a heterojunction diode was successfully formed in the ITO/IZO/SiNW structure. The diode had a well-defined rectifying behavior, with a rectification ratio of 550.7 at 3 V and a turn-on voltage of 2.53 V under dark conditions.

Effects of LiF/Al back electrode on the amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sunbo; Lee, Jaehyeong; Dao, Vinh Ai; Lee, Seungho; Balaji, Nagarajan; Ahn, Shihyun; Hussain, Shahzada Qamar; Han, Sangmyeong; Jung, Junhee; Jang, Juyeon; Lee, Yunjung; Yi, Junsin

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► We have employed a LiF dielectric layer as a new back-contact electrode. ► Increasing LiF thickness will decrease barrier for electrons transport, thus yield J sc . ► Increasing LiF thickness will reduced shunt leakage and enhanced internal field, thus yield V oc . ► Employing LiF layer, improvement of performance of HIT solar cells up to 17.13%. -- Abstract: To improve the quantum efficiency (QE) and hence the efficiency of the amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell, we have employed a LiF dielectric layer on the rear side. The high dipole moment of the LiF reduces the aluminum electrode's work–function and then lowers the energy barrier at back contact. This lower energy barrier height helps to enhance both the operating voltage and the QE at longer wavelength region, in turn improves the open-circuit voltage (V oc ), short-circuit current density (J sc ), and then overall cell efficiency. With optimized LiF layer thickness of 20 nm, 1 cm 2 heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells were produced with industry-compatible process, yielding V oc of 690 mV, J sc of 33.62 mA/cm 2 , and cell efficiencies of 17.13%. Therefore LiF/Al electrode on rear side is proposed as an alternate back electrode for high efficiency HIT solar cells

Recovery of indium-tin-oxide/silicon heterojunction solar cells by thermal annealing

OpenAIRE

Morales Vilches, Ana Belén; Voz Sánchez, Cristóbal; Colina Brito, Mónica Alejandra; López Rodríguez, Gema; Martín García, Isidro; Ortega Villasclaras, Pablo Rafael; Orpella García, Alberto; Alcubilla González, Ramón

2014-01-01

The emitter of silicon heterojunction solar cells consists of very thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers deposited at low temperature. The high sheet resistance of this type of emitter requires a transparent conductive oxide layer, which also acts as an effective antireflection coating. The deposition of this front electrode, typically by Sputtering, involves a relatively high energy ion bombardment at the surface that could degrade the emitter quality. The work function of the tra...

Hole-Collection Mechanism in Passivating Metal-Oxide Contacts on Si Solar Cells: Insights From Numerical Simulations

KAUST Repository

Vijayan, Ramachandran Ammapet; Essig, Stephanie; De Wolf, Stefaan; Ramanathan, Bairava Ganesh; Loper, Philipp; Ballif, Christophe; Varadharajaperumal, Muthubalan

2018-01-01

Silicon heterojunction solar cells enable high conversion efficiencies, thanks to their passivating contacts which consist of layered stacks of intrinsic and doped amorphous silicon. However, such contacts may reduce the photo current, when present

A boron and gallium co-doped ZnO intermediate layer for ZnO/Si heterojunction diodes

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Yuanxi; Huang, Jian; Li, Bing; Tang, Ke; Ma, Yuncheng; Cao, Meng; Wang, Lin; Wang, Linjun

2018-01-01

ZnO (Zinc oxide)/Si (Silicon) heterojunctions were prepared by depositing n-type ZnO films on p-type single crystal Si substrates using magnetron sputtering. A boron and gallium co-doped ZnO (BGZO) high conductivity intermediate layer was deposited between aurum (Au) electrodes and ZnO films. The influence of the BGZO layer on the properties of Au/ZnO contacts and the performance of ZnO/Si heterojunctions was investigated. The results show an improvement in contact resistance by introducing the BGZO layer. Compared with the ZnO/Si heterojunction, the BGZO/ZnO/Si heterojunction exhibits a larger forward current, a smaller turn-on voltage and higher ratio of ultraviolet (UV) photo current/dark current.

Optoelectrical Properties of a Heterojunction with Amorphous InGaZnO Film on n-Silicon Substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, D. L.; Ma, X. Z.; Li, L.; Xu, Z. K.

2017-10-01

An a-IGZO/ n-Si heterojunction device has been fabricated at room temperature by depositing amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) film on n-type silicon substrate by plasma-assisted pulsed laser deposition and its optoelectrical properties studied in detail. The heterojunction showed distinct rectifying characteristic with rectification ratio of 1.93 × 103 at ±2 V bias and reverse leakage current density of 1.6 × 10-6 A cm-2 at -2 V bias. More interestingly, the heterojunction not only showed the characteristic of unbiased photoresponse, but could also detect either ultraviolet or ultraviolet-visible light by simply changing the polarity of the bias applied to the heterojunction. The variable photoresponse phenomenon and the charge transport mechanisms in the heterojunction are explained based on the energy band diagram of the heterojunction.

Interface properties of the amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction photovoltaic cell

Science.gov (United States)

Halliop, Basia

Amorphous-crystalline silicon (a-Si:H/c-Si) heterojunctions have the potential of being a very high efficiency silicon photovoltaic platform technology with accompanying cost and energy budget reductions. In this research a heterojunction cell structure based on a-Si:H deposited using a DC saddle field plasma enhanced vapour deposition (DCSF PECVD) technique is studied, and the a-Si:H/c-Si and indium tin oxide/a-Si:H interfaces are examined using several characterization methods. Photocarrier radiometry (PCR) is used for the first time to probe the a-Si:H/c-Si junction. PCR is demonstrated as a carrier lifetime measurement technique -- specifically, confirming carrier lifetimes above 1 ms for 1-5 Ocm phosphorous-doped c-Si wafers passivated on both sides with 30 nm of i-a-Si:H. PCR is also used to determine surface recombination velocity and mobility, and to probe recombination at the a-Si:H/c-Si interface, distinguishing interface recombination from recombination within the a-Si:H layer or at the a-Si:H surface. A complementary technique, lateral conductivity is applied over a temperature range of 140 K to 430 K to construct energy band diagrams of a-Si:H/c-Si junctions. Boron doped a-Si:H films on glass are shown to have activation energies of 0.3 to 0.35 eV, tuneable by adjusting the diborane to silane gas ratio during deposition. Heterojunction samples show evidence of a strong hole inversion layer and a valence band offset of approximately 0.4 eV; carrier concentration in the inversion layer is reduced in p-a-Si:H/i-a-Si:H/ c-Si structures as intrinsic layer thickness increases, while carrier lifetime is increased. The indium tin oxide/amorphous silicon interface is also examined. Optimal ITO films were prepared with a sheet resistance of 17.3 O/[special character omitted] and AM1.5 averaged transmittance of 92.1%., for a film thickness of approximately 85 nm, using temperatures below 200°C. Two different heat treatments are found to cause crystallization of

Crystalline Silicon Interconnected Strips (XIS). Introduction to a New, Integrated Device and Module Concept

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Roosmalen, J.; Bronsveld, P.; Mewe, A.; Janssen, G.; Stodolny, M.; Cobussen-Pool, E.; Bennett, I.; Weeber, A.; Geerligs, B. [ECN Solar Energy, P.O. Box 1, NL-1755 ZG, Petten (Netherlands)

2012-06-15

A new device concept for high efficiency, low cost, wafer based silicon solar cells is introduced. To significantly lower the costs of Si photovoltaics, high efficiencies and large reductions of metals and silicon costs are required. To enable this, the device architecture was adapted into low current devices by applying thin silicon strips, to which a special high efficiency back-contact heterojunction cell design was applied. Standard industrial production processes can be used for our fully integrated cell and module design, with a cost reduction potential below 0.5 euro/Wp. First devices have been realized demonstrating the principle of a series connected back contact hybrid silicon heterojunction module concept.

Transmission Electron Microscopy Studies of Electron-Selective Titanium Oxide Contacts in Silicon Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Ali, Haider

2017-08-15

In this study, the cross-section of electron-selective titanium oxide (TiO2) contacts for n-type crystalline silicon solar cells were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. It was revealed that the excellent cell efficiency of 21.6% obtained on n-type cells, featuring SiO2/TiO2/Al rear contacts and after forming gas annealing (FGA) at 350°C, is due to strong surface passivation of SiO2/TiO2 stack as well as low contact resistivity at the Si/SiO2/TiO2 heterojunction. This can be attributed to the transformation of amorphous TiO2 to a conducting TiO2-x phase. Conversely, the low efficiency (9.8%) obtained on cells featuring an a-Si:H/TiO2/Al rear contact is due to severe degradation of passivation of the a-Si:H upon FGA.

Effects of LiF/Al back electrode on the amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Sunbo; Lee, Jaehyeong; Dao, Vinh Ai; Lee, Seungho [School of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Balaji, Nagarajan [Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Ahn, Shihyun [School of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Hussain, Shahzada Qamar [Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Han, Sangmyeong [School of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Jung, Junhee [Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Jang, Juyeon; Lee, Yunjung [School of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Yi, Junsin, E-mail: yi@yurim.skku.ac.kr [School of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-15

Highlights: ► We have employed a LiF dielectric layer as a new back-contact electrode. ► Increasing LiF thickness will decrease barrier for electrons transport, thus yield J{sub sc}. ► Increasing LiF thickness will reduced shunt leakage and enhanced internal field, thus yield V{sub oc}. ► Employing LiF layer, improvement of performance of HIT solar cells up to 17.13%. -- Abstract: To improve the quantum efficiency (QE) and hence the efficiency of the amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell, we have employed a LiF dielectric layer on the rear side. The high dipole moment of the LiF reduces the aluminum electrode's work–function and then lowers the energy barrier at back contact. This lower energy barrier height helps to enhance both the operating voltage and the QE at longer wavelength region, in turn improves the open-circuit voltage (V{sub oc}), short-circuit current density (J{sub sc}), and then overall cell efficiency. With optimized LiF layer thickness of 20 nm, 1 cm{sup 2} heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells were produced with industry-compatible process, yielding V{sub oc} of 690 mV, J{sub sc} of 33.62 mA/cm{sup 2}, and cell efficiencies of 17.13%. Therefore LiF/Al electrode on rear side is proposed as an alternate back electrode for high efficiency HIT solar cells.

Junction Transport in Epitaxial Film Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Young, D. L.; Li, J. V.; Teplin, C. W.; Stradins, P.; Branz, H. M.

2011-07-01

We report our progress toward low-temperature HWCVD epitaxial film silicon solar cells on inexpensive seed layers, with a focus on the junction transport physics exhibited by our devices. Heterojunctions of i/p hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si) on our n-type epitaxial crystal Si on n++ Si wafers show space-charge-region recombination, tunneling or diffusive transport depending on both epitaxial Si quality and the applied forward voltage.

Fabrication of heterojunction solar cells by using microcrystalline hydrogenated silicon oxide film as an emitter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banerjee, Chandan; Sritharathikhun, Jaran; Konagai, Makoto; Yamada, Akira

2008-01-01

Wide gap, highly conducting n-type hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon oxide (μc-SiO : H) films were prepared by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition at a very low substrate temperature (170 deg. C) as an alternative to amorphous silicon (a-Si : H) for use as an emitter layer of heterojunction solar cells. The optoelectronic properties of n-μc-SiO : H films prepared for the emitter layer are dark conductivity = 0.51 S cm -1 at 20 nm thin film, activation energy = 23 meV and E 04 = 2.3 eV. Czochralski-grown 380 μm thick p-type (1 0 0) oriented polished silicon wafers with a resistivity of 1-10 Ω cm were used for the fabrication of heterojunction solar cells. Photovoltaic parameters of the device were found to be V oc = 620 mV, J sc = 32.1 mA cm -2 , FF = 0.77, η = 15.32% (active area efficiency)

Low-temperature atomic layer deposition of MoO{sub x} for silicon heterojunction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macco, B.; Vos, M.F.J.; Thissen, N.F.W.; Bol, A.A. [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Kessels, W.M.M. [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Solliance Solar Research, Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2015-07-15

The preparation of high-quality molybdenum oxide (MoO{sub x}) is demonstrated by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (ALD) at substrate temperatures down to 50 C. The films are amorphous, slightly substoichiometric with respect to MoO{sub 3}, and free of other elements apart from hydrogen (<11 at%). The films have a high transparency in the visible region and their compatibility with a-Si:H passivation schemes is demonstrated. It is discussed that these aspects, in conjunction with the low processing temperature and the ability to deposit very thin conformal films, make this ALD process promising for the future application of MoO{sub x} in hole-selective contacts for silicon heterojunction solar cells. (copyright 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Core-shell heterojunction of silicon nanowire arrays and carbon quantum dots for photovoltaic devices and self-driven photodetectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Chao; Nie, Biao; Zeng, Longhui; Liang, Feng-Xia; Wang, Ming-Zheng; Luo, Linbao; Feng, Mei; Yu, Yongqiang; Wu, Chun-Yan; Wu, Yucheng; Yu, Shu-Hong

2014-04-22

Silicon nanostructure-based solar cells have lately intrigued intensive interest because of their promising potential in next-generation solar energy conversion devices. Herein, we report a silicon nanowire (SiNW) array/carbon quantum dot (CQD) core-shell heterojunction photovoltaic device by directly coating Ag-assisted chemical-etched SiNW arrays with CQDs. The heterojunction with a barrier height of 0.75 eV exhibited excellent rectifying behavior with a rectification ratio of 10(3) at ±0.8 V in the dark and power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 9.10% under AM 1.5G irradiation. It is believed that such a high PCE comes from the improved optical absorption as well as the optimized carrier transfer and collection capability. Furthermore, the heterojunction could function as a high-performance self-driven visible light photodetector operating in a wide switching wavelength with good stability, high sensitivity, and fast response speed. It is expected that the present SiNW array/CQD core-shell heterojunction device could find potential applications in future high-performance optoelectronic devices.

Explicit analytical modeling of the low frequency a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction capacitance: Analysis and application to silicon heterojunction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maslova, O. [Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miusskaya sq., 4, Moscow 125047 (Russian Federation); GeePs (Group of electrical engineering of Paris), CNRS UMR 8507, CentraleSupélec, Univ Paris-Sud, Sorbonne Universités-UPMC Univ Paris 06, 11 rue Joliot-Curie, Plateau de Moulon, F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Brézard-Oudot, A.; Gueunier-Farret, M.-E.; Alvarez, J.; Kleider, J.-P. [GeePs (Group of electrical engineering of Paris), CNRS UMR 8507, CentraleSupélec, Univ Paris-Sud, Sorbonne Universités-UPMC Univ Paris 06, 11 rue Joliot-Curie, Plateau de Moulon, F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France)

2015-09-21

We develop a fully analytical model in order to describe the temperature dependence of the low frequency capacitance of heterojunctions between hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c-Si). We demonstrate that the slope of the capacitance-temperature (C-T) curve is strongly enhanced if the c-Si surface is under strong inversion conditions compared to the usually assumed depletion layer capacitance. We have extended our analytical model to integrate a very thin undoped (i) a-Si:H layer at the interface and the finite thickness of the doped a-Si:H layer that are used in high efficiency solar cells for the passivation of interface defects and to limit short circuit current losses. Finally, using our calculations, we analyze experimental data on high efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells. The transition from the strong inversion limited behavior to the depletion layer behavior is discussed in terms of band offsets, density of states in a-Si:H, and work function of the indium tin oxide (ITO) front electrode. In particular, it is evidenced that strong inversion conditions prevail at the c-Si surface at high temperatures down to 250 K, which can only be reproduced if the ITO work function is larger than 4.7 eV.

Technology computer aided design of 29.5% efficient perovskite/interdigitated back contact silicon heterojunction mechanically stacked tandem solar cell for energy-efficient applications

Science.gov (United States)

Pandey, Rahul; Chaujar, Rishu

2017-04-01

A 29.5% efficient perovskite/SiC passivated interdigitated back contact silicon heterojunction (IBC-SiHJ) mechanically stacked tandem solar cell device has been designed and simulated. This is a substantial improvement of 40% and 15%, respectively, compared to the transparent perovskite solar cell (21.1%) and Si solar cell (25.6%) operated individually. The perovskite solar cell has been used as a top subcell, whereas 250- and 25-μm-thick IBC-SiHJ solar cells have been used as bottom subcells. The realistic technology computer aided design analysis has been performed to understand the physical processes in the device and to make reliable predictions of the behavior. The performance of the top subcell has been obtained for different acceptor densities and hole mobility in Spiro-MeOTAD along with the impact of counter electrode work function. To incorporate the effect of material quality, the influence of carrier lifetimes has also been studied for perovskite top and IBC-SiHJ bottom subcells. The optical and electrical behavior of the devices has been obtained for both standalone as well as tandem configuration. Results reported in this study reveal that the proposed four-terminal tandem device may open a new door for cost-effective and energy-efficient applications.

Wide-bandgap epitaxial heterojunction windows for silicon solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Landis, Geoffrey A.; Loferski, Joseph J.; Beaulieu, Roland; Sekula-Moise, Patricia A.; Vernon, Stanley M.

1990-01-01

It is shown that the efficiency of a solar cell can be improved if minority carriers are confined by use of a wide-bandgap heterojunction window. For silicon (lattice constant a = 5.43 A), nearly lattice-matched wide-bandgap materials are ZnS (a = 5.41 A) and GaP (a = 5.45 A). Isotype n-n heterojuntions of both ZnS/Si and GaP/Si were grown on silicon n-p homojunction solar cells. Successful deposition processes used were metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MO-CVD) for GaP and ZnS, and vacuum evaporation of ZnS. Planar (100) and (111) and texture-etched - (111)-faceted - surfaces were used. A decrease in minority-carrier surface recombination compared to a bare surface was seen from increased short-wavelength spectral response, increased open-circuit voltage, and reduced dark saturation current, with no degradation of the minority carrier diffusion length.

Electrical Characterization of Nanopolyaniline/Porous Silicon Heterojunction at High Temperatures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salah E. El-Zohary

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Nanopolyaniline/p-type porous silicon (NPANI/PSi heterojunction films were chemically fabricated via in situ polymerization. The composition and morphology of the nanopolymer were confirmed using Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible, and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The results indicated that the polymerization took place throughout the porous layer. The I-V measurements, performed at different temperatures, enabled the calculation of ideality factor, barrier height, and series resistance of those films. The obtained ideality factor showed a nonideal diode behavior. The series resistance was found to decrease with increasing temperature.

Gallium Phosphide Integrated with Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chaomin

It has been a long-standing goal to epitaxially integrate III-V alloys with Si substrates which can enable low-cost microelectronic and optoelectronic systems. Among the III-V alloys, gallium phosphide (GaP) is a strong candidate, especially for solar cells applications. Gallium phosphide with small lattice mismatch ( 0.4%) to Si enables coherent/pseudomorphic epitaxial growth with little crystalline defect creation. The band offset between Si and GaP suggests that GaP can function as an electron-selective contact, and it has been theoretically shown that GaP/Si integrated solar cells have the potential to overcome the limitations of common a-Si based heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. Despite the promising potential of GaP/Si heterojunction solar cells, there are two main obstacles to realize high performance photovoltaic devices from this structure. First, the growth of the polar material (GaP) on the non-polar material (Si) is a challenge in how to suppress the formation of structural defects, such as anti-phase domains (APD). Further, it is widely observed that the minority-carrier lifetime of the Si substrates is significantly decreased during epitaxially growth of GaP on Si. In this dissertation, two different GaP growth methods were compared and analyzed, including migration-enhanced epitaxy (MEE) and traditional molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). High quality GaP can be realized on precisely oriented (001) Si substrates by MBE growth, and the investigation of structural defect creation in the GaP/Si epitaxial structures was conducted using high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The mechanisms responsible for lifetime degradation were further investigated, and it was found that external fast diffusors are the origin for the degradation. Two practical approaches including the use of both a SiNx diffusion barrier layer and P-diffused layers, to suppress the Si minority-carrier lifetime degradation

Atomic layer deposited ZnO:B as transparent conductive oxide for silicon heterojunction solar cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gatz, H.A.; Koushik, D.; Rath, J.K.; Kessels, W.M.M.; Schropp, R.E.I.

A key factor to improve the performance of silicon heterojunction solar cells (SHJ) is increasing their short circuit density (Jsc) by reducing the parasitic absorption of light in the front side of the cell. Therefore, we have investigated the replacement of the conventional sputtered ITO on the

Characterization of poly-aniline/silicon heterojunction for gamma dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laranjeira, Jane M.G.; Khoury, Helen J.; Azevedo, Walter M.; Silva Junior, Eronides F. da; Vasconcelos, Elder A.

2000-01-01

In this work, we have developed and characterized poly-aniline/silicon heterojunction diodes for dosimetry applications. The poly-aniline thin film (thickness in order of microns) was deposited on n-type Si (1 Ωcm) by spin-coating technique from soluble poly-aniline. Al electrode was evaporated on the back side of Si wafer and a circular gold electrode with an area of 0,0036 cm 2 was evaporated on the poly-aniline film. The UV-visible and infrared characterization of the poly-aniline solution and the poly-aniline film has also been done. The heterojunction presents good rectifying behavior at room temperature and the rectification ratio were found to be 51664 ±1,0 V under ambient conditions. The saturation current densities are of the order of 1,4 μA/cm 2 at -1,0 V. The forward current correspond to the negative polarity on the aluminum electrode side and the ideality factor of diodes was approximately 2. The rectifying characteristics of diodes was changed after interaction with gamma radiation ( 60 Co) and the results shows that this devices has potential for applications in dosimetry for doses in range of 0 to 4000 Gy. (author)

One-way optical transmission in silicon photonic crystal heterojunction with circular and square scatterers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Dan, E-mail: liudanhu725@126.com [School of Physics and Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, Hubei University of Education, Wuhan, 430205 (China); Hu, Sen [School of Physics and Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, Hubei University of Education, Wuhan, 430205 (China); Gao, Yihua [Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO), School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, 430074 (China)

2017-07-12

A 2D orthogonal square-lattice photonic crystal (PC) heterojunction consisting of circular and square air holes in silicon is presented. Band structures are calculated using the plane wave expansion method, and the transmission properties are investigated by the finite-different time-domain simulations. Thanks to the higher diffraction orders excited when the circular and square holes are interlaced along the interface, one-way transmission phenomena can exist within wide frequency regions. The higher order diffraction is further enhanced through two different interface optimization designs proposed by modifying the PC structure of the hetero-interface. An orthogonal PC heterojunction for wide-band and efficient one-way transmission is constructed, and the maximum transmissivity is up to 78%. - Highlights: • Photonic crystal heterojunction with circular and square scatterers is first studied. • One-way transmission efficiency is closely related to the hetero-interface. • Wide-band and efficient one-way transmission is realized.

Electroplated contacts and porous silicon for silicon based solar cells applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kholostov, Konstantin, E-mail: kholostov@diet.uniroma1.it [Department of information engineering, electronics and telecommunications, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome (Italy); Serenelli, Luca; Izzi, Massimo; Tucci, Mario [Enea Casaccia Research Centre Rome, via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome (Italy); Balucani, Marco [Department of information engineering, electronics and telecommunications, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome (Italy); Rise Technology S.r.l., Lungomare Paolo Toscanelli 170, 00121 Rome (Italy)

2015-04-15

Highlights: • Uniformity of the Ni–Si interface is crucial for performance of Cu–Ni contacts on Si. • Uniformly filled PS is the key to obtain the best performance of Cu–Ni contacts on Si. • Optimization of anodization and electroplating allows complete filling of PS layer. • Highly adhesive and low contact resistance Cu–Ni contacts are obtained on Si. - Abstract: In this paper, a two-layer metallization for silicon based solar cells is presented. The metallization consists of thin nickel barrier and thick copper conductive layers, both obtained by electrodeposition technique suitable for phosphorus-doped 70–90 Ω/sq solar cell emitter formed on p-type silicon substrate. To ensure the adhesion between metal contact and emitter a very thin layer of mesoporous silicon is introduced on the emitter surface before metal deposition. This approach allows metal anchoring inside pores and improves silicon–nickel interface uniformity. Optimization of metal contact parameters is achieved varying the anodization and electrodeposition conditions. Characterization of contacts between metal and emitter is carried out by scanning electron microscopy, specific contact resistance and current–voltage measurements. Mechanical strength of nickel–copper contacts is evaluated by the peel test. Adhesion strength of more than 4.5 N/mm and contact resistance of 350 μΩ cm{sup 2} on 80 Ω/sq emitter are achieved.

Silicon nanowire array architecture for heterojunction electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solovan, M. M.; Brus, V. V.; Mostovyi, A. I.; Maryanchuk, P. D.; Orletskyi, I. G.; Kovaliuk, T. T.; Abashin, S. L.

2017-01-01

Photosensitive nanostructured heterojunctions n-TiN/p-Si were fabricated by means of titanium nitride thin films deposition (n-type conductivity) by the DC reactive magnetron sputtering onto nano structured single crystal substrates of p-type Si (100). The temperature dependencies of the height of the potential barrier and series resistance of the n-TiN/p-Si heterojunctions were investigated. The dominant current transport mechanisms through the heterojunctions under investigation were determined at forward and reverse bias. The heterojunctions under investigation generate open-circuit voltage V_o_c = 0.8 V, short-circuit current I_s_c = 3.72 mA/cm"2 and fill factor FF = 0.5 under illumination of 100 mW/cm"2.

Silicon nanowire array architecture for heterojunction electronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solovan, M. M., E-mail: m.solovan@chnu.edu.ua [Chernivtsi National University, Department of Electronics and Energy Engeneering (Ukraine); Brus, V. V. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fur Materialien und Energie GmbH, Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics (Germany); Mostovyi, A. I.; Maryanchuk, P. D.; Orletskyi, I. G.; Kovaliuk, T. T. [Chernivtsi National University, Department of Electronics and Energy Engeneering (Ukraine); Abashin, S. L. [National Aerospace University “Kharkiv Aviation Institute”, Department of Physics (Ukraine)

2017-04-15

Photosensitive nanostructured heterojunctions n-TiN/p-Si were fabricated by means of titanium nitride thin films deposition (n-type conductivity) by the DC reactive magnetron sputtering onto nano structured single crystal substrates of p-type Si (100). The temperature dependencies of the height of the potential barrier and series resistance of the n-TiN/p-Si heterojunctions were investigated. The dominant current transport mechanisms through the heterojunctions under investigation were determined at forward and reverse bias. The heterojunctions under investigation generate open-circuit voltage V{sub oc} = 0.8 V, short-circuit current I{sub sc} = 3.72 mA/cm{sup 2} and fill factor FF = 0.5 under illumination of 100 mW/cm{sup 2}.

Towards hybrid heterojunction silicon solar cells with organic charge carrier selective contacts

OpenAIRE

Jäckle, Sara Lisa

2017-01-01

Photovoltaic is an essential part of the needed global transition towards renewable energies. Even though many materials have good absorption and energy conversion properties, the market is dominated by technologies based on crystalline silicon. Silicon has the advantage of being neither toxic nor rare on earth and it is very well investigated due to its extensive use in microelectronics. The best power conversion efficiencies of silicon solar cells and modules are achieved by sophisticated d...

Amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunctions for nuclear radiation detector applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walton, J.T.; Hong, W.S.; Luke, P.N.; Wang, N.W.; Ziemba, F.P.

1996-10-01

Results on characterization of electrical properties of amorphous Si films for the 3 different growth methods (RF sputtering, PECVD [plasma enhanced], LPCVD [low pressure]) are reported. Performance of these a-Si films as heterojunctions on high resistivity p-type and n- type crystalline Si is examined by measuring the noise, leakage current, and the alpha particle response of 5mm dia detector structures. It is demonstrated that heterojunction detectors formed by RF sputtered films and PECVD films are comparable in performance with conventional surface barrier detectors. Results indicate that the a-Si/c-Si heterojunctions have the potential to greatly simplify detector fabrication. Directions for future avenues of nuclear particle detector development are indicated

Effect of gamma radiation on the electrical properties of Polyaniline/silicon carbide heterojunctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Felix, Jorlandio F.; Cunha, Diego L. da; Aziz, Mohsin; Silva, Eronides F. da; Taylor, David; Henini, Mohamed; Azevedo, Walter M. de

2014-01-01

Polyaniline thin films have been deposited by a very simple technique on p-type Silicon Carbide (SiC) substrates to fabricate heterojunctions devices with good electrical properties. In this work two heterojunctions devices of Polyaniline (PANI) on p-type 4H–SiC and 6H–SiC substrates were electrically characterized using current- voltage (I-V) in the temperature range 20–430 K Capacitance–frequency (C-f) measurements. Furthermore, impedance and capacitance measurements are carried out to study the effect of gamma irradiation on these devices. Additionally, we demonstrate not only the ease of fabrication of PANI/p-SiC heterostructures, but also we show strong indication that these heterostructures have potential applications as sensors of gamma irradiation. - Highlights: • We demonstrate the fabrication of PANI/p-SiC devices with good electrical properties. • The electrical characteristics of the devices present good reproducibility. • We show that the PANI/p-SiC devices are good candidates for gamma irradiation sensors

Charge-carrier selective electrodes for organic bulk heterojunction solar cell by contact-printed siloxane oligomers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Hyun-Sik; Khang, Dahl-Young

2015-01-01

‘Smart’ (or selective) electrode for charge carriers, both electrons and holes, in organic bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells using insertion layers made of hydrophobically-recovered and contact-printed siloxane oligomers between electrodes and active material has been demonstrated. The siloxane oligomer insertion layer has been formed at a given interface simply by conformally-contacting a cured slab of polydimethylsiloxane stamp for less than 100 s. All the devices, either siloxane oligomer printed at one interface only or printed at both interfaces, showed efficiency enhancement when compared to non-printed ones. The possible mechanism that is responsible for the observed efficiency enhancement has been discussed based on the point of optimum symmetry and photocurrent analysis. Besides its simplicity and large-area applicability, the demonstrated contact-printing technique does not involve any vacuum or wet processing steps and thus can be very useful for the roll-based, continuous production scheme for organic BHJ solar cells. - Highlights: • Carrier-selective insertion layer in organic bulk heterojunction solar cells • Simple contact-printing of siloxane oligomers improves cell efficiency. • Printed siloxane layer reduces carrier recombination at electrode surfaces. • Siloxane insertion layer works equally well at both electrode surfaces. • Patterned PDMS stamp shortens the printing time within 100 s

Tantalum Nitride Electron-Selective Contact for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Yang, Xinbo

2018-04-19

Minimizing carrier recombination at contact regions by using carrier‐selective contact materials, instead of heavily doping the silicon, has attracted considerable attention for high‐efficiency, low‐cost crystalline silicon (c‐Si) solar cells. A novel electron‐selective, passivating contact for c‐Si solar cells is presented. Tantalum nitride (TaN x ) thin films deposited by atomic layer deposition are demonstrated to provide excellent electron‐transporting and hole‐blocking properties to the silicon surface, due to their small conduction band offset and large valence band offset. Thin TaNx interlayers provide moderate passivation of the silicon surfaces while simultaneously allowing a low contact resistivity to n‐type silicon. A power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 20% is demonstrated with c‐Si solar cells featuring a simple full‐area electron‐selective TaNx contact, which significantly improves the fill factor and the open circuit voltage (Voc) and hence provides the higher PCE. The work opens up the possibility of using metal nitrides, instead of metal oxides, as carrier‐selective contacts or electron transport layers for photovoltaic devices.

Review of status developments of high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jingjing; Yao, Yao; Xiao, Shaoqing; Gu, Xiaofeng

2018-03-01

In order to further improve cell efficiency and reduce cost in achieving grid parity, a large number of PV manufacturing companies, universities and research institutes have been devoted to a variety of low-cost and high-efficiency crystalline Si solar cells. In this article, the cell structures, characteristics and efficiency progresses of several types of high-efficiency crystalline Si solar cells that have been in small scale production or are promising in mass production are presented, including passivated emitter rear cell, tunnel oxide passivated contact solar cell, interdigitated back contact cell, heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer cell, and heterojunction solar cells with interdigitated back contacts. Both the industrialization status and future development trend of high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells are also pinpointed.

Hybrid organic-inorganic heterojunctions for photovoltaic applications

OpenAIRE

Dietmüller, Roland

2012-01-01

Hybrid organic-inorganic bulk heterojunction solar cells based on silicon nanocrystals (Si-nc) have been realized and investigated. A photo-induced charge transfer could be demonstrated in composites made of silicon nanocrystals and poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) or [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) via light-induced electron spin resonance measurements. With bulk heterojunction solar cells made of P3HT/Si-nc composites in a sandwich structure, open-circuit voltages of up to 0....

Depleted-heterojunction colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics employing low-cost electrical contacts

KAUST Repository

Debnath, Ratan

2010-01-01

With an aim to reduce the cost of depleted-heterojunction colloidal quantum dot solar cells, we describe herein a strategy that replaces costly Au with a low-cost Ni-based Ohmic contact. The resultant devices achieve 3.5% Air Mass 1.5 power conversion efficiency. Only by incorporating a 1.2-nm-thick LiF layer between the PbS quantum dot film and Ni, we were able to prevent undesired reactions and degradation at the metal-semiconductor interface. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

Fabrication and electrical characterization of polyaniline-silicon heterojunction for gamma radiation dosimetry application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laranjeira, Jane Maria Goncalves

2004-08-01

In this work a technique has been developed to fabricate high quality polyaniline-silicon heterojunction diodes for use as gas and/or ionizing radiation sensors. Polyaniline thin films (40 nm thick) produced by spin-coating on silicon substrates, were the active part of the junction structure. The devices presented excellent reproducibility of their electrical characteristics with high rectification ratio, 60,000 at ±1.0 V, and typical reverse current at - 1.0 V of 3 nA at 295 K. A G/I x G plot has been used to analyze the current-voltage characteristics, yielding typical series resistance of 4 kΩ ± 5% and ideality factor in a range of 1,9 ± 0.5%. The heterojunction diode presents high sensitivity to gamma radiation in the dose range of 3 x 10 -2 to 7 kGy with a linear response in the forward and reverse bias. The excellent electrical characteristics together with the linear response with the dose, strongly suggest the application of this device for spectrometry or dosimetry of high doses of gamma radiation. These devices presented high sensitivity to gas moistures such as ammonia, nitric acid and trichloroethylene. In both cases the sensitivity was observed through shifts of the current-voltage curves, which can be easily monitored to provide a calibration curve of the sensor either as a radiation dosimeter or as a gas sensor for use in applications for gas monitoring or radiation dosimetry. Several aspects of the reliability physics of silicon-polyaniline heterojunction, such as degradation effects induced by local heating, charge trapping and temperature changes, have been discussed. These results further confirm the quality of the devices electrical characteristics and their suitability for radiation and gas sensors applications. Another interesting results presented in this work was the use of polyemeraldine nanofilms (thickness in the range 30-50 nm) deposited by 'spin coating' on glass substrates as an optical dosimeter for gamma radiation based on the

A statistical approach for the optimization of indium tin oxide films used as a front contact in amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le, Anh Huy Tuan; Ahn, Shihyun; Kim, Sangho; Han, Sangmyeong; Kim, Sunbo; Park, Hyeongsik; Nguyen, Cam Phu Thi; Dao, Vinh Ai; Yi, Junsin

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The number of experiments was reduced by approximately 90% using Taguchi design. • The optimal condition of ITO films was obtained by Grey relational analysis. • Substrate temperature is dominant effect on opto-electrical properties of ITO films. • Using the optimal ITO films, the solar cell efficiency was absolutely increased by 1.750%. - Abstract: In heterojunction silicon with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells, the excellent opto-electrical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) front contact play a critical role in attaining high efficiency. Therefore, in this study, we present and demonstrate an effective statistic approach based on combining Taguchi method and Grey relational analysis for the optimization of ITO films. A reduction in the number of experiments by approximately 90% is obtained by the Taguchi method through an orthogonal array. The reproduction of the effect of process parameters on single performance characteristic, however, is still ensured. In addition, an excellent trade-off between electrical and optical properties of ITO films was attained within the selected range of parameters by Grey relational analysis at power density of 0.685 W/cm 2 , working pressure of 0.4 Pa, substrate temperature of 200 °C, and post-annealing temperature of 200 °C in 30 min. Under optimal condition, the ITO films showed lowest electrical resistivity of 1.978 × 10 −4 Ω cm, and highest transmittance of 90.322%. The HIT solar cells using these ITO films as a front contact show highest efficiency of 16.616%, yielding a 1.750% absolute increase in efficiency compared to using ITO films with the initial condition. Furthermore, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) is determined to define the process parameters which have a dominant effect on the electrical and optical properties of ITO films. Based on ANOVA, we found that the substrate temperature was a key parameter which critically affects the opto-electrical properties of ITO films

Study of an Amorphous Silicon Oxide Buffer Layer for p-Type Microcrystalline Silicon Oxide/n-Type Crystalline Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells and Their Temperature Dependence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taweewat Krajangsang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide (i-a-SiO:H films were used as front and rear buffer layers in crystalline silicon heterojunction (c-Si-HJ solar cells. The surface passivity and effective lifetime of these i-a-SiO:H films on an n-type silicon wafer were improved by increasing the CO2/SiH4 ratios in the films. Using i-a-SiO:H as the front and rear buffer layers in c-Si-HJ solar cells was investigated. The front i-a-SiO:H buffer layer thickness and the CO2/SiH4 ratio influenced the open-circuit voltage (Voc, fill factor (FF, and temperature coefficient (TC of the c-Si-HJ solar cells. The highest total area efficiency obtained was 18.5% (Voc=700 mV, Jsc=33.5 mA/cm2, and FF=0.79. The TC normalized for this c-Si-HJ solar cell efficiency was −0.301%/°C.

Towards nanometer-spaced silicon contacts to proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Schukfeh, Muhammed I.; Sepunaru, Lior; Behr, Pascal; Li, Wenjie; Pecht, Israel; Sheves, Mordechai; Cahen, David; Tornow, Marc

2016-03-01

A vertical nanogap device (VND) structure comprising all-silicon contacts as electrodes for the investigation of electronic transport processes in bioelectronic systems is reported. Devices were fabricated from silicon-on-insulator substrates whose buried oxide (SiO2) layer of a few nanometers in thickness is embedded within two highly doped single crystalline silicon layers. Individual VNDs were fabricated by standard photolithography and a combination of anisotropic and selective wet etching techniques, resulting in p+ silicon contacts, vertically separated by 4 or 8 nm, depending on the chosen buried oxide thickness. The buried oxide was selectively recess-etched with buffered hydrofluoric acid, exposing a nanogap. For verification of the devices’ electrical functionality, gold nanoparticles were successfully trapped onto the nanogap electrodes’ edges using AC dielectrophoresis. Subsequently, the suitability of the VND structures for transport measurements on proteins was investigated by functionalizing the devices with cytochrome c protein from solution, thereby providing non-destructive, permanent semiconducting contacts to the proteins. Current-voltage measurements performed after protein deposition exhibited an increase in the junctions’ conductance of up to several orders of magnitude relative to that measured prior to cytochrome c immobilization. This increase in conductance was lost upon heating the functionalized device to above the protein’s denaturation temperature (80 °C). Thus, the VND junctions allow conductance measurements which reflect the averaged electronic transport through a large number of protein molecules, contacted in parallel with permanent contacts and, for the first time, in a symmetrical Si-protein-Si configuration.

Towards nanometer-spaced silicon contacts to proteins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schukfeh, Muhammed I; Behr, Pascal; Tornow, Marc; Sepunaru, Lior; Li, Wenjie; Pecht, Israel; Sheves, Mordechai; Cahen, David

2016-01-01

A vertical nanogap device (VND) structure comprising all-silicon contacts as electrodes for the investigation of electronic transport processes in bioelectronic systems is reported. Devices were fabricated from silicon-on-insulator substrates whose buried oxide (SiO_2) layer of a few nanometers in thickness is embedded within two highly doped single crystalline silicon layers. Individual VNDs were fabricated by standard photolithography and a combination of anisotropic and selective wet etching techniques, resulting in p"+ silicon contacts, vertically separated by 4 or 8 nm, depending on the chosen buried oxide thickness. The buried oxide was selectively recess-etched with buffered hydrofluoric acid, exposing a nanogap. For verification of the devices’ electrical functionality, gold nanoparticles were successfully trapped onto the nanogap electrodes’ edges using AC dielectrophoresis. Subsequently, the suitability of the VND structures for transport measurements on proteins was investigated by functionalizing the devices with cytochrome c protein from solution, thereby providing non-destructive, permanent semiconducting contacts to the proteins. Current–voltage measurements performed after protein deposition exhibited an increase in the junctions’ conductance of up to several orders of magnitude relative to that measured prior to cytochrome c immobilization. This increase in conductance was lost upon heating the functionalized device to above the protein’s denaturation temperature (80 °C). Thus, the VND junctions allow conductance measurements which reflect the averaged electronic transport through a large number of protein molecules, contacted in parallel with permanent contacts and, for the first time, in a symmetrical Si–protein–Si configuration. (paper)

Fabrication and characterization of Zn O:Zn(n{sup +})/porous-silicon/Si(p) heterojunctions for white light emitting diodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vasquez A, M. A. [INAOE, Department of Electronics, 72840 Puebla, Pue. (Mexico); Romero P, G.; Pena S, R. [IPN, Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados, Departamento de Ingenieria Electrica, SEES, Av. Intituto Politecnico Nacional No. 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, 07360 Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico); Andraca A, J. A. [IPN, Centro de Nanociencias y Micro y Nanotecnologias, Av. Luis Enrique Erro s/n, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, 07738 Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico)

2016-11-01

The fabrication and characterization of electro luminescent Zn O:Zn(n{sup +})/porous silicon/Si(p) heterojunctions is presented. Highly conductive Zn O films (Zn O:Zn(n{sup +})) were produced by applying a temperature annealing at 400 degrees Celsius by 5 min to the Zn O/Zn/Zn O arrange formed by DC sputtering, and the porous silicon (PS) films were prepared on p-type (100) Si wafers by anodic etching. The Zn O: Zn(n{sup +})/PS/Si(p) heterojunction is accomplished by applying a brief temperature annealing stage to the entire Zn O/Zn/Zn O/PS/Si structure to preserve the PS luminescent characteristics. The Zn O:Zn(n{sup +}) films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and Hall-van der Pauw measurements. The PS and Zn O:Zn(n{sup +}) films were also studied by photoluminescence (Pl) measurements. The current-voltage characteristics of the heterojunctions showed well defined rectifying behavior with a turn-on voltage of 1.5 V and ideality factor of 5.4. The high ideality factor is explained by the presence of electron tunneling transport aided by energy levels related to the defects at the heterojunction interface and into the PS film. The saturation current and the series resistance of the heterostructure were 4 x 10{sup -7} A/cm{sup 2} and 16 Ω-cm{sup 2}, respectively. White color electroluminescence is easily observed at the naked eye when excited with square wave pulses of 8 V and 1 Khz. (Author)

Low cost back contact heterojunction solar cells on thin c-Si wafers. integrating laser and thin film processing for improved manufacturability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hegedus, Steven S. [Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)

2015-09-08

An interdigitated back contact (IBC) Si wafer solar cell with deposited a-Si heterojunction (HJ) emitter and contacts is considered the ultimate single junction Si solar cell design. This was confirmed in 2014 by both Panasonic and Sharp Solar producing IBC-HJ cells breaking the previous record Si solar cell efficiency of 25%. But manufacturability at low cost is a concern for the complex IBC-HJ device structure. In this research program, our goals were to addressed the broad industry need for a high-efficiency c-Si cell that overcomes the dominant module cost barriers by 1) developing thin Si wafers synthesized by innovative, kerfless techniques; 2) integrating laser-based processing into most aspects of solar cell fabrication, ensuring high speed and low thermal budgets ; 3) developing an all back contact cell structure compatible with thin wafers using a simplified, low-temperature fabrication process; and 4) designing the contact patterning to enable simplified module assembly. There were a number of significant achievements from this 3 year program. Regarding the front surface, we developed and applied new method to characterize critical interface recombination parameters including interface defect density Dit and hole and electron capture cross-section for use as input for 2D simulation of the IBC cell to guide design and loss analysis. We optimized the antireflection and passivation properties of the front surface texture and a-Si/a-SiN/a-SiC stack depositions to obtain a very low (< 6 mA/cm2) front surface optical losses (reflection and absorption) while maintaining excellent surface passivation (SRV<5 cm/s). We worked with kerfless wafer manufacturers to apply defect-engineering techniques to improve bulk minority-carrier lifetime of thin kerfless wafers by both reducing initial impurities during growth and developing post-growth gettering techniques. This led insights about the kinetics of nickel, chromium, and dislocations in PV-grade silicon and to

Low cost back contact heterojunction solar cells on thin c-Si wafers. Integrating laser and thin film processing for improved manufacturability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hegedus, Steven S. [Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)

2015-09-08

An interdigitated back contact (IBC) Si wafer solar cell with deposited a-Si heterojunction (HJ) emitter and contacts is considered the ultimate single junction Si solar cell design. This was confirmed in 2014 by both Panasonic and Sharp Solar producing IBC-HJ cells breaking the previous record Si solar cell efficiency of 25%. But manufacturability at low cost is a concern for the complex IBC-HJ device structure. In this research program, our goals were to addressed the broad industry need for a high-efficiency c-Si cell that overcomes the dominant module cost barriers by 1) developing thin Si wafers synthesized by innovative, kerfless techniques; 2) integrating laser-based processing into most aspects of solar cell fabrication, ensuring high speed and low thermal budgets ; 3) developing an all back contact cell structure compatible with thin wafers using a simplified, low-temperature fabrication process; and 4) designing the contact patterning to enable simplified module assembly. There were a number of significant achievements from this 3 year program. Regarding the front surface, we developed and applied new method to characterize critical interface recombination parameters including interface defect density Dit and hole and electron capture cross-section for use as input for 2D simulation of the IBC cell to guide design and loss analysis. We optimized the antireflection and passivation properties of the front surface texture and a-Si/a-SiN/a-SiC stack depositions to obtain a very low (< 6 mA/cm2) front surface optical losses (reflection and absorption) while maintaining excellent surface passivation (SRV<5 cm/s). We worked with kerfless wafer manufacturers to apply defect-engineering techniques to improve bulk minority-carrier lifetime of thin kerfless wafers by both reducing initial impurities during growth and developing post-growth gettering techniques. This led insights about the kinetics of nickel, chromium, and dislocations in PV-grade silicon and to

Photoelectric Properties of Silicon Nanocrystals/P3HT Bulk-Heterojunction Ordered in Titanium Dioxide Nanotube Arrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Švrček Vladimir

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract A silicon nanocrystals (Si-ncs conjugated-polymer-based bulk-heterojunction represents a promising approach for low-cost hybrid solar cells. In this contribution, the bulk-heterojunction is based on Si-ncs prepared by electrochemical etching and poly(3-hexylthiophene (P3HT polymer. Photoelectric properties in parallel and vertical device-like configuration were investigated. Electronic interaction between the polymer and surfactant-free Si-ncs is achieved. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence and transport properties were studied and the ratio between the photo- and dark-conductivity of 1.7 was achieved at ambient conditions. Furthermore the porous titanium dioxide (TiO2 nanotubes’ template was used for vertical order of photosensitive Si-ncs/P3HT-based blend. The anodization of titanium foil in ethylene glycol-based electrolyte containing fluoride ions and subsequent thermal annealing were used to prepare anatase TiO2nanotube arrays. The arrays with nanotube inner diameter of 90 and 50 nm were used for vertical ordering of the Si-ncs/P3HT bulk-heterojunction.

Applanation tonometry in silicone hydrogel contact lens wearers.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, R J; Dev Borman, A; Saleh, G M

2007-12-01

Previous studies have investigated intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements through conventional soft (hydrogel) therapeutic contact lenses, and have found that an accurate IOP can be recorded in normal eyes, and in eyes with abnormal anterior segments. The IOP measurement through soft contact lenses may be affected by the water content and centre thickness of the lens. Silicone hydrogel contact lenses are now being used as therapeutic contact lenses due to their high oxygen permeability. The purpose of this study is to investigate if IOP can be accurately measured in a subject wearing a silicone hydrogel contact lens. In a cohort study, the IOP was measured with a Goldmann applanation tonometer without a contact lens and then repeated with a hydrogel contact lens in situ. The IOP of 20 eyes of 10 volunteers with no ocular pathology was measured. The mean difference (+/-S.D.) found between IOP measurement with (mean 15.55+/-1.70 mmHg) and without (mean 16.05+/-1.90 mmHg) contact lens was found to be -0.5+/-0.89 mmHg. Statistical analysis was performed which revealed a correlation coefficient of 0.89. No significant statistical difference was found between the two groups with paired t-test (p=0.19). Accurate measurement of IOP by applanation tonometry can be achieved through a silicone hydrogel contact lens.

Optoelectronic transport properties in amorphous/crystalline silicon solar cell heterojunctions measured by frequency-domain photocarrier radiometry: Multi-parameter measurement reliability and precision studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Y.; Melnikov, A.; Mandelis, A.; Halliop, B.; Kherani, N. P.; Zhu, R.

2015-01-01

A theoretical one-dimensional two-layer linear photocarrier radiometry (PCR) model including the presence of effective interface carrier traps was used to evaluate the transport parameters of p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivated by an intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-layer) nanolayer. Several crystalline Si heterojunction structures were examined to investigate the influence of the i-layer thickness and the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer. The experimental data of a series of heterojunction structures with intrinsic thin layers were fitted to PCR theory to gain insight into the transport properties of these devices. The quantitative multi-parameter results were studied with regard to measurement reliability (uniqueness) and precision using two independent computational best-fit programs. The considerable influence on the transport properties of the entire structure of two key parameters that can limit the performance of amorphous thin film solar cells, namely, the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer and the i-layer thickness was demonstrated. It was shown that PCR can be applied to the non-destructive characterization of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells yielding reliable measurements of the key parameters

Optoelectronic transport properties in amorphous/crystalline silicon solar cell heterojunctions measured by frequency-domain photocarrier radiometry: multi-parameter measurement reliability and precision studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y; Melnikov, A; Mandelis, A; Halliop, B; Kherani, N P; Zhu, R

2015-03-01

A theoretical one-dimensional two-layer linear photocarrier radiometry (PCR) model including the presence of effective interface carrier traps was used to evaluate the transport parameters of p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivated by an intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-layer) nanolayer. Several crystalline Si heterojunction structures were examined to investigate the influence of the i-layer thickness and the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer. The experimental data of a series of heterojunction structures with intrinsic thin layers were fitted to PCR theory to gain insight into the transport properties of these devices. The quantitative multi-parameter results were studied with regard to measurement reliability (uniqueness) and precision using two independent computational best-fit programs. The considerable influence on the transport properties of the entire structure of two key parameters that can limit the performance of amorphous thin film solar cells, namely, the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer and the i-layer thickness was demonstrated. It was shown that PCR can be applied to the non-destructive characterization of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells yielding reliable measurements of the key parameters.

Effect of annealing on silicon heterojunction solar cells with textured ZnO:Al as transparent conductive oxide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roca i Cabarrocas P.

2012-07-01

Full Text Available We report on silicon heterojunction solar cells using textured aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al as a transparent conductive oxide (TCO instead of flat indium tin oxide. Double side silicon heterojunction solar cell were fabricated by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on high life time N-type float zone crystalline silicon wafers. On both sides of these cells we have deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering ZnO:Al layers of thickness ranging from 800 nm to 1400 nm. These TCO layers were then textured by dipping the samples in a 0.5% hydrochloric acid. External quantum efficiency as well as I-V under 1 sun illumination measurements showed an increase of the current for the cells using textured ZnO:Al. The cells were then annealed at 150 °C, 175 °C and 200 °C during 30 min in ambient atmosphere and characterized at each annealing step. The results show that annealing has no impact on the open circuit voltage of the devices but that up to a 175 °C it enhances their short circuit current, consistent with an overall enhancement of their spectral response. Our results suggest that ZnO:Al is a promising material to increase the short circuit current (Jsc while avoiding texturing the c-Si substrate.

Heterojunction Solar Cells Based on Silicon and Composite Films of Graphene Oxide and Carbon Nanotubes.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, LePing; Tune, Daniel; Shearer, Cameron; Shapter, Joseph

2015-09-07

Graphene oxide (GO) sheets have been used as the surfactant to disperse single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) in water to prepare GO/CNT electrodes that are applied to silicon to form a heterojunction that can be used in solar cells. GO/CNT films with different ratios of the two components and with various thicknesses have been used as semitransparent electrodes, and the influence of both factors on the performance of the solar cell has been studied. The degradation rate of the GO/CNT-silicon devices under ambient conditions has also been explored. The influence of the film thickness on the device performance is related to the interplay of two competing factors, namely, sheet resistance and transmittance. CNTs help to improve the conductivity of the GO/CNT film, and GO is able to protect the silicon from oxidation in the atmosphere. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Creating New VLS Silicon Nanowire Contact Geometries by Controlling Catalyst Migration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alam, Sardar Bilal; Panciera, Federico; Hansen, Ole

2015-01-01

The formation of self-assembled contacts between vapor-liquid-solid grown silicon nanowires and flat silicon surfaces was imaged in situ using electron microscopy. By measuring the structural evolution of the contact formation process, we demonstrate how different contact geometries are created b...

Material properties that predict preservative uptake for silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, J Angelo; Phillips, K Scott; Hitchins, Victoria M; Lucas, Anne D; Shoff, Megan E; Hutter, Joseph C; Rorer, Eva M; Eydelman, Malvina B

2012-11-01

To assess material properties that affect preservative uptake by silicone hydrogel lenses. We evaluated the water content (using differential scanning calorimetry), effective pore size (using probe penetration), and preservative uptake (using high-performance liquid chromatography with spectrophotometric detection) of silicone and conventional hydrogel soft contact lenses. Lenses grouped similarly based on freezable water content as they did based on total water content. Evaluation of the effective pore size highlighted potential differences between the surface-treated and non-surface-treated materials. The water content of the lens materials and ionic charge are associated with the degree of preservative uptake. The current grouping system for testing contact lens-solution interactions separates all silicone hydrogels from conventional hydrogel contact lenses. However, not all silicone hydrogel lenses interact similarly with the same contact lens solution. Based upon the results of our research, we propose that the same material characteristics used to group conventional hydrogel lenses, water content and ionic charge, can also be used to predict uptake of hydrophilic preservatives for silicone hydrogel lenses. In addition, the hydrophobicity of silicone hydrogel contact lenses, although not investigated here, is a unique contact lens material property that should be evaluated for the uptake of relatively hydrophobic preservatives and tear components.

Harnessing light energy with a planar transparent hybrid of graphene/single wall carbon nanotube/n-type silicon heterojunction solar cell

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Leifeng; Yu, Hua; Zhong, Jiasong

2015-01-01

The photovoltaic conversion efficiency of a solar cell fabricated by a simple electrophoretic method with a planar transparent hybrid of graphenes (GPs) and single wall carbon nanotubes (SCNTs)/n-type silicon heterojunction was significantly increased compared to GPs/n-Si and SCNTs/n-Si solar cells...

Ultrathin Oxide Passivation Layer by Rapid Thermal Oxidation for the Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cell Applications

OpenAIRE

Lee, Youngseok; Oh, Woongkyo; Dao, Vinh Ai; Hussain, Shahzada Qamar; Yi, Junsin

2012-01-01

It is difficult to deposit extremely thin a-Si:H layer in heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cell due to thermal damage and tough process control. This study aims to understand oxide passivation mechanism of silicon surface using rapid thermal oxidation (RTO) process by examining surface effective lifetime and surface recombination velocity. The presence of thin insulating a-Si:H layer is the key to get high Voc by lowering the leakage current (I0) which improves the efficie...

Influence of transparent conductive oxides on passivation of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunctions as studied by atomic layer deposited Al-doped ZnO

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Macco, B.; Deligiannis, D.; Smit, S.; Swaaij, van R.A.C.M.M.; Zeman, M.; Kessels, W.M.M.

2014-01-01

In silicon heterojunction solar cells, the main opportunities for efficiency gain lie in improvements of the front-contact layers. Therefore, the effect of transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) on the a-Si:H passivation performance has been investigated for Al-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) layers made by

Interaction at the silicon/transition metal oxide heterojunction interface and its effect on the photovoltaic performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Zhimin; Su, Mingze; Zhou, Yangyang; Gong, Li; Zhao, Chuanxi; Chen, Keqiu; Xie, Fangyan; Zhang, Weihong; Chen, Jian; Liu, Pengyi; Xie, Weiguang

2015-11-07

The interfacial reaction and energy level alignment at the Si/transition metal oxide (TMO, including MoO3-x, V2O5-x, WO3-x) heterojunction are systematically investigated. We confirm that the interfacial reaction appears during the thermal deposition of TMO, with the reaction extent increasing from MoO3-x, to V2O5-x, and to WO3-x. The reaction causes the surface oxidation of silicon for faster electron/hole recombination, and the reduction of TMO for effective hole collection. The photovoltaic performance of the Si/TMO heterojunction devices is affected by the interface reaction. MoO3-x are the best hole selecting materials that induce least surface oxidation but strongest reduction. Compared with H-passivation, methyl group passivation is an effective way to reduce the interface reaction and improve the interfacial energy level alignment for better electron and hole collection.

Siloxanes in silicone products intended for food contact

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cederberg, Tommy Licht; Jensen, Lisbeth Krüger

oligomers which might migrate to the food when the product is being used. DTU has proposed two action limits for low molecular weight siloxanes in food contact materials. For the sum of cyclic siloxanes D3 to D8 the limits are 12 mg/kg food for adults and 2 mg/kg food for children. For the sum of cyclic...... siloxanes D3 to D13 and linear siloxanes L3-L13 the limit is 60 mg/kg food. In 49 samples of silicone products intended for food contact from the Norwegian markets content of siloxanes has been measured. Coated paper for baking constituted 8 of the samples and in none of those samples siloxanes were found......Silicone is used in food contact materials due to its excellent physical and chemical properties. It is thermostable and flexible and is used in bakeware and kitchen utensils. Silicone is also used to coat paper to make it water and fat resistant. There is no specific regulation in EU which covers...

Control of back surface reflectance from aluminum alloyed contacts on silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cudzinovic, M.; Sopori, B. [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)

1996-05-01

A process for forming highly reflective aluminum back contacts with low contact resistance to silicon solar cells is described. By controlling the process conditions, it is possible to vary the silicon/aluminum interface from a specular to a diffuse reflector while maintaining a high interface reflectance. The specular interface is found to be a uniform silicon/aluminum alloy layer a few angstroms thick that has epitaxially regrown on the silicon. The diffuse interface consists of randomly distributed (111) pyramids produced by crystallographic out-diffusion of the bulk silicon. The light trapping ability of the diffuse contact is found to be close to the theoretical limit. Both types of contacts are found to have specific contact resistivities of 10{sup {minus}5} {Omega}-cm{sup 2}. The process for forming the contacts involves illuminating the devices with tungsten halogen lamps. The process is rapid (under 100 s) and low temperature (peak temperature < 580{degrees}C), making it favorable for commercial solar cell fabrication.

Industrially feasible, dopant-free, carrier-selective contacts for high-efficiency silicon solar cells

KAUST Repository

Yang, Xinbo

2017-05-31

Dopant-free, carrier-selective contacts (CSCs) on high efficiency silicon solar cells combine ease of deposition with potential optical benefits. Electron-selective titanium dioxide (TiO) contacts, one of the most promising dopant-free CSC technologies, have been successfully implemented into silicon solar cells with an efficiency over 21%. Here, we report further progress of TiO contacts for silicon solar cells and present an assessment of their industrial feasibility. With improved TiO contact quality and cell processing, a remarkable efficiency of 22.1% has been achieved using an n-type silicon solar cell featuring a full-area TiO contact. Next, we demonstrate the compatibility of TiO contacts with an industrial contact-firing process, its low performance sensitivity to the wafer resistivity, its applicability to ultrathin substrates as well as its long-term stability. Our findings underscore the great appeal of TiO contacts for industrial implementation with their combination of high efficiency with robust fabrication at low cost.

Hybrid heterojunction solar cell based on organic-inorganic silicon nanowire array architecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Xiaojuan; Sun, Baoquan; Liu, Dong; Lee, Shuit-Tong

2011-12-07

Silicon nanowire arrays (SiNWs) on a planar silicon wafer can be fabricated by a simple metal-assisted wet chemical etching method. They can offer an excellent light harvesting capability through light scattering and trapping. In this work, we demonstrated that the organic-inorganic solar cell based on hybrid composites of conjugated molecules and SiNWs on a planar substrate yielded an excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.70%. The high efficiency was ascribed to two aspects: one was the improvement of the light absorption by SiNWs structure on the planar components; the other was the enhancement of charge extraction efficiency, resulting from the novel top contact by forming a thin organic layer shell around the individual silicon nanowire. On the contrary, the sole planar junction solar cell only exhibited a PCE of 6.01%, due to the lower light trapping capability and the less hole extraction efficiency. It indicated that both the SiNWs structure and the thin organic layer top contact were critical to achieve a high performance organic/silicon solar cell. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Luminescence of solar cells with a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunctions

Science.gov (United States)

Zhigunov, D. M.; Il'in, A. S.; Forsh, P. A.; Bobyl', A. V.; Verbitskii, V. N.; Terukov, E. I.; Kashkarov, P. K.

2017-05-01

We have studied the electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) of solar cells containing a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunctions. It is established that both the EL and PL properties of these cells are determined by the radiative recombination of nonequilibrium carriers in crystalline silicon (c-Si). The external EL energy yield (efficiency) of solar cells with a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunctions at room temperature amounts to 2.1% and exceeds the value reached in silicon diode structures. This large EL efficiency can be explained by good passivation of the surface of crystalline silicon and the corresponding increase in lifetime of minority carrier s in these solar cells.

Novel vertical silicon photodiodes based on salicided polysilicon trenched contacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaminski, Yelena; Shauly, Eitan; Paz, Yaron

2015-01-01

The classical concept of silicon photodiodes comprises of a planar design characterized by heavily doped emitters. Such geometry has low collection efficiency of the photons absorbed close to the surface. An alternative, promising, approach is to use a vertical design. Nevertheless, realization of such design is technologically challenged, hence hardly explored. Herein, a novel type of silicon photodiodes, based on salicided polysilicon trenched contacts, is presented. These contacts can be prepared up to 10 μm in depth, without showing any leakage current associated with the increase in the contact area. Consequently, the trenched photodiodes revealed better performance than no-trench photodiodes. A simple two dimensional model was developed, allowing to estimate the conditions under which a vertical design has the potential to have better performance than that of a planar design. At large, the deeper the trench is, the better is the vertical design relative to the planar (up to 10 μm for silicon). The vertical design is more advantageous for materials characterized by short diffusion lengths of the carriers. Salicided polysilicon trenched contacts open new opportunities for the design of solar cells and image sensors. For example, these contacts may passivate high contact area buried contacts, by virtue of the conformity of polysilicon interlayer, thus lowering the via resistance induced recombination enhancement effect

Novel vertical silicon photodiodes based on salicided polysilicon trenched contacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaminski, Yelena [Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion, Haifa (Israel); TowerJazz Ltd. Migdal Haemek (Israel); Shauly, Eitan [TowerJazz Ltd. Migdal Haemek (Israel); Paz, Yaron, E-mail: paz@tx.technion.ac.il [Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion, Haifa (Israel)

2015-12-07

The classical concept of silicon photodiodes comprises of a planar design characterized by heavily doped emitters. Such geometry has low collection efficiency of the photons absorbed close to the surface. An alternative, promising, approach is to use a vertical design. Nevertheless, realization of such design is technologically challenged, hence hardly explored. Herein, a novel type of silicon photodiodes, based on salicided polysilicon trenched contacts, is presented. These contacts can be prepared up to 10 μm in depth, without showing any leakage current associated with the increase in the contact area. Consequently, the trenched photodiodes revealed better performance than no-trench photodiodes. A simple two dimensional model was developed, allowing to estimate the conditions under which a vertical design has the potential to have better performance than that of a planar design. At large, the deeper the trench is, the better is the vertical design relative to the planar (up to 10 μm for silicon). The vertical design is more advantageous for materials characterized by short diffusion lengths of the carriers. Salicided polysilicon trenched contacts open new opportunities for the design of solar cells and image sensors. For example, these contacts may passivate high contact area buried contacts, by virtue of the conformity of polysilicon interlayer, thus lowering the via resistance induced recombination enhancement effect.

Alloyed Aluminum Contacts for Silicon Solar Cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tin Tin Aye

2010-12-01

Aluminium is usually deposited and alloyed at the back of p-p silicon solar cell for making a good ohmic contact and establishing a back electric field which avoids carrier recombination of the back surface. It was the deposition of aluminum on multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) substrate at various annealing temperature. Physical and elemental analysis was carried out by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-rays diffraction (XRD). The electrical (I-V) characteristic of the photovoltaic cell was also measured.

Ultrathin Oxide Passivation Layer by Rapid Thermal Oxidation for the Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cell Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youngseok Lee

2012-01-01

Full Text Available It is difficult to deposit extremely thin a-Si:H layer in heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT solar cell due to thermal damage and tough process control. This study aims to understand oxide passivation mechanism of silicon surface using rapid thermal oxidation (RTO process by examining surface effective lifetime and surface recombination velocity. The presence of thin insulating a-Si:H layer is the key to get high Voc by lowering the leakage current (I0 which improves the efficiency of HIT solar cell. The ultrathin thermal passivation silicon oxide (SiO2 layer was deposited by RTO system in the temperature range 500–950°C for 2 to 6 minutes. The thickness of the silicon oxide layer was affected by RTO annealing temperature and treatment time. The best value of surface recombination velocity was recorded for the sample treated at a temperature of 850°C for 6 minutes at O2 flow rate of 3 Lpm. A surface recombination velocity below 25 cm/s was obtained for the silicon oxide layer of 4 nm thickness. This ultrathin SiO2 layer was employed for the fabrication of HIT solar cell structure instead of a-Si:H, (i layer and the passivation and tunneling effects of the silicon oxide layer were exploited. The photocurrent was decreased with the increase of illumination intensity and SiO2 thickness.

Strong and reversible modulation of carbon nanotube-silicon heterojunction solar cells by an interfacial oxide layer.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Yi; Cao, Anyuan; Kang, Feiyu; Li, Peixu; Gui, Xuchun; Zhang, Luhui; Shi, Enzheng; Wei, Jinquan; Wang, Kunlin; Zhu, Hongwei; Wu, Dehai

2012-06-21

Deposition of nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes on Si wafers to make heterojunction structures is a promising route toward high efficiency solar cells with reduced cost. Here, we show a significant enhancement in the cell characteristics and power conversion efficiency by growing a silicon oxide layer at the interface between the nanotube film and Si substrate. The cell efficiency increases steadily from 0.5% without interfacial oxide to 8.8% with an optimal oxide thickness of about 1 nm. This systematic study reveals that formation of an oxide layer switches charge transport from thermionic emission to a mixture of thermionic emission and tunneling and improves overall diode properties, which are critical factors for tailoring the cell behavior. By controlled formation and removal of interfacial oxide, we demonstrate oscillation of the cell parameters between two extreme states, where the cell efficiency can be reversibly altered by a factor of 500. Our results suggest that the oxide layer plays an important role in Si-based photovoltaics, and it might be utilized to tune the cell performance in various nanostructure-Si heterojunction structures.

Electrical and optical characteristics of heterojunction devices composed of silicon nanowires and mercury selenide nanoparticle films on flexible plastics.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeo, Minje; Yun, Junggwon; Kim, Sangsig

2013-09-01

A pn heterojunction device based on p-type silicon (Si) nanowires (NWs) prepared by top-down method and n-type mercury selenide (HgSe) nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by the colloidal method have been fabricated on a flexible plastic substrate. The synthesized HgSe NPs were analyzed through the effective mass approximation. The characteristics of the heterojunction device were examined and studied with the energy band diagram. The device showed typical diode characteristics with a turn-on voltage of 1.5 V and exhibited a high rectification ratio of 10(3) under relatively low forward bias. Under illumination of 633-nm-wavelength light, the device presented photocurrent efficiency of 117.5 and 20.1 nA/W under forward bias and reverse bias conditions, respectively. Moreover, the photocurrent characteristics of the device have been determined by bending of the plastic substrate upward and downward with strain of 0.8%. Even though the photocurrent efficiency has fluctuations during the bending cycles, the values are roughly maintained for 10(4) bending cycles. This result indicates that the fabricated heterojunction device has the potential to be applied as fundamental elements of flexible nanoelectronics.

Back-contacted back-junction silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mangersnes, Krister

2010-10-15

Conventional silicon solar cells have a front-side contacted emitter. Back-contacted back-junction (BC-BJ) silicon solar cells, on the other hand, have both the complete metallization and the active diffused regions of both polarities on the backside. World-record efficiencies have already been demonstrated for this type of cell design in production, both on cell and module level. However, the production of these cells is both complex and costly, and a further cost reduction in fabrication is needed to make electricity from BC-BJ silicon solar cells cost-competitive with electricity on the grid ('grid-parity'). During the work with this thesis, we have investigated several important issues regarding BC-BJ silicon solar cells. The aim has been to reduce production cost and complexity while at the same time maintaining, or increasing, the already high conversion efficiencies demonstrated elsewhere. This has been pursued through experimental work as well as through numerical simulations and modeling. Six papers are appended to this thesis, two of which are still under review in scientific journals. In addition, two patents have been filed based on the work presented herein. Experimentally, we have focused on investigating and optimizing single, central processing steps. A laser has been the key processing tool during most of the work. We have used the same laser both to structure the backside of the cell and to make holes in a double-layer of passivating amorphous silicon and silicon oxide, where the holes were opened with the aim of making local contact to the underlying silicon. The processes developed have the possibility of using a relatively cheap and industrially proven laser and obtain results better than most state-of-the-art laser technologies. During the work with the laser, we also developed a thermodynamic model that was able to predict the outcome from laser interaction with amorphous and crystalline silicon. Alongside the experimental work, we

Electroluminescence of a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells after high energy irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferrara, Manuela

2009-11-24

The crystalline silicon as absorber material will certainly continue to dominate the market for space applications of solar cells. In the contribution under consideration the applicability of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells in space has been tested by the investigation of the cell modification by high energy protons and comparing the results to the degradation of homojunction crystalline silicon reference cells. The investigated solar cells have been irradiated with protons of different energies and doses. For all investigated solar cells the maximum damage happens for an energy of about 1.7 MeV and is mainly due to the decrease of the effective minority carrier diffusion length in the crystalline silicon absorber. Simulations carried out by AFORS-HET, a heterojunction simulation program, also confirmed this result. The main degradation mechanism for all types of devices is the monotonically decreasing charge carrier diffusion length in the p-type monocrystalline silicon absorber layer. For the heterojunction solar cell an enhancement of the photocurrent in the blue wavelength region has been observed but only in the case of heterojunction solar cell with intrinsic a-Si:H buffer layer. Additionally to the traditional characterization techniques the electroluminescence technique used for monitoring the modifications of the heteroluminescence technique used for monitoring the modifications of the heterointerface between amorphous silicon and crystalline silicon in solar cells after proton irradiation. A direct relation between minority carrier diffusion length and electroluminescence quantum efficiency has been observed but also details of the interface modification could be monitored by this technique.

Light trapping with plasmonic back contacts in thin-film silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paetzold, Ulrich Wilhelm

2013-02-08

Trapping light in silicon solar cells is essential as it allows an increase in the absorption of incident sunlight in optically thin silicon absorber layers. This way, the costs of the solar cells can be reduced by lowering the material consumption and decreasing the physical constraints on the material quality. In this work, plasmonic light trapping with Ag back contacts in thin-film silicon solar cells is studied. Solar cell prototypes with plasmonic back contacts are presented along with optical simulations of these devices and general design considerations of plasmonic back contacts. Based on three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations, the conceptual design of plasmonic nanostructures on Ag back contacts in thin-film silicon solar cells is studied in this work. Optimizations of the nanostructures regarding their ability to scatter incident light at low optical losses into large angles in the silicon absorber layers of the thin-film silicon solar cells are presented. Geometrical parameters as well as the embedding dielectric layer stack of the nanostructures on Ag layers are varied. Periodic as well as isolated hemispherical Ag nanostructures of dimensions above 200 nm are found to scatter incident light at high efficiencies and low optical losses. Hence, these nanostructures are of interest for light trapping in solar cells. In contrast, small Ag nanostructures of dimension below 100 nm are found to induce optical losses. At the surface of randomly textured Ag back contacts small Ag nanostructures exist which induce optical losses. In this work, the relevance of these localized plasmon induced optical losses as well as optical losses caused by propagating plasmons are investigated with regard to the reflectance of the textured back contacts. In state-of-the-art solar cells, the plasmon-induced optical losses are shifted out of the relevant wavelength range by incorporating a ZnO:Al interlayer of low refractive index at the back contact. The additional but

Bacterial adhesion to conventional hydrogel and new silicone-hydrogel contact lens materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Kodjikian, Laurent; Casoli-Bergeron, Emmanuelle; Malet, Florence; Janin-Manificat, Hélène; Freney, Jean; Burillon, Carole; Colin, Joseph; Steghens, Jean-Paul

2008-02-01

As bacterial adhesion to contact lenses may contribute to the pathogenesis of keratitis, the aim of our study was to investigate in vitro adhesion of clinically relevant bacteria to conventional hydrogel (standard HEMA) and silicone-hydrogel contact lenses using a bioluminescent ATP assay. Four types of unworn contact lenses (Etafilcon A, Galyfilcon A, Balafilcon A, Lotrafilcon B) were incubated with Staphylococcus epidermidis (two different strains) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa suspended in phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Lenses were placed with the posterior surface facing up and were incubated in the bacterial suspension for 4 hours at 37 degrees C. Bacterial binding was then measured and studied by bioluminescent ATP assay. Six replicate experiments were performed for each lens and strain. Adhesion of all species of bacteria to standard HEMA contact lenses (Etafilcon A) was found to be significantly lower than that of three types of silicone-hydrogel contact lenses, whereas Lotrafilcon B material showed the highest level of bacterial binding. Differences between species in the overall level of adhesion to the different types of contact lenses were observed. Adhesion of P. aeruginosa was typically at least 20 times greater than that observed with both S. epidermidis strains. Conventional hydrogel contact lenses exhibit significantly lower bacterial adhesion in vitro than silicone-hydrogel ones. This could be due to the greater hydrophobicity but also to the higher oxygen transmissibility of silicone-hydrogel lenses.

Lithium-drifted silicon detector with segmented contacts

Science.gov (United States)

Tindall, Craig S.; Luke, Paul N.

2006-06-13

A method and apparatus for creating both segmented and unsegmented radiation detectors which can operate at room temperature. The devices include a metal contact layer, and an n-type blocking contact formed from a thin layer of amorphous semiconductor. In one embodiment the material beneath the n-type contact is n-type material, such as lithium compensated silicon that forms the active region of the device. The active layer has been compensated to a degree at which the device may be fully depleted at low bias voltages. A p-type blocking contact layer, or a p-type donor material can be formed beneath a second metal contact layer to complete the device structure. When the contacts to the device are segmented, the device is capable of position sensitive detection and spectroscopy of ionizing radiation, such as photons, electrons, and ions.

Passivating electron contact based on highly crystalline nanostructured silicon oxide layers for silicon solar cells

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Stuckelberger, J.; Nogay, G.; Wyss, P.; Jeangros, Q.; Allebe, Ch.; Debrot, F.; Niquille, X.; Ledinský, Martin; Fejfar, Antonín; Despeisse, M.; Haug, F.J.; Löper, P.; Ballif, C.

2016-01-01

Roč. 158, Dec (2016), s. 2-10 ISSN 0927-0248 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LM2015087 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : surface passivation * passivating contact * nanostructure * silicon oxide * nanocrystalline * microcrystalline * poly-silicon * crystallization * Raman * transmission line measurement Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 4.784, year: 2016

Electrical parameters of metal doped n-CdO/p-Si heterojunction diodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Umadevi, P. [Department of Physics, Sri Vidya College of Engineering & Technology, Virudhunagar 626005, Tamilnadu (India); Prithivikumaran, N., E-mail: janavi_p@yahoo.com [Nanoscience Research Lab, Department of Physics, VHNSN College, Virudhunagar 626001, Tamilnadu (India)

2016-11-15

The CdO, Al doped CdO and Cu doped CdO thin films were coated on p-type silicon substrates by sol–gel spin coating method. The structural, surface morphological and electrical properties of undoped, Al and Cu doped CdO films on silicon substrate were studied. The Ag/CdO/p-Si, Ag/Al: CdO/p-Si and Ag/Cu: CdO/p-Si heterojunction diodes were fabricated and the diode parameters such as reverse saturation current, barrier height and ideality factor of the diodes were investigated by current–voltage (I–V)characteristics. The reverse current of the diode was found to increase strongly with the doping. The values of barrier height and ideality factor were decreased by doping with aluminium and copper. Photo response of the heterojunction diodes was studied and it was found that, the heterojunction diode constructed with the doped CdO has larger Photo response than the undoped heterojunction diode.

Mathematical Modeling of Contact Resistance in Silicon Photovoltaic Cells

KAUST Repository

Black, J. P.

2013-10-22

In screen-printed silicon-crystalline solar cells, the contact resistance of a thin interfacial glass layer between the silicon and the silver electrode plays a limiting role for electron transport. We analyze a simple model for electron transport across this layer, based on the driftdiffusion equations. We utilize the size of the current/Debye length to conduct asymptotic techniques to simplify the model; we solve the model numerically to find that the effective contact resistance may be a monotonic increasing, monotonic decreasing, or nonmonotonic function of the electron flux, depending on the values of the physical parameters. © 2013 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

Copper oxide/N-silicon heterojunction photovoltaic device

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Tom; Ghosh, Amal K.

1982-01-01

A photovoltaic device having characteristics of a high efficiency solar cell comprising a Cu.sub.x O/n-Si heterojunction. The Cu.sub.x O layer is formed by heating a deposited copper layer in an oxygen containing ambient.

Charge Separation at Mixed-Dimensional Single and Multilayer MoS2/Silicon Nanowire Heterojunctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Henning, Alex; Sangwan, Vinod K; Bergeron, Hadallia; Balla, Itamar; Sun, Zhiyuan; Hersam, Mark C; Lauhon, Lincoln J

2018-05-16

Layered two-dimensional (2-D) semiconductors can be combined with other low-dimensional semiconductors to form nonplanar mixed-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) heterojunctions whose charge transport behavior is influenced by the heterojunction geometry, providing a new degree of freedom to engineer device functions. Toward that end, we investigated the photoresponse of Si nanowire/MoS 2 heterojunction diodes with scanning photocurrent microscopy and time-resolved photocurrent measurements. Comparison of n-Si/MoS 2 isotype heterojunctions with p-Si/MoS 2 heterojunction diodes under varying biases shows that the depletion region in the p-n heterojunction promotes exciton dissociation and carrier collection. We measure an instrument-limited response time of 1 μs, which is 10 times faster than the previously reported response times for planar Si/MoS 2 devices, highlighting the advantages of the 1-D/2-D heterojunction. Finite element simulations of device models provide a detailed understanding of how the electrostatics affect charge transport in nanowire/vdW heterojunctions and inform the design of future vdW heterojunction photodetectors and transistors.

Surface passivation and carrier selectivity of the thermal-atomic-layer-deposited TiO₂ on crystalline silicon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plakhotnyuk, Maksym; Schüler, Nadine; Shkondin, Evgeniy

2017-01-01

Here, we demonstrate the use of an ultrathin TiO2 film as a passivating carrier-selective contact for silicon photovoltaics. The effective lifetime, surface recombination velocity, and diode quality dependence on TiO2 deposition temperature with and without a thin tunneling oxide interlayer (SiO2...... heterojunction with optimized photovoltage, interface quality, and electron extraction to maximize the photovoltage of TiO2–Si heterojunction photovoltaic cells are formulated. Diode behaviour was analysed with the help of experimental, analytical, and simulation methods. It is predicted that TiO2 with a high...

Trends in the use of silicone hydrogel contact lenses for daily wear.

Science.gov (United States)

Efron, Nathan; Morgan, Philip B

2008-10-01

Although the first silicone hydrogel contact lenses introduced onto the world contact lens market in 1999 held approval for both daily wear and extended wear use, the latter modality was promoted much more heavily by the manufacturers. The first silicone hydrogel lenses specifically promoted for daily wear were introduced in 2003. Data that we have gathered from annual contact lens fitting surveys demonstrate an immediate increase in market share whereby this lens type now represents more than one-third of soft lens fits in the United Kingdom. The success of this lens category is attributed to the health and safety benefits of silicone hydrogel materials and the positive impact of lens manufacturers by way of the effective marketing and distribution of these products.

Preservation of atomically clean silicon surfaces in air by contact bonding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grey, Francois; Ljungberg, Karin

1997-01-01

When two hydrogen-passivated silicon surfaces are placed in contact under cleanroom conditions, a weak bond is formed. Cleaving this bond under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions, and observing the surfaces with low energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy, we find that the or...... reconstruction from oxidation in air, Contact bonding opens the way to novel applications of reconstructed semiconductor surfaces, by preserving their atomic structure intact outside of a UHV chamber. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.......When two hydrogen-passivated silicon surfaces are placed in contact under cleanroom conditions, a weak bond is formed. Cleaving this bond under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions, and observing the surfaces with low energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy, we find...... that the ordered atomic structure of the surfaces is protected from oxidation, even after the bonded samples have been in air for weeks. Further, we show that silicon surfaces that have been cleaned and hydrogen-passivated in UHV can be contacted in UHV in a similarly hermetic fashion, protecting the surface...

Investigation of Performance Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells Using a-Si: H or a-SiC: H at Emitter Layer Through AMPS-1D Simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asmaa BENSMAIN

2014-05-01

Full Text Available We offer a numerical simulation tool, AMPS-1D, which allows to model homo- as well as heterojunction devices. AMPS-1D is the short form of automat for simulation of heterostructures. The program solves the one dimensional semiconductor equations in steady-state. Furthermore, a variety of common characterization techniques have been implemented, current- voltage, external quantum efficiency, conduction and valence band. A user-friendly interface allows to easily perform parameter variations, and to visualize and compare your simulations. In this work, The silicon heterojunction cell performances are investigated by detailed described on external quantum efficiency, and light current-voltage characteristics by recognized simulator AMPS-1D (Analysis of Micro- electronics and Photonic Structures. The objective of this work is to study the correlation between the emitter properties of both heterojunction cells a-Si:H/c-Si and a-SiC:H/c-Si (absorption, defect profiles and energy band offsets and the carrier collection.

Amorphous silicon passivation for 23.3% laser processed back contact solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Carstens, Kai; Dahlinger, Morris; Hoffmann, Erik; Zapf-Gottwick, Renate; Werner, Jürgen H.

2017-08-01

This paper presents amorphous silicon deposited at temperatures below 200 °C, leading to an excellent passivation layer for boron doped emitter and phosphorus doped back surface field areas in interdigitated back contact solar cells. A higher deposition temperature degrades the passivation of the boron emitter by an increased hydrogen effusion due to lower silicon hydrogen bond energy, proved by hydrogen effusion measurements. The high boron surface doping in crystalline silicon causes a band bending in the amorphous silicon. Under these conditions, at the interface, the intentionally undoped amorphous silicon becomes p-type conducting, with the consequence of an increased dangling bond defect density. For bulk amorphous silicon this effect is described by the defect pool model. We demonstrate, that the defect pool model is also applicable to the interface between amorphous and crystalline silicon. Our simulation shows the shift of the Fermi energy towards the valence band edge to be more pronounced for high temperature deposited amorphous silicon having a small bandgap. Application of optimized amorphous silicon as passivation layer for the boron doped emitter and phosphorus doped back surface field on the rear side of laser processed back contact solar cells, fabricated using four laser processing steps, yields an efficiency of 23.3%.

HOLE-BLOCKING LAYERS FOR SILICON/ORGANIC HETEROJUNCTIONS: A NEW CLASS OF HIGH-EFFICIENCY LOW-COST PV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sturm, James [Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)

2017-12-04

This project is the first investigation of the use of thin titanium dioxide layers on silicon as a hole-blocking / electron-transparent selective contact to silicon. The work was motivated by the goal of a high-efficiency low-cost silicon-based solar cells that could be processed entirely at low temperature (300 Degree Celsius) or less, without requiring plasma-processing.

Towards an optimum silicon heterojunction solar cell configuration for high temperature and high light intensity environment

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Amir

2017-09-22

We report on the performance of Silicon Heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell under high operating temperature and varying irradiance conditions typical to desert environment. In order to define the best solar cell configuration that resist high operating temperature conditions, two different intrinsic passivation layers were tested, namely, an intrinsic amorphous silicon a-SiO:H with CO/SiH ratio of 0.4 and a-SiOx:H with CO/SiH ratio of 0.8, and the obtained performance were compared with those of a standard SHJ cell configuration having a-Si:H passivation layer. Our results showed how the short circuit current density J, and fill factor FF temperature-dependency are impacted by the cell\\'s configuration. While the short circuit current density J for cells with a-SiO:H layers was found to improve as compared with that of standard a-Si:H layer, introducing the intrinsic amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiO:H) layer with CO/SiH ratio of 0.8 has resulted in a reduction of the FF at room temperature due to hindering the carrier transport by the band structure. Besides, this FF was found to improve as the temperature increases from 15 to 45°C, thus, a positive FF temperature coefficient.

Towards an optimum silicon heterojunction solar cell configuration for high temperature and high light intensity environment

KAUST Repository

Abdallah, Amir; Daif, Ounsi El; Aï ssa, Brahim; Kivambe, Maulid; Tabet, Nouar; Seif, Johannes; Haschke, Jan; Cattin, Jean; Boccard, Mathieu; De Wolf, Stefaan; Ballif, Christophe

2017-01-01

We report on the performance of Silicon Heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell under high operating temperature and varying irradiance conditions typical to desert environment. In order to define the best solar cell configuration that resist high operating temperature conditions, two different intrinsic passivation layers were tested, namely, an intrinsic amorphous silicon a-SiO:H with CO/SiH ratio of 0.4 and a-SiOx:H with CO/SiH ratio of 0.8, and the obtained performance were compared with those of a standard SHJ cell configuration having a-Si:H passivation layer. Our results showed how the short circuit current density J, and fill factor FF temperature-dependency are impacted by the cell's configuration. While the short circuit current density J for cells with a-SiO:H layers was found to improve as compared with that of standard a-Si:H layer, introducing the intrinsic amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiO:H) layer with CO/SiH ratio of 0.8 has resulted in a reduction of the FF at room temperature due to hindering the carrier transport by the band structure. Besides, this FF was found to improve as the temperature increases from 15 to 45°C, thus, a positive FF temperature coefficient.

Adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis to silicone-hydrogel contact lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Henriques, Mariana; Sousa, Cláudia; Lira, Madalena; Elisabete, M; Oliveira, Real; Oliveira, Rosário; Azeredo, Joana

2005-06-01

The purpose of this study is to compare the adhesion capabilities of the most important etiologic agents of microbial ocular infection to the recently available silicone-hydrogel lenses with those to a conventional hydrogel lens. In vitro static adhesion assays of Pseudomonas aeruginosa 10,145, Staphylococcus epidermidis 9142 (biofilm-positive), and 12,228 (biofilm-negative) to two extended-wear silicone-hydrogel lenses (balafilcon A and lotrafilcon A), a daily wear silicone-hydrogel lens (galyfilcon A) and a conventional hydrogel (etafilcon A) were performed. To interpret the adhesion results, lens surface relative hydrophobicity was assessed by water contact angle measurements. P. aeruginosa and S. epidermidis 9142 exhibited greater adhesion capabilities to the extended wear silicone-hydrogel lenses than to the daily wear silicone- and conventional hydrogel lenses (p adhesion extent of these strains to galyfilcon A and etafilcon A. The biofilm negative strain of S. epidermidis adhered in larger extents to the silicone-hydrogel lenses than to the conventional hydrogel (p contact angle measurements revealed that the extended wear silicone-hydrogel lenses are hydrophobic, whereas the daily wear silicone- and conventional hydrogel lenses are hydrophilic. As a result of their hydrophobicity, the extended wear silicone-hydrogel lenses (lotrafilcon A and balafilcon A) may carry higher risk of microbial contamination than both the hydrophilic daily wear silicone-hydrogel lens, galyfilcon A and the conventional hydrogel lens, etafilcon A.

A strained silicon cold electron bolometer using Schottky contacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brien, T. L. R., E-mail: tom.brien@astro.cf.ac.uk; Ade, P. A. R.; Barry, P. S.; Dunscombe, C.; Morozov, D. V.; Sudiwala, R. V. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queen' s Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Leadley, D. R.; Myronov, M.; Parker, E. H. C.; Prest, M. J.; Whall, T. E. [Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom); Prunnila, M. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 VTT Espoo (Finland); Mauskopf, P. D. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queen' s Buildings, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Department of Physics and School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, 650 E. Tyler Mall, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States)

2014-07-28

We describe optical characterisation of a strained silicon cold electron bolometer (CEB), operating on a 350 mK stage, designed for absorption of millimetre-wave radiation. The silicon cold electron bolometer utilises Schottky contacts between a superconductor and an n{sup ++} doped silicon island to detect changes in the temperature of the charge carriers in the silicon, due to variations in absorbed radiation. By using strained silicon as the absorber, we decrease the electron-phonon coupling in the device and increase the responsivity to incoming power. The strained silicon absorber is coupled to a planar aluminium twin-slot antenna designed to couple to 160 GHz and that serves as the superconducting contacts. From the measured optical responsivity and spectral response, we calculate a maximum optical efficiency of 50% for radiation coupled into the device by the planar antenna and an overall noise equivalent power, referred to absorbed optical power, of 1.1×10{sup −16} W Hz{sup −1/2} when the detector is observing a 300 K source through a 4 K throughput limiting aperture. Even though this optical system is not optimized, we measure a system noise equivalent temperature difference of 6 mK Hz{sup −1/2}. We measure the noise of the device using a cross-correlation of time stream data, measured simultaneously with two junction field-effect transistor amplifiers, with a base correlated noise level of 300 pV Hz{sup −1/2} and find that the total noise is consistent with a combination of photon noise, current shot noise, and electron-phonon thermal noise.

Tunable reverse-biased graphene/silicon heterojunction Schottky diode sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Amol; Uddin, Ahsan; Sudarshan, Tangali; Koley, Goutam

2014-04-24

A new chemical sensor based on reverse-biased graphene/Si heterojunction diode has been developed that exhibits extremely high bias-dependent molecular detection sensitivity and low operating power. The device takes advantage of graphene's atomically thin nature, which enables molecular adsorption on its surface to directly alter graphene/Si interface barrier height, thus affecting the junction current exponentially when operated in reverse bias and resulting in ultrahigh sensitivity. By operating the device in reverse bias, the work function of graphene, and hence the barrier height at the graphene/Si heterointerface, can be controlled by the bias magnitude, leading to a wide tunability of the molecular detection sensitivity. Such sensitivity control is also possible by carefully selecting the graphene/Si heterojunction Schottky barrier height. Compared to a conventional graphene amperometric sensor fabricated on the same chip, the proposed sensor demonstrated 13 times higher sensitivity for NO₂ and 3 times higher for NH₃ in ambient conditions, while consuming ∼500 times less power for same magnitude of applied voltage bias. The sensing mechanism based on heterojunction Schottky barrier height change has been confirmed using capacitance-voltage measurements. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Back contact to film silicon on metal for photovoltaic cells

Science.gov (United States)

Branz, Howard M.; Teplin, Charles; Stradins, Pauls

2013-06-18

A crystal oriented metal back contact for solar cells is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a photovoltaic device and methods for making the photovoltaic device are disclosed. The photovoltaic device includes a metal substrate with a crystalline orientation and a heteroepitaxial crystal silicon layer having the same crystal orientation of the metal substrate. A heteroepitaxial buffer layer having the crystal orientation of the metal substrate is positioned between the substrate and the crystal silicon layer to reduce diffusion of metal from the metal foil into the crystal silicon layer and provide chemical compatibility with the heteroepitaxial crystal silicon layer. Additionally, the buffer layer includes one or more electrically conductive pathways to electrically couple the crystal silicon layer and the metal substrate.

Simulation of a high-efficiency silicon-based heterojunction solar cell

Science.gov (United States)

Jian, Liu; Shihua, Huang; Lü, He

2015-04-01

The basic parameters of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells, such as layer thickness, doping concentration, a-Si:H/c-Si interface defect density, and the work functions of the transparent conducting oxide (TCO) and back surface field (BSF) layer, are crucial factors that influence the carrier transport properties and the efficiency of the solar cells. The correlations between the carrier transport properties and these parameters and the performance of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells were investigated using the AFORS-HET program. Through the analysis and optimization of a TCO/n-a-Si:H/i-a-Si:H/p-c-Si/p+-a-Si:H/Ag solar cell, a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 27.07% (VOC) 749 mV, JSC: 42.86 mA/cm2, FF: 84.33%) was obtained through simulation. An in-depth understanding of the transport properties can help to improve the efficiency of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells, and provide useful guidance for actual heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cell manufacturing. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61076055), the Open Project Program of Surface Physics Laboratory (National Key Laboratory) of Fudan University (No. FDS-KL2011-04), the Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Key Innovation Team (No. 2011R50012), and the Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory (No. 2013E10022).

Front buried metallic contacts and thin porous silicon combination for efficient polycrystalline silicon solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben Rabha, M.; Boujmil, M.F.; Meddeb, N.; Saadoun, M.; Bessais, B.

2006-01-01

We investigate the impacts of achieving buried grid metallic contacts (BGMC), with and without application of a front porous silicon (PS) layer, on the photovoltaic properties of polycrystalline silicon (pc-Si) solar cells. A grooving method based on Chemical Vapor Etching (CVE) was used to perform buried grid contacts on the emitter of pc-Si solar cells. After realizing the n + /p junction using a phosphorus diffusion source, BGMCs were realized using the screen printing technique. We found that the buried metallic contacts improve the short circuit current from 16 mA/cm 2 (for reference cell without buried contacts) to about 19 mA/cm 2 . After application of a front PS layer on the n + emitter, we observe an enhancement of the short circuit current from 19 to 24 mA/cm 2 with a decrease of the reflectivity by about 40% of its initial value. The dark I-V characteristics of the pc-Si cells with PS-based emitter show an important reduction of the reverse current together with an improvement of the rectifying behaviour. Spectral response measurements performed at a wavelength range of 400-1100 nm showed a significant increase in the quantum efficiency, particularly at shorter wavelength (400-650 nm). These results indicate that the BGMCs improve the carrier collection and that the PS layer acts as an antireflective coating that reduces reflection losses and passivates the front surface. This low cost and simple technology based on the CVE technique could enable preparing efficient polycrystalline silicon solar cells

Carbon Nanotube-Silicon Nanowire Heterojunction Solar Cells with Gas-Dependent Photovoltaic Performances and Their Application in Self-Powered NO2 Detecting.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Yi; Zhang, Zexia; Xiao, Lin; Lv, Ruitao

2016-12-01

A multifunctional device combining photovoltaic conversion and toxic gas sensitivity is reported. In this device, carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes are used to cover onto silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays to form heterojunction. The porous structure and large specific surface area in the heterojunction structure are both benefits for gas adsorption. In virtue of these merits, gas doping is a feasible method to improve cell's performance and the device can also work as a self-powered gas sensor beyond a solar cell. It shows a significant improvement in cell efficiency (more than 200 times) after NO2 molecules doping (device working as a solar cell) and a fast, reversible response property for NO2 detection (device working as a gas sensor). Such multifunctional CNT-SiNW structure can be expected to open a new avenue for developing self-powered, efficient toxic gas-sensing devices in the future.

Dual ohmic contact to N- and P-type silicon carbide

Science.gov (United States)

Okojie, Robert S. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

Simultaneous formation of electrical ohmic contacts to silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor having donor and acceptor impurities (n- and p-type doping, respectively) is disclosed. The innovation provides for ohmic contacts formed on SiC layers having n- and p-doping at one process step during the fabrication of the semiconductor device. Further, the innovation provides a non-discriminatory, universal ohmic contact to both n- and p-type SiC, enhancing reliability of the specific contact resistivity when operated at temperatures in excess of 600.degree. C.

Current enhancement in crystalline silicon photovoltaic by low-cost nickel silicide back contact

KAUST Repository

Bahabry, R. R.; Gumus, A.; Kutbee, A. T.; Wehbe, N.; Ahmed, S. M.; Ghoneim, M. T.; Lee, K. -T.; Rogers, J. A.; Hussain, M. M.

2016-01-01

We report short circuit current (Jsc) enhancement in crystalline silicon (C-Si) photovoltaic (PV) using low-cost Ohmic contact engineering by integration of Nickel mono-silicide (NiSi) for back contact metallization as an alternative to the status quo of using expensive screen printed silver (Ag). We show 2.6 mA/cm2 enhancement in the short circuit current (Jsc) and 1.2 % increment in the efficiency by improving the current collection due to the low specific contact resistance of the NiSi on the heavily Boron (B) doped Silicon (Si) interface.

Current enhancement in crystalline silicon photovoltaic by low-cost nickel silicide back contact

KAUST Repository

Bahabry, R. R.

2016-11-30

We report short circuit current (Jsc) enhancement in crystalline silicon (C-Si) photovoltaic (PV) using low-cost Ohmic contact engineering by integration of Nickel mono-silicide (NiSi) for back contact metallization as an alternative to the status quo of using expensive screen printed silver (Ag). We show 2.6 mA/cm2 enhancement in the short circuit current (Jsc) and 1.2 % increment in the efficiency by improving the current collection due to the low specific contact resistance of the NiSi on the heavily Boron (B) doped Silicon (Si) interface.

High-Efficiency Silicon/Organic Heterojunction Solar Cells with Improved Junction Quality and Interface Passivation.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Jian; Gao, Pingqi; Ling, Zhaoheng; Ding, Li; Yang, Zhenhai; Ye, Jichun; Cui, Yi

2016-12-27

Silicon/organic heterojunction solar cells (HSCs) based on conjugated polymers, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), and n-type silicon (n-Si) have attracted wide attention due to their potential advantages of high efficiency and low cost. However, the state-of-the-art efficiencies are still far from satisfactory due to the inferior junction quality. Here, facile treatments were applied by pretreating the n-Si wafer in tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution and using a capping copper iodide (CuI) layer on the PEDOT:PSS layer to achieve a high-quality Schottky junction. Detailed photoelectric characteristics indicated that the surface recombination was greatly suppressed after TMAH pretreatment, which increased the thickness of the interfacial oxide layer. Furthermore, the CuI capping layer induced a strong inversion layer near the n-Si surface, resulting in an excellent field effect passivation. With the collaborative improvements in the interface chemical and electrical passivation, a competitive open-circuit voltage of 0.656 V and a high fill factor of 78.1% were achieved, leading to a stable efficiency of over 14.3% for the planar n-Si/PEDOT:PSS HSCs. Our findings suggest promising strategies to further exploit the full voltage as well as efficiency potentials for Si/organic solar cells.

A novel ITO/AZO/SiO2/p-Si frame SIS heterojunction fabricated by magnetron sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Bo; Wang, HongZhi; Li, YaoGang; Ma, ZhongQuan; Xu, Jing; Zhang, QingHong; Wang, ChunRui; Xing, HuaiZhong; Zhao, Lei; Rui, YiChuan

2013-01-01

Highlights: •Because the ITO/AZO double films lead to a great decrease of the lateral resistance. •The photon current can easily flow through top film entering the Cu front contact. •High photocurrent is obtained under a reverse bias. -- Abstract: The novel ITO/AZO/SiO 2 /p-Si SIS heterojunction has been fabricated by low temperature thermal oxidation an ultrathin silicon dioxide and RF sputtering deposition ITO/AZO double films on p-Si (1 0 0) polished substrate. The microstructural, optical and electrical properties of the ITO/AZO antireflection films were characterized by XRD, SEM, UV–VIS spectrophotometer, four point probe and Hall effect measurement, respectively. The results show that ITO/AZO films are of good quality. And XPS was carried out on the ultrathin SiO 2 film. The heterojunction shows strong rectifying behavior under a dark condition, which reveals that formation of a diode between AZO and p-Si. The ideality factor and the saturation current of this diode is 2.7 and 8.68 × 10 −5 A, respectively. High photocurrent is obtained under a reverse bias when the crystalline quality of ITO/AZO double films is good enough to transmit the light into p-Si. We can see that under reverse bias conditions the photocurrent of ITO/AZO/SiO 2 /p-Si SIS heterojunction is much higher than the photocurrent of AZO/SiO 2 /p-Si SIS heterojunction. Because the high quality crystallite and the good conductivity of ITO film which prepared by magnetron-sputtering on AZO film lead to a great decrease of the lateral resistance. The photon induced current can easily flow through ITO layer entering the Cu front contact. Thus, high photocurrent is obtained under a reverse bias

Improved contact metallization for high efficiency EFG polycrystalline silicon solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dube, C.E.; Gonsiorawski, R.C.

1990-01-01

Improvements in the performance of polycrystalline silicon solar cells based on a novel, laser patterned contact process are described. Small lots of cells having an average conversion efficiency of 14 + %, with several cells approaching 15%, are reported for cells of 45 cm 2 area. The high efficiency contact design is based on YAG laser patterning of the silicon nitride anti-reflection coating. The Cu metallization is done using light-induced plating, with the cell providing the driving voltage for the plating process. The Cu electrodeposits into the laser defined windows in the AR coating for reduced contact area, following which the Cu bridges on top of the Ar coating to form a continuous finger pattern. The higher cell conversion efficiency is attributed to reduced shadow loss, higher junction quality, and reduced metal-semiconductor interfacial area

Improved amorphous/crystalline silicon interface passivation for heterojunction solar cells by low-temperature chemical vapor deposition and post-annealing treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Fengyou; Zhang, Xiaodan; Wang, Liguo; Jiang, Yuanjian; Wei, Changchun; Xu, Shengzhi; Zhao, Ying

2014-10-07

In this study, hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films are deposited using a radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) system. The Si-H configuration of the a-Si:H/c-Si interface is regulated by optimizing the deposition temperature and post-annealing duration to improve the minority carrier lifetime (τeff) of a commercial Czochralski (Cz) silicon wafer. The mechanism of this improvement involves saturation of the microstructural defects with hydrogen evolved within the a-Si:H films due to the transformation from SiH2 into SiH during the annealing process. The post-annealing temperature is controlled to ∼180 °C so that silicon heterojunction solar cells (SHJ) could be prepared without an additional annealing step. To achieve better performance of the SHJ solar cells, we also optimize the thickness of the a-Si:H passivation layer. Finally, complete SHJ solar cells are fabricated using different temperatures for the a-Si:H film deposition to study the influence of the deposition temperature on the solar cell parameters. For the optimized a-Si:H deposition conditions, an efficiency of 18.41% is achieved on a textured Cz silicon wafer.

Structural, electronic and transport properties of armorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schulze, Tim Ferdinand

2011-06-15

The present dissertation is concerned with the physical aspects of the a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction in the context of PV research. In a first step, the technological development which took place in the framework of the thesis is summarized. Its main constituent was the development and implementation of ultrathin ({<=}10 nm) undoped a-Si:H[(i)a-Si:H] layers to improve the passivation of the c-Si surface with the goal of increasing the open-circuit voltage of the solar cell. It is shown that the effect of (i)a-Si:H interlayers depends on the c-Si substrate doping type, and that challenges exist particularly on the technologically more relevant (n)c-Si substrate. A precise optimization of (i)a-Si:H thickness and the doping level of the following a-Si:H top layers is required to realize an efficiency gain in the solar cell. In this chapter, the key scientific questions to be tackled in the main part of the thesis are brought up by the technological development. In the next chapter, the charge carrier transport through a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunctions is investigated making use of current-voltage (I/V) characteristics taken at different temperatures. The dominant transport mechanisms in a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunctions are identified, and the relevance for solar cell operation is discussed. It is found that in the bias regime relevant for solar cell operation, the theoretical framework for the description of carrier transport in classical c-Si solar cells applies as well, which enables to use I/V curves for a simple characterization of a-Si:H/c-Si structures. The next chapter deals with the microscopic characterization of ultrathin a-Si:H layers. Employing infrared spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, photoelectron spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy, the structural, electronic and optical properties of (i)a-Si:H are analyzed. It is found that ultrathin a-Si:H essentially behaves like layers of 10..100 times the thickness. This represents the basis for the

The all-optical modulator in dielectric-loaded waveguide with graphene-silicon heterojunction structure

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Feiying; Xia, Liangping; Nie, Changbin; Shen, Jun; Zou, Yixuan; Cheng, Guiyu; Wu, Hao; Zhang, Yong; Wei, Dongshan; Yin, Shaoyun; Du, Chunlei

2018-04-01

All-optical modulators based on graphene show great promise for on-chip optical interconnects. However, the modulation performance of all-optical modulators is usually based on the interaction between graphene and the fiber, limiting their potential in high integration. Based on this point, an all-optical modulator in a dielectric-loaded waveguide (DLW) with a graphene-silicon heterojunction structure (GSH) is proposed. The DLW raises the waveguide mode, which provides a strong light-graphene interaction. Sufficient tuning of the graphene Fermi energy beyond the Pauli blocking effect is obtained with the presented GSH structure. Under the modulation light with a wavelength of 532 nm and a power of 60 mW, a modulation efficiency of 0.0275 dB µm-1 is achieved for light with a communication wavelength of 1.55 µm in the experiment. This modulator has the advantage of having a compact footprint, which may make it a candidate for achieving a highly integrated all-optical modulator.

Tunnel Oxides Formed by Field-Induced Anodisation for Passivated Contacts of Silicon Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingnan Tong

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Tunnel silicon oxides form a critical component for passivated contacts for silicon solar cells. They need to be sufficiently thin to allow carriers to tunnel through and to be uniform both in thickness and stoichiometry across the silicon wafer surface, to ensure uniform and low recombination velocities if high conversion efficiencies are to be achieved. This paper reports on the formation of ultra-thin silicon oxide layers by field-induced anodisation (FIA, a process that ensures uniform oxide thickness by passing the anodisation current perpendicularly through the wafer to the silicon surface that is anodised. Spectroscopical analyses show that the FIA oxides contain a lower fraction of Si-rich sub-oxides compared to wet-chemical oxides, resulting in lower recombination velocities at the silicon and oxide interface. This property along with its low temperature formation highlights the potential for FIA to be used to form low-cost tunnel oxide layers for passivated contacts of silicon solar cells.

The challenge of screen printed Ag metallization on nano-scale poly-silicon passivated contacts for silicon solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Lin; Song, Lixin; Yan, Li; Becht, Gregory; Zhang, Yi; Hoerteis, Matthias

2017-08-01

Passivated contacts can be used to reduce metal-induced recombination for higher energy conversion efficiency for silicon solar cells, and are obtained increasing attentions by PV industries in recent years. The reported thicknesses of passivated contact layers are mostly within tens of nanometer range, and the corresponding metallization methods are realized mainly by plating/evaporation technology. This high cost metallization cannot compete with the screen printing technology, and may affect its market potential comparing with the presently dominant solar cell technology. Very few works have been reported on screen printing metallization on passivated contact solar cells. Hence, there is a rising demand to realize screen printing metallization technology on this topic. In this work, we investigate applying screen printing metallization pastes on poly-silicon passivated contacts. The critical challenge for us is to build low contact resistance that can be competitive to standard technology while restricting the paste penetrations within the thin nano-scale passivated contact layers. The contact resistivity of 1.1mohm-cm2 and the open circuit voltages > 660mV are achieved, and the most appropriate thickness range is estimated to be around 80 150nm.

Investigation of positive roles of hydrogen plasma treatment for interface passivation based on silicon heterojunction solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Liping; Liu, Wenzhu; Liu, Jinning; Shi, Jianhua; Meng, Fanying; Liu, Zhengxin; Guo, Wanwu; Bao, Jian

2016-01-01

The positive roles of H 2 -plasma treatment (HPT) have been investigated by using different treatment procedures in view of the distinctly improved passivation performance of amorphous-crystalline silicon heterojunctions (SHJs). It has been found that a hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film and crystalline silicon (a-Si:H/c-Si) interface with a high stretching mode (HSM) is detrimental to passivation. A moderate pre-HPT introduces atomic H, which plays an effective tuning role in decreasing the interfacial HSM; unfortunately, an epitaxial layer is formed. Further improvement in passivation can be achieved in terms of increasing the HSM of a-Si:H film treated by appropriate post-HPT based on the a-Si:H thickness. The minority carrier lifetime of crystalline wafers can be improved by treated films containing a certain quantity of crystallites. The microstructure factor R and the maximum intensity of the dielectric function ε 2max have been found to be critical microstructure parameters that describe high-quality a-Si:H passivation layers, which are associated with the amorphous-to-microcrystalline transition phase induced by multi-step HPT. Finally, the open circuit voltage and conversion efficiency of the SHJ solar cell can be improved by implementing an effective HPT process. (paper)

Oil Contact Angles in a Water-Decane-Silicon Dioxide System: Effects of Surface Charge.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Shijing; Wang, Jingyao; Wu, Jiazhong; Liu, Qingjie; Sun, Chengzhen; Bai, Bofeng

2018-04-19

Oil wettability in the water-oil-rock systems is very sensitive to the evolution of surface charges on the rock surfaces induced by the adsorption of ions and other chemical agents in water flooding. Through a set of large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we reveal the effects of surface charge on the oil contact angles in an ideal water-decane-silicon dioxide system. The results show that the contact angles of oil nano-droplets have a great dependence on the surface charges. As the surface charge density exceeds a critical value of 0.992 e/nm 2 , the contact angle reaches up to 78.8° and the water-wet state is very apparent. The variation of contact angles can be confirmed from the number density distributions of oil molecules. With increasing the surface charge density, the adsorption of oil molecules weakens and the contact areas between nano-droplets and silicon dioxide surface are reduced. In addition, the number density distributions, RDF distributions, and molecular orientations indicate that the oil molecules are adsorbed on the silicon dioxide surface layer-by-layer with an orientation parallel to the surface. However, the layered structure of oil molecules near the silicon dioxide surface becomes more and more obscure at higher surface charge densities.

Contacting graphene in a 200 mm wafer silicon technology environment

Science.gov (United States)

Lisker, Marco; Lukosius, Mindaugas; Kitzmann, Julia; Fraschke, Mirko; Wolansky, Dirk; Schulze, Sebastian; Lupina, Grzegorz; Mai, Andreas

2018-06-01

Two different approaches for contacting graphene in a 200 mm wafer silicon technology environment were tested. The key is the opportunity to create a thin SiN passivation layer on top of the graphene protecting it from the damage by plasma processes. The first approach uses pure Ni contacts with a thickness of 200 nm. For the second attempt, Ni is used as the contact metal which substitutes the Ti compared to a standard contact hole filling process. Accordingly, the contact hole filling of this "stacked via" approach is Ni/TiN/W. We demonstrate that the second "stacked Via" is beneficial and shows contact resistances of a wafer scale process with values below 200 Ohm μm.

Al-Si alloy point contact formation and rear surface passivation for silicon solar cells using double layer porous silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moumni, Besma; Ben Jaballah, Abdelkader; Bessais, Brahim

2012-01-01

Lowering the rear surface recombination velocities by a dielectric layer has fascinating advantages compared with the standard fully covered Al back-contact silicon solar cells. In this work the passivation effect by double layer porous silicon (PS) (wide band gap) and the formation of Al-Si alloy in narrow p-type Si point contact areas for rear passivated solar cells are analysed. As revealed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, we found that a thin passivating aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) layer is formed. Scanning electron microscopy analysis performed in cross sections shows that with bilayer PS, liquid Al penetrates into the openings, alloying with the Si substrate at depth and decreasing the contact resistivity. At the solar cell level, the reduction in the contact area and resistivity leads to a minimization of the fill factor losses.

Electrostatically Gated Graphene-Zinc Oxide Nanowire Heterojunction.

Science.gov (United States)

You, Xueqiu; Pak, James Jungho

2015-03-01

This paper presents an electrostatically gated graphene-ZnO nanowire (NW) heterojunction for the purpose of device applications for the first time. A sub-nanometer-thick energy barrier width was formed between a monatomic graphene layer and electrochemically grown ZnO NWs. Because of the narrow energy barrier, electrons can tunnel through the barrier when a voltage is applied across the junction. A near-ohmic current-voltage (I-V) curve was obtained from the graphene-electrochemically grown ZnO NW heterojunction. This near-ohmic contact changed to asymmetric I-V Schottky contact when the samples were exposed to an oxygen environment. It is believed that the adsorbed oxygen atoms or molecules on the ZnO NW surface capture free electrons of the ZnO NWs, thereby creating a depletion region in the ZnO NWs. Consequentially, the electron concentration in the ZnO NWs is dramatically reduced, and the energy barrier width of the graphene-ZnO NW heterojunction increases greatly. This increased energy barrier width reduces the electron tunneling probability, resulting in a typical Schottky contact. By adjusting the back-gate voltage to control the graphene-ZnO NW Schottky energy barrier height, a large modulation on the junction current (on/off ratio of 10(3)) was achieved.

IBC c-Si solar cells based on ion-implanted poly-silicon passivating contacts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yang, G.; Ingenito, A.; Isabella, O.; Zeman, M.

2016-01-01

Ion-implanted poly-crystalline silicon (poly-Si), in combination with a tunnel oxide layer, is investigated as a carrier-selective passivating contact in c-Si solar cells based on an interdigitated back contact (IBC) architecture. The optimized poly-Si passivating contacts enable low interface

Industrially feasible, dopant-free, carrier-selective contacts for high-efficiency silicon solar cells

KAUST Repository

Yang, Xinbo; Weber, Klaus; Hameiri, Ziv; De Wolf, Stefaan

2017-01-01

quality and cell processing, a remarkable efficiency of 22.1% has been achieved using an n-type silicon solar cell featuring a full-area TiO contact. Next, we demonstrate the compatibility of TiO contacts with an industrial contact-firing process, its low

An 8.68% efficiency chemically-doped-free graphene-silicon solar cell using silver nanowires network buried contacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Lifei; Yu, Xuegong; Hu, Weidan; Wu, Xiaolei; Zhao, Yan; Yang, Deren

2015-02-25

Graphene-silicon (Gr-Si) heterojunction solar cells have been recognized as one of the most low-cost candidates in photovoltaics due to its simple fabrication process. However, the high sheet resistance of chemical vapor deposited (CVD) Gr films is still the most important limiting factor for the improvement of the power conversion efficiency of Gr-Si solar cells, especially in the case of large device-active area. In this work, we have fabricated a novel transparent conductive film by hybriding a monolayer Gr film with silver nanowires (AgNWs) network soldered by the graphene oxide (GO) flakes. This Gr-AgNWs hybrid film exhibits low sheet resistance and larger direct-current to optical conductivity ratio, quite suitable for solar cell fabrication. An efficiency of 8.68% has been achieved for the Gr-AgNWs-Si solar cell, in which the AgNWs network acts as buried contacts. Meanwhile, the Gr-AgNWs-Si solar cells have much better stability than the chemically doped Gr-Si solar cells. These results show a new route for the fabrication of high efficient and stable Gr-Si solar cells.

Research on a Micro-Nano Si/SiGe/Si Double Heterojunction Electro-Optic Modulation Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Song Feng

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The electro-optic modulator is a very important device in silicon photonics, which is responsible for the conversion of optical signals and electrical signals. For the electro-optic modulator, the carrier density of waveguide region is one of the key parameters. The traditional method of increasing carrier density is to increase the external modulation voltage, but this way will increase the modulation loss and also is not conducive to photonics integration. This paper presents a micro-nano Si/SiGe/Si double heterojunction electro-optic modulation structure. Based on the band theory of single heterojunction, the barrier heights are quantitatively calculated, and the carrier concentrations of heterojunction barrier are analyzed. The band and carrier injection characteristics of the double heterostructure structure are simulated, respectively, and the correctness of the theoretical analysis is demonstrated. The micro-nano Si/SiGe/Si double heterojunction electro-optic modulation is designed and tested, and comparison of testing results between the micro-nano Si/SiGe/Si double heterojunction micro-ring electro-optic modulation and the micro-nano Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI micro-ring electro-optic modulation, Free Spectrum Range, 3 dB Bandwidth, Q value, extinction ratio, and other parameters of the micro-nano Si/SiGe/Si double heterojunction micro-ring electro-optic modulation are better than others, and the modulation voltage and the modulation loss are lower.

Photoinduced Field-Effect Passivation from Negative Carrier Accumulation for High-Efficiency Silicon/Organic Heterojunction Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhaolang; Yang, Zhenhai; Wu, Sudong; Zhu, Juye; Guo, Wei; Sheng, Jiang; Ye, Jichun; Cui, Yi

2017-12-26

Carrier recombination and light management of the dopant-free silicon/organic heterojunction solar cells (HSCs) based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) are the critical factors in developing high-efficiency photovoltaic devices. However, the traditional passivation technologies can hardly provide efficient surface passivation on the front surface of Si. In this study, a photoinduced electric field was induced in a bilayer antireflective coating (ARC) of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) films, due to formation of an accumulation layer of negative carriers (O 2 - species) under UV (sunlight) illumination. This photoinduced field not only suppressed the silicon surface recombination but also enhanced the built-in potential of HSCs with 84 mV increment. In addition, this photoactive ARC also displayed the outstanding light-trapping capability. The front PEDOT:PSS/Si HSC with the saturated O 2 - received a champion PCE of 15.51% under AM 1.5 simulated sunlight illumination. It was clearly demonstrated that the photoinduced electric field was a simple, efficient, and low-cost method for the surface passivation and contributed to achieve a high efficiency when applied in the Si/PEDOT:PSS HSCs.

19.2% Efficient InP Heterojunction Solar Cell with Electron-Selective TiO2 Contact.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Xingtian; Battaglia, Corsin; Lin, Yongjing; Chen, Kevin; Hettick, Mark; Zheng, Maxwell; Chen, Cheng-Ying; Kiriya, Daisuke; Javey, Ali

2014-12-17

We demonstrate an InP heterojunction solar cell employing an ultrathin layer (∼10 nm) of amorphous TiO 2 deposited at 120 °C by atomic layer deposition as the transparent electron-selective contact. The TiO 2 film selectively extracts minority electrons from the conduction band of p-type InP while blocking the majority holes due to the large valence band offset, enabling a high maximum open-circuit voltage of 785 mV. A hydrogen plasma treatment of the InP surface drastically improves the long-wavelength response of the device, resulting in a high short-circuit current density of 30.5 mA/cm 2 and a high power conversion efficiency of 19.2%.

Improved Optics in Monolithic Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells with a Nanocrystalline Silicon Recombination Junction

KAUST Repository

Sahli, Florent

2017-10-09

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells are increasingly recognized as promi­sing candidates for next-generation photovoltaics with performance beyond the single-junction limit at potentially low production costs. Current designs for monolithic tandems rely on transparent conductive oxides as an intermediate recombination layer, which lead to optical losses and reduced shunt resistance. An improved recombination junction based on nanocrystalline silicon layers to mitigate these losses is demonstrated. When employed in monolithic perovskite/silicon heterojunction tandem cells with a planar front side, this junction is found to increase the bottom cell photocurrent by more than 1 mA cm−2. In combination with a cesium-based perovskite top cell, this leads to tandem cell power-conversion efficiencies of up to 22.7% obtained from J–V measurements and steady-state efficiencies of up to 22.0% during maximum power point tracking. Thanks to its low lateral conductivity, the nanocrystalline silicon recombination junction enables upscaling of monolithic perovskite/silicon heterojunction tandem cells, resulting in a 12.96 cm2 monolithic tandem cell with a steady-state efficiency of 18%.

Improved Optics in Monolithic Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells with a Nanocrystalline Silicon Recombination Junction

KAUST Repository

Sahli, Florent; Kamino, Brett A.; Werner, Jé ré mie; Brä uninger, Matthias; Paviet-Salomon, Bertrand; Barraud, Loris; Monnard, Raphaë l; Seif, Johannes Peter; Tomasi, Andrea; Jeangros, Quentin; Hessler-Wyser, Aï cha; De Wolf, Stefaan; Despeisse, Matthieu; Nicolay, Sylvain; Niesen, Bjoern; Ballif, Christophe

2017-01-01

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells are increasingly recognized as promi­sing candidates for next-generation photovoltaics with performance beyond the single-junction limit at potentially low production costs. Current designs for monolithic tandems rely on transparent conductive oxides as an intermediate recombination layer, which lead to optical losses and reduced shunt resistance. An improved recombination junction based on nanocrystalline silicon layers to mitigate these losses is demonstrated. When employed in monolithic perovskite/silicon heterojunction tandem cells with a planar front side, this junction is found to increase the bottom cell photocurrent by more than 1 mA cm−2. In combination with a cesium-based perovskite top cell, this leads to tandem cell power-conversion efficiencies of up to 22.7% obtained from J–V measurements and steady-state efficiencies of up to 22.0% during maximum power point tracking. Thanks to its low lateral conductivity, the nanocrystalline silicon recombination junction enables upscaling of monolithic perovskite/silicon heterojunction tandem cells, resulting in a 12.96 cm2 monolithic tandem cell with a steady-state efficiency of 18%.

Impact of surface morphology of Si substrate on performance of Si/ZnO heterojunction devices grown by atomic layer deposition technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hazra, Purnima; Singh, Satyendra Kumar [Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Motilal Neheru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad 211004 (India); Jit, Satyabrata, E-mail: sjit.ece@itbhu.ac.in [Department of Electronics Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi 221005 (India)

2015-01-01

In this paper, the authors have investigated the structural, optical, and electrical characteristics of silicon nanowire (SiNW)/zinc oxide (ZnO) core–shell nanostructure heterojunctions and compared their characteristics with Si/ZnO planar heterojunctions to investigate the effect of surface morphology of Si substrate in the characteristics of Si/ZnO heterojunction devices. In this work, ZnO thin film was conformally deposited on both p-type 〈100〉 planar Si substrate and substrate with vertically aligned SiNW arrays by atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. The x-ray diffraction spectra show that the crystalline structures of Si/ZnO heterojunctions are having (101) preferred orientation, whereas vertically oriented SiNW/ZnO core–shell heterojunctions are having (002)-oriented wurtzite crystalline structures. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Si/ZnO heterojunctions show a very sharp single peak at 377 nm, corresponding to the bandgap of ZnO material with no other defect peaks in visible region; hence, these devices can have applications only in UV region. On the other hand, SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions are having band-edge peak at 378 nm along with a broad emission band, spreading almost throughout the entire visible region with a peak around 550 nm. Therefore, ALD-grown SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions can emit green and red light simultaneously. Reflectivity measurement of the heterojunctions further confirms the enhancement of visible region peak in the PL spectra of SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions, as the surface of the SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions exhibits extremely low reflectance (<3%) in the visible wavelength region compared to Si/ZnO heterojunctions (>20%). The current–voltage characteristics of both Si/ZnO and SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions are measured with large area ohmic contacts on top and bottom of the structure to compare the electrical characteristics of the devices. Due to large surface to-volume ratio of SiNW/ZnO core–shell heterojunction devices, the

Tunnel field-effect transistors with germanium/strained-silicon hetero-junctions for low power applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Minsoo; Kim, Younghyun; Yokoyama, Masafumi; Nakane, Ryosho; Kim, SangHyeon; Takenaka, Mitsuru; Takagi, Shinichi

2014-01-01

We have studied a simple structure n-channel tunnel field-effect transistor with a pure-Ge/strained-Si hetero-junction. The device operation was demonstrated for the devices fabricated by combining epitaxially-grown Ge on strained-silicon-on-insulator substrates. Atomic-layer-deposition-Al 2 O 3 -based gate stacks were formed with electron cyclotron resonance plasma post oxidation to ensure the high quality metal–oxide–semiconductor interface between the high-k insulator and Ge. While the gate leakage current and drain current saturation are well controlled, relatively higher minimum subthreshold swing of 125 mV/dec and lower I ON /I OFF ratio of 10 3 –10 4 were obtained. It is expected that these device characteristics can be improved by further process optimization. - Highlights: • Layer by layer growth of Ge • Uniform interface between Ge and the insulator • Gate leakage current and drain current saturation seem to be well controlled. • The output characteristics show good saturation

Cryogenic preamplification of a single-electron-transistor using a silicon-germanium heterojunction-bipolar-transistor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Curry, M. J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States); Center for Quantum Information and Control, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States); Sandia National Laboratories, 1515 Eubank Blvd SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123 (United States); England, T. D.; Bishop, N. C.; Ten-Eyck, G.; Wendt, J. R.; Pluym, T.; Lilly, M. P.; Carroll, M. S. [Sandia National Laboratories, 1515 Eubank Blvd SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123 (United States); Carr, S. M. [Center for Quantum Information and Control, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States); Sandia National Laboratories, 1515 Eubank Blvd SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123 (United States)

2015-05-18

We examine a silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) for cryogenic pre-amplification of a single electron transistor (SET). The SET current modulates the base current of the HBT directly. The HBT-SET circuit is immersed in liquid helium, and its frequency response from low frequency to several MHz is measured. The current gain and the noise spectrum with the HBT result in a signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) that is a factor of 10–100 larger than without the HBT at lower frequencies. The transition frequency defined by SNR = 1 has been extended by as much as a factor of 10 compared to without the HBT amplification. The power dissipated by the HBT cryogenic pre-amplifier is approximately 5 nW to 5 μW for the investigated range of operation. The circuit is also operated in a single electron charge read-out configuration in the time-domain as a proof-of-principle demonstration of the amplification approach for single spin read-out.

Fabrication of heterojunction solar cells by improved tin oxide deposition on insulating layer

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Tom; Ghosh, Amal K.

1980-01-01

Highly efficient tin oxide-silicon heterojunction solar cells are prepared by heating a silicon substrate, having an insulating layer thereon, to provide a substrate temperature in the range of about 300.degree. C. to about 400.degree. C. and thereafter spraying the so-heated substrate with a solution of tin tetrachloride in a organic ester boiling below about 250.degree. C. Preferably the insulating layer is naturally grown silicon oxide layer.

The temperature dependence of the characteristics of crystalline-silicon-based heterojunction solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Sachenko, A. V.; Kryuchenko, Yu. V.; Kostylyov, V. P.; Korkishko, R. M.; Sokolovskyi, I. O.; Abramov, A. S.; Abolmasov, S. N.; Andronikov, D. A.; Bobyl', A. V.; Panaiotti, I. E.; Terukov, E. I.; Titov, A. S.; Shvarts, M. Z.

2016-03-01

Temperature dependences of the photovoltaic characteristics of ( p)a-Si/( i)a-Si:H/( n)c-Si singlecrystalline- silicon based heterojunction-with-intrinsic-thin-layer (HIT) solar cells have been measured in a temperature range of 80-420 K. The open-circuit voltage ( V OC), fill factor ( FF) of the current-voltage ( I-U) characteristic, and maximum output power ( P max) reach limiting values in the interval of 200-250 K on the background of monotonic growth in the short-circuit current ( I SC) in a temperature range of 80-400 K. At temperatures below this interval, the V OC, FF, and P max values exhibit a decrease. It is theoretically justified that a decrease in the photovoltaic energy conversion characteristics of solar cells observed on heating from 250 to 400 K is related to exponential growth in the intrinsic conductivity. At temperatures below 200 K, the I-U curve shape exhibits a change that is accompanied by a drop in V OC. Possible factors that account for the decrease in V OC, FF, and P max are considered.

Impact of surface morphology of Si substrate on performance of Si/ZnO heterojunction devices grown by atomic layer deposition technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazra, Purnima; Singh, Satyendra Kumar; Jit, Satyabrata

2015-01-01

In this paper, the authors have investigated the structural, optical, and electrical characteristics of silicon nanowire (SiNW)/zinc oxide (ZnO) core–shell nanostructure heterojunctions and compared their characteristics with Si/ZnO planar heterojunctions to investigate the effect of surface morphology of Si substrate in the characteristics of Si/ZnO heterojunction devices. In this work, ZnO thin film was conformally deposited on both p-type 〈100〉 planar Si substrate and substrate with vertically aligned SiNW arrays by atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. The x-ray diffraction spectra show that the crystalline structures of Si/ZnO heterojunctions are having (101) preferred orientation, whereas vertically oriented SiNW/ZnO core–shell heterojunctions are having (002)-oriented wurtzite crystalline structures. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Si/ZnO heterojunctions show a very sharp single peak at 377 nm, corresponding to the bandgap of ZnO material with no other defect peaks in visible region; hence, these devices can have applications only in UV region. On the other hand, SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions are having band-edge peak at 378 nm along with a broad emission band, spreading almost throughout the entire visible region with a peak around 550 nm. Therefore, ALD-grown SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions can emit green and red light simultaneously. Reflectivity measurement of the heterojunctions further confirms the enhancement of visible region peak in the PL spectra of SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions, as the surface of the SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions exhibits extremely low reflectance ( 20%). The current–voltage characteristics of both Si/ZnO and SiNW/ZnO heterojunctions are measured with large area ohmic contacts on top and bottom of the structure to compare the electrical characteristics of the devices. Due to large surface to-volume ratio of SiNW/ZnO core–shell heterojunction devices, the output current rating is about 130 times larger compared to their planar

Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells Using AlOx and Plasma-Immersion Ion Implantation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Hsien Lin

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Aluminum oxide (AlOx and plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII were studied in relation to passivated silicon heterojunction solar cells. When aluminum oxide (AlOx was deposited on the surface of a wafer; the electric field near the surface of wafer was enhanced; and the mobility of the carrier was improved; thus reducing carrier traps associated with dangling bonds. Using PIII enabled implanting nitrogen into the device to reduce dangling bonds and achieve the desired passivation effect. Depositing AlOx on the surface of a solar cell increased the short-circuit current density (Jsc; open-circuit voltage (Voc; and conversion efficiency from 27.84 mA/cm2; 0.52 V; and 8.97% to 29.34 mA/cm2; 0.54 V; and 9.68%; respectively. After controlling the depth and concentration of nitrogen by modulating the PIII energy; the ideal PIII condition was determined to be 2 keV and 10 min. As a result; a 15.42% conversion efficiency was thus achieved; and the Jsc; Voc; and fill factor were 37.78 mA/cm2; 0.55 V; and 0.742; respectively.

Enhanced performance of a-IGZO thin-film transistors by forming AZO/IGZO heterojunction source/drain contacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou, Xiao; Fang, Guojia; Wan, Jiawei; Liu, Nishuang; Long, Hao; Wang, Haolin; Zhao, Xingzhong

2011-01-01

A low-cost Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin film was deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering with different Ar/O 2 flow ratios. The optical and electrical properties of an AZO film were investigated. A highly conductive AZO film was inserted between the amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) channel and the metal Al electrode to form a heterojunction source/drain contact, and bottom-gate amorphous a-IGZO thin-film transistors (TFTs) with a high κ HfON gate dielectric were fabricated. The AZO film reduced the source/drain contact resistivity down to 79 Ω cm. Enhanced device performance of a-IGZO TFT with Al/AZO bi-layer S/D electrodes (W/L = 500/40 µm) was achieved with a saturation mobility of 13.7 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , a threshold voltage of 0.6 V, an on-off current ratio of 4.7 × 10 6 , and a subthreshold gate voltage swing of 0.25 V dec −1 . It demonstrated the potential application of the AZO film as a promising S/D contact material for the fabrication of the high performance TFTs

Evolution of a Native Oxide Layer at the a-Si:H/c-Si Interface and Its Influence on a Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wenzhu; Meng, Fanying; Zhang, Xiaoyu; Liu, Zhengxin

2015-12-09

The interface microstructure of a silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell was investigated. We found an ultrathin native oxide layer (NOL) with a thickness of several angstroms was formed on the crystalline silicon (c-Si) surface in a very short time (∼30 s) after being etched by HF solution. Although the NOL had a loose structure with defects that are detrimental for surface passivation, it acted as a barrier to restrain the epitaxial growth of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) during the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The microstructure change of the NOL during the PECVD deposition of a-Si:H layers with different conditions and under different H2 plasma treatments were systemically investigated in detail. When a brief H2 plasma was applied to treat the a-Si:H layer after the PECVD deposition, interstitial oxygen and small-size SiO2 precipitates were transformed to hydrogenated amorphous silicon suboxide alloy (a-SiO(x):H, x ∼ 1.5). In the meantime, the interface defect density was reduced by about 50%, and the parameters of the SHJ solar cell were improved due to the post H2 plasma treatment.

Semiconductor device comprising a pn-heterojunction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2007-01-01

An electric device is disclosed comprising a pn-heterojunction ( 4 ) formed by a nanowire ( 3 ) of 111 -V semiconductor material and a semiconductor body ( 1 ) comprising a group IV semiconductor material. The nanowire ( 3 ) is positioned in direct contact with the surface ( 2 ) of the semiconductor

Tunnel field-effect transistors with germanium/strained-silicon hetero-junctions for low power applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Minsoo, E-mail: minsoo@mosfet.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp; Kim, Younghyun; Yokoyama, Masafumi; Nakane, Ryosho; Kim, SangHyeon; Takenaka, Mitsuru; Takagi, Shinichi

2014-04-30

We have studied a simple structure n-channel tunnel field-effect transistor with a pure-Ge/strained-Si hetero-junction. The device operation was demonstrated for the devices fabricated by combining epitaxially-grown Ge on strained-silicon-on-insulator substrates. Atomic-layer-deposition-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-based gate stacks were formed with electron cyclotron resonance plasma post oxidation to ensure the high quality metal–oxide–semiconductor interface between the high-k insulator and Ge. While the gate leakage current and drain current saturation are well controlled, relatively higher minimum subthreshold swing of 125 mV/dec and lower I{sub ON}/I{sub OFF} ratio of 10{sup 3}–10{sup 4} were obtained. It is expected that these device characteristics can be improved by further process optimization. - Highlights: • Layer by layer growth of Ge • Uniform interface between Ge and the insulator • Gate leakage current and drain current saturation seem to be well controlled. • The output characteristics show good saturation.

Tunnel oxide passivated contacts formed by ion implantation for applications in silicon solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reichel, Christian; Feldmann, Frank; Müller, Ralph; Hermle, Martin; Glunz, Stefan W.; Reedy, Robert C.; Lee, Benjamin G.; Young, David L.; Stradins, Paul

2015-01-01

Passivated contacts (poly-Si/SiO x /c-Si) doped by shallow ion implantation are an appealing technology for high efficiency silicon solar cells, especially for interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells where a masked ion implantation facilitates their fabrication. This paper presents a study on tunnel oxide passivated contacts formed by low-energy ion implantation into amorphous silicon (a-Si) layers and examines the influence of the ion species (P, B, or BF 2 ), the ion implantation dose (5 × 10 14  cm −2 to 1 × 10 16  cm −2 ), and the subsequent high-temperature anneal (800 °C or 900 °C) on the passivation quality and junction characteristics using double-sided contacted silicon solar cells. Excellent passivation quality is achieved for n-type passivated contacts by P implantations into either intrinsic (undoped) or in-situ B-doped a-Si layers with implied open-circuit voltages (iV oc ) of 725 and 720 mV, respectively. For p-type passivated contacts, BF 2 implantations into intrinsic a-Si yield well passivated contacts and allow for iV oc of 690 mV, whereas implanted B gives poor passivation with iV oc of only 640 mV. While solar cells featuring in-situ B-doped selective hole contacts and selective electron contacts with P implanted into intrinsic a-Si layers achieved V oc of 690 mV and fill factor (FF) of 79.1%, selective hole contacts realized by BF 2 implantation into intrinsic a-Si suffer from drastically reduced FF which is caused by a non-Ohmic Schottky contact. Finally, implanting P into in-situ B-doped a-Si layers for the purpose of overcompensation (counterdoping) allowed for solar cells with V oc of 680 mV and FF of 80.4%, providing a simplified and promising fabrication process for IBC solar cells featuring passivated contacts

Epitaxial Growth of an Organic p-n Heterojunction: C60 on Single-Crystal Pentacene.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakayama, Yasuo; Mizuno, Yuta; Hosokai, Takuya; Koganezawa, Tomoyuki; Tsuruta, Ryohei; Hinderhofer, Alexander; Gerlach, Alexander; Broch, Katharina; Belova, Valentina; Frank, Heiko; Yamamoto, Masayuki; Niederhausen, Jens; Glowatzki, Hendrik; Rabe, Jürgen P; Koch, Norbert; Ishii, Hisao; Schreiber, Frank; Ueno, Nobuo

2016-06-01

Designing molecular p-n heterojunction structures, i.e., electron donor-acceptor contacts, is one of the central challenges for further development of organic electronic devices. In the present study, a well-defined p-n heterojunction of two representative molecular semiconductors, pentacene and C60, formed on the single-crystal surface of pentacene is precisely investigated in terms of its growth behavior and crystallographic structure. C60 assembles into a (111)-oriented face-centered-cubic crystal structure with a specific epitaxial orientation on the (001) surface of the pentacene single crystal. The present experimental findings provide molecular scale insights into the formation mechanisms of the organic p-n heterojunction through an accurate structural analysis of the single-crystalline molecular contact.

Effect of the CO2/SiH4 Ratio in the p-μc-SiO:H Emitter Layer on the Performance of Crystalline Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

OpenAIRE

Sritharathikhun, Jaran; Krajangsang, Taweewat; Moollakorn, Apichan; Inthisang, Sorapong; Limmanee, Amornrat; Hongsingtong, Aswin; Boriraksantikul, Nattaphong; Taratiwat, Tianchai; Akarapanjavit, Nirod; Sriprapha, Kobsak

2014-01-01

This paper reports the preparation of wide gap p-type hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon oxide (p-μc-SiO:H) films using a 40 MHz very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. The reported work focused on the effects of the CO2/SiH4 ratio on the properties of p-μc-SiO:H films and the effectiveness of the films as an emitter layer of crystalline silicon heterojunction (c-Si-HJ) solar cells. A p-μc-SiO:H film with a wide optical band gap (E04), 2.1 eV, can be obtain...

Hydrogen doping of Indium Tin Oxide due to thermal treatment of hetero-junction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ritzau, Kurt-Ulrich, E-mail: kurt-ulrich.ritzau@ise.fraunhofer.de [Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), Heidenhofstrasse 2, 79110 Freiburg (Germany); Behrendt, Torge [Infineon Technologies, Max-Planck-Straße 5, 59581 Warstein (Germany); Palaferri, Daniele [Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, CNRS—UMR 7162, 75013 Paris (France); Bivour, Martin; Hermle, Martin [Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), Heidenhofstrasse 2, 79110 Freiburg (Germany)

2016-01-29

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) layers in silicon hetero junction solar cells change their electrical and optical properties when exposed to temperature treatments. Hydrogen which effuses from underlying amorphous silicon layers is identified to dope the ITO layer. This leads to an additional increase in conductivity. In this way an almost isolating ITO can become degenerately doped through temperature treatments. The resulting carrier density in the range of 10{sup 20} cm{sup −3} leads to a substantial increase in free carrier absorption, which in turn leads to an increased parasitic absorption in the cell device. Thus hydrogen effusion in silicon hetero-junction (SHJ) solar cells does not only affect the degradation of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) passivation of crystalline silicon (c-Si), but also the electrical and optical properties of both front and back ITO layers. This leads to the further design rule for SHJ solar cells, meaning that ITO properties have to be optimized in the state after modification during temperature treatment. - Highlights: • ITO is additionally doped by heat treatment of silicon hetero-junction solar cells. • The discovered effect turns an almost isolating ITO into a degenerately doped TCO. • TCO properties have to be considered as measured in the final cell.

A p-silicon nanowire/n-ZnO thin film heterojunction diode prepared by thermal evaporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazra, Purnima; Jit, S.

2014-01-01

This paper represents the electrical and optical characteristics of a SiNW/ZnO heterojunction diode and subsequent studies on the photodetection properties of the diode in the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength region. In this work, silicon nanowire arrays were prepared on p-type (100)-oriented Si substrate by an electroless metal deposition and etching method with the help of ultrasonication. After that, catalyst-free deposition of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires on a silicon nanowire (SiNW) array substrate was done by utilizing a simple and cost-effective thermal evaporation technique without using a buffer layer. The SEM and XRD techniques are used to show the quality of the as-grown ZnO nanowire film. The junction properties of the diode are evaluated by measuring current—voltage and capacitance—voltage characteristics. The diode has a well-defined rectifying behavior with a rectification ratio of 190 at ±2 V, turn-on voltage of 0.5 V, and barrier height is 0.727 eV at room temperature under dark conditions. The photodetection parameters of the diode are investigated in the bias voltage range of ±2 V. The diode shows responsivity of 0.8 A/W at a bias voltage of 2 V under UV illumination (wavelength = 365 nm). The characteristics of the device indicate that it can be used for UV detection applications in nano-optoelectronic and photonic devices. (semiconductor devices)

Thermoelectric characteristics of Pt-silicide/silicon multi-layer structured p-type silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Wonchul; Jun, Dongseok; Kim, Soojung; Shin, Mincheol; Jang, Moongyu

2015-01-01

Electric and thermoelectric properties of silicide/silicon multi-layer structured devices were investigated with the variation of silicide/silicon heterojunction numbers from 3 to 12 layers. For the fabrication of silicide/silicon multi-layered structure, platinum and silicon layers are repeatedly sputtered on the (100) silicon bulk substrate and rapid thermal annealing is carried out for the silicidation. The manufactured devices show ohmic current–voltage (I–V) characteristics. The Seebeck coefficient of bulk Si is evaluated as 195.8 ± 15.3 μV/K at 300 K, whereas the 12 layered silicide/silicon multi-layer structured device is evaluated as 201.8 ± 9.1 μV/K. As the temperature increases to 400 K, the Seebeck coefficient increases to 237.2 ± 4.7 μV/K and 277.0 ± 1.1 μV/K for bulk and 12 layered devices, respectively. The increase of Seebeck coefficient in multi-layered structure is mainly attributed to the electron filtering effect due to the Schottky barrier at Pt-silicide/silicon interface. At 400 K, the thermal conductivity is reduced by about half of magnitude compared to bulk in multi-layered device which shows the efficient suppression of phonon propagation by using Pt-silicide/silicon hetero-junctions. - Highlights: • Silicide/silicon multi-layer structured is proposed for thermoelectric devices. • Electric and thermoelectric properties with the number of layer are investigated. • An increase of Seebeck coefficient is mainly attributed the Schottky barrier. • Phonon propagation is suppressed with the existence of Schottky barrier. • Thermal conductivity is reduced due to the suppression of phonon propagation

Silicide Schottky Contacts to Silicon: Screened Pinning at Defect Levels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drummond, T.J.

1999-03-11

Silicide Schottky contacts can be as large as 0.955 eV (E{sub v} + 0.165 eV) on n-type silicon and as large as 1.05 eV (E{sub c} {minus} 0.07 eV) on p-type silicon. Current models of Schottky barrier formation do not provide a satisfactory explanation of occurrence of this wide variation. A model for understanding Schottky contacts via screened pinning at defect levels is presented. In the present paper it is shown that most transition metal silicides are pinned approximately 0.48 eV above the valence band by interstitial Si clusters. Rare earth disilicides pin close to the divacancy acceptor level 0.41 eV below the conduction band edge while high work function silicides of Ir and Pt pin close to the divacancy donor level 0.21 eV above the valence band edge. Selection of a particular defect pinning level depends strongly on the relative positions of the silicide work function and the defect energy level on an absolute energy scale.

Electrical properties of the n-ZnO/c-Si heterojunction prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romero, R.; Lopez, M.C.; Leinen, D.; Martin, F.; Ramos-Barrado, J.R.

2004-01-01

Electrical, structural and compositional properties of n-ZnO/c-Si heterojunctions prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis on single-crystal n-type and p-type monocrystalline silicon(1 0 0) substrates are examined with the C-V method and admittance spectroscopy at temperature ranges between 223 and 373 K. The n-ZnO/c-Si heterojunctions show a height barrier consistent with the difference in energy of the work functions of Si and ZnO; however, the n-ZnO:Al/c-Si heterojunctions present a more complex behavior due to the defects at or near the n-ZnO:Al/c-Si interface, causing a Fermi energy pinning

Selective deposition contact patterning using atomic layer deposition for the fabrication of crystalline silicon solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Young Joon; Shin, Woong-Chul; Chang, Hyo Sik

2014-01-01

Selective deposition contact (SDC) patterning was applied to fabricate the rear side passivation of crystalline silicon (Si) solar cells. By this method, using screen printing for contact patterning and atomic layer deposition for the passivation of Si solar cells with Al 2 O 3 , we produced local contacts without photolithography or any laser-based processes. Passivated emitter and rear-contact solar cells passivated with ozone-based Al 2 O 3 showed, for the SDC process, an up-to-0.7% absolute conversion-efficiency improvement. The results of this experiment indicate that the proposed method is feasible for conversion-efficiency improvement of industrial crystalline Si solar cells. - Highlights: • We propose a local contact formation process. • Local contact forms a screen print and an atomic layer deposited-Al 2 O 3 film. • Ozone-based Al 2 O 3 thin film was selectively deposited onto patterned silicon. • Selective deposition contact patterning method can increase cell-efficiency by 0.7%

Effect of barrier height on friction behavior of the semiconductors silicon and gallium arsenide in contact with pure metals

Science.gov (United States)

Mishina, H.; Buckley, D. H.

1984-01-01

Friction experiments were conducted for the semiconductors silicon and gallium arsenide in contact with pure metals. Polycrystalline titanium, tantalum, nickel, palladium, and platinum were made to contact a single crystal silicon (111) surface. Indium, nickel, copper, and silver were made to contact a single crystal gallium arsenide (100) surface. Sliding was conducted both in room air and in a vacuum of 10 to the minus 9th power torr. The friction of semiconductors in contact with metals depended on a Schottky barrier height formed at the metal semiconductor interface. Metals with a higher barrier height on semiconductors gave lower friction. The effect of the barrier height on friction behavior for argon sputtered cleaned surfaces in vacuum was more specific than that for the surfaces containing films in room air. With a silicon surface sliding on titanium, many silicon particles back transferred. In contrast, a large quantity of indium transferred to the gallium arsenide surface.

Excellent Silicon Surface Passivation Achieved by Industrial Inductively Coupled Plasma Deposited Hydrogenated Intrinsic Amorphous Silicon Suboxide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jia Ge

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We present an alternative method of depositing a high-quality passivation film for heterojunction silicon wafer solar cells, in this paper. The deposition of hydrogenated intrinsic amorphous silicon suboxide is accomplished by decomposing hydrogen, silane, and carbon dioxide in an industrial remote inductively coupled plasma platform. Through the investigation on CO2 partial pressure and process temperature, excellent surface passivation quality and optical properties are achieved. It is found that the hydrogen content in the film is much higher than what is commonly reported in intrinsic amorphous silicon due to oxygen incorporation. The observed slow depletion of hydrogen with increasing temperature greatly enhances its process window as well. The effective lifetime of symmetrically passivated samples under the optimal condition exceeds 4.7 ms on planar n-type Czochralski silicon wafers with a resistivity of 1 Ωcm, which is equivalent to an effective surface recombination velocity of less than 1.7 cms−1 and an implied open-circuit voltage (Voc of 741 mV. A comparison with several high quality passivation schemes for solar cells reveals that the developed inductively coupled plasma deposited films show excellent passivation quality. The excellent optical property and resistance to degradation make it an excellent substitute for industrial heterojunction silicon solar cell production.

Electrical characteristics of multilayer MoS2 FET's with MoS2/graphene heterojunction contacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, Joon Young; Hwang, Jeonghyun; Calderon, Brian; Alsalman, Hussain; Munoz, Nini; Schutter, Brian; Spencer, Michael G

2014-08-13

The electrical properties of multilayer MoS2/graphene heterojunction transistors are investigated. Temperature-dependent I-V measurements indicate the concentration of unintentional donors in exfoliated MoS2 to be 3.57 × 10(11) cm(-2), while the ionized donor concentration is determined as 3.61 × 10(10) cm(-2). The temperature-dependent measurements also reveal two dominant donor levels, one at 0.27 eV below the conduction band and another located at 0.05 eV below the conduction band. The I-V characteristics are asymmetric with drain bias voltage and dependent on the junction used for the source or drain contact. I-V characteristics of the device are consistent with a long channel one-dimensional field-effect transistor model with Schottky contact. Utilizing devices, which have both graphene/MoS2 and Ti/MoS2 contacts, the Schottky barrier heights of both interfaces are measured. The charge transport mechanism in both junctions was determined to be either thermionic-field emission or field emission depending on bias voltage and temperature. On the basis of a thermionic field emission model, the barrier height at the graphene/MoS2 interface was determined to be 0.23 eV, while the barrier height at the Ti/MoS2 interface was 0.40 eV. The value of Ti/MoS2 barrier is higher than previously reported values, which did not include the effects of thermionic field emission.

Tungsten silicide contacts to polycrystalline silicon and silicon-germanium alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srinivasan, G.; Bain, M.F.; Bhattacharyya, S.; Baine, P.; Armstrong, B.M.; Gamble, H.S.; McNeill, D.W.

2004-01-01

Silicon-germanium alloy layers will be employed in the source-drain engineering of future MOS transistors. The use of this technology offers advantages in reducing series resistance and decreasing junction depth resulting in reduction in punch-through and SCE problems. The contact resistance of metal or metal silicides to the raised source-drain material is a serious issue at sub-micron dimensions and must be minimised. In this work, tungsten silicide produced by chemical vapour deposition has been investigated as a contact metallization scheme to both boron and phosphorus doped polycrystalline Si 1- x Ge x , with 0 ≤x ≤ 0.3. Cross bridge Kelvin resistor (CKBR) structures were fabricated incorporating CVD WSi 2 and polycrystalline SiGe. Tungsten silicide contacts to control polysilicon CKBR structures have been shown to be of high quality with specific contact resistance ρ c values 3 x 10 -7 ohm cm 2 and 6 x 10 -7 ohm cm 2 obtained to boron and phosphorus implanted samples respectively. The SiGe CKBR structures show that the inclusion of Ge yields a reduction in ρ c for both dopant types. The boron doped SiGe exhibits a reduction in ρ c from 3 x 10 -7 to 5 x 10 -8 ohm cm 2 as Ge fraction is increased from 0 to 0.3. The reduction in ρ c has been shown to be due to (i) the lowering of the tungsten silicide Schottky barrier height to p-type SiGe resulting from the energy band gap reduction, and (ii) increased activation of the implanted boron with increased Ge fraction. The phosphorus implanted samples show less sensitivity of ρ c to Ge fraction with a lowest value in this work of 3 x 10 -7 ohm cm 2 for a Ge fraction of 0.3. The reduction in specific contact resistance to the phosphorus implanted samples has been shown to be due to increased dopant activation alone

Investigating the chemical mist deposition technique for poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) on textured crystalline-silicon for organic/crystalline-silicon heterojunction solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Hossain, Jaker; Ohki, Tatsuya; Ichikawa, Koki; Fujiyama, Kazuhiko; Ueno, Keiji; Fujii, Yasuhiko; Hanajiri, Tatsuro; Shirai, Hajime

2016-03-01

Chemical mist deposition (CMD) of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) was investigated in terms of cavitation frequency f, solvent, flow rate of nitrogen, substrate temperature Ts, and substrate dc bias Vs as variables for efficient PEDOT:PSS/crystalline silicon (c-Si) heterojunction solar cells. The high-speed-camera and differential mobility analysis characterizations revealed that the average size and flux of PEDOT:PSS mist depend on f, type of solvent, and Vs. Film deposition occurred when positive Vs was applied to the c-Si substrate at Ts of 30-40 °C, whereas no deposition of films occurred with negative Vs, implying that the film is deposited mainly from negatively charged mist. The uniform deposition of PEDOT:PSS films occurred on textured c-Si(100) substrates by adjusting Ts and Vs. The adhesion of CMD PEDOT:PSS film to c-Si was greatly enhanced by applying substrate dc bias Vs compared with that of spin-coated film. The CMD PEDOT:PSS/c-Si heterojunction solar cell devices on textured c-Si(100) in 2 × 2 cm2 exhibited a power conversion efficiency η of 11.0% with better uniformity of the solar cell parameters. Furthermore, η was increased to 12.5% by adding an AR coating layer of molybdenum oxide MoOx formed by CMD. These findings suggest that CMD with negatively charged mist has great potential for the uniform deposition of organic and inorganic materials on textured c-Si substrates by suitably adjusting Ts and Vs.

Damage progression in silicon nitride undergoing non-conforming hybrid cyclic contact

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Raga, R.; Khader, I.; Chlup, Zdeněk; Kailer, A.

2017-01-01

Roč. 105, DEC (2017), s. 97-110 ISSN 0142-1123 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 263476 - ROLICER Institutional support: RVO:68081723 Keywords : Silicon nitride * Cyclic contact fatigue * Surface and subsurface damage Subject RIV: JL - Materials Fatigue, Friction Mechanics OBOR OECD: Audio engineering, reliability analysis Impact factor: 2.899, year: 2016

Towards high frequency heterojunction transistors: Electrical characterization of N-doped amorphous silicon-graphene diodes

Science.gov (United States)

Strobel, C.; Chavarin, C. A.; Kitzmann, J.; Lupina, G.; Wenger, Ch.; Albert, M.; Bartha, J. W.

2017-06-01

N-type doped amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) is deposited on top of graphene (Gr) by means of very high frequency (VHF) and radio frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). In order to preserve the structural integrity of the monolayer graphene, a plasma excitation frequency of 140 MHz was successfully applied during the a-Si:H VHF-deposition. Raman spectroscopy results indicate the absence of a defect peak in the graphene spectrum after the VHF-PECVD of (n)-a-Si:H. The diode junction between (n)-a-Si:H and graphene was characterized using temperature dependent current-voltage (IV) and capacitance-voltage measurements, respectively. We demonstrate that the current at the (n)-a-Si:H-graphene interface is dominated by thermionic emission and recombination in the space charge region. The Schottky barrier height (qΦB), derived by temperature dependent IV-characteristics, is about 0.49 eV. The junction properties strongly depend on the applied deposition method of (n)-a-Si:H with a clear advantage of the VHF(140 MHz)-technology. We have demonstrated that (n)-a-Si:H-graphene junctions are a promising technology approach for high frequency heterojunction transistors.

Current-Induced Spin Polarization at a Single Heterojunction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Silov, A.; Blajnov, P.; Wolter, J.H.; Hey, R.; Ploog, K.; Averkiev, N.S.; Menendez, J.; Walle, van der C.G.

2005-01-01

We have experimentally achieved spin-polarization by a lateral current in a single non-magnetic semiconductor heterojunction. The effect does not require an applied magnetic field or ferromagnetic contacts. The current-induced spin orientation can be seen as the inverse of the circular

Influence of the transition region between p- and n-type polycrystalline silicon passivating contacts on the performance of interdigitated back contact silicon solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Reichel, Christian; Müller, Ralph; Feldmann, Frank; Richter, Armin; Hermle, Martin; Glunz, Stefan W.

2017-11-01

Passivating contacts based on thin tunneling oxides (SiOx) and n- and p-type semi-crystalline or polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) enable high passivation quality and low contact resistivity, but the integration of these p+/n emitter and n+/n back surface field junctions into interdigitated back contact silicon solar cells poses a challenge due to high recombination at the transition region from p-type to n-type poly-Si. Here, the transition region was created in different configurations—(a) p+ and n+ poly-Si regions are in direct contact with each other ("pn-junction"), using a local overcompensation (counterdoping) as a self-aligning process, (b) undoped (intrinsic) poly-Si remains between the p+ and n+ poly-Si regions ("pin-junction"), and (c) etched trenches separate the p+ and n+ poly-Si regions ("trench")—in order to investigate the recombination characteristics and the reverse breakdown behavior of these solar cells. Illumination- and injection-dependent quasi-steady state photoluminescence (suns-PL) and open-circuit voltage (suns-Voc) measurements revealed that non-ideal recombination in the space charge regions with high local ideality factors as well as recombination in shunted regions strongly limited the performance of solar cells without a trench. In contrast, solar cells with a trench allowed for open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 720 mV, fill factor of 79.6%, short-circuit current (Jsc) of 41.3 mA/cm2, and a conversion efficiencies (η) of 23.7%, showing that a lowly conducting and highly passivating intermediate layer between the p+ and n+ poly-Si regions is mandatory. Independent of the configuration, no hysteresis was observed upon multiple stresses in reverse direction, indicating a controlled and homogeneously distributed breakdown, but with different breakdown characteristics.

Microbial changes in conjunctival flora with 30-day continuous-wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Iskeleli, Güzin; Bahar, Hrisi; Eroglu, Ebru; Torun, Muzeyyen Mamal; Ozkan, Sehirbay

2005-05-01

To determine the effect of 30-day continuous-wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses on the conjunctival flora in asymptomatic wearers. The authors studied 29 eyes of 15 patients wearing Focus NIGHT & DAY silicone hydrogel contact lenses for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. The average age of the patients was 25.54 +/- 8.98 years. Cultures of the inferior cul-de-sac were taken bilaterally from all eyes, before and after lens wear in asymptomatic patients. The isolation and identification of bacteria were made by standard clinical laboratory methods. The number of eyes whose conjunctival cultures were sterile before using the lenses significantly decreased (P = 0.0005), and the number of eyes with a growth of coagulase-negative staphylococci and diphtheroid rods in their conjunctival cultures significantly increased after using these lenses (P = 0.001 and P = 0.031, respectively). Conversely, a statistically significant difference was not found in the number of eyes that carried Propionibacterium acnes and Fusobacterium nucleatum in their conjunctival cultures before and after using the 30-day continuous-wear silicone hydrogel lenses (P = 0.998 and P = 0.488, respectively). The results suggest that the sterility of the conjunctiva significantly decreased after using 30-day continuous-wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses. In addition, the number of bacteria of the normal conjunctival flora significantly increased after the use of these lenses. Contamination by the bacteria of the eyelids may be a possible colonization factor in this study group. Therefore, it is appropriate to examine the patients who wear these lenses more frequently.

Deformation and wear of pyramidal, silicon-nitride AFM tips scanning micrometre-size features in contact mode

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bloo, M.; Haitjema, H.; Pril, W.O.

1999-01-01

An experimental study was carried out, in order to investigate the deformation and wear taking place on pyramidal silicon-nitride AFM tips. The study focuses on the contact mode scanning of silicon features of micrometre-size. First the deformation and the mechanisms of wear of the tip during

Electro-optical modeling of bulk heterojunction solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Kirchartz, Thomas; Pieters, Bart E.; Taretto, Kurt; Rau, Uwe

2008-11-01

We introduce a model for charge separation in bulk heterojunction solar cells that combines exciton transport to the interface between donor and acceptor phases with the dissociation of the bound electron/hole pair. We implement this model into a standard semiconductor device simulator, thereby creating a convenient method to simulate the optical and electrical characteristics of a bulk heterojunction solar cell with a commercially available program. By taking into account different collection probabilities for the excitons in the polymer and the fullerene, we are able to reproduce absorptance, internal and external quantum efficiency, as well as current/voltage curves of bulk heterojunction solar cells. We further investigate the influence of mobilities of the free excitons as well as the mobilities of the free charge carriers on the performance of bulk heterojunction solar cells. We find that, in general, the highest efficiencies are achieved with the highest mobilities. However, an optimum finite mobility of free charge carriers can result from a large recombination velocity at the contacts. In contrast, Langevin-type of recombination cannot lead to finite optimum mobilities even though this mechanism has a strong dependence on the free carrier mobilities.

Toward Annealing-Stable Molybdenum-Oxide-Based Hole-Selective Contacts For Silicon Photovoltaics

KAUST Repository

Essig, Stephanie

2018-02-21

Molybdenum oxide (MoOX) combines a high work function with broadband optical transparency. Sandwiched between a hydrogenated intrinsic amorphous silicon passivation layer and a transparent conductive oxide, this material allows a highly efficient hole-selective front contact stack for crystalline silicon solar cells. However, hole extraction from the Si wafer and transport through this stack degrades upon annealing at 190 °C, which is needed to cure the screen-printed Ag metallization applied to typical Si solar cells. Here, we show that effusion of hydrogen from the adjacent layers is a likely cause for this degradation, highlighting the need for hydrogen-lean passivation layers when using such metal-oxide-based carrier-selective contacts. Pre-MoOX-deposition annealing of the passivating a-Si:H layer is shown to be a straightforward approach to manufacturing MoOX-based devices with high fill factors using screen-printed metallization cured at 190 °C.

Aluminum–Titanium Alloy Back Contact Reducing Production Cost of Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsin-Yu Wu

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In this study, metal films are fabricated by using an in-line reactive direct current magnetron sputtering system. The aluminum–titanium (AlTi back contacts are prepared by changing the pressure from 10 mTorr to 25 mTorr. The optical, electrical and structural properties of the metal back contacts are investigated. The solar cells with the AlTi had lower contact resistance than those with the silver (Ag back contact, resulting in a higher fill factor. The AlTi contact can achieve a solar cell conversion efficiency as high as that obtained from the Ag contact. These findings encourage the potential adoption of AlTi films as an alternative back contact to silver for silicon thin-film solar cells.

New techniques used to realize silicon photocells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siffert, P.

1978-01-01

The techniques used to realize the terrestrial silicon solar cells being considered the possible improvements of these methods are discussed. The various approaches under development to prepare silicon sheets in a continuous way are considered for both self-supporting or substrate deposited layers. Finally, the various methods used or under investigation to obtain the surface potential barrier are considered; MIS, heterojunction and ion implantation [fr

Influence of Chemical Composition and Structure in Silicon Dielectric Materials on Passivation of Thin Crystalline Silicon on Glass.

Science.gov (United States)

Calnan, Sonya; Gabriel, Onno; Rothert, Inga; Werth, Matteo; Ring, Sven; Stannowski, Bernd; Schlatmann, Rutger

2015-09-02

In this study, various silicon dielectric films, namely, a-SiOx:H, a-SiNx:H, and a-SiOxNy:H, grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were evaluated for use as interlayers (ILs) between crystalline silicon and glass. Chemical bonding analysis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that high values of oxidant gases (CO2 and/or N2), added to SiH4 during PECVD, reduced the Si-H and N-H bond density in the silicon dielectrics. Various three layer stacks combining the silicon dielectric materials were designed to minimize optical losses between silicon and glass in rear side contacted heterojunction pn test cells. The PECVD grown silicon dielectrics retained their functionality despite being subjected to harsh subsequent processing such as crystallization of the silicon at 1414 °C or above. High values of short circuit current density (Jsc; without additional hydrogen passivation) required a high density of Si-H bonds and for the nitrogen containing films, additionally, a high N-H bond density. Concurrently high values of both Jsc and open circuit voltage Voc were only observed when [Si-H] was equal to or exceeded [N-H]. Generally, Voc correlated with a high density of [Si-H] bonds in the silicon dielectric; otherwise, additional hydrogen passivation using an active plasma process was required. The highest Voc ∼ 560 mV, for a silicon acceptor concentration of about 10(16) cm(-3), was observed for stacks where an a-SiOxNy:H film was adjacent to the silicon. Regardless of the cell absorber thickness, field effect passivation of the buried silicon surface by the silicon dielectric was mandatory for efficient collection of carriers generated from short wavelength light (in the vicinity of the glass-Si interface). However, additional hydrogen passivation was obligatory for an increased diffusion length of the photogenerated carriers and thus Jsc in solar cells with thicker absorbers.

Investigating the effect of silicon surface chemical treatment on Al/Si contact properties in GaP/Si solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Kudryashov, D.; Gudovskikh, A.

2018-03-01

In the present work, experimental studies have been carried out to reveal how chemical treatment of a silicon surface affects the properties of the Al/Si contact. It has been shown that for p-type monocrystalline silicon substrates with a resistivity of 10 ohm cm, it is possible to form an ohmic Al/Si contact by magnetron sputtering of an aluminum thin film and its further annealing at temperatures of 400 - 450 °C. In the range of annealing temperatures of 250 - 400 °C, the Si substrate treatment in the HF solution leads to a significant increase in currents on the current-voltage curves of the Al/Si contact, while in the range of 450 - 700 °C, the effect of chemical treatment of the silicon is not detected.

Electric measurements of PV heterojunction structures a-SiC/c-Si

Science.gov (United States)

Perný, Milan; Šály, Vladimír; Janíček, František; Mikolášek, Miroslav; Váry, Michal; Huran, Jozef

2018-01-01

Due to the particular advantages of amorphous silicon or its alloys with carbon in comparison to conventional crystalline materials makes such a material still interesting for study. The amorphous silicon carbide may be used in a number of micro-mechanical and micro-electronics applications and also for photovoltaic energy conversion devices. Boron doped thin layers of amorphous silicon carbide, presented in this paper, were prepared due to the optimization process for preparation of heterojunction solar cell structure. DC and AC measurement and subsequent evaluation were carried out in order to comprehensively assess the electrical transport processes in the prepared a-SiC/c-Si structures. We have investigated the influence of methane content in deposition gas mixture and different electrode configuration.

The effect of baking conditions on the effective contact areas of screen-printed silver layer on silicon substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tietun Sun; Jianmin Miao; Rongming Lin; Yongqing Fu [Nanyang Technological Univ., Micromachines Lab., Singapore (Singapore)

2005-01-01

In this paper, Ag-based paste was screen-printed on polished as well as on textured p-type (100) single crystalline silicon wafers. Three types of baking processes were studied: the tube furnace, the belt furnace and the hot plate baking. The effective contact areas of Ag/Si system were measured with a novel method, namely metal insulator semiconductor structure measurement. The results show that after baking on the hot plate at 400 deg C for 5 min, the size and number of pores in the Ag film layer as well as at the interface between silver layer and silicon decreases significantly, the effective contact area also increases about 20%, particularly on the textured silicon substrate. (Author)

The effect of baking conditions on the effective contact areas of screen-printed silver layer on silicon substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Tietun; Miao, Jianmin; Lin, Rongming; Fu, Yongqing [Micromachines Laboratory, School of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (Singapore)

2005-01-01

In this paper, Ag-based paste was screen-printed on the polished as well as on the textured p-type (100) single crystalline silicon wafers. Three types of baking processes were studied: the tube furnace, the belt furnace and the hot plate baking. The effective contact areas of Ag/Si system were measured with a novel method, namely metal insulator semiconductor structure measurement. The results show that after baking on the hot plate at 400{sup o}C for 5min, the size and number of pores in the Ag film layer as well as at the interface between silver layer and silicon decreases significantly, the effective contact area also increases about 20%, particularly on the textured silicon substrate.

Detailed statistical contact angle analyses; "slow moving" drops on inclining silicon-oxide surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, M; Groß, K; Grub, J; Heib, F

2015-06-01

Contact angle determination by sessile drop technique is essential to characterise surface properties in science and in industry. Different specific angles can be observed on every solid which are correlated with the advancing or the receding of the triple line. Different procedures and definitions for the determination of specific angles exist which are often not comprehensible or reproducible. Therefore one of the most important things in this area is to build standard, reproducible and valid methods for determining advancing/receding contact angles. This contribution introduces novel techniques to analyse dynamic contact angle measurements (sessile drop) in detail which are applicable for axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric drops. Not only the recently presented fit solution by sigmoid function and the independent analysis of the different parameters (inclination, contact angle, velocity of the triple point) but also the dependent analysis will be firstly explained in detail. These approaches lead to contact angle data and different access on specific contact angles which are independent from "user-skills" and subjectivity of the operator. As example the motion behaviour of droplets on flat silicon-oxide surfaces after different surface treatments is dynamically measured by sessile drop technique when inclining the sample plate. The triple points, the inclination angles, the downhill (advancing motion) and the uphill angles (receding motion) obtained by high-precision drop shape analysis are independently and dependently statistically analysed. Due to the small covered distance for the dependent analysis (contact angle determination. They are characterised by small deviations of the computed values. Additional to the detailed introduction of this novel analytical approaches plus fit solution special motion relations for the drop on inclined surfaces and detailed relations about the reactivity of the freshly cleaned silicon wafer surface resulting in acceleration

Transmission Electron Microscopy Studies of Electron-Selective Titanium Oxide Contacts in Silicon Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Ali, Haider; Yang, Xinbo; Weber, Klaus; Schoenfeld, Winston V.; Davis, Kristopher O.

2017-01-01

In this study, the cross-section of electron-selective titanium oxide (TiO2) contacts for n-type crystalline silicon solar cells were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. It was revealed that the excellent cell efficiency of 21

Organic-inorganic halide perovskite/crystalline silicon four-terminal tandem solar cells

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Löper, P.; Moon, S.J.; de Nicolas, S.M.; Niesen, B.; Ledinský, Martin; Nicolay, S.; Bailat, J.; Yum, J. H.; De Wolf, S.; Ballif, C.

2015-01-01

Roč. 17, č. 3 (2015), s. 1619-1629 ISSN 1463-9076 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LM2011026 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : perovskites * solar cells * silicon solar cells * silicon heterojunction solar cells * photovoltaics Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 4.449, year: 2015

Silicon-Germanium Front-End Electronics for Space-Based Radar Applications

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Over the past two decades, Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology has emerged as a strong platform for high-frequency...

Phase transformation synthesis of TiO2/CdS heterojunction film with high visible-light photoelectrochemical activity

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Canjun; Yang, Yahui; Li, Jie; Chen, Shu

2018-06-01

CdS/TiO2 heterojunction film used as a photoanode has attracted much attention in the past few years due to its good visible light photocatalytic activity. However, CdS/TiO2 films prepared by conventional methods (successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction, chemical bath deposition and electrodeposition) show numerous grain boundaries in the CdS layer and an imperfect contact at the heterojunction interface. In this study, we designed a phase transformation method to fabricate CdS/TiO2 nanorod heterojunction films. The characterization results showed that the CdS layer with fewer grain boundaries was conformally coated on the TiO2 nanorod surface and the formation mechanism has been explained in this manuscript. Moreover, the prepared CdS/TiO2 films show a high photocatalytic activity and the photocurrent density is as high as 9.65 mA cm‑2 at 0.80 V versus RHE. It may be attributed to fewer grain boundaries and a compact heterojunction contact, which can effectively improve charge separation and transportation.

Electronic structure of defects in semiconductor heterojunctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haussy, Bernard; Ganghoffer, Jean Francois

2002-01-01

Full text.heterojunctions and semiconductors and superlattices are well known and well used by people interested in optoelectronics communications. Components based on the use of heterojunctions are interesting for confinement of light and increase of quantum efficiency. An heterojunction is the contact zone between two different semiconductors, for example GaAs and Ga 1-x Al x As. Superlattices are a succession of heterojunctions (up to 10 or 20). These systems have been the subjects of many experiments ao analyse the contact between semiconductors. They also have been theoretically studied by different types of approach. The main result of those studies is the prediciton of band discontinuities. Defects in heterojunctions are real traps for charge carriers; they can affect the efficiency of the component decreasing the currents and the fluxes in it. the knowledge of their electronic structure is important, a great density of defects deeply modifies the electronic structure of the whole material creating real new bands of energy in the band structure of the component. in the first part of this work, we will describe the heterostructure and the defect in terms of quantum wells and discrete levels. This approach allows us to show the role of the width of the quantum well describing the structure but induces specific behaviours due to the one dimensional modelling. Then a perturbative treatment is proposed using the Green's functions formalism. We build atomic chains with different types of atoms featuring the heterostructure and the defect. Densities of states of a structure with a defect and levels associated to the defect are obtained. Results are comparable with the free electrons work, but the modelling do not induce problems due to a one dimensional approach. To extend our modelling, a three dimensions approach, based on a cavity model, is investigated. The influence of the defect, - of hydrogenoid type - introduced in the structure, is described by a cavity

Fabrication and electrical characterization of polyaniline-silicon heterojunction for gamma radiation dosimetry application; Fabricacao e caracterizacao eletrica de heterojuncoes de polianilina - silicio para aplicacao em dosimetria de radiacao gama

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laranjeira, Jane Maria Goncalves

2004-08-15

In this work a technique has been developed to fabricate high quality polyaniline-silicon heterojunction diodes for use as gas and/or ionizing radiation sensors. Polyaniline thin films (40 nm thick) produced by spin-coating on silicon substrates, were the active part of the junction structure. The devices presented excellent reproducibility of their electrical characteristics with high rectification ratio, 60,000 at {+-}1.0 V, and typical reverse current at - 1.0 V of 3 nA at 295 K. A G/I x G plot has been used to analyze the current-voltage characteristics, yielding typical series resistance of 4 k{omega} {+-} 5% and ideality factor in a range of 1,9 {+-} 0.5%. The heterojunction diode presents high sensitivity to gamma radiation in the dose range of 3 x 10{sup -2} to 7 kGy with a linear response in the forward and reverse bias. The excellent electrical characteristics together with the linear response with the dose, strongly suggest the application of this device for spectrometry or dosimetry of high doses of gamma radiation. These devices presented high sensitivity to gas moistures such as ammonia, nitric acid and trichloroethylene. In both cases the sensitivity was observed through shifts of the current-voltage curves, which can be easily monitored to provide a calibration curve of the sensor either as a radiation dosimeter or as a gas sensor for use in applications for gas monitoring or radiation dosimetry. Several aspects of the reliability physics of silicon-polyaniline heterojunction, such as degradation effects induced by local heating, charge trapping and temperature changes, have been discussed. These results further confirm the quality of the devices electrical characteristics and their suitability for radiation and gas sensors applications. Another interesting results presented in this work was the use of polyemeraldine nanofilms (thickness in the range 30-50 nm) deposited by 'spin coating' on glass substrates as an optical dosimeter for

Fabrication and electrical characterization of polyaniline-silicon heterojunction for gamma radiation dosimetry application; Fabricacao e caracterizacao eletrica de heterojuncoes de polianilina - silicio para aplicacao em dosimetria de radiacao gama

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laranjeira, Jane Maria Goncalves

2004-08-15

In this work a technique has been developed to fabricate high quality polyaniline-silicon heterojunction diodes for use as gas and/or ionizing radiation sensors. Polyaniline thin films (40 nm thick) produced by spin-coating on silicon substrates, were the active part of the junction structure. The devices presented excellent reproducibility of their electrical characteristics with high rectification ratio, 60,000 at {+-}1.0 V, and typical reverse current at - 1.0 V of 3 nA at 295 K. A G/I x G plot has been used to analyze the current-voltage characteristics, yielding typical series resistance of 4 k{omega} {+-} 5% and ideality factor in a range of 1,9 {+-} 0.5%. The heterojunction diode presents high sensitivity to gamma radiation in the dose range of 3 x 10{sup -2} to 7 kGy with a linear response in the forward and reverse bias. The excellent electrical characteristics together with the linear response with the dose, strongly suggest the application of this device for spectrometry or dosimetry of high doses of gamma radiation. These devices presented high sensitivity to gas moistures such as ammonia, nitric acid and trichloroethylene. In both cases the sensitivity was observed through shifts of the current-voltage curves, which can be easily monitored to provide a calibration curve of the sensor either as a radiation dosimeter or as a gas sensor for use in applications for gas monitoring or radiation dosimetry. Several aspects of the reliability physics of silicon-polyaniline heterojunction, such as degradation effects induced by local heating, charge trapping and temperature changes, have been discussed. These results further confirm the quality of the devices electrical characteristics and their suitability for radiation and gas sensors applications. Another interesting results presented in this work was the use of polyemeraldine nanofilms (thickness in the range 30-50 nm) deposited by 'spin coating' on glass substrates as an optical dosimeter for gamma

Friction and metal transfer for single-crystal silicon carbide in contact with various metals in vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyoshi, K.; Buckley, D.H.

1978-04-01

Sliding friction experiments were conducted with single-crystal silicon carbide in contact with transition metals (tungsten, iron, rhodium, nickel, titanium, and cobalt), copper, and aluminum. Results indicate the coefficient of friction for a silicon carbide-metal system is related to the d bond character and relative chemical activity of the metal. The more active the metal, the higher the coefficient of friction. All the metals examined transferred to the surface of silicon carbide in sliding. The chemical activity of metal to silicon and carbon and shear modulus of the metal may play important roles in metal transfer and the form of the wear debris. The less active metal is, and the greater resistance to shear it has, with the exception of rhodium and tungsten, the less transfer to silicon carbide

Graphene-based heterojunction photocatalysts

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xin; Shen, Rongchen; Ma, Song; Chen, Xiaobo; Xie, Jun

2018-02-01

Due to their unique physicochemical, optical and electrical properties, 2D semimetallic or semiconducting graphene has been extensively utilized to construct highly efficient heterojunction photocatalysts for driving a variety of redox reactions under proper light irradiation. In this review, we carefully addressed the fundamental mechanism of heterogeneous photocatalysis, fundamental properties and advantages of graphene in photocatalysis, and classification and comparison of graphene-based heterojunction photocatalysts. Subsequently, we thoroughly highlighted and discussed various graphene-based heterojunction photocatalysts, including Schottky junctions, Type-II heterojunctions, Z-scheme heterojunctions, Van der Waals heterostructures, in plane heterojunctions and multicomponent heterojunctions. Several important photocatalytic applications, such as photocatalytic water splitting (H2 evolution and overall water splitting), degradation of pollutants, carbon dioxide reduction and bacteria disinfection, are also summarized. Through reviewing the important advances on this topic, it may inspire some new ideas for exploiting highly effective graphene-based heterojunction photocatalysts for a number of applications in photocatlysis and other fields, such as photovoltaic, (photo)electrocatalysis, lithium battery, fuel cell, supercapacitor and adsorption separation.

Recombination rates in heterojunction silicon solar cells analyzed by impedance spectroscopy at forward bias and under illumination

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mora-Sero, Ivan; Luo, Yan; Garcia-Belmonte, Germa; Bisquert, Juan [Departament de Fisica, Universitat Jaume I, E-12071 Castello (Spain); Munoz, Delfina; Voz, Cristobal; Puigdollers, Joaquim; Alcubilla, Ramon [Departament d' Enginyeria Electronica, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, E-08034 Barcelona (Spain)

2008-04-15

Impedance spectroscopy (at forward bias and under illumination) of solar cells comprised thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films deposited on crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers was analyzed in terms of ac equivalent circuits. Shockley-Read-Hall recombination at states on the device interfaces governs the cell dynamic response. Recombination process was modeled by means of simple RC circuits which allow to determine the capture rate of electrons and holes. Carrier lifetime is found to be stated by the electron capture time {tau}{sub SRH}{approx}{tau}{sub n}, and it results in the range of 300 {mu}s. The Al-annealed back contact was regarded as the dominating recombination interface. (author)

Heterojunction photodetector based on graphene oxide sandwiched between ITO and p-Si

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, H.; Tajdidzadeh, M.; Thandavan, T. M. K.

2018-02-01

The drop casting method is utilized on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass in order to prepare a sandwiched ITO/graphene oxide (ITO/GO) with silicon dioxide/p-type silicon (SiO2/p-Si) heterojunction photodetector. The partially sandwiched GO layer with SiO2/p-Si substrate exhibits dual characteristics as it showed good sensitivity towards the illumination of infrared (IR) laser at wavelength of 974 nm. Excellent photoconduction is also observed for current-voltage (I-V) characteristics at various laser powers. An external quantum efficiency greater than 1 for a direct current bias voltage of 0 and 3 V reveals significant photoresponsivity of the photodetector at various laser frequency modulation at 1, 5 and 9 Hz. The rise times are found to be 75, 72 and 70 μs for 1, 5 and 9 Hz while high fall times 455, 448 and 426 are measured for the respective frequency modulation. The fabricated ITO/GO-SiO2/p-Si sandwiched heterojunction photodetector can be considered as a good candidate for applications in the IR regions that do not require a high-speed response.

Bis(tri-n-hexylsilyl oxide) silicon phthalocyanine: a unique additive in ternary bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Lessard, Benoît H; Dang, Jeremy D; Grant, Trevor M; Gao, Dong; Seferos, Dwight S; Bender, Timothy P

2014-09-10

Previous studies have shown that the use of bis(tri-n-hexylsilyl oxide) silicon phthalocyanine ((3HS)2-SiPc) as an additive in a P3HT:PC61BM cascade ternary bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic (BHJ OPV) device results in an increase in the short circuit current (J(SC)) and efficiency (η(eff)) of up to 25% and 20%, respectively. The previous studies have attributed the increase in performance to the presence of (3HS)2-SiPc at the BHJ interface. In this study, we explored the molecular characteristics of (3HS)2-SiPc which makes it so effective in increasing the OPV device J(SC) and η(eff. Initially, we synthesized phthalocyanine-based additives using different core elements such as germanium and boron instead of silicon, each having similar frontier orbital energies compared to (3HS)2-SiPc and tested their effect on BHJ OPV device performance. We observed that addition of bis(tri-n-hexylsilyl oxide) germanium phthalocyanine ((3HS)2-GePc) or tri-n-hexylsilyl oxide boron subphthalocyanine (3HS-BsubPc) resulted in a nonstatistically significant increase in JSC and η(eff). Secondly, we kept the silicon phthalocyanine core and substituted the tri-n-hexylsilyl solubilizing groups with pentadecyl phenoxy groups and tested the resulting dye in a BHJ OPV. While an increase in JSC and η(eff) was observed at low (PDP)2-SiPc loadings, the increase was not as significant as (3HS)2-SiPc; therefore, (3HS)2-SiPc is a unique additive. During our study, we observed that (3HS)2-SiPc had an extraordinary tendency to crystallize compared to the other compounds in this study and our general experience. On the basis of this observation, we have offered a hypothesis that when (3HS)2-SiPc migrates to the P3HT:PC61BM interface the reason for its unique performance is not solely due to its frontier orbital energies but also might be due to a high driving force for crystallization.

Crystallinity of the epitaxial heterojunction of C60 on single crystal pentacene

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuruta, Ryohei; Mizuno, Yuta; Hosokai, Takuya; Koganezawa, Tomoyuki; Ishii, Hisao; Nakayama, Yasuo

2017-06-01

The structure of pn heterojunctions is an important subject in the field of organic semiconductor devices. In this work, the crystallinity of an epitaxial pn heterojunction of C60 on single crystal pentacene is investigated by non-contact mode atomic force microscopy and high-resolution grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. Analysis shows that the C60 molecules assemble into grains consisting of single crystallites on the pentacene single crystal surface. The in-plane mean crystallite size exceeds 0.1 μm, which is at least five time larger than the size of crystallites deposited onto polycrystalline pentacene thin films grown on SiO2. The results indicate that improvement in the crystal quality of the underlying molecular substrate leads to drastic promotion of the crystallinity at the organic semiconductor heterojunction.

Reduction in ionic permeability of a silicone hydrogel contact lenses after one month of daily wear

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferreira da Silva, Ana Rita; González-Méijome, José M; Compañ, Vicente

2015-01-01

Purpose. To compare the ionic permeability using the ionoflux method of new and worn samples of a silicone hydrogel contact lens material. Methods. An ionoflux experimental setup was established to measure the ionic permeability (NaCl) of soft contact lenses. Samples of a silicone hydrogel lens (Comfilcon A, Coopervision, Pleasanton, CA) with optical powers of −1.00, −1.50 and −4.75 diopters (D) were used in this study. Three samples of each power were measured after being worn for one month on a daily wear basis. Lenses were cleaned and disinfected every night using multipurpose disinfecting solutions. Three samples of new lenses from the same batch and the same optical power were also measured to evaluate the effect of lens wear on the ionic permeability of the lens material. Before measurement, the lenses were equilibrated with a 1 M NaCl solution during one week before of each measurement. Results. Lens power had minimal effect on the ionic permeability of a modern silicone hydrogel contact lens with the −1.00 lens having a 15% lower permeability compared to the other two lenses. After one month of lens wear the apparent ionic permeability for lenses with −1.50 D decreased by 15%. In the case of −1.00 and −4.75 D lenses there was a decrease of 26%. Conclusions. The ionic permeability of silicone hydrogel lenses of different optical powers was not significantly different. Worn lenses present a significant reduction of the ionic permeability after a month of wear. The potential effect this reduction on lens movement and discomfort associated to lens wear should be further evaluated. (paper)

Large area CNT-Si heterojunction for photodetection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aramo, C., E-mail: aramo@na.infn.it [INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Via Cintia 2, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Ambrosio, M.; Bonavolontà, C. [INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Via Cintia 2, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Boscardin, M.; Crivellari, M. [Centro per Materiali e i Microsistemi Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Via Sommarive 18, Povo di Trento, 38123 Trento (Italy); Lisio, C. de [INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Via Cintia 2, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Dip. Scienze Fisiche, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Via Cintia 2, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Grossi, V. [INFN, Sezione di L' Aquila and Dip. Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Università degli Studi dell' Aquila, Via Vetoio, Coppito, 67100 L' Aquila (Italy); Maddalena, P. [INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Via Cintia 2, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Dip. Scienze Fisiche, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Via Cintia 2, 80126 Napoli (Italy); Passacantando, M. [INFN, Sezione di L' Aquila and Dip. Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Università degli Studi dell' Aquila, Via Vetoio, Coppito, 67100 L' Aquila (Italy); Valentino, M. [CNR-SPIN UOS di Napoli, Via Cintia 2, 80126 Napoli (Italy)

2017-02-11

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) consist of multiple layers of graphite sheets arranged in concentric cylinders, from two to many tens. These systems are closely related to graphite layers but in some features, MWCNTs behave quite differently from graphite. In particular, their ability to generate a photocurrent in a wide wavelength range has been demonstrated either without or with the application of a draining voltage. In addition, the photocurrent signal has been found to reproduce the optical absorbance of MWCNTs, showing a maximum in the near UV region. In this paper main characteristics of a novel large area photodetector featuring low noise, high linearity and efficiency are reported. This detector has been obtained by coupling the optoelectronic characteristics of MWCNTs with the well-known properties of silicon. MWCNTs are growth on n-doped silicon layer by chemical vapour deposition creating a p–n heterojunction with high sensitivity to the radiation from UV to IR. An additional MIS junction is obtained with a metallic conductive layer deposited on the back of silicon substrate. Moreover, first results on the signals generated by pulsed laser are also reported.

The impact of cellular debris on Pseudomonas aeruginosa adherence to silicone hydrogel contact lenses and contact lens storage cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Burnham, Geoffrey W; Cavanagh, H Dwight; Robertson, Danielle M

2012-01-01

To evaluate neutrophil-enhanced Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) biofilm formation on silicone hydrogel contact lenses and to determine the effect of epithelial biodebris on PA adherence in contact lens storage cases. A fully invasive PA corneal isolate stably conjugated to green fluorescent protein was used. Unworn lotrafilcon A contact lenses were incubated at various ratios of PA to polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) for 24 hours at 37°C. Lens-associated PA was evaluated using laser scanning confocal microscopy and nonviable PA were visualized using propidium iodide. Viable bacteria were enumerated by colony-forming unit (CFU) analysis. For acute epithelial cell studies, PA viability was determined after coincubation with freeze-thaw epithelial cell lysates in 96-well polystyrene plates. Levels of residual cellular debris and bacterial viability were further assessed in used contact lens storage cases. Laser scanning confocal microscopy demonstrated that cotreatment with PMA-stimulated neutrophils increased PA adherence over 24 hours to lens surfaces with a striking alteration of PA architecture. Propidium iodide staining showed that the adherent bacteria consisted of a mixture of viable and nonviable PA; a PMN-associated increase in viable PA was confirmed by CFU (PA:PMN 0.1:1, P = 0.025; PA:PMN 1:1, P = 0.005). Acute epithelial cell debris studies revealed a significant increase in viable PA in 96-well plates in the presence of epithelial freeze-thaw lysates (PA:debris 1:1, P = 0.002; PA:debris 100:1, P = 0.002). Crystal violet staining of used lens storage cases revealed residual cellular debris at all time points, which was independent of microbial contamination; all lens cases used for periods of 9 months or more were uniformly associated with high levels of viable microorganisms. These results demonstrate that prolonged corneal inflammation with the presence of PMNs when confronted with simultaneous PA challenge in extended contact lens wear has the potential

A Low Resistance Calcium/Reduced Titania Passivated Contact for High Efficiency Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Allen, Thomas G.; Bullock, James; Jeangros, Quentin; Samundsett, Christian; Wan, Yimao; Cui, Jie; Hessler-Wyser, Aï cha; De Wolf, Stefaan; Javey, Ali; Cuevas, Andres

2017-01-01

Recent advances in the efficiency of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells have come through the implementation of passivated contacts that simultaneously reduce recombination and resistive losses within the contact structure. In this contribution, low resistivity passivated contacts are demonstrated based on reduced titania (TiOx) contacted with the low work function metal, calcium (Ca). By using Ca as the overlying metal in the contact structure we are able to achieve a reduction in the contact resistivity of TiOx passivated contacts of up to two orders of magnitude compared to previously reported data on Al/TiOx contacts, allowing for the application of the Ca/TiOx contact to n-type c-Si solar cells with partial rear contacts. Implementing this contact structure on the cell level results in a power conversion efficiency of 21.8% where the Ca/TiOx contact comprises only ≈6% of the rear surface of the solar cell, an increase of 1.5% absolute compared to a similar device fabricated without the TiOx interlayer.

A Low Resistance Calcium/Reduced Titania Passivated Contact for High Efficiency Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Allen, Thomas G.

2017-02-04

Recent advances in the efficiency of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells have come through the implementation of passivated contacts that simultaneously reduce recombination and resistive losses within the contact structure. In this contribution, low resistivity passivated contacts are demonstrated based on reduced titania (TiOx) contacted with the low work function metal, calcium (Ca). By using Ca as the overlying metal in the contact structure we are able to achieve a reduction in the contact resistivity of TiOx passivated contacts of up to two orders of magnitude compared to previously reported data on Al/TiOx contacts, allowing for the application of the Ca/TiOx contact to n-type c-Si solar cells with partial rear contacts. Implementing this contact structure on the cell level results in a power conversion efficiency of 21.8% where the Ca/TiOx contact comprises only ≈6% of the rear surface of the solar cell, an increase of 1.5% absolute compared to a similar device fabricated without the TiOx interlayer.

Role of metal/silicon semiconductor contact engineering for enhanced output current in micro-sized microbial fuel cells

KAUST Repository

Mink, Justine E.

2013-11-25

We show that contact engineering plays an important role to extract the maximum performance from energy harvesters like microbial fuel cells (MFCs). We experimented with Schottky and Ohmic methods of fabricating contact areas on silicon in an MFC contact material study. We utilized the industry standard contact material, aluminum, as well as a metal, whose silicide has recently been recognized for its improved performance in smallest scale integration requirements, cobalt. Our study shows that improvements in contact engineering are not only important for device engineering but also for microsystems. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Use of Solar Cells with a Bifacial Contact Grid under the Conditions of Kazakhstan

Science.gov (United States)

Tokmoldin, N. S.; Chuchvaga, N. A.; Verbitskii, V. N.; Titov, A. S.; Zholdybayev, K. S.; Terukov, E. I.; Tokmoldin, S. Zh.

2017-12-01

The paper reports on the results of simulations of output characteristics of silicon solar cells based on the amorphous silicon-crystalline silicon heterojunction. In addition, the prospect of utilizing high-efficiency bifacial silicon solar modules for various orientational configurations is evaluated. The evaluations are based on the geographical location of the city of Astana (Kazakhstan) located at 51.2° N and 71.4° E at an altitude of 354 m above the sea level

Role of aluminum in silver paste contact to boron-doped silicon emitters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Wu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The addition of aluminum to silver metallization pastes has been found to lower the contact resistivity of a silver metallization on boron-doped silicon emitters for n-type Si solar cells. However, the addition of Al also induces more surface recombination and increases the Ag pattern′s line resistivity, both of which ultimately limit the cell efficiency. There is a need to develop a fundamental understanding of the role that Al plays in reducing the contact resistivity and to explore alternative additives. A fritless silver paste is used to allow direct analysis of the impact of Al on the Ag-Si interfacial microstructure and isolate the influence of Al on the electrical contact from the complicated Ag-Si interfacial glass layer. Electrical analysis shows that in a simplified system, Al decreases the contact resistivity by about three orders of magnitude. Detailed microstructural studies show that in the presence of Al, microscale metallic spikes of Al-Ag alloy and nanoscale metallic spikes of Ag-Si alloy penetrate the surface of the boron-doped Si emitters. These results demonstrate the role of Al in reducing the contact resistivity through the formation of micro- and nano-scale metallic spikes, allowing the direct contact to the emitters.

Self-Aligned van der Waals Heterojunction Diodes and Transistors.

Science.gov (United States)

Sangwan, Vinod K; Beck, Megan E; Henning, Alex; Luo, Jiajia; Bergeron, Hadallia; Kang, Junmo; Balla, Itamar; Inbar, Hadass; Lauhon, Lincoln J; Hersam, Mark C

2018-02-14

A general self-aligned fabrication scheme is reported here for a diverse class of electronic devices based on van der Waals materials and heterojunctions. In particular, self-alignment enables the fabrication of source-gated transistors in monolayer MoS 2 with near-ideal current saturation characteristics and channel lengths down to 135 nm. Furthermore, self-alignment of van der Waals p-n heterojunction diodes achieves complete electrostatic control of both the p-type and n-type constituent semiconductors in a dual-gated geometry, resulting in gate-tunable mean and variance of antiambipolar Gaussian characteristics. Through finite-element device simulations, the operating principles of source-gated transistors and dual-gated antiambipolar devices are elucidated, thus providing design rules for additional devices that employ self-aligned geometries. For example, the versatility of this scheme is demonstrated via contact-doped MoS 2 homojunction diodes and mixed-dimensional heterojunctions based on organic semiconductors. The scalability of this approach is also shown by fabricating self-aligned short-channel transistors with subdiffraction channel lengths in the range of 150-800 nm using photolithography on large-area MoS 2 films grown by chemical vapor deposition. Overall, this self-aligned fabrication method represents an important step toward the scalable integration of van der Waals heterojunction devices into more sophisticated circuits and systems.

Formation of solid solutions on the boundary of zinc oxidezinc telluride heterojunction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsurkan, A.E.; Buzhor, L.V.

1987-01-01

Distribution of ZnO x Te 1-x alloy composition on the interface of zinc oxide-zinc telluride heterojunction depending on the production conditions is investigated. A regularity in the formation of an extended area with constant alloy composition is detected. The regularity is explained by the fact that electric Peltier field conditioned by contact of two heterogeneous semiconductors participates in the solid solution formation process. Peltier field levels off the composition at the end length section. So, a possibility of creating a section with the assigned minor thickness alloy constant composition controlled in the interface of heterojunction occurs

Joining technique of silicon nitride and silicon carbide in a mixture and/or in contact with high-melting metals and alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller-Zell, A.

1980-01-01

The following work gives a survey on possible joining techniques of silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) and silicon carbide (SiC) in a mixture and/or in contact with high-melting metals and alloys. The problem arose because special ceramic materials such as Si 3 N 4 and SiC are to be used in gas turbines. The special ceramics in use may unavoidably come into contact with metals or the one hand, or form intended composite systems with them on the other hand, like e.g. the joining of a Si 3 N 4 disc with a metallic drive axis or ceramic blades with a metal wheel. The mixed body of X% ceramic (Si 3 N 4 , SiC) and Y% metal powder were prepared depending on the material combination at 1200 0 C-1750 0 C by hot-pressing or at 1200 0 C-2050 0 C by hot-pressing or pressureless sintering. The following possible ways were chosen as interlaminar bonding ceramic/metal/ceramic: on the one hand pressure welding (composite hot pressing) and the solid-state bonding in direct contact and by means of artificially included transition mixed layers, as well as material intermediate layers between metal and ceramic and on the other hand, soldering with active solder with molten phase. (orig./RW) [de

A photovoltaic self-powered gas sensor based on a single-walled carbon nanotube/Si heterojunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, L; Li, G H; Wang, Y; Wang, Y Y; Li, T; Zhang, T; Qin, S J

2017-12-07

We present a novel photovoltaic self-powered gas sensor based on a p-type single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) and n-type silicon (n-Si) heterojunction. The energy from visible light suffices to drive the device owing to a built-in electric field (BEF) induced by the differences between the Fermi levels of SWNTs and n-Si.

High-performance Schottky heterojunction photodetector with directly grown graphene nanowalls as electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Jun; Liu, Xiangzhi; Song, Xuefen; Li, Xinming; Wang, Jun; Zhou, Quan; Luo, Shi; Feng, Wenlin; Wei, Xingzhan; Lu, Shirong; Feng, Shuanglong; Du, Chunlei; Wang, Yuefeng; Shi, Haofei; Wei, Dapeng

2017-05-11

Schottky heterojunctions based on graphene-silicon structures are promising for high-performance photodetectors. However, existing fabrication processes adopt transferred graphene as electrodes, limiting process compatibility and generating pollution because of the metal catalyst. In this report, photodetectors are fabricated using directly grown graphene nanowalls (GNWs) as electrodes. Due to the metal-free growth process, GNWs-Si heterojunctions with an ultralow measured current noise of 3.1 fA Hz -1/2 are obtained, and the as-prepared photodetectors demonstrate specific detectivities of 5.88 × 10 13 cm Hz 1/2 W -1 and 2.27 × 10 14 cm Hz 1/2 W -1 based on the measured and calculated noise current, respectively, under ambient conditions. These are among the highest reported values for planar silicon Schottky photodetectors. In addition, an on/off ratio of 2 × 10 7 , time response of 40 μs, cut-off frequency of 8.5 kHz and responsivity of 0.52 A W -1 are simultaneously realized. The ultralow current noise is attributed to the excellent junction quality with a barrier height of 0.69 eV and an ideal factor of 1.18. Furthermore, obvious infrared photoresponse is observed in blackbody tests, and potential applications based on the photo-thermionic effect are discussed.

Porous Silicon Hydrogen Sensor at Room Temperature: The Effect of Surface Modification and Noble Metal Contacts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jayita KANUNGO

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Porous silicon (PS was fabricated by anodization of p-type crystalline silicon of resistivity 2-5 Ω cm. After formation, the PS surface was modified by the solution containing noble metal like Pd. Pd-Ag catalytic contact electrodes were deposited on porous silicon and on p-Silicon to fabricate Pd-Ag/PS/p-Si/Pd-Ag sensor structure to carry out the hydrogen sensing experiments. The Sensor was exposed to 1% hydrogen in nitrogen as carrier gas at room temperature (270C. Pd modified sensor showed minimum fluctuations and consistent performance with 86% response, response time and recovery time of 24 sec and 264 sec respectively. The stability experiments were studied for both unmodified and Pd modified sensor structures for a period of about 24 hours and the modified sensors showed excellent durability with no drift in response behavior.

Comparison of tear osmolarity and ocular comfort between daily disposable contact lenses: hilafilcon B hydrogel versus narafilcon A silicone hydrogel.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarac, Ozge; Gurdal, Canan; Bostancı-Ceran, Basak; Can, Izzet

2012-06-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate tear osmolarity and ocular comfort with two different types of hydrogel daily disposable lenses. The right eyes of 15 first-time contact lens users were included in this prospective study. All eyes wore hilafilcon B silicone hydrogel contact lenses for 8 h (group 1). After 1 week without contact lenses, all eyes wore narafilcon A silicone hydrogel contact lenses for 8 h (group 2). Tear osmolarity measurement was performed before and after 4 and 8 h of each contact lens wear. Ocular comfort was assessed after 4 and 8 h of each contact lens wear. In group 1, the mean baseline, 4- and 8-h tear osmolarity values were 293 ± 10.57, 303.00 ± 10.5 mOsm/L (p = 0.023), and 295.0 ± 1.4 mOsm/L (p > 0.05), respectively. In group 2, the mean baseline, 4- and 8-h tear osmolarity values were 294 ± 13.65, 300.9 ± 11.3 mOsm/L (p = 0.007), and 298.80 ± 7.2 mOsm/L (p > 0.05), respectively. In group 1, the mean comfort score was 7.20 ± 0.45 and 8.60 ± 0.45 at 4 and 8 h, respectively (p = 0.038). In group 2, the mean comfort score significantly decreased from 9.80 ± 0.45 to 7.80 ± 0.84 at 4 h (p = 0.039). Both hydrogel and silicone hydrogel daily disposable contact lenses elevated tear osmolarity during 8 h of contact lens wear. The increase in tear osmolarity with both contact lenses was below the cut-off value for dry eye and was not associated with ocular comfort.

Application Of Artificial Neural Networks In Modeling Of Manufactured Front Metallization Contact Resistance For Silicon Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Musztyfaga-Staszuk M.

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the application of artificial neural networks for prediction contact resistance of front metallization for silicon solar cells. The influence of the obtained front electrode features on electrical properties of solar cells was estimated. The front electrode of photovoltaic cells was deposited using screen printing (SP method and next to manufactured by two methods: convectional (1. co-fired in an infrared belt furnace and unconventional (2. Selective Laser Sintering. Resistance of front electrodes solar cells was investigated using Transmission Line Model (TLM. Artificial neural networks were obtained with the use of Statistica Neural Network by Statsoft. Created artificial neural networks makes possible the easy modelling of contact resistance of manufactured front metallization and allows the better selection of production parameters. The following technological recommendations for the screen printing connected with co-firing and selective laser sintering technology such as optimal paste composition, morphology of the silicon substrate, co-firing temperature and the power and scanning speed of the laser beam to manufacture the front electrode of silicon solar cells were experimentally selected in order to obtain uniformly melted structure well adhered to substrate, of a small front electrode substrate joint resistance value. The prediction possibility of contact resistance of manufactured front metallization is valuable for manufacturers and constructors. It allows preserving the customers’ quality requirements and bringing also measurable financial advantages.

Fabricating solar cells with silicon nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Loscutoff, Paul; Molesa, Steve; Kim, Taeseok

2014-09-02

A laser contact process is employed to form contact holes to emitters of a solar cell. Doped silicon nanoparticles are formed over a substrate of the solar cell. The surface of individual or clusters of silicon nanoparticles is coated with a nanoparticle passivation film. Contact holes to emitters of the solar cell are formed by impinging a laser beam on the passivated silicon nanoparticles. For example, the laser contact process may be a laser ablation process. In that case, the emitters may be formed by diffusing dopants from the silicon nanoparticles prior to forming the contact holes to the emitters. As another example, the laser contact process may be a laser melting process whereby portions of the silicon nanoparticles are melted to form the emitters and contact holes to the emitters.

Demonstration of high-responsivity epitaxial β-Ga2O3/GaN metal–heterojunction-metal broadband UV-A/UV-C detector

Science.gov (United States)

Kalra, Anisha; Vura, Sandeep; Rathkanthiwar, Shashwat; Muralidharan, Rangarajan; Raghavan, Srinivasan; Nath, Digbijoy N.

2018-06-01

We demonstrate epitaxial β-Ga2O3/GaN-based vertical metal–heterojunction-metal (MHM) broadband UV-A/UV-C photodetectors with high responsivity (3.7 A/W) at 256 and 365 nm, UV-to-visible rejection >103, and a photo-to-dark current ratio of ∼100. A small (large) conduction (valence) band offset at the heterojunction of pulsed laser deposition (PLD)-grown β-Ga2O3 on metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-grown GaN-on-silicon with epitaxial registry, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) azimuthal scanning, is exploited to realize detectors with an asymmetric photoresponse and is explained with one-dimensional (1D) band diagram simulations. The demonstrated novel vertical MHM detectors on silicon are fully scalable and promising for enabling focal plane arrays for broadband ultraviolet sensing.

What Governs Friction of Silicon Oxide in Humid Environment: Contact Area between Solids, Water Meniscus around the Contact, or Water Layer Structure?

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Lei; Xiao, Chen; Yu, Bingjun; Kim, Seong H; Qian, Linmao

2017-09-26

In order to understand the interfacial parameters governing the friction force (F t ) between silicon oxide surfaces in humid environment, the sliding speed (v) and relative humidity (RH) dependences of F t were measured for a silica sphere (1 μm radius) sliding on a silicon oxide (SiO x ) surface, using atomic force microscopy (AFM), and analyzed with a mathematical model describing interfacial contacts under a dynamic condition. Generally, F t decreases logarithmically with increasing v to a cutoff value below which its dependence on interfacial chemistry and sliding condition is relatively weak. Above the cutoff value, the logarithmic v dependence could be divided into two regimes: (i) when RH is lower than 50%, F t is a function of both v and RH; (ii) in contrast, at RH ≥ 50%, F t is a function of v only, but not RH. These complicated v and RH dependences were hypothesized to originate from the structure of the water layer adsorbed on the surface and the water meniscus around the annulus of the contact area. This hypothesis was tested by analyzing F t as a function of the water meniscus area (A m ) and volume (V m ) estimated from a thermally activated water-bridge formation model. Surprisingly, it was found that F t varies linearly with V m and correlates poorly with A m at RH contact under ambient conditions.

Measurement of low-frequency base and collector current noise and coherence in SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors using transimpedance amplifiers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruce, S.P.O.; Vandamme, L.K.J.; Rydberg, A.

1999-01-01

Transimpedance amplifiers have been used for direct study of current noise in silicon germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) at different biasing conditions. This has facilitated a wider range of resistances in the measurement circuit around the transistor than is possible when

Strategies for increasing the efficiency of heterojunction organic solar cells: material selection and device architecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Heremans, Paul; Cheyns, David; Rand, Barry P

2009-11-17

Thin-film blends or bilayers of donor- and acceptor-type organic semiconductors form the core of heterojunction organic photovoltaic cells. Researchers measure the quality of photovoltaic cells based on their power conversion efficiency, the ratio of the electrical power that can be generated versus the power of incident solar radiation. The efficiency of organic solar cells has increased steadily in the last decade, currently reaching up to 6%. Understanding and combating the various loss mechanisms that occur in processes from optical excitation to charge collection should lead to efficiencies on the order of 10% in the near future. In organic heterojunction solar cells, the generation of photocurrent is a cascade of four steps: generation of excitons (electrically neutral bound electron-hole pairs) by photon absorption, diffusion of excitons to the heterojunction, dissociation of the excitons into free charge carriers, and transport of these carriers to the contacts. In this Account, we review our recent contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms that govern these steps. Starting from archetype donor-acceptor systems of planar small-molecule heterojunctions and solution-processed bulk heterojunctions, we outline our search for alternative materials and device architectures. We show that non-planar phthalocynanines have appealing absorption characteristics but also have reduced charge carrier transport. As a result, the donor layer needs to be ultrathin, and all layers of the device have to be tuned to account for optical interference effects. Using these optimization techniques, we illustrate cells with 3.1% efficiency for the non-planar chloroboron subphthalocyanine donor. Molecules offering a better compromise between absorption and carrier mobility should allow for further improvements. We also propose a method for increasing the exciton diffusion length by converting singlet excitons into long-lived triplets. By doping a polymer with a

Simulation of High Efficiency Heterojunction Solar Cells with AFORS-HET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Lisheng; Chen Fengxiang; Ai Yu

2011-01-01

In this paper, the high efficiency TCO/a-Si:H (n)/a-Si:H(i)/c-Si(p)/uc-Si(p + )/Al HIT (heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer) solar cells was analyzed and designed by AFORS-HET software. The influences of emitter, intrinsic layer and back surface field (BSF) on the photovoltaic characteristics of solar cell were discussed. The simulation results show that the key role of the intrinsic layer inserted between the a-Si:H and crystalline silicon substrate is to decrease the interface states density. If the interface states density is lower than 10 10 cm -2 V -1 thinner intrinsic layer is better than thicker one. The increase of the thickness of the emitter will decrease the short-current density and affect the conversion efficiency. Microcrystalline BSF can increase conversion efficiency more than 2 percentage points compared with HIT solar cell with no BSF. But this BSF requires the doping concentration must exceed 10 20 cm -3 . Considered the band mismatch between crystalline silicon and microcrystalline silicon, the optimal band gap of microcrystalline silicon BSF is about 1.4-1.6eV.

Microscopic mapping of specific contact resistances and long-term reliability tests on 4H-silicon carbide using sputtered titanium tungsten contacts for high temperature device applications

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, S.-K.; Zetterling, C.-M.; Ostling, M.

2002-07-01

We report on the microscopic mapping of specific contact resistances (rhoc) and long-term reliability tests using sputtered titanium tungsten (TiW) ohmic contacts to highly doped n-type epilayers of 4H-silicon carbide. The TiW ohmic contacts showed good uniformity with low contact resistivity of 3.3 x10-5 Omega cm2. Microscopic mapping of the rhoc showed that the rhoc had a distribution that decreased from the center to the edge of the wafer. This distribution of the rhoc is caused by variation of the doping concentration of the wafer. Sacrificial oxidation at high temperature partially recovered inductively coupled plasma etch damage. TiW contacts with platinum and gold capping layers have stable specific contact resistance at 500 and 600 degC in a vacuum chamber for 308 h.

An InP/Si heterojunction photodiode fabricated by self-aligned corrugated epitaxial lateral overgrowth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Y. T.; Omanakuttan, G.; Lourdudoss, S.

2015-01-01

An n-InP/p-Si heterojunction photodiode fabricated by corrugated epitaxial lateral overgrowth (CELOG) method is presented. N-InP/p-Si heterojunction has been achieved from a suitable pattern containing circular shaped openings in a triangular lattice on the InP seed layer on p-Si substrate and subsequent CELOG of completely coalesced n-InP. To avoid current path through the seed layer in the final photodiode, semi-insulating InP:Fe was grown with adequate thickness prior to n-InP growth in a low pressure hydride vapor phase epitaxy reactor. The n-InP/p-Si heterointerface was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Room temperature cross-sectional photoluminescence (PL) mapping illustrates the defect reduction effect in InP grown on Si by CELOG method. The InP PL intensity measured above the InP/Si heterojunction is comparable to that of InP grown on a native planar substrate indicating low interface defect density of CELOG InP despite of 8% lattice mismatch with Si. The processed n-InP/p-Si heterojunction photodiodes show diode characteristics from the current-voltage (I-V) measurements with a dark current density of 0.324 mA/cm 2 at a reverse voltage of −1 V. Under the illumination of AM1.5 conditions, the InP/Si heterojunction photodiode exhibited photovoltaic effect with an open circuit voltage of 180 mV, a short circuit current density of 1.89 mA/cm 2 , an external quantum efficiency of 4.3%, and an internal quantum efficiency of 6.4%. This demonstration of epitaxially grown InP/Si heterojunction photodiode will open the door for low cost and high efficiency solar cells and photonic integration of III-Vs on silicon

Solution processed organic bulk heterojunction tandem solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Albrecht, Steve; Neher, Dieter [Soft Matter Physics, University of Potsdam, D-14476 Potsdam (Germany)

2011-07-01

One of the critical issues regarding the preparation of organic tandem solar cells from solution is the central recombination contact. This contact should be highly transparent and conductive to provide high recombination currents. Moreover it should protect the 1st subcell from the solution processing of the 2nd subcell. Here, we present a systematic study of various recombination contacts in organic bulk heterojunction tandem solar cells made from blends of different polymers with PCBM. We compare solution processed recombination contacts fabricated from metal-oxides (TiO{sub 2} and ZnO) and PEDOT:PSS with evaporated recombination contacts made from thin metal layers and molybdenum-oxide. The solar cell characteristics as well as the morphology of the contacts measured by AFM and SEM are illustrated. To compare the electrical properties of the varying contacts we show measurements on single carrier devices for different contact-structures. Alongside we present the results of optical modeling of the subcells and the complete tandem device and relate these results to experimental absorption and reflection spectra of the same structures. Based on these studies, layer thicknesses were adjusted for optimum current matching and device performance.

Use of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose 2% for removing adherent silicone oil from silicone intraocular lenses

OpenAIRE

Wong , S Chien; Ramkissoon , Yashin D; Lopez , Mauricio; Page , Kristopher; Parkin , Ivan P; Sullivan , Paul M

2009-01-01

Abstract Background / aims: To investigate the effect of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) on the physical interaction (contact angle) between silicone oil and a silicone intraocular lens (IOL). Methods: In vitro experiments were performed, to determine the effect of HPMC (0.5%, 1% or 2%), with or without an additional simple mechanical manoeuvre, on the contact angle of silicone oil at the surface of both silicone and acrylic (control) IOLs. A balanced salt solu...

Annealing Time Effect on Nanostructured n-ZnO/p-Si Heterojunction Photodetector Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Habubi, Nadir. F.; Ismail, Raid. A.; Hamoudi, Walid K.; Abid, Hassam. R.

2015-02-01

In this work, n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction photodetectors were prepared by drop casting of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) on single crystal p-type silicon substrates, followed by (15-60) min; step-annealing at 600∘C. Structural, electrical, and optical properties of the ZnO NPs films deposited on quartz substrates were studied as a function of annealing time. X-ray diffraction studies showed a polycrystalline, hexagonal wurtizte nanostructured ZnO with preferential orientation along the (100) plane. Atomic force microscopy measurements showed an average ZnO grain size within the range of 75.9 nm-99.9 nm with a corresponding root mean square (RMS) surface roughness between 0.51 nm-2.16 nm. Dark and under illumination current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction photodetectors showed an improving rectification ratio and a decreasing saturation current at longer annealing time with an ideality factor of 3 obtained at 60 min annealing time. Capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of heterojunctions were investigated in order to estimate the built-in-voltage and junction type. The photodetectors, fabricated at optimum annealing time, exhibited good linearity characteristics. Maximum sensitivity was obtained when ZnO/Si heterojunctions were annealed at 60 min. Two peaks of response, located at 650 nm and 850 nm, were observed with sensitivities of 0.12-0.19 A/W and 0.18-0.39 A/W, respectively. Detectivity of the photodetectors as function of annealing time was estimated.

Heterojunction Structures for Photon Detector Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2014-07-21

IR: Fourier-transform infrared FTO: Fluorine doped tin oxide G-R: generation-recombination HEIWIP: heterojunction interfacial workfunction internal...SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: The work presented here report findings in (1) infrared detectors based on p-GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunctions , (2) J and H...aggregate sensitized heterojunctions for solar cell and photon detection applications, (3) heterojunctions sensitized with quantum dots as low cost

Advanced interface modelling of n-Si/HNO3 doped graphene solar cells to identify pathways to high efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Ma, Fa-Jun; Ding, Ke; Zhang, Hao; Jie, Jiansheng; Ho-Baillie, Anita; Bremner, Stephen P.

2018-03-01

In graphene/silicon solar cells, it is crucial to understand the transport mechanism of the graphene/silicon interface to further improve power conversion efficiency. Until now, the transport mechanism has been predominantly simplified as an ideal Schottky junction. However, such an ideal Schottky contact is never realised experimentally. According to literature, doped graphene shows the properties of a semiconductor, therefore, it is physically more accurate to model graphene/silicon junction as a Heterojunction. In this work, HNO3-doped graphene/silicon solar cells were fabricated with the power conversion efficiency of 9.45%. Extensive characterization and first-principles calculations were carried out to establish an advanced technology computer-aided design (TCAD) model, where p-doped graphene forms a straddling heterojunction with the n-type silicon. In comparison with the simple Schottky junction models, our TCAD model paves the way for thorough investigation on the sensitivity of solar cell performance to graphene properties like electron affinity. According to the TCAD heterojunction model, the cell performance can be improved up to 22.5% after optimizations of the antireflection coatings and the rear structure, highlighting the great potentials for fabricating high efficiency graphene/silicon solar cells and other optoelectronic devices.

Solar Cels With Reduced Contact Areas

Science.gov (United States)

Daud, T.; Crotty, G. T.; Kachare, A. H.; Lewis, J. T.

1987-01-01

Efficiency of silicon solar cells increased about 20 percent using smaller metal-contact area on silicon at front and back of each cell. Reduction in contact area reduces surface recombination velocity under contact and thus reduces reverse saturation current and increases opencircuit voltage..

Enhancement of photovoltaic properties of multicrystalline silicon solar cells by combination of buried metallic contacts and thin porous silicon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ben Rabha, M.; Bessais, B. [Laboratoire de Photovoltaique, Centre de Recherches et des Technologies de l' Energie, Technopole de Borj-Cedria, BP 95, 2050 Hammam-Lif (Tunisia)

2010-03-15

Photovoltaic properties of buried metallic contacts (BMCs) with and without application of a front porous silicon (PS) layer on multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells were investigated. A Chemical Vapor Etching (CVE) method was used to perform front PS layer and BMCs of mc-Si solar cells. Good electrical performance for the mc-Si solar cells was observed after combination of BMCs and thin PS films. As a result the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) were improved, and the effective minority carrier diffusion length (Ln) increases from 75 to 110 {mu}m after BMCs achievement. The reflectivity was reduced to 8% in the 450-950 nm wavelength range. This simple and low cost technology induces a 12% conversion efficiency (surface area = 3.2 cm{sup 2}). The obtained results indicate that the BMCs improve charge carrier collection while the PS layer passivates the front surface. (author)

All-back-Schottky-contact thin-film photovoltaics

Science.gov (United States)

Nardone, Marco

2016-02-01

The concept of All-Back-Schottky-Contact (ABSC) thin-film photovoltaic (TFPV) devices is introduced and evaluated using 2D numerical simulation. Reach-through Schottky junctions due to two metals of different work functions in an alternating, side-by-side pattern along the non-illuminated side generate the requisite built-in field. It is shown that our simulation method quantitatively describes existing data for a recently demonstrated heterojunction thin-film cell with interdigitated back contacts (IBCs) of one metal type. That model is extended to investigate the performance of ABSC devices with bimetallic IBCs within a pertinent parameter space. Our calculations indicate that 20% efficiency is achievable with micron-scale features and sufficient surface passivation. Bimetallic, micron-scale IBCs are readily fabricated using photo-lithographic techniques and the ABSC design allows for optically transparent surface passivation layers that need not be electrically conductive. The key advantages of the ABSC-TFPV architecture are that window layers, buffer layers, heterojunctions, and module scribing are not required because both contacts are located on the back of the device.

Characterization of laser doped silicon and overcoming adhesion challenges of solar cells with nickel-copper plated contacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geisler, Christian

2015-07-01

The combination of localized laser patterning and metal plating allows to replace conventional silver screen printing with nickel-copper plating to form inexpensive front contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells. In this work, a focus is put on effects that could cause inhomogeneous metal deposition and low metal contact adhesion. A descriptive model of the silicon nitride ablation mechanism is derived from SEM imaging and a precise recombination analysis using QSSPC measurements. Surface sensitive XPS measurements are conducted to prove the existence of a parasitic surface layer, identified as SiO{sub x}N{sub y}. The dense SiO{sub x}N{sub y} layer is an effective diffusion barrier, hindering the formation of a nickel silicide interlayer. After removal of the SiO{sub x}N{sub y} layer, cells show severe degradation caused by metal-induced shunting. These shunts are imaged using reverse biased electroluminescence imaging. A shunting mechanism is proposed and experimentally verified. New laser process sequences are devised and proven to produce cells with adhering Ni-Cu contacts. Conclusively the developed processes are assessed based on their industrial feasibility as well as on their efficiency potential.

Copper phthalocyanine and metal free phthalocyanine bulk heterojunction photodetector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farooq, Amjad, E-mail: amjad.farooq1212@hotmail.com [Wah Engineering College, University of Wah, Wah Cantt. 47040 (Pakistan); GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi 23640, Swabi (Pakistan); Karimov, Kh.S. [GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi 23640, Swabi (Pakistan); Physical Technical Institute, Aini St. 299/1, Dushanbe 734063 (Tajikistan); Ahmed, Nisar; Ali, Taimoor [GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi 23640, Swabi (Pakistan); Khalid Alamgir, M. [National Institute of Vacuum Science and Technology, NCP complex, Islamabad 44000 (Pakistan); Usman, Muhammad [Experimental Physics Laboratories, National Centre for Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 44000 (Pakistan)

2015-01-15

In this study we present the dependence of electrical properties of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and metal free phthalocyanine (H{sub 2}Pc) bulk heterojunction structure under different illumination levels. To fabricate the device on ITO coated glass substrate the bulk heterojunction thin film of CuPc and H{sub 2}Pc with thickness varying from 100 nm to 300 nm are deposited by thermal evaporator. Aluminum thin film was deposited by thermal evaporation as a top contact. The optical properties of the fabricated device are investigated using UV–vis spectroscopy. The current-voltage characteristics in dark and under illumination show that the device is sensitive towards visible light. The absorption spectrum describes its photo sensitivity in the range of wavelength from 200 nm to 850 nm. Simulation of current-intensity of light curve is carried out and experimental results are found in good agreement with simulated ones.

Copper phthalocyanine and metal free phthalocyanine bulk heterojunction photodetector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farooq, Amjad; Karimov, Kh.S.; Ahmed, Nisar; Ali, Taimoor; Khalid Alamgir, M.; Usman, Muhammad

2015-01-01

In this study we present the dependence of electrical properties of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and metal free phthalocyanine (H 2 Pc) bulk heterojunction structure under different illumination levels. To fabricate the device on ITO coated glass substrate the bulk heterojunction thin film of CuPc and H 2 Pc with thickness varying from 100 nm to 300 nm are deposited by thermal evaporator. Aluminum thin film was deposited by thermal evaporation as a top contact. The optical properties of the fabricated device are investigated using UV–vis spectroscopy. The current-voltage characteristics in dark and under illumination show that the device is sensitive towards visible light. The absorption spectrum describes its photo sensitivity in the range of wavelength from 200 nm to 850 nm. Simulation of current-intensity of light curve is carried out and experimental results are found in good agreement with simulated ones

Photoelectric characteristics of CH3NH3PbI3/p-Si heterojunction

Science.gov (United States)

Yamei, Wu; Ruixia, Yang; Hanmin, Tian; Shuai, Chen

2016-05-01

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 film is prepared on p-type silicon substrate using the one-step solution method to form a CH3NH3PbI3/p-Si heterojunction. The film morphology and structure are characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The photoelectric properties of the CH3NH3PbI3/p-Si heterojunction are studied by testing the current-voltage (I-V) with and without illumination and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. It turns out from the I-V curve without illumination that the CH3NH3PbI3/p-Si heterojunction has a rectifier feature with the rectification ratio over 70 at the bias of ±5 V. Also, there appears a photoelectric conversion phenomenon on this heterojunction with a short circuit current (Isc) of 0.16 μA and an open circuit voltage (Voc) of about 10 mV The high frequency C-V characteristic of the Ag/CH3NH3PbI3/p-Si heterojunction turns out to be similar to that of the metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure, and a parallel translation of the C-V curve along the forward voltage axis is found. This parallel translation means the existence of defects at the CH3NH3PbI3/p-Si interface and positive fixed charges in the CH3NH3PbI3 layer. The defects at the interface of the CH3NH3PbI3/p-Si heterojunction result in the dramatic decline of the Voc. Besides, the C-V test of CH3NH3PbI3 film shows a non-linear dielectric property and the dielectric value is about 4.64 as calculated. Project supported by the Hebei Province Natural Science Foundation of China (No. F2014202184) and the Tianjin Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 15JCZDJC37800).

Significant Improvement of Organic Thin-Film Transistor Mobility Utilizing an Organic Heterojunction Buffer Layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan Feng; Qian Xian-Rui; Huang Li-Zhen; Wang Hai-Bo; Yan Dong-Hang

2011-01-01

High-mobility vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc)/5,5‴-bis(4-fluorophenyl)-2,2':5',2″:5″,2‴-quaterthiophene (F2-P4T) thin-film transistors are demonstrated by employing a copper hexadecafluorophthalocyanine (F 16 CuPc)/copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) heterojunction unit, which are fabricated at different substrate temperatures, as a buffer layer. The highest mobility of 4.08cm 2 /Vs is achieved using a F 16 CuPc/CuPc organic heterojunction buffer layer fabricated at high substrate temperature. Compared with the random small grain-like morphology of the room-temperature buffer layer, the high-temperature organic heterojunction presents a large-sized fiber-like film morphology, resulting in an enhanced conductivity. Thus the contact resistance of the transistor is significantly reduced and an obvious improvement in device mobility is obtained. (cross-disciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

Optimizing Performance Parameters of Chemically-Derived Graphene/p-Si Heterojunction Solar Cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Batra, Kamal; Nayak, Sasmita; Behura, Sanjay K; Jani, Omkar

2015-07-01

Chemically-derived graphene have been synthesized by modified Hummers method and reduced using sodium borohydride. To explore the potential for photovoltaic applications, graphene/p-silicon (Si) heterojunction devices were fabricated using a simple and cost effective technique called spin coating. The SEM analysis shows the formation of graphene oxide (GO) flakes which become smooth after reduction. The absence of oxygen containing functional groups, as observed in FT-IR spectra, reveals the reduction of GO, i.e., reduced graphene oxide (rGO). It was further confirmed by Raman analysis, which shows slight reduction in G-band intensity with respect to D-band. Hall effect measurement confirmed n-type nature of rGO. Therefore, an effort has been made to simu- late rGO/p-Si heterojunction device by using the one-dimensional solar cell capacitance software, considering the experimentally derived parameters. The detail analysis of the effects of Si thickness, graphene thickness and temperature on the performance of the device has been presented.

Rectifying effect of heterojunctions between metals and doped conducting polymer nanostructure pellets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long Yunze; Yin Zhihua; Hui Wen; Chen Zhaojia; Wan Meixiang

2008-01-01

This paper reports that the Schottky junctions between low work function metals (e.g. Al and In) and doped semiconducting polymer pellets (e.g. polyaniline (PANI) microsphere pellet and polypyrrole (PPy) nanotube pellet) have been prepared and studied. Since Ag is a high work function metal which can make an ohmic contact with polymer, silver paste was used to fabricate the electrodes. The Al/PANI/Ag heterojunction shows an obvious rectifying effect as shown in I – V characteristic curves (rectifying ratio γ = 5 at ±6 V bias at room temperature). As compared to the Al/PANI/Ag, the heterojunction between In and PANI (In/PANI/Ag) exhibits a lower rectifying ratio γ = 1.6 at ±2 V bias at room temperature. In addition, rectifying effect was also observed in the heterojunctions Al/PPy/Ag (γ = 3.2 at ±1.6 V bias) and In/PPy/Ag (γ = 1.2 at ±3.0 V bias). The results were discussed in terms of thermoionic emission theory. (condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties)

Ocular physiology and comfort in neophyte subjects fitted with daily disposable silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Philip B; Chamberlain, Paul; Moody, Kurt; Maldonado-Codina, Carole

2013-06-01

To evaluate the performance of a silicone hydrogel daily disposable lens in neophyte subjects over 12 months. Seventy four subjects with no previous contact lens experience were randomised to wear narafilcon A (1 DAY ACUVUE(®) TruEye™) lenses (LW group) or to wear no contact lenses (NLW group) for 12 months. Biomicroscopy (performed by a masked investigator), visual acuity and subjective response scores were recorded at an initial visit and six follow-up visits, in addition to lens fit and surface evaluation for the LW group. Comfort was recorded with SMS messaging. Fifteen of the LW group discontinued before the end of the study, compared with six of the NLW group. Measured visual acuity was about half a line better for the NLW group as these subjects were provided with their full sphero-cylindrical over-refraction, compared to the LW group in their best spherical corrected contact lenses; subjective scores for vision were similar for the two groups. Bulbar conjunctival hyperaemia, limbal hyperaemia, corneal staining, conjunctival staining and papillary conjunctivitis were clinically equivalent for the two groups whereas conjunctival staining was higher in the LW group. Comfort scores assessed by SMS were equivalent for the LW and NLW groups; there was a measurable improvement in comfort during the first month of wear for the LW group. This work has demonstrated that modern soft lenses (narafilcon A daily disposable silicone hydrogel lenses) offer an excellent, comfortable form of vision correction, and are able to exhibit minimal alterations to ocular physiology. Copyright © 2012 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of polycrystalline silicon layer on flow through «metal — p-Si» contact

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Smyntyna V. A.

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Based on the results of investigations of charge transport in the "metal — p-Si" contacts with different thickness of polycrystalline p-Si layer the mechanisms of charge transport through such structures are shown. It is established that with increasing thickness of the layer of polycrystalline p-Si current transport mechanism changes from a double injection into the drift-diffusion. This change is due to an increase in the drift current component in the space charge zone of "metal — p-Si" contact, which arises as a result of increased surface density of scattering barriers, which are localized at the boundaries of neighboring silicon polycrystals.

Hybrid emitter all back contact solar cell

Science.gov (United States)

Loscutoff, Paul; Rim, Seung

2016-04-12

An all back contact solar cell has a hybrid emitter design. The solar cell has a thin dielectric layer formed on a backside surface of a single crystalline silicon substrate. One emitter of the solar cell is made of doped polycrystalline silicon that is formed on the thin dielectric layer. The other emitter of the solar cell is formed in the single crystalline silicon substrate and is made of doped single crystalline silicon. The solar cell includes contact holes that allow metal contacts to connect to corresponding emitters.

Optical Evaluation of the Rear Contacts of Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells by Coupled Electromagnetic and Statistical Ray-Optics Modeling

KAUST Repository

Dabirian, Ali; Morales-Masis, Monica; Haug, Franz-Josef; De Wolf, Stefaan; Ballif, Christophe

2017-01-01

High-efficiency crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells increasingly feature sophisticated electron and hole contacts aimed at minimizing electronic losses. At the rear of photovoltaic devices, such contacts—usually consisting of stacks of functional

Dopant-Free and Carrier-Selective Heterocontacts for Silicon Solar Cells: Recent Advances and Perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Pingqi; Yang, Zhenhai; He, Jian; Yu, Jing; Liu, Peipei; Zhu, Juye; Ge, Ziyi; Ye, Jichun

2018-03-01

By combining the most successful heterojunctions (HJ) with interdigitated back contacts, crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells (SCs) have recently demonstrated a record efficiency of 26.6%. However, such SCs still introduce optical/electrical losses and technological issues due to parasitic absorption/Auger recombination inherent to the doped films and the complex process of integrating discrete p + - and n + -HJ contacts. These issues have motivated the search for alternative new functional materials and simplified deposition technologies, whereby carrier-selective contacts (CSCs) can be formed directly with c-Si substrates, and thereafter form IBC cells, via a dopant-free method. Screening and modifying CSC materials in a wider context is beneficial for building dopant-free HJ contacts with better performance, shedding new light on the relatively mature Si photovoltaic field. In this review, a significant number of achievements in two representative dopant-free hole-selective CSCs, i.e . , poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)/Si and transition metal oxides/Si, have been systemically presented and surveyed. The focus herein is on the latest advances in hole-selective materials modification, interfacial passivation, contact resistivity, light-trapping structure and device architecture design, etc. By analyzing the structure-property relationships of hole-selective materials and assessing their electrical transport properties, promising functional materials as well as important design concepts for such CSCs toward high-performance SCs have been highlighted.

ZnO nanoneedle/H2O solid-liquid heterojunction-based self-powered ultraviolet detector

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

ZnO nanoneedle arrays were grown vertically on a fluorine-doped tin oxide-coated glass by hydrothermal method at a relatively low temperature. A self-powered photoelectrochemical cell-type UV detector was fabricated using the ZnO nanoneedles as the active photoanode and H2O as the electrolyte. This solid-liquid heterojunction offers an enlarged ZnO/water contact area and a direct pathway for electron transport simultaneously. By connecting this UV photodetector to an ammeter, the intensity of UV light can be quantified using the output short-circuit photocurrent without a power source. High photosensitivity, excellent spectral selectivity, and fast photoresponse at zero bias are observed in this UV detector. The self-powered behavior can be well explained by the formation of a space charge layer near the interface of the solid-liquid heterojunction, which results in a built-in potential and makes the solid-liquid heterojunction work in photovoltaic mode. PMID:24103153

Al and Cu Implantation into Silicon Substrate for Ohmic Contact in Solar Cell Fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sri Sulamdari; Sudjatmoko; Wirjoadi; Yunanto; Bambang Siswanto

2002-01-01

Research on the implantation of Al and Cu ions into silicon substrate for ohmic contact in solar cell fabrication has been carried using ion accelerator machine. Al and Cu ions are from 98% Al and 99.9% Cu powder ionized in ion source system. provided in ion implantor machine. Before implantation process, (0.5 x 1) cm 2 N type and P type silicon were washed in water and then etched in Cp-4A solution. After that, P type silicon were implanted with Al ions and N type silicon were implanted with Cu ions with the ions dose from 10 13 ion/cm 2 - 10 16 ion/cm 2 and energy 20 keV - 80 keV. Implanted samples were then annealed at temperature 400 o C - 850 o C. Implanted and annealed samples were characterized their resistivities using four point probe FPP-5000. It was found that at full electrically active conditions the ρ s for N type was 1.30 x 10 8 Ω/sq, this was achieved at ion dose 10 13 ion/cm 2 and annealing temperature 500 o C. While for P type, the ρ s was 1.13 x 10 2 Ω/sq, this was achieved at ion dose 10 13 ion/cm 2 and energy 40 keV, and annealing temperature 500 o C. (author)

Nanotetrapods: quantum dot hybrid for bulk heterojunction solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Hybrid thin film solar cell based on all-inorganic nanoparticles is a new member in the family of photovoltaic devices. In this work, a novel and performance-efficient inorganic hybrid nanostructure with continuous charge transportation and collection channels is demonstrated by introducing CdTe nanotetropods (NTs) and CdSe quantum dots (QDs). Hybrid morphology is characterized, demonstrating an interpenetration and compacted contact of NTs and QDs. Electrical measurements show enhanced charge transfer at the hybrid bulk heterojunction interface of NTs and QDs after ligand exchange which accordingly improves the performance of solar cells. Photovoltaic and light response tests exhibit a combined optic-electric contribution from both CdTe NTs and CdSe QDs through a formation of interpercolation in morphology as well as a type II energy level distribution. The NT and QD hybrid bulk heterojunction is applicable and promising in other highly efficient photovoltaic materials such as PbS QDs. PMID:24139059

Plasmonic back contacts with non-ordered Ag nanostructures for light trapping in thin-film silicon solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paetzold, Ulrich W.; Meier, Matthias; Moulin, Etienne; Smirnov, Vladimir; Pieters, Bart E.; Rau, Uwe; Carius, Reinhard

2013-01-01

In this work, we investigate the light trapping of thin-film silicon solar cells which apply plasmonic Ag back contacts with non-ordered Ag nanostructures. The preparation, characterization and three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations of these back contacts with various distributions of non-ordered Ag nanostructures are presented. The measured reflectance spectra of the Ag back contacts with non-ordered nanostructures in air are well reproduced in reflectance spectra derived from the three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations of isolated nanostructures on Ag back contacts. The light–matter interaction of these nanostructures is given by localized surface plasmons and, thus, the measured diffuse reflectance of the back contacts is attributed to plasmon-induced light scattering. A significant plasmonic light-trapping effect in n-i-p substrate-type μc-Si:H thin-film solar cell prototypes which apply a Ag back contact with non-ordered nanostructures is identified when compared with flat reference solar cells

Plasmonic back contacts with non-ordered Ag nanostructures for light trapping in thin-film silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paetzold, Ulrich W., E-mail: u.paetzold@fz-juelich.de [IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Juelich, D-52425 Juelich (Germany); Meier, Matthias, E-mail: ma.meier@fz-juelich.de [IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Juelich, D-52425 Juelich (Germany); Moulin, Etienne, E-mail: e.moulin@fz-juelich.de [IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Juelich, D-52425 Juelich (Germany); Smirnov, Vladimir, E-mail: v.smirnov@fz-juelich.de [IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Juelich, D-52425 Juelich (Germany); Pieters, Bart E., E-mail: b.pieters@fz-juelich.de [IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Juelich, D-52425 Juelich (Germany); Rau, Uwe, E-mail: u.rau@fz-juelich.de [IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Juelich, D-52425 Juelich (Germany); Carius, Reinhard, E-mail: r.carius@fz-juelich.de [IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Juelich, D-52425 Juelich (Germany)

2013-05-15

In this work, we investigate the light trapping of thin-film silicon solar cells which apply plasmonic Ag back contacts with non-ordered Ag nanostructures. The preparation, characterization and three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations of these back contacts with various distributions of non-ordered Ag nanostructures are presented. The measured reflectance spectra of the Ag back contacts with non-ordered nanostructures in air are well reproduced in reflectance spectra derived from the three-dimensional electromagnetic simulations of isolated nanostructures on Ag back contacts. The light–matter interaction of these nanostructures is given by localized surface plasmons and, thus, the measured diffuse reflectance of the back contacts is attributed to plasmon-induced light scattering. A significant plasmonic light-trapping effect in n-i-p substrate-type μc-Si:H thin-film solar cell prototypes which apply a Ag back contact with non-ordered nanostructures is identified when compared with flat reference solar cells.

Deposition and characterization of ZnS/Si heterojunctions produced by vacuum evaporation

Science.gov (United States)

Landis, Geoffrey A.; Loferski, Joseph J.; Beaulieu, Roland

1988-01-01

Isotype heterojunctions of ZnS (lattice constant 5.41 A) were grown on silicon (lattice constant 5.43 A) p-n junctions to form a minority-carrier mirror. The deposition process was vacuum evaporation from a ZnS powder source onto a heated (450 C) substrate. Both planar (100) and textured (111) surfaces were used. A reduction of the minority-carrier recombination at the surface was seen from increased short-wavelength quantum response and increased illuminated open-circuit voltage. The minority-carrier diffusion length was not degraded by the process.

Room temperature giant positive junction magnetoresistance of NiFe{sub 2}O{sub 4}/n-Si heterojunction for spintronics application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Panda, J.; Saha, S.N.; Nath, T.K., E-mail: tnath@phy.iitkgp.ernet.in

2014-09-01

Electronic- and magnetic-transport properties of NiFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} (NFO)–SiO{sub 2}–Si heterojunction fabricated by depositing NFO thin films on silicon substrates with the intermediate native oxide (SiO{sub 2}) layer have been investigated in details. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics across the junction have been recorded in the temperature range of 10–300 K. All I–V curves show non-linear behavior throughout the temperature range. The dominating current transport mechanism is found to be temperature dependent tunneling assisted by Frenkel–Poole type emission. In this paper, we report the junction magnetoresistance (JMR) properties of this heterojunction in the temperature range of 10–300 K. With increasing temperature, the JMR of the heterojunction increases accordingly. The high positive JMR (∼54%) has been observed at room temperature (RT). The origin of high positive JMR at RT is attributed to efficient spin-polarized carrier transport across the junction.

The impact of silicon solar cell architecture and cell interconnection on energy yield in hot & sunny climates

KAUST Repository

Haschke, Jan; Seif, Johannes P.; Riesen, Yannick; Tomasi, Andrea; Cattin, Jean; Tous, Loï c; Choulat, Patrick; Aleman, Monica; Cornagliotti, Emanuele; Uruena, Angel; Russell, Richard; Duerinckx, Filip; Champliaud, Jonathan; Levrat, Jacques; Abdallah, Amir A.; Aï ssa, Brahim; Tabet, Nouar; Wyrsch, Nicolas; Despeisse, Matthieu; Szlufcik, Jozef; De Wolf, Stefaan; Ballif, Christophe

2017-01-01

architectures, including so-called Aluminum back-surface-field (BSF), passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC), passivated emitter rear totally diffused (PERT), and silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. We compare measured temperature coefficients (TC

Vacuum-free processed bulk heterojunction solar cells with E-GaIn cathode as an alternative to Al electrode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ongul, Fatih; Yuksel, Sureyya Aydın; Bozar, Sinem; Gunes, Serap; Cakmak, Gulbeden; Guney, Hasan Yuksel; Egbe, Daniel Ayuk Mbi

2015-01-01

In this paper, the photovoltaic characteristics of bulk heterojunction solar cells employing an eutectic gallium–indium (EGaIn) alloy as a top metal contact which was coated by a simple and inexpensive brush-painting was investigated. The overall solar cell fabrication procedure was vacuum-free. As references, regular organic bulk heterojunction solar cells employing thermally evaporated Aluminum as a top metal contact were also fabricated. Inserting the ZnO layer between the active layer and the cathode electrodes (Al and EGaIn) improved the photovoltaic performance of the herein investigated devices. The power conversion efficiencies with and without EGaIn top electrodes were rather comparable. Hence, we have shown that the EGaIn, which is liquid at room temperature, can be used as a cathode. It allows an easy and rapid device fabrication that can be implemented through a vacuum free process. (paper)

Fabrication and study of sol-gel ZnO films for use in Si-based heterojunction photovoltaic devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniya Mukhamedshina

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper considers the use of zinc oxide thin films prepared via the sol-gel route as an n-type layer in heterojunction ZnO/Si solar cells. The ZnO films were prepared via a simple spin-coating technique using zinc acetate dihydrate as a zinc precursor, isopropanol as a solvent and monoethanolamine as a stabilizing agent. Optical, structural and morphological properties of ZnO were investigated for thin films grown from sol-gel solutions with different concentrations both on glass and silicon substrates. As such, a distribution of crystallite sizes and surface topology parameters corresponding to various zinc acetate dihydrate concentrations were obtained to elucidate optimal film deposition conditions. Correlation between thin film morphology and structural characteristics of ZnO thin films was made based on atomic-force microscopy studies. Finally, our results on fabrication, characterization and simulation of ZnO/Si heterojunctions for use as photovoltaic devices are presented. Although noticeable rectifying and photovoltaic properties were observed for Al/Si/ZnO/Ti/Au devices, there appears to exist a considerable room for device improvement with simulation studies suggesting that efficiencies of the order of 24% may be obtained for devices with optimal silicon wafer passivation, i.e. with lifetimes of the order of 1000 μs.

Room Temperature Direct Band Gap Emission from Ge p-i-n Heterojunction Photodiodes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Kasper

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Room temperature direct band gap emission is observed for Si-substrate-based Ge p-i-n heterojunction photodiode structures operated under forward bias. Comparisons of electroluminescence with photoluminescence spectra allow separating emission from intrinsic Ge (0.8 eV and highly doped Ge (0.73 eV. Electroluminescence stems from carrier injection into the intrinsic layer, whereas photoluminescence originates from the highly n-doped top layer because the exciting visible laser wavelength is strongly absorbed in Ge. High doping levels led to an apparent band gap narrowing from carrier-impurity interaction. The emission shifts to higher wavelengths with increasing current level which is explained by device heating. The heterostructure layer sequence and the light emitting device are similar to earlier presented photodetectors. This is an important aspect for monolithic integration of silicon microelectronics and silicon photonics.

The effect of hydrogel and silicone hydrogel contact lenses on the measurement of intraocular pressure with rebound tonometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeri, Fabrizio; Calcatelli, Paolo; Donini, Bernardo; Lupelli, Luigi; Zarrilli, Luciana; Swann, Peter G

2011-12-01

To assess the accuracy of intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements using rebound tonometry over disposable hydrogel (etafilcon A) and silicone hydrogel (senofilcon A) contact lenses (CLs) of different powers. The experimental group comprised 36 subjects (19 male, 17 female). IOP measurements were undertaken on the subject's right eyes in random order using a rebound tonometer (ICare). The CLs had powers of +2.00D, -2.00D and -6.00D. Six measurements were taken over each contact lens and also before and after the CLs had been worn. A good correlation was found between IOP measurements with and without CLs (all r≥0.80; pContact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dopant‐Free and Carrier‐Selective Heterocontacts for Silicon Solar Cells: Recent Advances and Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhenhai; He, Jian; Yu, Jing; Liu, Peipei; Zhu, Juye; Ge, Ziyi; Ye, Jichun

2017-01-01

Abstract By combining the most successful heterojunctions (HJ) with interdigitated back contacts, crystalline silicon (c‐Si) solar cells (SCs) have recently demonstrated a record efficiency of 26.6%. However, such SCs still introduce optical/electrical losses and technological issues due to parasitic absorption/Auger recombination inherent to the doped films and the complex process of integrating discrete p+‐ and n+‐HJ contacts. These issues have motivated the search for alternative new functional materials and simplified deposition technologies, whereby carrier‐selective contacts (CSCs) can be formed directly with c‐Si substrates, and thereafter form IBC cells, via a dopant‐free method. Screening and modifying CSC materials in a wider context is beneficial for building dopant‐free HJ contacts with better performance, shedding new light on the relatively mature Si photovoltaic field. In this review, a significant number of achievements in two representative dopant‐free hole‐selective CSCs, i.e., poly(3,4‐ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)/Si and transition metal oxides/Si, have been systemically presented and surveyed. The focus herein is on the latest advances in hole‐selective materials modification, interfacial passivation, contact resistivity, light‐trapping structure and device architecture design, etc. By analyzing the structure–property relationships of hole‐selective materials and assessing their electrical transport properties, promising functional materials as well as important design concepts for such CSCs toward high‐performance SCs have been highlighted. PMID:29593956

Passivation mechanism in silicon heterojunction solar cells with intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide layers

Science.gov (United States)

Deligiannis, Dimitrios; van Vliet, Jeroen; Vasudevan, Ravi; van Swaaij, René A. C. M. M.; Zeman, Miro

2017-02-01

In this work, we use intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide layers (a-SiOx:H) with varying oxygen content (cO) but similar hydrogen content to passivate the crystalline silicon wafers. Using our deposition conditions, we obtain an effective lifetime (τeff) above 5 ms for cO ≤ 6 at. % for passivation layers with a thickness of 36 ± 2 nm. We subsequently reduce the thickness of the layers using an accurate wet etching method to ˜7 nm and deposit p- and n-type doped layers fabricating a device structure. After the deposition of the doped layers, τeff appears to be predominantly determined by the doped layers themselves and is less dependent on the cO of the a-SiOx:H layers. The results suggest that τeff is determined by the field-effect rather than by chemical passivation.

Impact of organic overlayers on a-Si:H/c-Si surface potential

KAUST Repository

Seif, Johannes P.

2017-04-11

Bilayers of intrinsic and doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon, deposited on crystalline silicon (c-Si) surfaces, simultaneously provide contact passivation and carrier collection in silicon heterojunction solar cells. Recently, we have shown that the presence of overlaying transparent conductive oxides can significantly affect the c-Si surface potential induced by these amorphous silicon stacks. Specifically, deposition on the hole-collecting bilayers can result in an undesired weakening of contact passivation, thereby lowering the achievable fill factor in a finished device. We test here a variety of organic semiconductors of different doping levels, overlaying hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers and silicon-based hole collectors, to mitigate this effect. We find that these materials enhance the c-Si surface potential, leading to increased implied fill factors. This opens opportunities for improved device performance.

Impact of organic overlayers on a-Si:H/c-Si surface potential

KAUST Repository

Seif, Johannes P.; Niesen, Bjoern; Tomasi, Andrea; Ballif, Christophe; De Wolf, Stefaan

2017-01-01

Bilayers of intrinsic and doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon, deposited on crystalline silicon (c-Si) surfaces, simultaneously provide contact passivation and carrier collection in silicon heterojunction solar cells. Recently, we have shown that the presence of overlaying transparent conductive oxides can significantly affect the c-Si surface potential induced by these amorphous silicon stacks. Specifically, deposition on the hole-collecting bilayers can result in an undesired weakening of contact passivation, thereby lowering the achievable fill factor in a finished device. We test here a variety of organic semiconductors of different doping levels, overlaying hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers and silicon-based hole collectors, to mitigate this effect. We find that these materials enhance the c-Si surface potential, leading to increased implied fill factors. This opens opportunities for improved device performance.

Probing interfacial electronic properties of graphene/CH3NH3PbI3 heterojunctions: A theoretical study

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jisong; Ji, Gepeng; Ma, Xinguo; He, Hua; Huang, Chuyun

2018-05-01

Interfacial interactions and electronic properties of graphene/CH3NH3PbI3 heterojunctions were investigated by first-principles calculations incorporating semiempirical dispersion-correction scheme to describe van der Waals interactions. Two lattice match configurations between graphene and CH3NH3PbI3(0 0 1) slab were constructed in parallel contact and both of them were verified to form remarkable van der Waals heterojunctions with similar work functions. Our calculated energy band structures show that the Dirac-cone of graphene and the direct band gap of CH3NH3PbI3 are still preserved in the heterojunctions, thus graphene can be a promising candidate either as a capping or supporting layer for encapsulating CH3NH3PbI3 layer. It is identified that the Schottky barrier of graphene/CH3NH3PbI3 heterojunctions can be controlled by the interlayer distance and affected by the stacking pattern of graphene and CH3NH3PbI3. The 3D charge density differences present the build-in internal electric field from graphene to CH3NH3PbI3 after interface equilibrium and thus, a low n-type Schottky barrier is needed for high efficient charge transferring in the interface. The possible mechanism of the band edge modulations in the heterojunctions and corresponding photoinduced charge transfer processes are also described.

Contact light-emitting diodes based on vertical ZnO nanorods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Panin, G. N. [Dongguk University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Moscow district (Russian Federation); Cho, H. D.; Lee, S. W.; Kang, T. W. [Dongguk University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

We report vertical contact light-emitting diodes (VCLEDs), that are based on heterojunctions formed by using the point contacts of n-ZnO nanorods (NRs) to the p-type semiconductor substrate and that are fabricated using a new approach to the formation of LEDs (Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 093110 (2011)). A p-type GaN film grown on a sapphire substrate was used to form n-ZnO NRs/pGaN VCLEDs on a large area of about 4 cm{sup 2}. The VCLEDs emitted a pure blue electroluminescence with high efficiency. Electroluminescence at 470 nm, which is visible to the naked eye, started at small current of about 50 μA and is attributed to the good optical properties of the structurally perfect heterojunctions in the point contacts. The VCLED configuration allows the creation of ZnO/p-GaN nano-LEDs of high density and high-quality with a greatly reduced concentration of nonradiative defects in the active regions. The VCLEDs showed the high brightness of light required for active matrix displays and general solid-state lighting.

Silver-Nanowire-Embedded Transparent Metal-Oxide Heterojunction Schottky Photodetector.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbas, Sohail; Kumar, Mohit; Kim, Hong-Sik; Kim, Joondong; Lee, Jung-Ho

2018-05-02

We report a self-biased and transparent Cu 4 O 3 /TiO 2 heterojunction for ultraviolet photodetection. The dynamic photoresponse improved 8.5 × 10 4 % by adding silver nanowires (AgNWs) Schottky contact and maintaining 39% transparency. The current density-voltage characteristics revealed a strong interfacial electric field, responsible for zero-bias operation. In addition, the dynamic photoresponse measurement endorsed the effective holes collection by embedded-AgNWs network, leading to fast rise and fall time of 0.439 and 0.423 ms, respectively. Similarly, a drastic improvement in responsivity and detectivity of 187.5 mAW -1 and of 5.13 × 10 9 Jones, is observed, respectively. The AgNWs employed as contact electrode can ensure high-performance for transparent and flexible optoelectronic applications.

The Long-Term Effects of Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses on the Ocular Surface and Tear Function Tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yelda Yıldız Taşcı

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Objectives: To evaluate the effects of three different silicone hydrogel contact lenses, i.e. Balafilcon A (Pure Vision, Bausch & Lomb, Senofilcon A (Acuvue Oasys, Johnson & Johnson, and Confilcon A (Biofinity, CooperVision, on ocular surface after one, three, and sıx months of wear. Materials and Methods: Silicone hydrogel contact lenses (SHCL were fitted to 58 patients (Balafilcon A to 40 eyes: Group 1, Senofilcon A to 42 eyes: Group 2, and Confilcon A to 34 eyes: Group 3 who have not used any contact lenses before. All groups were graded according to the Cornea and Contact Lens Research Unit’s grading score, and were performed ocular surface disease index scoring (OSDI, tear break-up time (BUT, and Schirmer 1 test. Results: The mean age was 22.45±5.96, 20.76±3.70, 21.00±3.84 years in Groups 1,2, and 3, respectively (p>0.05. While the increase in papillary hypertrophy as well as palpebral and bulbar hyperemia at 1st month in Group 1 and at 6th month at Group 2 were significant, there were no change in Group 3 with the use of SHCL (p0.05. In Group 3, the Schirmer test was lower than in Groups 1 and 2, which was statistically significant (p=0.048, p=0.003. Conclusion: Factors like lens material, modulus, the presence of an internal wetting agent, and water content play an important role in the effects of SHCL on the ocular surface. In this study, it is demonstrated that SHCL does not cause clinically significant dry eye. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2014; 44: 201-6

Effects of Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lens Application on Corneal High-order Aberration and Visual Guality in Patients with Corneal Opacities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sevda Aydın Kurna

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Pur po se: Evaluation of the corneal high-order aberrations and visual quality changes after application of silicone hydrogel contact lenses in patients with corneal opacities due to various etiologies. Ma te ri al and Met hod: Fifteen eyes of 13 patients with corneal opacities were included in the study. During the ophthalmologic examination before and after contact lens application, visual acuity was measured with Snellen acuity chart and contrast sensitivity - with Bailey-Lowie Charts in letters. Aberrations were measured with corneal aberrometer (NIDEK Magellan Mapper under a naturally dilated pupil. Spherical aberration, coma, trefoil, irregular astigmatism and total high-order root mean square (RMS values were recorded. Measurements were repeated with balafilcon A lenses (PureVision 2 HD, B&L on all patients. Re sults: Patient age varied between 23 and 50 years. Two eyes had subepithelial infiltrates due to adenoviral keratitis, 1 had nebulae due to previous infections or trauma, and 2 had Salzmann’s nodular degeneration. We observed a mean increase of 1 line in visual acuity and 5 letters in contrast sensitivity with contact lenses versus glasses in the patients. Mean RMS values of spherical aberration, irregular astigmatism and total high-order aberrations decreased significantly with contact lenses. Dis cus si on: Silicone hydrogel soft contact lenses may improve visual quality by decreasing the corneal aberrations in patients with corneal opacities. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2012; 42: 97-102

Effect of the Phosphorus Gettering on Si Heterojunction Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyomin Park

2012-01-01

Full Text Available To improve the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells, should be collected the excess carrier as much as possible. Therefore, minimizing the recombination both at the bulk and surface regions is important. Impurities make recombination sites and they are the major reason for recombination. Phosphorus (P gettering was introduced to reduce metal impurities in the bulk region of Si wafers and then to improve the efficiency of Si heterojunction solar cells fabricated on the wafers. Resistivity of wafers was measured by a four-point probe method. Fill factor of solar cells was measured by a solar simulator. Saturation current and ideality factor were calculated from a dark current density-voltage graph. External quantum efficiency was analyzed to assess the effect of P gettering on the performance of solar cells. Minority bulk lifetime measured by microwave photoconductance decay increases from 368.3 to 660.8 μs. Open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density increase from 577 to 598 mV and 27.8 to 29.8 mA/cm2, respectively. The efficiency of solar cells increases from 11.9 to 13.4%. P gettering will be feasible to improve the efficiency of Si heterojunction solar cells fabricated on P-doped Si wafers.

Shelf life and outdoor degradation studies of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Gergova, R.; Sendova-Vassileva, M.; Popkirov, G.; Gancheva, V.; Grancharov, G.

2018-03-01

We studied the degradation of different types of bulk heterojunction devices, in which the materials comprising the active layer and/or the materials used for the back electrode are varied. The devices are deposited on ITO covered glass and have the structure PEDOT:PSS/BHJ/Me, where PEDOT:PSS is the hole transport layer, BHJ (bulk heterojunction) is the active layer comprising a polymer donor (e.g. PTB7, PCDTBT) and a fullerene derivative acceptor (e.g. PC60BM, PC70BM) deposited by spin coating, Me is the metal back contact, which is either Ag or Al deposited by magnetron sputtering or thermal evaporation. The device performance was monitored after storage in the dark at ambient conditions by following the evolution of the J-V curve over time. Results of real conditions outdoor degradation studies are also presented. The stability of the different solar cell structures studied is compared.

Poly(3-hexylthiophene) films by electrospray deposition for crystalline silicon/organic hybrid junction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hiate, Taiga; Miyauchi, Naoto; Tang, Zeguo; Ishikawa, Ryo; Ueno, Keiji; Shirai, Hajime [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-Okubo, Sakura, Saitama 858-3676 (Japan)

2012-10-15

The electrospray deposition (ESD) of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) on P3HT for use in crystalline silicon/organic hybrid heterojunction solar cells on CZ crystalline silicon (c-Si) (100) wafer was investigated using real-time characterization by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). In contrast to the nonuniform deposition of products frequently obtained by conventional spin-coating, a uniform deposition of P3HT and PEDOT:PSS films were achieved on flat and textured hydrophobic c-Si(100) wafers by adjusting the deposition conditions. The c-Si/P3HT/PEDOT:PSS heterojunction solar cells exhibited efficiencies of 4.1 and 6.3% on flat and textured c-Si(100) wafers, respectively. These findings suggest that ESD is a promising method for the uniform deposition of P3HT and PEDOT:PSS films on flat and textured hydrophobic substrates. (copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Growth and characterization of Ag/n-ZnO/p-Si/Al heterojunction diode by sol–gel spin technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keskenler, E.F.; Tomakin, M.; Doğan, S.; Turgut, G.; Aydın, S.; Duman, S.; Gürbulak, B.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Ag/n-ZnO/p-Si/Al heterojunction diode was grown via sol–gel technique. ► The characterization of ZnO material was investigated. ► The heterojunction structure showed a rectification behavior. ► Ideality factor and barrier height were found to be 2.03 and 0.71 eV, respectively. - Abstract: Polycrystalline ZnO thin film was obtained on the p-Si for the heterojunction diode fabrication by sol–gel method. X-ray diffraction study showed that the texture of the film is hexagonal with a strong (0 0 2) preferred direction. Scanning electron microscope image of ZnO showed that the obtained ZnO thin films had more porous character. High purity vacuum evaporated silver (Ag) and aluminum (Al) metals were used to make Ohmic contacts to the n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction structure. The electrical properties of Ag/n-ZnO/p-Si/Al diode were investigated by using current–voltage measurements. Ag/n-ZnO/p-Si/Al heterojunction diode showed a rectification behavior, and its ideality factor and barrier height values were found to be 2.03 and 0.71 eV by applying a thermionic emission theory, respectively. The values of series resistance from dV/d (ln I) versus I and H(I) versus I curves were found to be 42.1 and 198.3 Ω, respectively.

Thin film silicon by a microwave plasma deposition technique: Growth and devices, and, interface effects in amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Jagannathan, Basanth

Thin film silicon (Si) was deposited by a microwave plasma CVD technique, employing double dilution of silane, for the growth of low hydrogen content Si films with a controllable microstructure on amorphous substrates at low temperatures (prepared by this technique. Such films showed a dark conductivity ˜10sp{-6} S/cm, with a conduction activation energy of 0.49 eV. Film growth and properties have been compared for deposition in Ar and He carrier systems and growth models have been proposed. Low temperature junction formation by undoped thin film silicon was examined through a thin film silicon/p-type crystalline silicon heterojunctions. The thin film silicon layers were deposited by rf glow discharge, dc magnetron sputtering and microwave plasma CVD. The hetero-interface was identified by current transport analysis and high frequency capacitance methods as the key parameter controlling the photovoltaic (PV) response. The effect of the interface on the device properties (PV, junction, and carrier transport) was examined with respect to modifications created by chemical treatment, type of plasma species, their energy and film microstructure interacting with the substrate. Thermally stimulated capacitance was used to determine the interfacial trap parameters. Plasma deposition of thin film silicon on chemically clean c-Si created electron trapping sites while hole traps were seen when a thin oxide was present at the interface. Under optimized conditions, a 10.6% efficient cell (11.5% with SiOsb2 A/R) with an open circuit voltage of 0.55 volts and a short circuit current density of 30 mA/cmsp2 was fabricated.

Study of the interface in n{sup +}{mu}c-Si/p-type c-Si heterojunctions: role of the fluorine chemistry in the interface passivation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Losurdo, M.; Grimaldi, A.; Sacchetti, A.; Capezzuto, P.; Ambrico, M.; Bruno, G.; Roca, Francesco

2003-03-03

Investigation of n-p heterojunction solar cells obtained by depositing a n-type thin silicon films either amorphous or microcrystalline on p-type c-Si is carried out. The study is focused on the improvement of the c-Si surface and emitter layer/c-Si substrate interface. The peculiarity is the use of SiF{sub 4}-based plasmas for the in situ dry cleaning and passivation of the c-Si surface and for the PECVD deposition of the emitter layer that can be either amorphous (a-Si:H,F) or microcrystalline ({mu}c-Si). The use of SiF{sub 4} instead of the conventional SiH{sub 4} results in a lower hydrogen content in the film and in a reduction of the interaction of the c-Si surface with hydrogen atoms. Furthermore, the dependence of the heterojunction solar cell photovoltaic parameters on the insertion of an intrinsic buffer layer between the n-type thin silicon layer and the p-type c-Si substrate is discussed.

Silicon spintronics with ferromagnetic tunnel devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jansen, R; Sharma, S; Dash, S P; Min, B C

2012-01-01

In silicon spintronics, the unique qualities of ferromagnetic materials are combined with those of silicon, aiming at creating an alternative, energy-efficient information technology in which digital data are represented by the orientation of the electron spin. Here we review the cornerstones of silicon spintronics, namely the creation, detection and manipulation of spin polarization in silicon. Ferromagnetic tunnel contacts are the key elements and provide a robust and viable approach to induce and probe spins in silicon, at room temperature. We describe the basic physics of spin tunneling into silicon, the spin-transport devices, the materials aspects and engineering of the magnetic tunnel contacts, and discuss important quantities such as the magnitude of the spin accumulation and the spin lifetime in the silicon. We highlight key experimental achievements and recent progress in the development of a spin-based information technology. (topical review)

Hole-Collection Mechanism in Passivating Metal-Oxide Contacts on Si Solar Cells: Insights From Numerical Simulations

KAUST Repository

Vijayan, Ramachandran Ammapet

2018-02-14

Silicon heterojunction solar cells enable high conversion efficiencies, thanks to their passivating contacts which consist of layered stacks of intrinsic and doped amorphous silicon. However, such contacts may reduce the photo current, when present on the illuminated side of the cell. This motivates the search for wider bandgap contacting materials, such as metal oxides. In this paper, we elucidate the precise impact of the material parameters of MoO$_{x}$ on device characteristics, based on numerical simulations. The simulation results allow us to propose design principles for hole-collecting induced junctions. We find that if MoO$_{x}$ has a sufficiently high electron affinity ($\\\\ge\\\\! \\\\text{{5.7 eV}}$), direct band-to-band tunneling is the dominant transport mechanism; whereas if it has a lower electron affinity ($ <\\\\! \\\\text{{5.7 eV}}$), trap-assisted tunneling dominates, which might introduce additional series resistance. At even lower electron affinity, S-shaped J–V curves may appear for these solar cells, which are found to be due to an insufficient trap state density in the MoO$_{x}$ film in contrast to the expectation of better performance at low trap density. These traps may assist carrier transport when present near the conduction band edge of the MoO$_{x}$ film. Our simulations predict that performance optimization for the MoO$_{x}$ film has to target either 1) a high electron affinity and a moderate doping density film or, 2) if the electron affinity is lower than the optimum value, a high defect density not exceeding the doping density inside the film.

Numerical simulations: Toward the design of 27.6% efficient four-terminal semi-transparent perovskite/SiC passivated rear contact silicon tandem solar cell

Science.gov (United States)

Pandey, Rahul; Chaujar, Rishu

2016-12-01

In this work, a novel four-terminal perovskite/SiC-based rear contact silicon tandem solar cell device has been proposed and simulated to achieve 27.6% power conversion efficiency (PCE) under single AM1.5 illumination. 20.9% efficient semitransparent perovskite top subcell has been used for perovskite/silicon tandem architecture. The tandem structure of perovskite-silicon solar cells is a promising method to achieve efficient solar energy conversion at low cost. In the four-terminal tandem configuration, the cells are connected independently and hence avoids the need for current matching between top and bottom subcell, thus giving greater design flexibility. The simulation analysis shows, PCE of 27.6% and 22.4% with 300 μm and 10 μm thick rear contact Si bottom subcell, respectively. This is a substantial improvement comparing to transparent perovskite solar cell and c-Si solar cell operated individually. The impact of perovskite layer thickness, monomolecular, bimolecular, and trimolecular recombination have also been obtained on the performance of perovskite top subcell. Reported PCEs of 27.6% and 22.4% are 1.25 times and 1.42 times higher as compared to experimentally available efficiencies of 22.1% and 15.7% in 300 μm and 10 μm thick stand-alone silicon solar cell devices, respectively. The presence of SiC significantly suppressed the interface recombination in bottom silicon subcell. Detailed realistic technology computer aided design (TCAD) analysis has been performed to predict the behaviour of the device.

Chemical vapor deposition growth of two-dimensional heterojunctions

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Yu; Li, Bo; Li, JingBo; Wei, ZhongMing

2018-01-01

The properties of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials with atom-smooth surface and special interlayer van der Waals coupling are different from those of traditional materials. Due to the absence of dangling bonds from the clean surface of 2D layered materials, the lattice mismatch influences slightly on the growth of 2D heterojunctions, thus providing a flexible design strategy. 2D heterojunctions have attracted extensive attention because of their excellent performance in optoelectronics, spintronics, and valleytronics. The transfer method was utilized for the fabrication of 2D heterojunctions during the early stage of fundamental research on these materials. This method, however, has limited practical applications. Therefore, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method was recently developed and applied for the preparation of 2D heterojunctions. The CVD method is a naturally down-top growth strategy that yields 2D heterojunctions with sharp interfaces. Moreover, this method effectively reduces the introduction of contaminants to the fabricated heterojunctions. Nevertheless, the CVD-growth method is sensitive to variations in growth conditions. In this review article, we attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of the influence of growth conditions on the fabrication of 2D heterojunctions through the direct CVD method. We believe that elucidating the effects of growth conditions on the CVD method is necessary to help control and improve the efficiency of the large-scale fabrication of 2D heterojunctions for future applications in integrated circuits.

Photoanodic Hybrid Semiconductor–Molecular Heterojunction for Solar Water Oxidation

KAUST Repository

Joya, Khurram Saleem

2015-06-29

Inorganic photo-responsive semiconducting materials have been employed in photoelectrochemical(PEC) water oxidation devicesin pursuit of solar to fuel conversion.[1]The reaction kinetics in semiconductors is limited by poor contact at the interfaces, and charge transfer is impeded by surface defects and the grain boundaries.[2]It has shown that successful surface functionalization of the photo-responsive semiconducting materials with co-catalysts can maximize the charge separation, hole delivery and its effective consumption, and enhances the efficiency and performane of the PEC based water oxidation assembly.[3]We present here unique modification of photoanodic hematite (α-Fe2O3) and bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) with molecular co-catalysts for enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation (Figure 1). These hybrid inorganic–organometallic heterojunctions manifest impressive cathodic shifts in the onset potentials, and the photocurrent densities have been enhanced by > 90% at all potentials relative to uncatalyzed α-Fe2O3 or BiVO4, and other catalyst-semiconductor based heterojunctions.This is a novel development in the solar to fuel conversion field, and is crucially important for designing a tandem device where light interfere very little with the catalyst layer on top of semiconducting light absorber.

Chromium Trioxide Hole-Selective Heterocontacts for Silicon Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Wenjie; Wu, Weiliang; Liu, Zongtao; Qiu, Kaifu; Cai, Lun; Yao, Zhirong; Ai, Bin; Liang, Zongcun; Shen, Hui

2018-04-25

A high recombination rate and high thermal budget for aluminum (Al) back surface field are found in the industrial p-type silicon solar cells. Direct metallization on lightly doped p-type silicon, however, exhibits a large Schottky barrier for the holes on the silicon surface because of Fermi-level pinning effect. As a result, low-temperature-deposited, dopant-free chromium trioxide (CrO x , x solar cell as a hole-selective contact at the rear surface. By using 4 nm CrO x between the p-type silicon and Ag, we achieve a reduction of the contact resistivity for the contact of Ag directly on p-type silicon. For further improvement, we utilize a CrO x (2 nm)/Ag (30 nm)/CrO x (2 nm) multilayer film on the contact between Ag and p-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) to achieve a lower contact resistance (40 mΩ·cm 2 ). The low-resistivity Ohmic contact is attributed to the high work function of the uniform CrO x film and the depinning of the Fermi level of the SiO x layer at the silicon interface. Implementing the advanced hole-selective contacts with CrO x /Ag/CrO x on the p-type silicon solar cell results in a power conversion efficiency of 20.3%, which is 0.1% higher than that of the cell utilizing 4 nm CrO x . Compared with the commercialized p-type solar cell, the novel CrO x -based hole-selective transport material opens up a new possibility for c-Si solar cells using high-efficiency, low-temperature, and dopant-free deposition techniques.

The effect of surface treatment of silicone hydrogel contact lenses on the attachment of Acanthamoeba castellanii trophozoites.

Science.gov (United States)

Beattie, Tara K; Tomlinson, Alan

2009-11-01

To determine if plasma surface treatment of Focus Night & Day silicone hydrogel contact lenses affects the attachment of Acanthamoeba. Unworn lotrafilcon A contact lenses with (Focus Night & Day) and without surface treatment and Acuvue, conventional hydrogel lenses, were quartered before 90-min incubation with Acanthamoeba castellanii trophozoites. After incubation and rinsing, the trophozoites attached to one surface of each quarter were counted by direct light microscopy. Sixteen replicates were observed for each lens type. Logarithmic transformation of data allowed the use of parametric analysis of variance. No significant difference in attachment was established between the untreated lotrafilcon A and the conventional hydrogel lenses (Ptreatment of the native Focus Night & Day material produced a significant increase in attachment (Ptreatment to reduce lens hydrophobicity; however, this procedure results in an enhanced acanthamoebal attachment. It is possible that the silicone hydrogel lens could be at a greater risk of promoting Acanthamoeba infection if exposed to the organism because of the enhanced attachment characteristic of this material. Eye care professionals should be aware of the enhanced affinity that Acanthamoeba show for this lens and accordingly emphasise to patients the significance of appropriate lens hygiene. This is particularly important where lenses are worn in a regime that could increase the chance of exposure to the organism, i.e., 6 nights/7 days extended wear or daily wear, where lenses will be stored in a lens case, or where lenses are worn when in contact with potentially contaminated water sources, i.e., swimming or showering.

Strained silicon/silicon germanium heterojunction n-channel metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsen, Sarah H.

2002-01-01

Investigations into the performance of strained silicon/silicon-germanium (Si/SiGe) n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) have been carried out. Theoretical predictions suggest that use of a strained Si/SiGe material system with advanced material properties compared with conventional silicon allows enhanced MOSFET device performance. This study has therefore investigated the practical feasibility of obtaining superior electrical performance using a Si/SiGe material system. The MOSFET devices consisted of a strained Si surface channel and were fabricated on relaxed SiGe material using a reduced thermal budget process in order to preserve the strain. Two batches of strained Si/SiGe devices fabricated on material grown by differing methods have been analysed and both showed good transistor action. A correlation of electrical and physical device data established that the electrical device behaviour was closely related to the SiGe material quality, which differed depending on growth technique. The cross-wafer variation in the electrical performance of the strained Si/SiGe devices was found to be a function of material quality, thus the viability of Si/SiGe MOSFET technology for commercial applications has been addressed. Of particular importance was the finding that large-scale 'cross-hatching' roughness associated with relaxed SiGe alloys led to degradation in the small-scale roughness at the gate oxide interface, which affects electrical device performance. The fabrication of strained Si MOSFET devices on high quality SiGe material thus enabled significant performance gains to be realised compared with conventional Si control devices. In contrast, the performance of devices fabricated on material with severe cross-hatching roughness was found to be diminished by the nanoscale oxide interface roughness. The effect of device processing on SiGe material with differing as-grown roughness has been carried out and compared with the reactions

Atomically precise graphene nanoribbon heterojunctions from a single molecular precursor

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Giang D.; Tsai, Hsin-Zon; Omrani, Arash A.; Marangoni, Tomas; Wu, Meng; Rizzo, Daniel J.; Rodgers, Griffin F.; Cloke, Ryan R.; Durr, Rebecca A.; Sakai, Yuki; Liou, Franklin; Aikawa, Andrew S.; Chelikowsky, James R.; Louie, Steven G.; Fischer, Felix R.; Crommie, Michael F.

2017-11-01

The rational bottom-up synthesis of atomically defined graphene nanoribbon (GNR) heterojunctions represents an enabling technology for the design of nanoscale electronic devices. Synthetic strategies used thus far have relied on the random copolymerization of two electronically distinct molecular precursors to yield GNR heterojunctions. Here we report the fabrication and electronic characterization of atomically precise GNR heterojunctions prepared through late-stage functionalization of chevron GNRs obtained from a single precursor. Post-growth excitation of fully cyclized GNRs induces cleavage of sacrificial carbonyl groups, resulting in atomically well-defined heterojunctions within a single GNR. The GNR heterojunction structure was characterized using bond-resolved scanning tunnelling microscopy, which enables chemical bond imaging at T = 4.5 K. Scanning tunnelling spectroscopy reveals that band alignment across the heterojunction interface yields a type II heterojunction, in agreement with first-principles calculations. GNR heterojunction band realignment proceeds over a distance less than 1 nm, leading to extremely large effective fields.

A thin-film silicon/silicon hetero-junction hybrid solar cell for photoelectrochemical water-reduction applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vasudevan, R.A.; Thanawala, Z; Han, L.; Buijs, Thom; Tan, H.; Deligiannis, D.; Perez Rodriguez, P.; Digdaya, I.A.; Smith, W.A.; Zeman, M.; Smets, A.H.M.

2016-01-01

A hybrid tandem solar cell consisting of a thin-film, nanocrystalline silicon top junction and a siliconheterojunction bottom junction is proposed as a supporting solar cell for photoelectrochemical applications.Tunneling recombination junction engineering is shown to be an important consideration

Fabricating 40 µm-thin silicon solar cells with different orientations by using SLiM-cut method

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Teng-Yu; Chen, Chien-Hsun; Shiao, Jui-Chung; Chen, Sung-Yu; Du, Chen-Hsun

2017-10-01

Thin silicon foils with different crystal orientations were fabricated using the stress induced lift-off (SLiM-cut) method. The thickness of the silicon foils was approximately 40 µm. The ≤ft foil had a smoother surface than the ≤ft foil. With surface passivation, the minority carrier lifetimes of the ≤ft and ≤ft silicon foil were 1.0 µs and 1.6 µs, respectively. In this study, 4 cm2-thin silicon solar cells with heterojunction structures were fabricated. The energy conversion efficiencies were determined to be 10.74% and 14.74% for the ≤ft and ≤ft solar cells, respectively. The surface quality of the silicon foils was determined to affect the solar cell character. This study demonstrated that fabricating the solar cell by using silicon foil obtained from the SLiM-cut method is feasible.

Contribution to the study of rectification at the metal-semiconductor contact: analysis of aging in silicon Schottky diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ponpon, J.-P.

1979-01-01

The formation of the barrier height and the aging of metal-semiconductor contacts during exposure to air have been studied. The evolution of the electrical characteristics, especially the barrier height, of silicon Schottky diodes results from the diffusion of oxygen through the electrode and its accumulation at the interface. The diffusion coefficient of oxygen has been deduced for each metal used. In a first step the oxygen neutralize a fixed positive charge which remains at the semiconductor surface after etching; then, as silicon is oxidized, a MIS device is formed. Similar results have been obtained in the case of germanium, while no aging appears with cadmium telluride. In this case the barrier height seems to be determined by chemical reactions at the interface [fr

Robustness up to 400°C of the passivation of c-Si by p-type a-Si:H thanks to ion implantation

Science.gov (United States)

Defresne, A.; Plantevin, O.; Roca i Cabarrocas, Pere

2016-12-01

Heterojunction solar cells based on crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivated by hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films are one of the most promising architectures for high energy conversion efficiency. Indeed, a-Si:H thin films can passivate both p-type and n-type wafers and can be deposited at low temperature (layers, in particular p-type a-Si:H, show a dramatic degradation in passivation quality above 200°C. Yet, annealing at 300 - 400°C the TCO layer and metallic contacts is highly desirable to reduce the contact resistance as well as the TCO optical absorption. In this work, we show that as expected, ion implantation (5 - 30 keV) introduces defects at the c-Si/a-Si:H interface which strongly degrade the effective lifetime, down to a few micro-seconds. However, the passivation quality can be restored and lifetime values can be improved up to 2 ms over the initial value with annealing. We show here that effective lifetimes above 1 ms can be maintained up to 380°C, opening up the possibility for higher process temperatures in silicon heterojunction device fabrication.

Diffusion of Antimicrobials Across Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Zambelli, Alison M; Brothers, Kimberly M; Hunt, Kristin M; Romanowski, Eric G; Nau, Amy C; Dhaliwal, Deepinder K; Shanks, Robert M Q

2015-09-01

To measure the diffusion of topical preparations of moxifloxacin, amphotericin B (AmB), and polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) through silicone hydrogel (SH) contact lenses (CLs) in vitro. Using an in vitro model, the diffusion of three antimicrobials through SH CLs was measured. Diffused compounds were measured using a spectrophotometer at set time points over a period of 4 hr. The amount of each diffused antimicrobial was determined by comparing the experimental value with a standard curve. A biological assay was performed to validate the CL diffusion assay by testing antimicrobial activity of diffused material against lawns of susceptible bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Experiments were repeated at least two times with a total of at least four independent replicates. Our data show detectable moxifloxacin and PHMB diffusion through SH CLs at 30 min, whereas AmB diffusion remained below the limit of detection within the 4-hr experimental period. In the biological assay, diffused moxifloxacin demonstrated microbial killing starting at 20 min on bacterial lawns, whereas PHMB and AmB failed to demonstrate killing on microbial lawns over the course of the 60-min experiment. In vitro diffusion assays demonstrate limited penetration of certain anti-infective agents through SH CLs. Further studies regarding the clinical benefit of using these agents along with bandage CL for corneal pathologic condition are warranted.

Optical Evaluation of the Rear Contacts of Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells by Coupled Electromagnetic and Statistical Ray-Optics Modeling

KAUST Repository

Dabirian, Ali

2017-02-15

High-efficiency crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells increasingly feature sophisticated electron and hole contacts aimed at minimizing electronic losses. At the rear of photovoltaic devices, such contacts—usually consisting of stacks of functional layers—offer opportunities to enhance the infrared response of the solar cells. Here, we propose an accurate and simple modeling procedure to evaluate the infrared performance of rear contacts in c-Si solar cells. Our method combines full-wave electromagnetic modeling of the rear contact with a statistical ray optics model to obtain the fraction of optical energy dissipated from the rear contact relative to that absorbed by the Si wafer. Using this technique, we study the impact of the refractive index, extinction coefficient, and thickness of the rear-passivating layer and establish basic design rules. In addition, we evaluate novel optical structures, including stratified thin films, nanoparticle composites, and conductive nanowires embedded in a low-index dielectric matrix, for integration into advanced rear contacts in c-Si photovoltaic devices. From an optical perspective, nanowire structures preserving low contact resistance appear to be the most effective approach to mitigating dissipation losses from the rear contact.

Facile fabrication of organic/inorganic nanotube heterojunction arrays for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yingzhi; Li, Aoxiang; Yue, Xiaoqi; Wang, Lu-Ning; Huang, Zheng-Hong; Kang, Feiyu; Volinsky, Alex A.

2016-07-01

Organic/inorganic heterojunction photoanodes are appealing for making concurrent use of the highly photoactive organic semiconductors, and the efficient dielectric screening provided by their inorganic counterparts. In the present work, organic/inorganic nanotube heterojunction arrays composed of TiO2 nanotube arrays and a semiconducting N,N-(dicyclohexyl) perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide (PDi) layer were fabricated for photoelectrochemical water splitting. In this arrayed architecture, a PDi layer with a tunable thickness was coated on anodic TiO2 nanotube arrays by physical vapor deposition, which is advantageous for the formation of a uniform layer and an adequate interface contact between PDi and TiO2. The obtained PDi/TiO2 junction exhibited broadened visible light absorption, and an effective interface for enhanced photogenerated electron-hole separation, which is supported by the reduced charge transfer resistance and prolonged excitation lifetime via impedance spectroscopy analysis and fluorescence emission decay investigations. Consequently, such a heterojunction photoanode was photoresponsive to a wide visible light region of 400-600 nm, and thus demonstrated a highly enhanced photocurrent density at 1.23 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode. Additionally, the durability of such a photoanode can be guaranteed after long-time illumination because of the geometrical restraint imposed by the PDi aggregates. These results pave the way to discover new organic/inorganic assemblies for high-performance photoelectric applications and device integration.Organic/inorganic heterojunction photoanodes are appealing for making concurrent use of the highly photoactive organic semiconductors, and the efficient dielectric screening provided by their inorganic counterparts. In the present work, organic/inorganic nanotube heterojunction arrays composed of TiO2 nanotube arrays and a semiconducting N,N-(dicyclohexyl) perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide (PDi

Polycrystalline silicon carbide dopant profiles obtained through a scanning nano-Schottky contact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golt, M. C.; Strawhecker, K. E.; Bratcher, M. S.; Shanholtz, E. R.

2016-01-01

The unique thermo-electro-mechanical properties of polycrystalline silicon carbide (poly-SiC) make it a desirable candidate for structural and electronic materials for operation in extreme environments. Necessitated by the need to understand how processing additives influence poly-SiC structure and electrical properties, the distribution of lattice defects and impurities across a specimen of hot-pressed 6H poly-SiC processed with p-type additives was visualized with high spatial resolution using a conductive atomic force microscopy approach in which a contact forming a nano-Schottky interface is scanned across the sample. The results reveal very intricate structures within poly-SiC, with each grain having a complex core-rim structure. This complexity results from the influence the additives have on the evolution of the microstructure during processing. It was found that the highest conductivities localized at rims as well as at the interface between the rim and the core. The conductivity of the cores is less than the conductivity of the rims due to a lower concentration of dopant. Analysis of the observed conductivities and current-voltage curves is presented in the context of nano-Schottky contact regimes where the conventional understanding of charge transport to diode operation is no longer valid.

Polycrystalline silicon carbide dopant profiles obtained through a scanning nano-Schottky contact

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Golt, M. C.; Strawhecker, K. E.; Bratcher, M. S. [U.S. Army Research Laboratory, WMRD, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21005 (United States); Shanholtz, E. R. [ORISE, Belcamp, Maryland 21017 (United States)

2016-07-14

The unique thermo-electro-mechanical properties of polycrystalline silicon carbide (poly-SiC) make it a desirable candidate for structural and electronic materials for operation in extreme environments. Necessitated by the need to understand how processing additives influence poly-SiC structure and electrical properties, the distribution of lattice defects and impurities across a specimen of hot-pressed 6H poly-SiC processed with p-type additives was visualized with high spatial resolution using a conductive atomic force microscopy approach in which a contact forming a nano-Schottky interface is scanned across the sample. The results reveal very intricate structures within poly-SiC, with each grain having a complex core-rim structure. This complexity results from the influence the additives have on the evolution of the microstructure during processing. It was found that the highest conductivities localized at rims as well as at the interface between the rim and the core. The conductivity of the cores is less than the conductivity of the rims due to a lower concentration of dopant. Analysis of the observed conductivities and current-voltage curves is presented in the context of nano-Schottky contact regimes where the conventional understanding of charge transport to diode operation is no longer valid.

Chemically fixed p-n heterojunctions for polymer electronics by means of covalent B-F bond formation

Science.gov (United States)

Hoven, Corey V.; Wang, Huiping; Elbing, Mark; Garner, Logan; Winkelhaus, Daniel; Bazan, Guillermo C.

2010-03-01

Widely used solid-state devices fabricated with inorganic semiconductors, including light-emitting diodes and solar cells, derive much of their function from the p-n junction. Such junctions lead to diode characteristics and are attained when p-doped and n-doped materials come into contact with each other. Achieving bilayer p-n junctions with semiconducting polymers has been hindered by difficulties in the deposition of thin films with independent p-doped and n-doped layers. Here we report on how to achieve permanently fixed organic p-n heterojunctions by using a cationic conjugated polyelectrolyte with fluoride counteranions and an underlayer composed of a neutral conjugated polymer bearing anion-trapping functional groups. Application of a bias leads to charge injection and fluoride migration into the neutral layer, where irreversible covalent bond formation takes place. After the initial charging and doping, one obtains devices with no delay in the turn on of light-emitting electrochemical behaviour and excellent current rectification. Such devices highlight how mobile ions in organic media can open opportunities to realize device structures in ways that do not have analogies in the world of silicon and promise new opportunities for integrating organic materials within technologies now dominated by inorganic semiconductors.

Growth and characterization of n-ZnO/p-GaN nanorods on silicon for the fabrication of heterojunction diodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guan-Hung Shen [Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China); Hong, Franklin Chau-Nan, E-mail: hong@mail.ncku.edu.tw [Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China); Advanced Optoelectronic Technology Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China); Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China); NCKU Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China)

2014-11-03

A heterojunction n-ZnO/p-GaN diode device was fabricated and characterized on Si (111) substrate. Vertically-aligned Mg-doped GaN nanorods (NRs) were grown on Si (111) by plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition. Intrinsic n-type ZnO was subsequently grown on top of p-GaN nanorods by hydrothermal method at low temperature. The effects of precursor concentrations on the morphology and optical properties of ZnO nanostructures were investigated. Various ZnO nanostructures could be synthesized to obtain different heterojunction nanostructures. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction results further verified that the GaN NRs were single crystals with the growth orientation along [0001], and the epitaxial wurtzite ZnO films were grown on GaN NRs. The n-ZnO film/p-GaN NR heterojunction diodes were thus fabricated. Diode-like rectifying behavior was actually observed with a leakage current of less than 2.0 × 10{sup −4} A at − 20 V bias, a forward current of 7.2 × 10{sup −3} A at 20 V bias, and the turn-on voltage at around 5.6 V. - Highlights: • High-quality zinc oxide layer was epitaxially grown on gallium nitride nanorods. • The morphology of zinc oxide can be controlled by varying the growth conditions. • The n-zinc oxide/p-gallium nitride diodes with rectifying behavior were fabricated.

Growth and characterization of n-ZnO/p-GaN nanorods on silicon for the fabrication of heterojunction diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guan-Hung Shen; Hong, Franklin Chau-Nan

2014-01-01

A heterojunction n-ZnO/p-GaN diode device was fabricated and characterized on Si (111) substrate. Vertically-aligned Mg-doped GaN nanorods (NRs) were grown on Si (111) by plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition. Intrinsic n-type ZnO was subsequently grown on top of p-GaN nanorods by hydrothermal method at low temperature. The effects of precursor concentrations on the morphology and optical properties of ZnO nanostructures were investigated. Various ZnO nanostructures could be synthesized to obtain different heterojunction nanostructures. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction results further verified that the GaN NRs were single crystals with the growth orientation along [0001], and the epitaxial wurtzite ZnO films were grown on GaN NRs. The n-ZnO film/p-GaN NR heterojunction diodes were thus fabricated. Diode-like rectifying behavior was actually observed with a leakage current of less than 2.0 × 10 −4 A at − 20 V bias, a forward current of 7.2 × 10 −3 A at 20 V bias, and the turn-on voltage at around 5.6 V. - Highlights: • High-quality zinc oxide layer was epitaxially grown on gallium nitride nanorods. • The morphology of zinc oxide can be controlled by varying the growth conditions. • The n-zinc oxide/p-gallium nitride diodes with rectifying behavior were fabricated

Current-voltage characteristics of porous-silicon structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diligenti, A.; Nannini, A.; Pennelli, G.; Pieri, F.; Fuso, F.; Allegrini, M.

1996-01-01

I-V DC characteristics have been measured on metal/porous-silicon structures. In particular, the measurements on metal/free-standing porous-silicon film/metal devices confirmed the result, already obtained, that the metal/porous-silicon interface plays a crucial role in the transport of any device. Four-contacts measurements on free-standing layers showed that the current linearly depends on the voltage and that the conduction process is thermally activated, the activation energy depending on the porous silicon film production parameters. Finally, annealing experiments performed in order to improve the conduction of rectifying contacts, are described

Trends in heteroepitaxy of III-Vs on silicon for photonic and photovoltaic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Lourdudoss, Sebastian; Junesand, Carl; Kataria, Himanshu; Metaferia, Wondwosen; Omanakuttan, Giriprasanth; Sun, Yan-Ting; Wang, Zhechao; Olsson, Fredrik

2017-02-01

We present and compare the existing methods of heteroepitaxy of III-Vs on silicon and their trends. We focus on the epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG) method as a means of achieving good quality III-Vs on silicon. Initially conducted primarily by near-equilibrium epitaxial methods such as liquid phase epitaxy and hydride vapour phase epitaxy, nowadays ELOG is being carried out even by non-equilibrium methods such as metal organic vapour phase epitaxy. In the ELOG method, the intermediate defective seed and the mask layers still exist between the laterally grown purer III-V layer and silicon. In a modified ELOG method called corrugated epitaxial lateral overgrowth (CELOG) method, it is possible to obtain direct interface between the III-V layer and silicon. In this presentation we exemplify some recent results obtained by these techniques. We assess the potentials of these methods along with the other existing methods for realizing truly monolithic photonic integration on silicon and III-V/Si heterojunction solar cells.

Photovoltaic effects of Si-CdSe n-n heterojunctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, C.C.; Kim, W.T.

1979-01-01

Si-CdSe n-n heterojunction have been prepared by growing CdSe thin film on Si(111) surface with vacuum deposition method. The sign of photovoltage of this heterojunction was reversed at 1.67eV. The energy band profile of this heterojunction was deduced from its electrical and optical properties. This lattice mismatching abrupt heterojunction had a discontinuous energy band profile with the discontinuity of 0.87eV at the conduction band, of 0.27eV at the valance band. (author)

Improved opto-electronic properties of silicon heterojunction solar cells with SiO x /Tungsten-doped indium oxide double anti-reflective coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jian; Zhou, Jie; Bian, Jiantao; Zhang, Liping; Liu, Yucheng; Shi, Jianhua; Meng, Fanying; Liu, Jinning; Liu, Zhengxin

2017-08-01

Amorphous SiO x was prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) to form SiO x /tungsten-doped indium oxide (IWO) double anti-reflective coatings for silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell. The sheet resistance of SiO x /IWO stacks decreases due to plasma treatment during deposition process, which means thinner IWO film would be deposited for better optical response. However, the comparisons of three anti-reflective coating (ARC) structures reveal that SiO x film limits carier transport and the path of IWO-SiO x -Ag structure is non-conductive. The decrease of sheet resistance is defined as pseudo conductivity. IWO film capping with SiO x allows observably reduced reflectance and better response in 300-400 and 600-1200 nm wavelength ranges. Compared with IWO single ARC, the average reflection is reduced by 1.65% with 70 nm SiO x /80 nm IWO double anti-reflective coatings (DARCs) in 500-1200 nm wavelength range, leading to growing external quantum efficiency response, short circuit current density (J sc), and efficiency. After well optimization of SiO x /IWO stacks, an impressive efficiency of 23.08% is obtained with high J sc and without compromising open circuit voltage (V oc) and fill factor. SiO x /IWO DARCs provide better anti-reflective properties over a broad range of wavelength, showing promising application for SHJ solar cells.

Damage-free laser patterning of silicon nitride on textured crystalline silicon using an amorphous silicon etch mask for Ni/Cu plated silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bailly, Mark S., E-mail: mbailly@asu.edu; Karas, Joseph; Jain, Harsh; Dauksher, William J.; Bowden, Stuart

2016-08-01

We investigate the optimization of laser ablation with a femtosecond laser for direct and indirect removal of SiN{sub x} on alkaline textured c-Si. Our proposed resist-free indirect removal process uses an a-Si:H etch mask and is demonstrated to have a drastically improved surface quality of the laser processed areas when compared to our direct removal process. Scanning electron microscope images of ablated sites show the existence of substantial surface defects for the standard direct removal process, and the reduction of those defects with our proposed process. Opening of SiN{sub x} and SiO{sub x} passivating layers with laser ablation is a promising alternative to the standard screen print and fire process for making contact to Si solar cells. The potential for small contacts from laser openings of dielectrics coupled with the selective deposition of metal from light induced plating allows for high-aspect-ratio metal contacts for front grid metallization. The minimization of defects generated in this process would serve to enhance the performance of the device and provides the motivation for our work. - Highlights: • Direct laser removal of silicon nitride (SiN{sub x}) damages textured silicon. • Direct laser removal of amorphous silicon (a-Si) does not damage textured silicon. • a-Si can be used as a laser patterned etch mask for SiN{sub x}. • Chemically patterned SiN{sub x} sites allow for Ni/Cu plating.

Low-cost multicrystalline back-contact silicon solar cells with screen printed metallization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neu, W.; Kress, A.; Jooss, W.; Fath, P.; Bucher, E.

2002-01-01

Adaptation to market requirements is a permanent challenge in industrial solar-cell production. Both increase of cell efficiency as well as lowering costs is demanded. Back-contacted solar cells offer multiple advantages in terms of reducing module assembling costs and enhanced cell efficiency. The investigated emitter-wrap-through (EWT) design [1] has a collecting emitter on front and rear side. These emitter areas are electrically connected by small holes. Due to the double-sided collecting junction, this cell design is favourable for materials with a low-minority charge carrier diffusion length leading to a higher short circuit current density. Until now most investigations on EWT solar cells were performed on Cz or even FZ silicon. This was justified as long as different processing techniques had to be developed and compared. But as an industrially applicable process sequence has recently been developed [2], the advantages of the EWT concept compared to conventionally processed cells have to be shown on multicrystalline material. In the following, a manufacturing process of EWT solar cells is presented which is especially adapted to the requirements of multicrystalline silicon. Effective surface texturization was reached by mechanical V-texturization and bulk passivation by a hydrogen plasma treatment. The efficiency of the best solar cells within this process reached 14.2% which is the highest efficiency reported so far for mc-Si 10x10 cm 2 EWT solar cells [3]. (author)

Depleted Nanocrystal-Oxide Heterojunctions for High-Sensitivity Infrared Detection

Science.gov (United States)

2015-08-28

Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Final Report: 4.3 Electronic Sensing - Depleted Nanocrystal- Oxide Heterojunctions for High...reviewed journals: Final Report: 4.3 Electronic Sensing - Depleted Nanocrystal- Oxide Heterojunctions for High-Sensitivity Infrared Detection Report Title...PERCENT_SUPPORTEDNAME FTE Equivalent: Total Number: 1 1 Final Progress Report Project title: Depleted Nanocrystal- Oxide Heterojunctions for High

Statistical contact angle analyses; "slow moving" drops on a horizontal silicon-oxide surface.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, M; Grub, J; Heib, F

2015-06-01

Sessile drop experiments on horizontal surfaces are commonly used to characterise surface properties in science and in industry. The advancing angle and the receding angle are measurable on every solid. Specially on horizontal surfaces even the notions themselves are critically questioned by some authors. Building a standard, reproducible and valid method of measuring and defining specific (advancing/receding) contact angles is an important challenge of surface science. Recently we have developed two/three approaches, by sigmoid fitting, by independent and by dependent statistical analyses, which are practicable for the determination of specific angles/slopes if inclining the sample surface. These approaches lead to contact angle data which are independent on "user-skills" and subjectivity of the operator which is also of urgent need to evaluate dynamic measurements of contact angles. We will show in this contribution that the slightly modified procedures are also applicable to find specific angles for experiments on horizontal surfaces. As an example droplets on a flat freshly cleaned silicon-oxide surface (wafer) are dynamically measured by sessile drop technique while the volume of the liquid is increased/decreased. The triple points, the time, the contact angles during the advancing and the receding of the drop obtained by high-precision drop shape analysis are statistically analysed. As stated in the previous contribution the procedure is called "slow movement" analysis due to the small covered distance and the dominance of data points with low velocity. Even smallest variations in velocity such as the minimal advancing motion during the withdrawing of the liquid are identifiable which confirms the flatness and the chemical homogeneity of the sample surface and the high sensitivity of the presented approaches. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How the charge-neutrality level of interface states controls energy level alignment in cathode contacts of organic bulk-heterojunction solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Guerrero, Antonio; Marchesi, Luís F; Boix, Pablo P; Ruiz-Raga, Sonia; Ripolles-Sanchis, Teresa; Garcia-Belmonte, Germà; Bisquert, Juan

2012-04-24

Electronic equilibration at the metal-organic interface, leading to equalization of the Fermi levels, is a key process in organic optoelectronic devices. How the energy levels are set across the interface determines carrier extraction at the contact and also limits the achievable open-circuit voltage under illumination. Here, we report an extensive investigation of the cathode energy equilibration of organic bulk-heterojunction solar cells. We show that the potential to balance the mismatch between the cathode metal and the organic layer Fermi levels is divided into two contributions: spatially extended band bending in the organic bulk and voltage drop at the interface dipole layer caused by a net charge transfer. We scan the operation of the cathode under a varied set of conditions, using metals of different work functions in the range of ∼2 eV, different fullerene acceptors, and several cathode interlayers. The measurements allow us to locate the charge-neutrality level within the interface density of sates and calculate the corresponding dipole layer strength. The dipole layer withstands a large part of the total Fermi level mismatch when the polymer:fullerene blend ratio approaches ∼1:1, producing the practical alignment between the metal Fermi level and the charge-neutrality level. Origin of the interface states is linked with fullerene reduced molecules covering the metal contact. The dipole contribution, and consequently the band bending, is highly sensitive to the nature and amount of fullerene molecules forming the interface density of states. Our analysis provides a detailed picture of the evolution of the potentials in the bulk and the interface of the solar cell when forward voltage is applied or when photogeneration takes place.

Direct Observation of 2D Electrostatics and Ohmic Contacts in Template-Grown Graphene/WS2 Heterostructures.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Changxi; Zhang, Qianhui; Weber, Bent; Ilatikhameneh, Hesameddin; Chen, Fan; Sahasrabudhe, Harshad; Rahman, Rajib; Li, Shiqiang; Chen, Zhen; Hellerstedt, Jack; Zhang, Yupeng; Duan, Wen Hui; Bao, Qiaoliang; Fuhrer, Michael S

2017-03-28

Large-area two-dimensional (2D) heterojunctions are promising building blocks of 2D circuits. Understanding their intriguing electrostatics is pivotal but largely hindered by the lack of direct observations. Here graphene-WS 2 heterojunctions are prepared over large areas using a seedless ambient-pressure chemical vapor deposition technique. Kelvin probe force microscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy characterize the doping in graphene-WS 2 heterojunctions as-grown on sapphire and transferred to SiO 2 with and without thermal annealing. Both p-n and n-n junctions are observed, and a flat-band condition (zero Schottky barrier height) is found for lightly n-doped WS 2 , promising low-resistance ohmic contacts. This indicates a more favorable band alignment for graphene-WS 2 than has been predicted, likely explaining the low barriers observed in transport experiments on similar heterojunctions. Electrostatic modeling demonstrates that the large depletion width of the graphene-WS 2 junction reflects the electrostatics of the one-dimensional junction between two-dimensional materials.

Self-Powered UV-Near Infrared Photodetector Based on Reduced Graphene Oxide/n-Si Vertical Heterojunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Guanghui; Liu, Lin; Wu, Guan; Chen, Wei; Qin, Sujie; Wang, Yi; Zhang, Ting

2016-09-01

A novel self-powered photodetector based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/n-Si p-n vertical heterojunction with high sensitivity and fast response time is presented. The photodetector contains a p-n vertical heterojunction between a drop-casted rGO thin film and n-Si. Contacts between the semiconductor layer (rGO, n-Si) and source-drain Ti/Au electrodes allow efficient transfer of photogenerated charge carriers. The self-powered UV-near infrared photodetector shows high sensitivity toward a spectrum of light from 365 to 1200 nm. Under the 600 nm illumination (0.81 mW cm -2 ), the device has a photoresponsivity of 1.52 A W -1 , with fast response and recover time (2 ms and 3.7 ms), and the ON/OFF ratios exceed 10 4 when the power density reaches ≈2.5 mW cm -2 . The high photoresponse primarily arises from the built-in electric field formed at the interface of n-Si and rGO film. The effect of rGO thickness, rGO reduction level, and layout of rGO/n-Si effective contact area on device performance are also systematically investigated. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Toward designing semiconductor-semiconductor heterojunctions for photocatalytic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Liping; Jaroniec, Mietek

2018-02-01

Semiconductor photocatalysts show a great potential for environmental and energy-related applications, however one of the major disadvantages is their relatively low photocatalytic performance due to the recombination of electron-hole pairs. Therefore, intensive research is being conducted toward design of heterojunctions, which have been shown to be effective for improving the charge-transfer properties and efficiency of photocatalysts. According to the type of band alignment and direction of internal electric field, heterojunctions are categorized into five different types, each of which is associated with its own charge transfer characteristics. Since the design of heterojunctions requires the knowledge of band edge positions of component semiconductors, the commonly used techniques for the assessment of band edge positions are reviewed. Among them the electronegativity-based calculation method is applied for a large number of popular visible-light-active semiconductors, including some widely investigated bismuth-containing semiconductors. On basis of the calculated band edge positions and the type of component semiconductors reported, heterojunctions composed of the selected bismuth-containing semiconductors are proposed. Finally, the most popular synthetic techniques for the fabrication of heterojunctions are briefly discussed.

Ambient plasma treatment of silicon wafers for surface passivation recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Ge, Jia; Prinz, Markus; Markert, Thomas; Aberle, Armin G.; Mueller, Thomas

2017-08-01

In this work, the effect of an ambient plasma treatment powered by compressed dry air on the passivation quality of silicon wafers coated with intrinsic amorphous silicon sub-oxide is investigated. While long-time storage deteriorates the effective lifetime of all samples, a short ambient plasma treatment improves their passivation qualities. By studying the influence of the plasma treatment parameters on the passivation layers, an optimized process condition was identified which even boosted the passivation quality beyond its original value obtained immediately after deposition. On the other hand, the absence of stringent requirement on gas precursors, vacuum condition and longtime processing makes the ambient plasma treatment an excellent candidate to replace conventional thermal annealing in industrial heterojunction solar cell production.

Hybrid nanocomposites based on conducting polymer and silicon nanowires for photovoltaic application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chehata, Nadia; Ltaief, Adnen; Ilahi, Bouraoui; Salem, Bassem; Bouazizi, Abdelaziz; Maaref, Hassen; Baron, Thierry

2014-01-01

Hybrid nanocomposites based on a nanoscale combination of organic and inorganic semiconductors are a promising way to enhance the performance of solar cells through a higher aspect ratio of the interface and the good processability of polymers. Nanocomposites are based on a heterojunction network between poly (2-methoxy-5-(2-ethyhexyl-oxy)-p-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV) as an organic electron donor and silicon nanowires (SiNWs) as an inorganic electron acceptor. Nanowires (NWs) seem to be a promising material for this purpose, as they provide a large surface area for contact with the polymer and a designated conducting pathway whilst their volume is low. In this paper, silicon nanowires are introduced by mixing them into the polymer matrix. Hybrid nanocomposites films were deposited onto ITO substrate by spin coating method. Optical properties and photocurrent response were investigated. Charge transfer between the polymer and SiNWs has been demonstrated through photoluminescence measurements. The photocurrent density of ITO/MEH-PPV:SiNWs/Al structures have been obtained by J–V characteristics. The J sc value is about 0.39 µA/cm 2 . - Highlights: • SiNWs synthesis by Vapor–Liquid–Solid (VLS) mechanism. • SiNWs contribution to absorption spectra enhancement of MEH-PPV:SiNWs nanocomposites. • Decrease of PL intensity of MEH-PPV by addition of SiNWs. • Charge transfer process was taken place. • ITO/MEH-PPV:SiNWs/Al structure shows a photovoltaic effect, with a FF of 0.32

An ion exchange strategy to BiOI/CH{sub 3}COO(BiO) heterojunction with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, Qiaofeng, E-mail: hanqiaofeng@njust.edu.cn; Yang, Zhen; Wang, Li; Shen, Zichen; Wang, Xin; Zhu, Junwu; Jiang, Xiaohong

2017-05-01

Highlights: • BiOI/BiOAc heterojunction was firstly synthesized by an ion exchange route. • BiOI/BiOAc exhibited enhanced visible-light-driven photoreactivity for the dyes degradation in comparison with individuals. • Photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared BiOI/BiOAc is better than that prepared by precipitation-deposition method. • Photosensitization effect of BiOI to BiOAc was superior to that of Bi{sub 2}S{sub 3} due to suitable solubility constant. - Abstract: It is very significant to develop CH{sub 3}COO(BiO) (denoted as BiOAc) based photocatalysts for the removal of pollutants due to its non-toxicity and availability. We previously reported that BiOAc exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for rhodamine B (RhB) degradation under UV light irradiation. Herein, by an ion exchange approach, BiOI/BiOAc heterojunction could be easily obtained. The as-prepared heterojunction possessed enhanced photodegradation activity for multiple dyes including RhB and methyl orange (MO) under visible light illumination in comparison with individual materials. Good visible-light photocatalytic activity of the heterojunction could be attributed to the increased visible light response, effective charge transfer from the modified band position and close interfacial contact due to partial ion exchange method.

-MoS2 Lateral Heterojunctions

KAUST Repository

Li, Ming-yang

2018-02-28

2D layered heterostructures have attracted intensive interests due to their unique optical, transport, and interfacial properties. The laterally stitched heterojunction based on dissimilar 2D transition metal dichalcogenides forms an intrinsic p–n junction without the necessity of applying an external voltage. However, no scalable processes are reported to construct the devices with such lateral heterostructures. Here, a scalable strategy, two-step and location-selective chemical vapor deposition, is reported to synthesize self-aligned WSe2–MoS2 monolayer lateral heterojunction arrays and demonstrates their light-emitting devices. The proposed fabrication process enables the growth of high-quality interfaces and the first successful observation of electroluminescence at the WSe2–MoS2 lateral heterojunction. The electroluminescence study has confirmed the type-I alignment at the interface rather than commonly believed type-II alignment. This self-aligned growth process paves the way for constructing various 2D lateral heterostructures in a scalable manner, practically important for integrated 2D circuit applications.

Substrate and Passivation Techniques for Flexible Amorphous Silicon-Based X-ray Detectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Marrs, Michael A; Raupp, Gregory B

2016-07-26

Flexible active matrix display technology has been adapted to create new flexible photo-sensing electronic devices, including flexible X-ray detectors. Monolithic integration of amorphous silicon (a-Si) PIN photodiodes on a flexible substrate poses significant challenges associated with the intrinsic film stress of amorphous silicon. This paper examines how altering device structuring and diode passivation layers can greatly improve the electrical performance and the mechanical reliability of the device, thereby eliminating one of the major weaknesses of a-Si PIN diodes in comparison to alternative photodetector technology, such as organic bulk heterojunction photodiodes and amorphous selenium. A dark current of 0.5 pA/mm² and photodiode quantum efficiency of 74% are possible with a pixelated diode structure with a silicon nitride/SU-8 bilayer passivation structure on a 20 µm-thick polyimide substrate.

Efficiency increase in flexible bulk heterojunction solar cells with a nano-patterned indium zinc oxide anode

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Dong Hwan; Seifter, Jason; Heeger, Alan J. [Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5090 (United States); Park, Jong Hyeok [School of Chemical Engineering and SAINT, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Dae-Geun [Nano-Mechanical Systems Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), 171 Jang-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-343 (Korea, Republic of)

2012-11-15

Efficient flexible bulk-heterojunction polymer solar cells based on PCDTBT/PC{sub 70}BM were successfully fabricated by a simple nano-imprint technique. The flexible nano-patterned IZO anode with ordered periodic dot structures led to improved light absorption and increased interfacial contact area between the anode and polymer as well as between the polymer and cathode. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Double Super-Exchange in Silicon Quantum Dots Connected by Short-Bridged Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Huashan; Wu, Zhigang; Lusk, Mark

2013-03-01

Silicon quantum dots (QDs) with diameters in the range of 1-2 nm are attractive for photovoltaic applications. They absorb photons more readily, transport excitons with greater efficiency, and show greater promise in multiple-exciton generation and hot carrier collection paradigms. However, their high excitonic binding energy makes it difficult to dissociate excitons into separate charge carriers. One possible remedy is to create dot assemblies in which a second material creates a Type-II heterojunction with the dot so that exciton dissociation occurs locally. This talk will focus on such a Type-II heterojunction paradigm in which QDs are connected via covalently bonded, short-bridge molecules. For such interpenetrating networks of dots and molecules, our first principles computational investigation shows that it is possible to rapidly and efficiently separate electrons to QDs and holes to bridge units. The bridge network serves as an efficient mediator of electron superexchange between QDs while the dots themselves play the complimentary role of efficient hole superexchange mediators. Dissociation, photoluminescence and carrier transport rates will be presented for bridge networks of silicon QDs that exhibit such double superexchange. This material is based upon work supported by the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (REMRSEC) under Grant No. DMR-0820518 and Golden Energy Computing Organization (GECO).

Gate-dependent asymmetric transport characteristics in pentacene barristors with graphene electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Wang-Taek; Min, Misook; Jeong, Hyunhak; Kim, Dongku; Jang, Jingon; Yoo, Daekyung; Jang, Yeonsik; Kim, Jun-Woo; Yoon, Jiyoung; Chung, Seungjun; Yi, Gyu-Chul; Lee, Hyoyoung; Wang, Gunuk; Lee, Takhee

2016-11-25

We investigated the electrical characteristics and the charge transport mechanism of pentacene vertical hetero-structures with graphene electrodes. The devices are composed of vertical stacks of silicon, silicon dioxide, graphene, pentacene, and gold. These vertical heterojunctions exhibited distinct transport characteristics depending on the applied bias direction, which originates from different electrode contacts (graphene and gold contacts) to the pentacene layer. These asymmetric contacts cause a current rectification and current modulation induced by the gate field-dependent bias direction. We observed a change in the charge injection barrier during variable-temperature current-voltage characterization, and we also observed that two distinct charge transport channels (thermionic emission and Poole-Frenkel effect) worked in the junctions, which was dependent on the bias magnitude.

All-nanoparticle self-assembly ZnO/TiO₂ heterojunction thin films with remarkably enhanced photoelectrochemical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Sujun; Mu, Jiuke; Mao, Ruiyi; Li, Yaogang; Zhang, Qinghong; Wang, Hongzhi

2014-04-23

The multilaminated ZnO/TiO2 heterojunction films were successfully deposited on conductive substrates including fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass and flexible indium tin oxide coated poly(ethylene terephthalate) via the layer-by-layer (LBL) self assembly method from the oxide colloids without using any polyelectrolytes. The positively charged ZnO nanoparticles and the negatively charged TiO2 nanoparticles were directly used as the components in the consecutive deposition process to prepare the heterojunction thin films by varying the thicknesses. Moreover, the crystal growth of both oxides could be efficiently inhibited by the good connection between ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles even after calcination at 500 °C, especially for ZnO which was able to keep the crystallite size under 25 nm. The as-prepared films were used as the working electrodes in the three-electrode photoelectrochemical cells. Because the well-contacted nanoscale heterojunctions were formed during the LBL self-assembling process, the ZnO/TiO2 all-nanoparticle films deposited on both substrates showed remarkably enhanced photoelectrochemical properties compared to that of the well-established TiO2 LBL thin films with similar thicknesses. The photocurrent response collected from the ZnO/TiO2 electrode on the FTO glass substrate was about five times higher than that collected from the TiO2 electrode. Owing to the absence of the insulating layer of dried polyelectrolytes, the ZnO/TiO2 all-nanoparticle heterojunction films were expected to be used in the photoelectrochemical device before calcination.

Bacterial populations on silicone hydrogel and hydrogel contact lenses after swimming in a chlorinated pool.

Science.gov (United States)

Choo, Jennifer; Vuu, Kathy; Bergenske, Peter; Burnham, Kara; Smythe, Jennifer; Caroline, Patrick

2005-02-01

A number of reports have indicated an association between swimming with contact lenses and subsequent eye infection. This study tests whether a hydrophilic contact lens worn while swimming accumulates bacteria present in the water. It was of interest to determine whether lens type (silicone hydrogel vs. hydrogel) affected the result. Fifteen healthy noncontact lens wearers swam for 30 minutes with a silicone hydrogel lens (PureVision, Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY) on one eye and a hydrogel lens (Acuvue 2, Vistakon Inc., Jacksonville, FL) on the other. Lenses were removed aseptically and placed in sterile vials 10 minutes after the subjects left the water. Microbial growth was enumerated for total numbers of colonies and categorized by species present. Numbers of colonies were compared between the two lens groups and with a water sample taken from the pool at the time of the experiment. Eight of the subjects returned on a different day and wore new lenses for 50 minutes in normal room conditions. Two lenses were lost while swimming. Twenty-seven of the remaining 28 lenses worn while swimming showed colonization, principally with Staphylococcus epidermidis, which was also by far the most common species identified from the water itself. Small numbers of Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus salivarius were also present in the water and on the lenses. Numbers of colonies varied among subjects (range, 0 to 230), but no differences were observed between the two lens groups. Lenses removed after 30 minutes of wear without swimming were mostly sterile, with 3 of 16 lenses showing just two colonies each. It appears that wearing a hydrophilic lens while swimming allows accumulation of microbial organisms on or in the lens, regardless of lens material. Swimmers should be advised to wear tight-fitting goggles if lenses are worn while swimming, and thorough disinfection of the lenses before overnight wear seems prudent.

Black silicon with black bus-bar strings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Rasmus Schmidt; Tang, Peter Torben; Mizushima, Io

2016-01-01

We present the combination of black silicon texturing and blackened bus-bar strings as a potential method for obtaining all-black solar panels, while using conventional, front-contacted solar cells. Black silicon was realized by mask-less reactive ion etching resulting in total, average reflectance...... below 0.5% across a 156x156 mm2 silicon wafer. Black bus-bars were realized by oxidized copper resulting in reflectance below 3% in the entire visible wavelength range. The combination of these two technologies may result in aesthetic, all-black panels based on conventional, front-contacted solar cells...

Contacts to semiconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tove, P.A.

1975-08-01

Contacts to semiconductors play an important role in most semiconductor devices. These devices range from microelectronics to power components, from high-sensitivity light or radiation detectors to light-emitting of microwave-generating components. Silicon is the dominating material but compound semiconductors are increasing in importance. The following survey is an attempt to classify contact properties and the physical mechanisms involved, as well as fabrication methods and methods of investigation. The main interest is in metal-semiconductor type contacts where a few basic concepts are dealt with in some detail. (Auth.)

Microbial adhesion to silicone hydrogel lenses: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Willcox, Mark D P

2013-01-01

Microbial adhesion to contact lenses is believed to be one of the initiating events in the formation of many corneal infiltrative events, including microbial keratitis, that occur during contact lens wear. The advent of silicone hydrogel lenses has not reduced the incidence of these events. This may partly be related to the ability of microbes to adhere to these lenses. The aim of this study was to review the published literature on microbial adhesion to contact lenses, focusing on adhesion to silicone hydrogel lenses. The literature on microbial adhesion to contact lenses was searched, along with associated literature on adverse events that occur during contact lens wear. Particular reference was paid to the years 1995 through 2012 because this encompasses the time when the first clinical trials of silicone hydrogel lenses were reported, and their commercial availability and the publication of epidemiology studies on adverse events were studied. In vitro studies of bacterial adhesion to unworn silicone hydrogel lens have shown that generally, bacteria adhere to these lenses in greater numbers than to the hydroxyethyl methacrylate-based soft lenses. Lens wear has different effects on microbial adhesion, and this is dependent on the type of lens and microbial species/genera that is studied. Biofilms that can be formed on any lens type tend to protect the bacteria and fungi from the effects on disinfectants. Fungal hyphae can penetrate the surface of most types of lenses. Acanthamoeba adhere in greater numbers to first-generation silicone hydrogel lenses compared with the second-generation or hydroxyethyl methacrylate-based soft lenses. Microbial adhesion to silicone hydrogel lenses occurs and is associated with the production of corneal infiltrative events during lens wear.

Interfacial recombination at /AlGa/As/GaAs heterojunction structures

Science.gov (United States)

Ettenberg, M.; Kressel, H.

1976-01-01

Experiments were conducted to determine the interfacial recombination velocity at Al0.25Ga0.75As/GaAs and Al0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs heterojunctions. The recombination velocity was derived from a study of the injected minority-carrier lifetime as a function of the junction spacing. It is found that for heterojunction spacings in excess of about 1 micron, the interfacial recombination can be characterized by a surface recombination velocity of 4,000 and 8,000 cm/sec for the two types of heterojunctions, respectively. For double-heterojunction spacings below 1 micron, the constancy of the minority-carrier lifetime suggests that the interfacial recombination velocity decreases effectively. This effect is technologically very important since it makes it possible to construct very low-threshold injection lasers. No such effect is observed in single-heterojunction diodes.

Formation and properties of porous silicon layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vitanov, P.; Kamenova, M.; Dimova-Malinovska, D.

1993-01-01

Preparation, properties and application of porous silicon films are investigated. Porous silicon structures were formed by an electrochemical etching process resulting in selective dissolution of the silicon substrate. The silicon wafers used with a resistivity of 5-10Ω.cm were doped with B to concentrations 6x10 18 -1x10 19 Ω.cm -3 in the temperature region 950 o C-1050 o C. The density of each porous films was determined from the weight loss during the anodization and it depends on the surface resistivity of the Si wafer. The density decreases with decreasing of the surface resistivity. The surface of the porous silicon layers was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy which indicates the presence of SiF 4 . The kinetic dependence of the anode potential and the porous layer thickness on the time of anodization in a galvanostatic regime for the electrolytes with various HF concentration were studied. In order to compare the properties of the resulting porous layers and to establish the dependence of the porosity on the electrolyte, three types of electrolytes were used: concentrated HF, diluted HF:H 2 O=1:1 and ethanol-hydrofluoric solutions HF:C 2 H 5 OH:H 2 O=2:1:1. High quality uniform and reproducible layers were formed using aqueous-ethanol-hydrofluoric electrolyte. Both Kikuchi's line and ring patterns were observed by TEM. The porous silicon layer was single crystal with the same orientation as the substrate. The surface shows a polycrystalline structure only. The porous silicon layers exhibit visible photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature under 480 nm Ar + laser line excitation. The peak of PL was observed at about 730 nm with FWHM about 90 nm. Photodiodes was made with a W-porous silicon junction. The current voltage and capacity voltage characteristics were similar to those of an isotype heterojunction diode. (orig.)

Effect of the CO2/SiH4 Ratio in the p-μc-SiO:H Emitter Layer on the Performance of Crystalline Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaran Sritharathikhun

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper reports the preparation of wide gap p-type hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon oxide (p-μc-SiO:H films using a 40 MHz very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. The reported work focused on the effects of the CO2/SiH4 ratio on the properties of p-μc-SiO:H films and the effectiveness of the films as an emitter layer of crystalline silicon heterojunction (c-Si-HJ solar cells. A p-μc-SiO:H film with a wide optical band gap (E04, 2.1 eV, can be obtained by increasing the CO2/SiH4 ratio; however, the tradeoff between E04 and dark conductivity must be considered. The CO2/SiH4 ratio of the p-μc-SiO:H emitter layer also significantly affects the performance of the solar cells. Compared to the cell using p-μc-Si:H (CO2/SiH4 = 0, the cell with the p-μc-SiO:H emitter layer performs more efficiently. We have achieved the highest efficiency of 18.3% with an open-circuit voltage (Voc of 692 mV from the cell using the p-μc-SiO:H layer. The enhancement in the Voc and the efficiency of the solar cells verified the potential of the p-μc-SiO:H films for use as the emitter layer in c-Si-HJ solar cells.

Development of Novel Front Contract Pastes for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duty, C.; Jellison, D. G.E. P.; Joshi, P.

2012-04-05

In order to improve the efficiencies of silicon solar cells, paste to silicon contact formation mechanisms must be more thoroughly understood as a function of paste chemistry, wafer properties and firing conditions. Ferro Corporation has been involved in paste development for over 30 years and has extensive expertise in glass and paste formulations. This project has focused on the characterization of the interface between the top contact material (silver paste) and the underlying silicon wafer. It is believed that the interface between the front contact silver and the silicon wafer plays a dominant role in the electrical performance of the solar cell. Development of an improved front contact microstructure depends on the paste chemistry, paste interaction with the SiNx, and silicon (“Si”) substrate, silicon sheet resistivity, and the firing profile. Typical front contact ink contains silver metal powders and flakes, glass powder and other inorganic additives suspended in an organic medium of resin and solvent. During fast firing cycles glass melts, wets, corrodes the SiNx layer, and then interacts with underlying Si. Glass chemistry is also a critical factor in the development of an optimum front contact microstructure. Over the course of this project, several fundamental characteristics of the Ag/Si interface were documented, including a higher-than-expected distribution of voids along the interface, which could significantly impact electrical conductivity. Several techniques were also investigated for the interfacial analysis, including STEM, EDS, FIB, EBSD, and ellipsometry.

Tunnel oxide passivated rear contact for large area n-type front junction silicon solar cells providing excellent carrier selectivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuguo Tao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Carrier-selective contact with low minority carrier recombination and efficient majority carrier transport is mandatory to eliminate metal-induced recombination for higher energy conversion efficiency for silicon (Si solar cells. In the present study, the carrier-selective contact consists of an ultra-thin tunnel oxide and a phosphorus-doped polycrystalline Si (poly-Si thin film formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD and subsequent thermal crystallization. It is shown that the poly-Si film properties (doping level, crystallization and dopant activation anneal temperature are crucial for achieving excellent contact passivation quality. It is also demonstrated quantitatively that the tunnel oxide plays a critical role in this tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCON scheme to realize desired carrier selectivity. Presence of tunnel oxide increases the implied Voc (iVoc by ~ 125 mV. The iVoc value as high as 728 mV is achieved on symmetric structure with TOPCON on both sides. Large area (239 cm2 n-type Czochralski (Cz Si solar cells are fabricated with homogeneous implanted boron emitter and screen-printed contact on the front and TOPCON on the back, achieving 21.2% cell efficiency. Detailed analysis shows that the performance of these cells is mainly limited by boron emitter recombination on the front side.

Plasmonic engineering of metal-oxide nanowire heterojunctions in integrated nanowire rectification units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Luchan; Zhou, Y. Norman, E-mail: liulei@tsinghua.edu.cn, E-mail: nzhou@uwaterloo.ca [Department of Mechanical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Centre for Advanced Materials Joining, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Zou, Guisheng; Liu, Lei, E-mail: liulei@tsinghua.edu.cn, E-mail: nzhou@uwaterloo.ca [Department of Mechanical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Duley, Walt W. [Centre for Advanced Materials Joining, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada)

2016-05-16

We show that irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses can produce robust nanowire heterojunctions in coupled non-wetting metal-oxide Ag-TiO{sub 2} structures. Simulations indicate that joining arises from the effect of strong plasmonic localization in the region of the junction. Strong electric field effects occur in both Ag and TiO{sub 2} resulting in the modification of both surfaces and an increase in wettability of TiO{sub 2}, facilitating the interconnection of Ag and TiO{sub 2} nanowires. Irradiation leads to the creation of a thin layer of highly defected TiO{sub 2} in the contact region between the Ag and TiO{sub 2} nanowires. The presence of this layer allows the formation of a heterojunction and offers the possibility of engineering the electronic characteristics of interfacial structures. Rectifying junctions with single and bipolar properties have been generated in Ag-TiO{sub 2} nanowire circuits incorporating asymmetrical and symmetrical interfacial structures, respectively. This fabrication technique should be applicable for the interconnection of other heterogeneous metal-oxide nanowire components and demonstrates that femtosecond laser irradiation enables interfacial engineering for electronic applications of integrated nanowire structures.

Plasmonic engineering of metal-oxide nanowire heterojunctions in integrated nanowire rectification units

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Luchan; Zou, Guisheng; Liu, Lei; Duley, Walt W.; Zhou, Y. Norman

2016-05-01

We show that irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses can produce robust nanowire heterojunctions in coupled non-wetting metal-oxide Ag-TiO2 structures. Simulations indicate that joining arises from the effect of strong plasmonic localization in the region of the junction. Strong electric field effects occur in both Ag and TiO2 resulting in the modification of both surfaces and an increase in wettability of TiO2, facilitating the interconnection of Ag and TiO2 nanowires. Irradiation leads to the creation of a thin layer of highly defected TiO2 in the contact region between the Ag and TiO2 nanowires. The presence of this layer allows the formation of a heterojunction and offers the possibility of engineering the electronic characteristics of interfacial structures. Rectifying junctions with single and bipolar properties have been generated in Ag-TiO2 nanowire circuits incorporating asymmetrical and symmetrical interfacial structures, respectively. This fabrication technique should be applicable for the interconnection of other heterogeneous metal-oxide nanowire components and demonstrates that femtosecond laser irradiation enables interfacial engineering for electronic applications of integrated nanowire structures.

Ink-Jet Printer Forms Solar-Cell Contacts

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Paul, Jr.; Vest, R. W.; Binford, Don A.; Tweedell, Eric P.

1988-01-01

Contacts formed in controllable patterns with metal-based inks. System forms upper metal contact patterns on silicon photovoltaic cells. Uses metallo-organic ink, decomposes when heated, leaving behind metallic, electrically conductive residue in printed area.

CONDENSED MATTER: ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE, ELECTRICAL, MAGNETIC, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES: Rectifying effect of heterojunctions between metals and doped conducting polymer nanostructure pellets

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Yun-Ze; Yin, Zhi-Hua; Hui, Wen; Chen, Zhao-Jia; Wan, Mei-Xiang

2008-07-01

This paper reports that the Schottky junctions between low work function metals (e.g. Al and In) and doped semiconducting polymer pellets (e.g. polyaniline (PANI) microsphere pellet and polypyrrole (PPy) nanotube pellet) have been prepared and studied. Since Ag is a high work function metal which can make an ohmic contact with polymer, silver paste was used to fabricate the electrodes. The Al/PANI/Ag heterojunction shows an obvious rectifying effect as shown in I - V characteristic curves (rectifying ratio γ = 5 at ±6 V bias at room temperature). As compared to the Al/PANI/Ag, the heterojunction between In and PANI (In/PANI/Ag) exhibits a lower rectifying ratio γ = 1.6 at ±2 V bias at room temperature. In addition, rectifying effect was also observed in the heterojunctions Al/PPy/Ag (γ = 3.2 at ±1.6 V bias) and In/PPy/Ag (γ = 1.2 at ±3.0 V bias). The results were discussed in terms of thermoionic emission theory.

Mesoscopic CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 /TiO 2 Heterojunction Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Etgar, Lioz

2012-10-24

We report for the first time on a hole conductor-free mesoscopic methylammonium lead iodide (CH 3NH 3PbI 3) perovskite/TiO 2 heterojunction solar cell, produced by deposition of perovskite nanoparticles from a solution of CH 3NH 3I and PbI 2 in γ-butyrolactone on a 400 nm thick film of TiO 2 (anatase) nanosheets exposing (001) facets. A gold film was evaporated on top of the CH 3NH 3PbI 3 as a back contact. Importantly, the CH 3NH 3PbI 3 nanoparticles assume here simultaneously the roles of both light harvester and hole conductor, rendering superfluous the use of an additional hole transporting material. The simple mesoscopic CH 3NH 3PbI 3/TiO 2 heterojunction solar cell shows impressive photovoltaic performance, with short-circuit photocurrent J sc= 16.1 mA/cm 2, open-circuit photovoltage V oc = 0.631 V, and a fill factor FF = 0.57, corresponding to a light to electric power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.5% under standard AM 1.5 solar light of 1000 W/m 2 intensity. At a lower light intensity of 100W/m 2, a PCE of 7.3% was measured. The advent of such simple solution-processed mesoscopic heterojunction solar cells paves the way to realize low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Fabrication and characterization of photosensitive n-ZnO/p-InSe heterojunctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kudrynskyi, Z., E-mail: kudrynskyi@gmail.com [Frantsevich Institute for Problems of Materials Science, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Chernivtsi Branch, Str. I. Vilde 5, 58001 Chernivtsi (Ukraine); Khomyak, V. [Yuriy Fedkovich Chernivtsi National University, Str. Kotsubinsky 2, 58012 Chernivtsi (Ukraine); Katerynchuk, V.; Kovalyuk, M.; Netyaga, V.; Kushnir, B. [Frantsevich Institute for Problems of Materials Science, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Chernivtsi Branch, Str. I. Vilde 5, 58001 Chernivtsi (Ukraine)

2015-05-01

Indium monochalcogenide (InSe) with a band gap of 1.25 eV is a promising material for photovoltaic applications. In this work, photosensitive anisotype n-ZnO/p-InSe heterojunctions were fabricated by means of radio-frequency magnetron sputtering of the zinc oxide onto freshly cleaved (0001) van der Waals surface of p-InSe single-crystal. Structural properties of the obtained heterostructures were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction. Surface morphology of the grown ZnO thin films was studied by means of atomic force microscopy. The electrical and photoelectrical properties of the heterojunctions were investigated using the current-voltage characteristics measured at different temperatures, capacitance-voltage characteristics and photoresponse spectra. The dominating current transport mechanisms through the heterojunctions under investigation were determined at forward and reverse biases. It was found that the developed heterojunctions n-ZnO/p-InSe show photosensitivity in the photon energy range (1.25-3.20 eV) at room temperature. In addition, we analyzed the influence of vacuum annealing of the heterojunctions at different temperatures on their photoelectric properties. - Highlights: • Thin ZnO films were grown onto van der Waals surface of InSe substrate. • n-ZnO/p-InSe heterojunctions were fabricated. • The heterojunctions are photosensitive in photon energy range from 1.12 to 3.75 eV. • Despite the lattice mismatch of 19% the heterojunctions exhibit diode-like behavior. • Vacuum annealing improves electrical properties of the heterojunctions.

Radiation resistant passivation of silicon solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swanson, R.M.; Gan, J.Y.; Gruenbaum, P.E.

1991-01-01

This patent describes a silicon solar cell having improved stability when exposed to concentrated solar radiation. It comprises a body of silicon material having a major surface for receiving radiation, a plurality of p and n conductivity regions in the body for collecting electrons and holes created by impinging radiation, and a passivation layer on the major surface including a first layer of silicon oxide in contact with the body and a polycrystalline silicon layer on the first layer of silicon oxide

Transparent conducting oxide contacts and textured metal back reflectors for thin film silicon solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Franken, R. H.-J.

2006-09-01

With the growing population and the increasing environmental problems of the 'common' fossil and nuclear energy production, the need for clean and sustainable energy sources is evident. Solar energy conversion, such as in photovoltaic (PV) systems, can play a major role in the urgently needed energy transition in electricity production. At the present time PV module production is dominated by the crystalline wafer technology. Thin film silicon technology is an alternative solar energy technology that operates at lower efficiencies, however, it has several significant advantages, such as the possibility of deposition on cheap (flexible) substrates and the much smaller silicon material consumption. Because of the small thickness of the solar cells, light trapping schemes are needed in order to obtain enough light absorption and current generation. This thesis describes the research on thin film silicon solar cells with the focus on the optimization of the transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layers and textured metal Ag substrate layers for the use as enhanced light scattering back reflectors in n-i-p type of solar cells. First we analyzed ZnO:Al (TCO) layers deposited in an radio frequent (rf) magnetron deposition system equipped with a 7 inch target. We have focused on the improvement of the electrical properties without sacrificing the optical properties by increasing the mobility and decreasing the grain boundary density. Furthermore, we described some of the effects on light trapping of ZnO:Al enhanced back reflectors. The described effects are able to explain the observed experimental data. Furthermore, we present a relation between the surface morphology of the Ag back contact and the current enhancement in microcrystalline (muc-Si:H) solar cells. We show the importance of the lateral feature sizes of the Ag surface on the light scattering and introduce a method to characterize the quality of the back reflector by combining the vertical and lateral feature sizes

Charge separation at disordered semiconductor heterojunctions from random walk numerical simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandujano-Ramírez, Humberto J; González-Vázquez, José P; Oskam, Gerko; Dittrich, Thomas; Garcia-Belmonte, Germa; Mora-Seró, Iván; Bisquert, Juan; Anta, Juan A

2014-03-07

Many recent advances in novel solar cell technologies are based on charge separation in disordered semiconductor heterojunctions. In this work we use the Random Walk Numerical Simulation (RWNS) method to model the dynamics of electrons and holes in two disordered semiconductors in contact. Miller-Abrahams hopping rates and a tunnelling distance-dependent electron-hole annihilation mechanism are used to model transport and recombination, respectively. To test the validity of the model, three numerical "experiments" have been devised: (1) in the absence of constant illumination, charge separation has been quantified by computing surface photovoltage (SPV) transients. (2) By applying a continuous generation of electron-hole pairs, the model can be used to simulate a solar cell under steady-state conditions. This has been exploited to calculate open-circuit voltages and recombination currents for an archetypical bulk heterojunction solar cell (BHJ). (3) The calculations have been extended to nanostructured solar cells with inorganic sensitizers to study, specifically, non-ideality in the recombination rate. The RWNS model in combination with exponential disorder and an activated tunnelling mechanism for transport and recombination is shown to reproduce correctly charge separation parameters in these three "experiments". This provides a theoretical basis to study relevant features of novel solar cell technologies.

Determination of band offsets at strained NiO and MgO heterojunction for MgO as an interlayer in heterojunction light emitting diode applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, S.D., E-mail: devsh@rrcat.gov.in [Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore, Madhya Pradesh 452013 (India); Nand, Mangla [Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400085 (India); Ajimsha, R.S.; Upadhyay, Anuj; Kamparath, Rajiv; Mukherjee, C.; Misra, P.; Sinha, A.K. [Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore, Madhya Pradesh 452013 (India); Jha, S.N. [Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400085 (India); Ganguli, Tapas [Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore, Madhya Pradesh 452013 (India)

2016-12-15

Highlights: • Valence band offset at NiO/MgO heterojunction is experimentally determined. • Experimentally determined value of 2.3 ± 0.4 eV is significantly larger than the predicted from theoretical calculations. • The value of valence band offset is in corroboration with that estimated from the band transitivity model. • Our result can be used to predict accurately carrier transport and electroluminescence mechanisms for heterojunction LEDs. - Abstract: Valence band offset of 2.3 ± 0.4 eV at strained NiO/MgO heterojunction is determined from photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) measurements. The determined value of valence band offset is larger than that is predicted from first principle calculations, but is in corroboration with that obtained from band transitivity rule. Our PES result indicates a larger value of the valence band offset at strained NiO/MgO heterojunction and can be used to predict accurately carrier transport and electroluminescence mechanisms for n-ZnO/MgO/p-NiO and p-NiO/MgO/n-GaN heterojunction light emitting diodes.

Inverted amorphous silicon solar cell utilizing cermet layers

Science.gov (United States)

Hanak, Joseph J.

1979-01-01

An amorphous silicon solar cell incorporating a transparent high work function metal cermet incident to solar radiation and a thick film cermet contacting the amorphous silicon opposite to said incident surface.

Reduction of Ag–Si electrical contact resistance by selective RF heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Wijs, W-J A; Ljevar, S; Van de Sande, M J; De With, G

2016-01-01

Fast and selective inductive heating of pre-sintered silver lines on silicon as present in solar cells using 27 MHz radio-frequency inductive fields is shown. IR measurements of silicon substrates show that above 450 °C the heating rate of the samples increases sharply, indicating that both the silver and the silicon are heated. By moving the substrate with respect to the RF antenna and modulation of the RF field, silicon wafers were heated reproducibly above 450 °C with heating rates in excess of 200 °C s −1 . Furthermore, selective heating of lines of pre-sintered silver paste was shown below the 450 °C threshold on silicon substrates. The orientation of the silver tracks relative to the RF antenna appeared to be crucial for homogeneity of heating. Transmission line measurements show a clear effect on contact formation between the silver lines and the silicon substrate. To lower the contact resistance sufficiently for industrial feasibility, a high temperature difference between the Si substrate and the Ag tracks is required. The present RF heating process does not match the time scale needed for contact formation between silver and silicon sufficiently, but the significantly improved process control achieved shows promise for applications requiring fast heating and cooling rates. (paper)

Recent Approaches to Controlling the Nanoscale Morphology of Polymer-Based Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdulra'uf Lukman Bola

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The need for clean, inexpensive and renewable energy has increasingly turned research attention towards polymer photovoltaic cells. However, the performance efficiency of these devices is still low in comparison with silicon-based devices. The recent introduction of new materials and processing techniques has resulted in a remarkable increase in power-conversion efficiency, with a value above 10%. Controlling the interpenetrating network morphology is a key factor in obtaining devices with improved performance. This review focuses on the influence of controlled nanoscale morphology on the overall performance of bulk-heterojunction (BHJ photovoltaic cells. Strategies such as the use of solvents, solvent annealing, polymer nanowires (NWs, and donor–acceptor (D–A blend ratios employed to control the active-layer morphologies are all discussed.

Organic semiconductor heterojunctions and its application in organic light-emitting diodes

CERN Document Server

Ma, Dongge

2017-01-01

This book systematically introduces the most important aspects of organic semiconductor heterojunctions, including the basic concepts and electrical properties. It comprehensively discusses the application of organic semiconductor heterojunctions as charge injectors and charge generation layers in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Semiconductor heterojunctions are the basis for constructing high-performance optoelectronic devices. In recent decades, organic semiconductors have been increasingly used to fabricate heterojunction devices, especially in OLEDs, and the subject has attracted a great deal of attention and evoked many new phenomena and interpretations in the field. This important application is based on the low dielectric constant of organic semiconductors and the weak non-covalent electronic interactions between them, which means that they easily form accumulation heterojunctions. As we know, the accumulation-type space charge region is highly conductive, which is an important property for high...

Physical mechanisms related to the degradation of LPCVD tungsten contacts at elevated temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shenai, K.; Lewis, N.; Smith, G.A.; McConnell, M.D.; Burrell, M.

1990-01-01

The thermal stability of LPCVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition) tungsten contacts to n-type silicon is studied at elevated temperatures in excess of 650 degrees C. The process variants studied include silicon doping, tungsten thickness, and post tungsten deposition dielectric stress temperatures. Detailed measurements of Kelvin contact resistance were made at room temperature as well as at elevated temperatures up to 165 degrees C. The tungsten contact resistance degradation at elevated stress temperatures is correlated with worm hole formation in silicon and the formation and diffusion of tungsten silicide. Extensive analytical measurements were used to characterize the material transformation at elevated stress temperatures to understand the physical mechanisms causing contact degradation

The influence of end of day silicone hydrogel daily disposable contact lens fit on ocular comfort, physiology and lens wettability.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolffsohn, James; Hall, Lee; Mroczkowska, Stephanie; Hunt, Olivia A; Bilkhu, Paramdeep; Drew, Tom; Sheppard, Amy

2015-10-01

To quantify the end-of-day silicone-hydrogel daily disposable contact lens fit and its influence of on ocular comfort, physiology and lens wettability. Thirty-nine subjects (22.1±3.5 years) were randomised to wear each of 3 silicone-hydrogel daily-disposable contact lenses (narafilcon A, delefilcon A and filcon II 3), bilaterally, for one week. Lens fit was assessed objectively using a digital video slit-lamp at 8, 12 and 16h after lens insertion. Hyperaemia, non-invasive tear break-up time, tear meniscus height and comfort were also evaluated at these timepoints, while corneal and conjunctival staining were assessed on lens removal. Lens fit assessments were not different between brands (P>0.05), with the exception of the movement at blink where narafilcon A was more mobile. Overall, lag reduced but push-up speed increased from 8 to 12h (P0.05). Movement-on-blink was unaffected by wear-time (F=0.403, P=0.670). A more mobile lens fit with one brand did not indicate that person would have a more mobile fit with another brand (r=-0.06 to 0.63). Lens fit was not correlated with comfort, ocular physiology or lens wettability (P>0.01). Among the lenses tested, objective lens fit changed between 8h and 12h of lens wear. The weak correlation in individual lens fit between brands indicates that fit is dependent on more than ocular shape. Consequently, substitution of a different lens brand with similar parameters will not necessarily provide comparable lens fit. Copyright © 2015 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multi-channel unidirectional transmission of phononic crystal heterojunctions

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Zhenlong; Tong, Jie; Wu, Fugen

2018-02-01

Two square steel columns are arranged in air to form two-dimensional square lattice phononic crystals (PNCs). Two PNCs can be combined into a non-orthogonal 45∘ heterojunction when the difference in the directional band gaps of the two PNC types is utilized. The finite element method is used to calculate the acoustic band structure, the heterogeneous junction transmission characteristics, acoustic field distribution, and many others. Results show that a non-orthogonal PNC heterojunction can produce a multi-channel unidirectional transmission of acoustic waves. With the square scatterer rotated, the heterojunction can select a frequency band for unidirectional transmission performance. This capability is particularly useful for constructing acoustic diodes with wide-bands and high-efficiency unidirectional transmission characteristics.

Ballistic Spin Field Effect Transistor Based on Silicon Nanowires

Science.gov (United States)

Osintsev, Dmitri; Sverdlov, Viktor; Stanojevic, Zlatan; Selberherr, Siegfried

2011-03-01

We investigate the properties of ballistic spin field-effect transistors build on silicon nanowires. An accurate description of the conduction band based on the k . p} model is necessary in thin and narrow silicon nanostructures. The subband effective mass and subband splitting dependence on the nanowire dimensions is analyzed and used in the transport calculations. The spin transistor is formed by sandwiching the nanowire between two ferromagnetic metallic contacts. Delta-function barriers at the interfaces between the contacts and the silicon channel are introduced. The major contribution to the electric field-dependent spin-orbit interaction in confined silicon systems is due to the interface-induced inversion asymmetry which is of the Dresselhaus type. We study the current and conductance through the system for the contacts being in parallel and anti-parallel configurations. Differences between the [100] and [110] orientated structures are investigated in details. This work is supported by the European Research Council through the grant #247056 MOSILSPIN.

Investigation of silicon heterojunction solar cells by photoluminescence under DC-bias

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Courtois Guillaume

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Photoluminescence measurements on solar cells are usually carried out under open-circuit conditions. We report here on an innovative approach, in which the samples are simultaneously illuminated and DC-biased, so that the luminescence can be monitored under several operating points, that is to say several injection levels, ranging from short-circuit conditions to the light-emitting regime of the device. The experiments were performed on in-house made c-Si/a-Si:H heterojunction solar cells illuminated by a continuous green laser diode and positively biased. The luminescence spectra obtained this way were compared to those obtained with no light excitation source, which corresponds to usual electroluminescence mode and dark J(V. Firstly, the obtained luminescence spectra have shown the expected exponential dependence on the applied voltage. Furthermore, given that the amplitude of the emitted luminescence is proportional to the radiative recombination rate, this approach enables to indirectly characterise the non-radiative recombination phenomena. In the case of HJ solar cells with intrinsic thin layers processed on high quality FZ-wafers, non-radiative recombination is dominated by the defects at the c-Si/a-Si:H interface. The luminescence measurements presented here therefore give information on the quality of the surface passivation. An estimation of the interface defect density was achieved by comparing our experimental results with modelling.

A self-powered nano-photodetector based on PFH/ZnO nanorods organic/inorganic heterojunction

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaoyun; Liu, Wei; Li, Peigang; Song, Jia; An, Yuehua; Shen, Jingqin; Wang, Shunli; Guo, Daoyou

2018-03-01

PFH/ZnO nanorods heterojunctions were fabricated by spin-coating p-type Poly (9,9-dihexylfluorene) (PFH) on n-type vertically aligned ZnO nanorod arrays grown by a facile hydrothermal method on indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent conductive glass. A typical p-n junction behavior was observed in the fabricated heterojunction. The current of heterojunction increases and decreases dramatically by switching the illumination on and off at zero bias, showing potential self-powered photodetector applications. The heterojunction were capable of generating negative current when illuminated under an appropriate wavelength. The photoresponse properties of the heterojunction can be tuned by the applied bias. In vacuum, the rectifying behavior disappeared, and show only simple semiconductor behavior. Band structure of the heterojunction was schematic drawn and explain the mechanism of the properties of PFH/ZnO nanorods heterojunctions.

A self-powered nano-photodetector based on PFH/ZnO nanorods organic/inorganic heterojunction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoyun Li

2018-03-01

Full Text Available PFH/ZnO nanorods heterojunctions were fabricated by spin-coating p-type Poly (9,9-dihexylfluorene (PFH on n-type vertically aligned ZnO nanorod arrays grown by a facile hydrothermal method on indium tin oxide (ITO transparent conductive glass. A typical p-n junction behavior was observed in the fabricated heterojunction. The current of heterojunction increases and decreases dramatically by switching the illumination on and off at zero bias, showing potential self-powered photodetector applications. The heterojunction were capable of generating negative current when illuminated under an appropriate wavelength. The photoresponse properties of the heterojunction can be tuned by the applied bias. In vacuum, the rectifying behavior disappeared, and show only simple semiconductor behavior. Band structure of the heterojunction was schematic drawn and explain the mechanism of the properties of PFH/ZnO nanorods heterojunctions.

Efficiency Enhancement of Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells via Photon Management Using Graphene Quantum Dot as Downconverters

KAUST Repository

Tsai, Meng-Lin

2015-12-16

By employing graphene quantum dots (GQDs), we have achieved a high efficiency of 16.55% in n-type Si heterojunction solar cells. The efficiency enhancement is based on the photon downconversion phenomenon of GQDs to make more photons absorbed in the depletion region for effective carrier separation, leading to the enhanced photovoltaic effect. The short circuit current and the fill factor are increased from 35.31 to 37.47 mA/cm2 and 70.29% to 72.51%, respectively. The work demonstrated here holds the promise for incorporating graphene-based materials in commercially available solar devices for developing ultra-high efficiency photovoltaic cells in the future.

Efficiency Enhancement of Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells via Photon Management Using Graphene Quantum Dot as Downconverters

KAUST Repository

Tsai, Meng-Lin; Tu, Wei-Chen; Tang, Libin; Wei, Tzu-Chiao; Wei, Wan-Rou; Lau, Shu Ping; Chen, Lih-Juann; He, Jr-Hau

2015-01-01

By employing graphene quantum dots (GQDs), we have achieved a high efficiency of 16.55% in n-type Si heterojunction solar cells. The efficiency enhancement is based on the photon downconversion phenomenon of GQDs to make more photons absorbed in the depletion region for effective carrier separation, leading to the enhanced photovoltaic effect. The short circuit current and the fill factor are increased from 35.31 to 37.47 mA/cm2 and 70.29% to 72.51%, respectively. The work demonstrated here holds the promise for incorporating graphene-based materials in commercially available solar devices for developing ultra-high efficiency photovoltaic cells in the future.

IOP measurement in silicone oil tamponade eyes by Corvis ST tonometer, Goldmann applanation tonometry and non-contact tonometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yang; Zheng, Lin; Bian, Ailing; Zhou, Qi

2018-04-01

To compare the postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) of eyes following pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) combined with intravitreal silicone oil (SO) tamponade by Corneal Visualization Scheimpflug Technology (CST), Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) and non-contact tonometry (NCT). Thirty-eight participants who had undergone PPV combined with SO tamponade to treat vitreoretinal diseases were enrolled. Postoperative IOP measurements were obtained using CST, NCT and GAT. Inter-device agreement was assessed by Bland-Altman analysis. The correlation coefficient was used to describe the potential postoperative factors affecting the postoperative IOP differences between each device. Bland-Altman analysis revealed the bias between CST and GAT, between CST and NCT, and between GAT and NCT to be -0.2, 2.1 and 2.4 mmHg, respectively. CST and GAT correlated well with each other. NCT values were lower than those of GAT and CST (all p contact method for measuring postoperative IOP in SO tamponade eyes.

Assessing the potential roles of silicon and germanium phthalocyanines in planar heterojunction organic photovoltaic devices and how pentafluoro phenoxylation can enhance π-π interactions and device performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Lessard, Benoît H; White, Robin T; Al-Amar, Mohammad; Plint, Trevor; Castrucci, Jeffrey S; Josey, David S; Lu, Zheng-Hong; Bender, Timothy P

2015-03-11

In this study, we have assessed the potential application of dichloro silicon phthalocyanine (Cl2-SiPc) and dichloro germanium phthalocyanine (Cl2-GePc) in modern planar heterojunction organic photovoltaic (PHJ OPV) devices. We have determined that Cl2-SiPc can act as an electron donating material when paired with C60 and that Cl2-SiPc or Cl2-GePc can also act as an electron acceptor material when paired with pentacene. These two materials enabled the harvesting of triplet energy resulting from the singlet fission process in pentacene. However, contributions to the generation of photocurrent were observed for Cl2-SiPc with no evidence of photocurrent contribution from Cl2-GePc. The result of our initial assessment established the potential for the application of SiPc and GePc in PHJ OPV devices. Thereafter, bis(pentafluoro phenoxy) silicon phthalocyanine (F10-SiPc) and bis(pentafluoro phenoxy) germanium phthalocyanine (F10-GePc) were synthesized and characterized. During thermal processing, it was discovered that F10-SiPc and F10-GePc underwent a reaction forming small amounts of difluoro SiPc (F2-SiPc) and difluoro GePc (F2-GePc). This undesirable reaction could be circumvented for F10-SiPc but not for F10-GePc. Using single crystal X-ray diffraction, it was determined that F10-SiPc has significantly enhanced π-π interactions compared with that of Cl2-SiPc, which had little to none. Unoptimized PHJ OPV devices based on F10-SiPc were fabricated and directly compared to those constructed from Cl2-SiPc, and in all cases, PHJ OPV devices based on F10-SiPc had significantly improved device characteristics compared to Cl2-SiPc.

Controlled ion-beam transformation of silicon bipolar microwave power transistor's characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solodukha, V.A.; Snitovskij, Yu.P.

2015-01-01

In this article, a method for changing the silicon bipolar microwave power transistor's characteristics in a direct and deliberate manner by modifying the chemical composition at the molybdenum - silicon boundary, the electro-physical properties of molybdenum - silicon contacts, and the electrophysical characteristics of transistor structure areas by the phosphorus ions irradiation of generated ohmic molybdenum - silicon contacts to the transistor emitters is proposed for the first time. The possibilities of this method are investigated and confirmed experimentally. (authors)

Results from Coupled Optical and Electrical Sentaurus TCAD Models of a Gallium Phosphide on Silicon Electron Carrier Selective Contact Solar Cell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Limpert, Steven; Ghosh, Kunal; Wagner, Hannes; Bowden, Stuart; Honsberg, Christiana; Goodnick, Stephen; Bremner, Stephen; Green, Martin

2014-06-09

We report results from coupled optical and electrical Sentaurus TCAD models of a gallium phosphide (GaP) on silicon electron carrier selective contact (CSC) solar cell. Detailed analyses of current and voltage performance are presented for devices having substrate thicknesses of 10 μm, 50 μm, 100 μm and 150 μm, and with GaP/Si interfacial quality ranging from very poor to excellent. Ultimate potential performance was investigated using optical absorption profiles consistent with light trapping schemes of random pyramids with attached and detached rear reflector, and planar with an attached rear reflector. Results indicate Auger-limited open-circuit voltages up to 787 mV and efficiencies up to 26.7% may be possible for front-contacted devices.

Comparison of carrier transport mechanism under UV/Vis illumination in an AZO photodetector and an AZO/p-Si heterojunction photodiode produced by spray pyrolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shasti, M.; Mortezaali, A.; Dariani, R. S.

2015-01-01

In this study, Aluminum doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) layer is deposited on p-type silicon (p-Si) by spray pyrolysis method to fabricate ultraviolet-visible (UV/Vis) photodetector as Al doping process can have positive effect on the photodetector performance. Morphology, crystalline structure, and Al concentration of AZO layer are investigated by SEM, XRD, and EDX. The goal of this study is to analyze the mechanism of carrier transport by means of current-voltage characteristics under UV/Vis illumination in two cases: (a) electrodes connected to the surface of AZO layer and (b) electrodes connected to cross section of heterojunction (AZO/p-Si). Measurements indicate that the AZO/p-Si photodiode exhibits a higher photocurrent and lower photoresponse time under visible illumination with respect to AZO photodetector; while under UV illumination, the above result is inversed. Besides, the internal junction field of AZO/p-Si heterojunction plays an important role on this mechanism

Comparison of carrier transport mechanism under UV/Vis illumination in an AZO photodetector and an AZO/p-Si heterojunction photodiode produced by spray pyrolysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shasti, M.; Mortezaali, A., E-mail: mortezaali@alzahra.ac.ir; Dariani, R. S. [Department of Physics, Alzahra University, Tehran 1993893973 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-01-14

In this study, Aluminum doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) layer is deposited on p-type silicon (p-Si) by spray pyrolysis method to fabricate ultraviolet-visible (UV/Vis) photodetector as Al doping process can have positive effect on the photodetector performance. Morphology, crystalline structure, and Al concentration of AZO layer are investigated by SEM, XRD, and EDX. The goal of this study is to analyze the mechanism of carrier transport by means of current-voltage characteristics under UV/Vis illumination in two cases: (a) electrodes connected to the surface of AZO layer and (b) electrodes connected to cross section of heterojunction (AZO/p-Si). Measurements indicate that the AZO/p-Si photodiode exhibits a higher photocurrent and lower photoresponse time under visible illumination with respect to AZO photodetector; while under UV illumination, the above result is inversed. Besides, the internal junction field of AZO/p-Si heterojunction plays an important role on this mechanism.

Periodically structured Si pillars for high-performing heterojunction photodetectors

Science.gov (United States)

Melvin David Kumar, M.; Yun, Ju-Hyung; Kim, Joondong

2015-03-01

A periodical array of silicon (Si) micro pillar structures was fabricated on Si substrates using PR etching process. Indium tin oxide (ITO) layer of 80 nm thickness was deposited over patterned Si substrates so as to make ITO/n-Si heterojunction devices. The influences of width and period of pillars on the optical and electrical properties of prepared devices were investigated. The surface morphology of the Si substrates revealed the uniform array of pillar structures. The 5/10 (width/period) Si pillar pattern reduced the optical reflectance to 6.5% from 17% which is of 5/7 pillar pattern. The current rectifying ratio was found higher for the device in which the pillars are situated in optimum periods. At both visible (600 nm) and near infrared (900 nm) range of wavelengths, the 5/7 and 5/10 pillar patterned device exhibited the better photoresponses which are suitable for making advanced photodetectors. This highly transmittance and photoresponsive pillar patterned Si substrates with an ITO layer would be a promising device for various photoelectric applications.

Relaxing the electrostatic screening effect by patterning vertically-aligned silicon nanowire arrays into bundles for field emission application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hung, Yung-Jr, E-mail: yungjrhung@gmail.com [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC (China); Department of Photonics, National Sun Yat-sen University, No. 70, Lienhai Rd., Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan, ROC (China); Graduate Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC (China); Lee, San-Liang [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC (China); Graduate Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC (China); Beng, Looi Choon [Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University, Jalan Multimedia, 63100 Cyberjaya, Selangor (Malaysia); Chang, Hsuan-Chen [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC (China); Graduate Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC (China); Huang, Yung-Jui [Graduate Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC (China); Lee, Kuei-Yi; Huang, Ying-Sheng [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC (China); Graduate Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC (China)

2014-04-01

Top-down fabrication strategies are proposed and demonstrated to realize arrays of vertically-aligned silicon nanowire bundles and bundle arrays of carbon nanotube–silicon nanowire (CNT–SiNW) heterojunctions, aiming for releasing the electrostatic screening effect and improving the field emission characteristics. The trade-off between the reduction in the electrostatic screening effect and the decrease of emission sites leads to an optimal SiNW bundle arrangement which enables the lowest turn-on electric field of 1.4 V/μm and highest emission current density of 191 μA/cm{sup 2} among all testing SiNW samples. Benefiting from the superior thermal and electrical properties of CNTs and the flexible patterning technologies available for SiNWs, bundle arrays of CNT–SiNW heterojunctions show improved and highly-uniform field emission with a lower turn-on electric field of 0.9 V/μm and higher emission current density of 5.86 mA/cm{sup 2}. The application of these materials and their corresponding fabrication approaches is not limited to the field emission but can be used for a variety of emerging fields like nanoelectronics, lithium-ion batteries, and solar cells. - Highlights: • Aligned silicon nanowire (SiNW) bundle arrays are realized with top-down methods. • Growing carbon nanotubes atop SiNW bundle arrays enable uniform field emission. • A turn-on field of 0.9 V/μm and an emission current of > 5 mA/cm{sup 2} are achieved.

Low cost silicon-on-ceramic photovoltaic solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Koepke, B. G.; Heaps, J. D.; Grung, B. L.; Zook, J. D.; Sibold, J. D.; Leipold, M. H.

1980-01-01

A technique has been developed for coating low-cost mullite-based refractory substrates with thin layers of solar cell quality silicon. The technique involves first carbonizing one surface of the ceramic and then contacting it with molten silicon. The silicon wets the carbonized surface and, under the proper thermal conditions, solidifies as a large-grained sheet. Solar cells produced from this composite silicon-on-ceramic material have exhibited total area conversion efficiencies of ten percent.

An investigation of the adhesion of gold contacts on silicon detectors of nuclear radiation as a function of the substrate temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gumnerova, L.; Mikhajlov, M.

1981-01-01

The dependence of the adhesion of a thin gold film to an etched single crystal silicon substrate temperature and duration of aging is investigated. N-type silicon samples of 3Ω/m specific resistivity and 0.002 m thick are used. These samples are lapped by a series of abrasive powders with a grain diameter of 40 μm to 7 μm and etched by a 1:3:0.5 (HF:HNO 3 :CH 3 COOH) etching agent. The principal schemes of the evaporation equipment and the adhesion testing device are presented. Gold contacts are deposited at substrate temperature ranging from room temperature up to 433 K. The obtained gold films on the silicon substrates are tested and the results are given. It is seen that the adhesion of the gold film to the sample heated up to 373 K is about 50 times higher than the adhesion of the fresh unheated sample. The comparison between samples subjected to aging shows that the adhesion of heated samples is about 10 times higher and does not change essentially after ageing. Some possible explanations of this phenomena are given

A Generalized Theory Explains the Anomalous Suns–Voc Response of Si Heterojunction Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Chavali, Raghu Vamsi Krishna

2016-11-30

Suns–Voc measurements exclude parasitic series resistance effects and are, therefore, frequently used to study the intrinsic potential of a given photovoltaic technology. However, when applied to a-Si/c-Si heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells, the Suns–Voc curves often feature a peculiar turnaround at high illumination intensities. Generally, this turn-around is attributed to extrinsic Schottky contacts that should disappear with process improvement. In this paper, we demonstrate that this voltage turnaround may be an intrinsic feature of SHJ solar cells, arising from the heterojunction (HJ), as well as its associated carrier-transport barriers, inherent to SHJ devices. We use numerical simulations to explore the full current–voltage (J–V) characteristics under different illumination and ambient temperature conditions. Using these characteristics, we establish the voltage and illumination-intensity bias, as well as temperature conditions necessary to observe the voltage turnaround in these cells. We validate our turnaround hypothesis using an extensive set of experiments on a high-efficiency SHJ solar cell and a molybdenum oxide (MoOx) based hole collector HJ solar cell. Our work consolidates Suns–Voc as a powerful characterization tool for extracting the cell parameters that limit efficiency in HJ devices.

Anomalous dose rate effects in gamma irradiated SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banerjee, G.; Niu, G.; Cressler, J.D.; Clark, S.D.; Palmer, M.J.; Ahlgren, D.C.

1999-01-01

Low dose rate (LDR) cobalt-60 (0.1 rad(Si)/s) gamma irradiated Silicon Germanium (SiGe) Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBTs) were studied. Comparisons were made with devices irradiated with 300 rad(Si)/s gamma radiation to verify if LDR radiation is a serious radiation hardness assurance (RHA) issue. Almost no LDR degradation was observed in this technology up to 50 krad(Si). The assumption of the presence of two competing mechanisms is justified by experimental results. At low total dose (le20 krad), an anomalous base current decrease was observed which is attributed to self-annealing of deep-level traps to shallower levels. An increase in base current at larger total doses is attributed to radiation induced generation-recombination (G/R) center generation. Experiments on gate-assisted lateral PNP transistors and 2D numerical simulations using MEDICI were used to confirm these assertions

Doped Heterojunction Used in Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cell

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanyan Gao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Incorporated foreign atoms into the quantum dots (QDs used in heterojunction have always been a challenge for solar energy conversion. A foreign atom indium atom was incorporated into PbS/CdS QDs to prepare In-PbS/In-CdS heterojunction by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method which is a chemical method. Experimental results indicate that PbS or CdS has been doped with In by SILAR method; the concentration of PbS and CdS which was doped In atoms has no significantly increase or decrease. In addition, incorporating of Indium atoms has resulted in the lattice distortions or changes of PbS or CdS and improved the light harvest of heterojunction. Using this heterojunction, Pt counter electrode and polysulfide electrolyte, to fabricate quantum dot sensitized solar cells, the short circuit current density ballooned to 27.01 mA/cm2 from 13.61 mA/cm2 and the open circuit voltage was improved to 0.43 V from 0.37 V at the same time.

Electroluminescence from GaN-polymer heterojunction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chitara, Basant; Lal, Nidhi; Krupanidhi, S.B.; Rao, C.N.R.

2011-01-01

Inorganic and organic semiconductor devices are generally viewed as distinct and separate technologies. Herein we report a hybrid inorganic-organic light-emitting device employing the use of an air stable polymer, Poly (9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) as a p-type layer to create a heterojunction, avoiding the use of p-type GaN, which is difficult to grow, being prone to the complex and expensive fabrication techniques that characterises it. I-V characteristics of the GaN-polymer heterojunction fabricated by us exhibits excellent rectification. The luminescence onset voltage is typically about 8-10 V. The device emits yellowish white electroluminescence with CIE coordinates (0.42, 0.44). - Highlights: → We use a polymer Poly (9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) as a p-type layer to create a heterojunction. → I-V characteristics of the device fabricated by us exhibits excellent rectification. → The p-type polymer also emits yellow light, which when combined in proper composition with GaN, give rise to white light. → Device can be readily fabricated by just spin coating the polymer over GaN reducing the cost of the device.

Influence of Asymmetric Contact Form on Contact Resistance and Schottky Barrier, and Corresponding Applications of Diode.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yudan; Xiao, Xiaoyang; Huo, Yujia; Wang, Yingcheng; Zhang, Tianfu; Jiang, Kaili; Wang, Jiaping; Fan, Shoushan; Li, Qunqing

2017-06-07

We have fabricated carbon nanotube and MoS 2 field-effect transistors with asymmetric contact forms of source-drain electrodes, from which we found the current directionality of the devices and different contact resistances under the two current directions. By designing various structures, we can conclude that the asymmetric electrical performance was caused by the difference in the effective Schottky barrier height (Φ SB ) caused by the different contact forms. A detailed temperature-dependent study was used to extract and compare the Φ SB for both contact forms of CNT and MoS 2 devices; we found that the Φ SB for the metal-on-semiconductor form was much lower than that of the semiconductor-on-metal form and is suitable for all p-type, n-type, or ambipolar semiconductors. This conclusion is meaningful with respect to the design and application of nanomaterial electronic devices. Additionally, using the difference in barrier height caused by the contact forms, we have also proposed and fabricated Schottky barrier diodes with a current ratio up to 10 4 ; rectifying circuits consisting of these diodes were able to work in a wide frequency range. This design avoided the use of complex chemical doping or heterojunction methods to achieve fundamental diodes that are relatively simple and use only a single material; these may be suitable for future application in nanoelectronic radio frequency or integrated circuits.

ZnO-graphene quantum dots heterojunctions for natural sunlight-driven photocatalytic environmental remediation

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Suneel; Dhiman, Ankita; Sudhagar, Pitchaimuthu; Krishnan, Venkata

2018-07-01

In this work, we report the formation of heterojunctions comprising of graphene quantum dots (GQD) decorated ZnO nanorods (NR) and its use as efficient photocatalysts for environmental remediation. The heterojunctions has been designed to be active both in the UV and visible light regions and anticipated utilize the maximum part of the solar light spectrum. In this view, we examined the photocatalytic performance of our heterojunctions towards the degradation of colored pollutant (methylene blue (MB) dye) and a colorless pollutant (carbendazim (CZ) fungicide) under sunlight irradiation. Compared to bare photocatalyst ZnO and GQD, the heterojunction with 2 wt% of GQD (ZGQD2) showed the best photocatalytic activity by effectively degrading (about 95%) of organic pollutants (MB and CZ) from water within a short span of 70 min. The superior photocatalytic activity of these ZnO-GQD heterojunctions could be attributed to efficient charge carrier separation lead suppressed recombination rate at photocatalyst interfaces. In addition to the enhanced light absorption from UV to visible region, the high specific surface area of ZGQD2 heterojunction (353.447 m2 g-1) also imparts strong adsorption capacity for pollutants over catalyst surface, resulting in high photoactivity. Based on the obtained results, band gap alignment at ZnO-GQD heterojunction and active species trapping experiments, a plausible mechanism is proposed for photocatalytic reaction. The excellent photostability and recyclability of the ZnO-GQD heterojunctions fostering as promising photocatalyst candidate for environmental remediation applications.

Current Status and Future Prospects of Copper Oxide Heterojunction Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Terence K S; Zhuk, Siarhei; Masudy-Panah, Saeid; Dalapati, Goutam K

2016-04-07

The current state of thin film heterojunction solar cells based on cuprous oxide (Cu₂O), cupric oxide (CuO) and copper (III) oxide (Cu₄O₃) is reviewed. These p-type semiconducting oxides prepared by Cu oxidation, sputtering or electrochemical deposition are non-toxic, sustainable photovoltaic materials with application potential for solar electricity. However, defects at the copper oxide heterojunction and film quality are still major constraining factors for achieving high power conversion efficiency, η. Amongst the Cu₂O heterojunction devices, a maximum η of 6.1% has been obtained by using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of Al x Ga 1- x O onto thermal Cu₂O doped with Na. The performance of CuO/n-Si heterojunction solar cells formed by magnetron sputtering of CuO is presently limited by both native oxide and Cu rich copper oxide layers at the heterointerface. These interfacial layers can be reduced by using a two-step sputtering process. A high η of 2.88% for CuO heterojunction solar cells has been achieved by incorporation of mixed phase CuO/Cu₂O nanopowder. CuO/Cu₂O heterojunction solar cells fabricated by electrodeposition and electrochemical doping has a maximum efficiency of 0.64% after surface defect passivation and annealing. Finally, early stage study of Cu₄O₃/GaN deposited on sapphire substrate has shown a photovoltaic effect and an η of ~10 -2 %.

-MoS2 Lateral Heterojunctions

KAUST Repository

Li, Ming-yang; Pu, Jiang; Huang, Jing-Kai; Miyauchi, Yuhei; Matsuda, Kazunari; Takenobu, Taishi; Li, Lain-Jong

2018-01-01

2D layered heterostructures have attracted intensive interests due to their unique optical, transport, and interfacial properties. The laterally stitched heterojunction based on dissimilar 2D transition metal dichalcogenides forms an intrinsic p

Effect of doping on structural, optical and electrical properties of nanostructure ZnO films deposited onto a-Si:H/Si heterojunction

Science.gov (United States)

Sali, S.; Boumaour, M.; Kermadi, S.; Keffous, A.; Kechouane, M.

2012-09-01

We investigated the structural; optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films as the n-type semiconductor for silicon a-Si:H/Si heterojunction photodiodes. The ZnO film forms the front contact of the super-strata solar cell and has to exhibit good electrical (high conductivity) and optical (high transmittance) properties. In this paper we focused our attention on the influence of doping on device performance. The results show that the X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra revealed a preferred orientation of the crystallites along c-axis. SEM images show that all films display a granular, polycrystalline morphology and the ZnO:Al exhibits a better grain uniformity. The transmittance of the doped films was found to be higher when compared to undoped ZnO. A low resistivity of the order of 2.8 × 10-4 Ω cm is obtained for ZnO:Al using 0.4 M concentration of zinc acetate. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra exhibit a blue band with two peaks centered at 442 nm (2.80 eV) and 490 nm (2.53 eV). It is noted that after doping the ZnO films a shift of the band by 22 nm (0.15 eV) is recorded and a high luminescence occurs when using Al as a dopant. Dark I-V curves of ZnO/a-Si:H/Si structure showed large difference, which means there is a kind of barrier to current flow between ZnO and a-Si:H layer. Doping films was applied and the turn-on voltages are around 0.6 V. Under reverse bias, the current of the ZnO/a-Si:H/Si heterojunction is larger than that of ZnO:Al/a-Si:H/Si. The improvement with ZnO:Al is attributed to a higher number of generated carriers in the nanostructure (due to the higher transmittance and a higher luminescence) that increases the probability of collisions.

Removal of dangling bonds and surface states on silicon (001) with a monolayer of selenium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tao Meng; Udeshi, Darshak; Basit, Nasir; Maldonado, Eduardo; Kirk, Wiley P.

2003-01-01

Dangling bonds and surface states are inherent to semiconductor surfaces. By passivating dangling bonds on the silicon (001) surface with a monolayer of selenium, surface states are removed from the band gap. Magnesium contacts on selenium-passivated silicon (001) behave ohmically, as expected from the work function of magnesium and the electron affinity of silicon. After rapid thermal annealing and hot-plate annealing, magnesium contacts on selenium-passivated silicon (001) show better thermal stability than on hydrogen-passivated silicon (001), which is attributed to the suppression of silicide formation by selenium passivation

Evaluation of safety and efficacy of a new multipurpose disinfecting solution on silicone hydrogel contact lenses☆

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto-Fraga, José; Blázquez Arauzo, Francisco; Urbano Rodríguez, Rubén; González-García, María J.

2014-01-01

Purpose To evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new multipurpose disinfecting solution (MPDS) with a formulation that includes aloe vera on its composition. Methods This is a prospective, randomized, double-masked clinical trial with a crossover design that included seven examinations. Two different MPDSs, Avizor Alvera® (study solution) and All Clean Soft® (control solution), each were used for 1 month. Comfilcon A silicone hydrogel contact lenses were used during the trial. The main outcome variables were corneal staining and deposits on the surfaces of the contact lenses. Other parameters including ocular surface response, contact lens wettability, user satisfaction, and adverse events, were analyzed according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 11980:2010 guidance for clinical investigation. Results Twenty subjects (10 women, 10 men) (mean age, 27.7 ± 5.6 years; range, 20–41) were included. No differences between both MPDSs were found in the percentage of subjects with corneal staining >0 at day 30 (study: 35%, control: 50%; p = 0.46); neither in the percentage of subjects with deposits on the surface of the contact lens >0 at day 30 (study: 26.32%, control: 52.63%; p = 0.18). The study MPDS received higher rates in comfort (study: 8.14 ± 1.09, control: 7.94 ± 0.92; p = 0.56) and satisfaction at day 30 (study: 8.63 ± 0.91, control: 8.29 ± 0.80; p = 0.19), however the scores were not significantly different with the control MPDS. Conclusions The clinical trial showed that the study MPDS is safe, efficient, and has acceptable physiologic tolerance, according to the ISO 11980:2010 guidance for clinical investigation. PMID:25649640

Evaluation of safety and efficacy of a new multipurpose disinfecting solution on silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto-Fraga, José; Blázquez Arauzo, Francisco; Urbano Rodríguez, Rubén; González-García, María J

2015-01-01

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new multipurpose disinfecting solution (MPDS) with a formulation that includes aloe vera on its composition. This is a prospective, randomized, double-masked clinical trial with a crossover design that included seven examinations. Two different MPDSs, Avizor Alvera® (study solution) and All Clean Soft® (control solution), each were used for 1 month. Comfilcon A silicone hydrogel contact lenses were used during the trial. The main outcome variables were corneal staining and deposits on the surfaces of the contact lenses. Other parameters including ocular surface response, contact lens wettability, user satisfaction, and adverse events, were analyzed according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 11980:2010 guidance for clinical investigation. Twenty subjects (10 women, 10 men) (mean age, 27.7±5.6 years; range, 20-41) were included. No differences between both MPDSs were found in the percentage of subjects with corneal staining >0 at day 30 (study: 35%, control: 50%; p=0.46); neither in the percentage of subjects with deposits on the surface of the contact lens >0 at day 30 (study: 26.32%, control: 52.63%; p=0.18). The study MPDS received higher rates in comfort (study: 8.14±1.09, control: 7.94±0.92; p=0.56) and satisfaction at day 30 (study: 8.63±0.91, control: 8.29±0.80; p=0.19), however the scores were not significantly different with the control MPDS. The clinical trial showed that the study MPDS is safe, efficient, and has acceptable physiologic tolerance, according to the ISO 11980:2010 guidance for clinical investigation. Copyright © 2014 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Tunneling-assisted transport of carriers through heterojunctions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wampler, William R. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Myers, Samuel M. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Modine, Normand A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-10-01

The formulation of carrier transport through heterojunctions by tunneling and thermionic emission is derived from first principles. The treatment of tunneling is discussed at three levels of approximation: numerical solution of the one-band envelope equation for an arbitrarily specified potential profile; the WKB approximation for an arbitrary potential; and, an analytic formulation assuming constant internal field. The effects of spatially varying carrier chemical potentials over tunneling distances are included. Illustrative computational results are presented. The described approach is used in exploratory physics models of irradiated heterojunction bipolar transistors within Sandia's QASPR program.

Electronic properties and morphology of copper oxide/n-type silicon heterostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Lindberg, P. F.; Gorantla, S. M.; Gunnæs, A. E.; Svensson, B. G.; Monakhov, E. V.

2017-08-01

Silicon-based tandem heterojunction solar cells utilizing cuprous oxide (Cu2O) as the top absorber layer show promise for high-efficiency conversion and low production cost. In the present study, single phase Cu2O films have been realized on n-type Si substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering at 400 °C. The obtained Cu2O/Si heterostructures have subsequently been heat treated at temperatures in the 400-700 °C range in Ar flow and extensively characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging and electrical techniques. The Cu2O/Si heterojunction exhibits a current rectification of ~5 orders of magnitude between forward and reverse bias voltages. High resolution cross-sectional TEM-images show the presence of a ~2 nm thick interfacial SiO2 layer between Cu2O and the Si substrate. Heat treatments below 550 °C result in gradual improvement of crystallinity, indicated by XRD. At and above 550 °C, partial phase transition to cupric oxide (CuO) occurs followed by a complete transition at 700 °C. No increase or decrease of the SiO2 layer is observed after the heat treatment at 550 °C. Finally, a thin Cu-silicide layer (Cu3Si) emerges below the SiO2 layer upon annealing at 550 °C. This silicide layer influences the lateral current and voltage distributions, as evidenced by an increasing effective area of the heterojunction diodes.

Transparent Cu4O3/ZnO heterojunction photoelectric devices

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hong-Sik; Yadav, Pankaj; Patel, Malkeshkumar; Kim, Joondong; Pandey, Kavita; Lim, Donggun; Jeong, Chaehwan

2017-12-01

The present article reports the development of flexible, self-biased, broadband, high speed and transparent heterojunction photodiode, which is essentially important for the next generation electronic devices. We grow semitransparent p-type Cu4O3 using the reactive sputtering method at room temperature. The structural and optical properties of the Cu4O3 film were investigated by using the X-ray diffraction and UV-visible spectroscopy, respectively. The p-Cu4O3/n-ZnO heterojunction diode under dark condition yields rectification behavior with an extremely low saturation current value of 1.8 × 10-10 A and a zero bias photocurrent under illumination condition. The transparent p-Cu4O3/n-ZnO heterojunction photodetector can be operated without an external bias, due to the light-induced voltage production. The metal oxide heterojunction based on Cu4O3/ZnO would provide a route for the transparent and flexible photoelectric devices, including photodetectors and photovoltaics.

Simple Approach to Superamphiphobic Overhanging Silicon Nanostructures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kumar, Rajendra; Mogensen, Klaus Bo; Bøggild, Peter

2010-01-01

with contact angles up to 152 degrees and roll-off angle down to 8 degrees. Such nonlithographic nanoscale overhanging Structures can also be added to silicon nanograss by deposition of a thin SiO2 layer, which equips the silicon rods with 100-300 nm sized overhanging Structures. This is a simple, fast...

Ambipolar organic heterojunction transistors with various p-type semiconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Jianwu; Wang Haibo; Song De; Tian Hongkun; Geng Yanhou; Yan Donghang

2008-01-01

Ambipolar transport has been realized in organic heterojunction transistors with metal phthalocyanines, phenanthrene-based conjugated oligomers as the first semiconductors and copper-hexadecafluoro-phthalocyanine as the second semiconductor. The electron and hole mobilities of ambipolar devices with rod-like molecules were comparable to the corresponding single component devices, while the carrier mobility of ambipolar devices with disk-like molecules was much lower than the corresponding single component devices. The much difference of their device performance was attributed to the roughness of the first semiconductor films, which was original from their distinct growth habits. The flat and continuous films for the first semiconductors layer can lead to a smooth heterojunction interface, and obtained a high device performance for ambipolar organic heterojunction transistors

Basic aspects for improving the energy conversion efficiency of hetero-junction organic photovoltaic cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryuzaki, Sou; Onoe, Jun

2013-01-01

Hetero-junction organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells consisting of donor (D) and acceptor (A) layers have been regarded as next-generation PV cells, because of their fascinating advantages, such as lightweight, low fabrication cost, resource free, and flexibility, when compared to those of conventional PV cells based on silicon and semiconductor compounds. However, the power conversion efficiency (η) of the OPV cells has been still around 8%, though more than 10% efficiency has been required for their practical use. To fully optimize these OPV cells, it is necessary that the low mobility of carriers/excitons in the OPV cells and the open circuit voltage (V OC), of which origin has not been understood well, should be improved. In this review, we address an improvement of the mobility of carriers/excitons by controlling the crystal structure of a donor layer and address how to increase the V OC for zinc octaethylporphyrin [Zn(OEP)]/C60 hetero-junction OPV cells [ITO/Zn(OEP)/C60/Al]. It was found that crystallization of Zn(OEP) films increases the number of inter-molecular charge transfer (IMCT) excitons and enlarges the mobility of carriers and IMCT excitons, thus significantly improving the external quantum efficiency (EQE) under illumination of the photoabsorption band due to the IMCT excitons. Conversely, charge accumulation of photo-generated carriers in the vicinity of the donor/acceptor (D/A) interface was found to play a key role in determining the V OC for the OPV cells.

Black silicon solar cells with black bus-bar strings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Rasmus Schmidt; Tang, Peter Torben; Mizushima, Io

2016-01-01

We present the combination of black silicon texturing and blackened bus-bar strings as a potential method for obtaining all-black solar panels, while using conventional, front-contacted solar cells. Black silicon was realized by maskless reactive ion etching resulting in total, average reflectance...... below 0.5% across a 156x156 mm2 silicon wafer. Four different methods to obtain blackened bus-bar strings were compared with respect to reflectance, and two of these methods (i.e., oxidized copper and etched solder) were used to fabricate functional allblack solar 9-cell panels. The black bus-bars (e.......g., by oxidized copper) have a reflectance below 3% in the entire visible wavelength range. The combination of black silicon cells and blackened bus-bars results in aesthetic, all-black panels based on conventional, front-contacted solar cells without compromising efficiency....

Contact of a spherical probe with a stretched rubber substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Frétigny, Christian; Chateauminois, Antoine

2017-07-01

We report on a theoretical and experimental investigation of the normal contact of stretched neo-Hookean substrates with rigid spherical probes. Starting from a published formulation of surface Green's function for incremental displacements on a prestretched, neo-Hookean, substrate [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 56, 2957 (2008), 10.1016/j.jmps.2008.07.002], a model is derived for both adhesive and nonadhesive contacts. The shape of the elliptical contact area together with the contact load and the contact stiffness are predicted as a function of the in-plane stretch ratios λx and λy of the substrate. The validity of this model is assessed by contact experiments carried out using an uniaxally stretched silicone rubber. For stretch ratio below about 1.25, a good agreement is observed between theory and experiments. Above this threshold, some deviations from the theoretical predictions are induced as a result of the departure of the mechanical response of the silicone rubber from the neo-Hokeean description embedded in the model.

Current Status and Future Prospects of Copper Oxide Heterojunction Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Terence K. S. Wong

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The current state of thin film heterojunction solar cells based on cuprous oxide (Cu2O, cupric oxide (CuO and copper (III oxide (Cu4O3 is reviewed. These p-type semiconducting oxides prepared by Cu oxidation, sputtering or electrochemical deposition are non-toxic, sustainable photovoltaic materials with application potential for solar electricity. However, defects at the copper oxide heterojunction and film quality are still major constraining factors for achieving high power conversion efficiency, η. Amongst the Cu2O heterojunction devices, a maximum η of 6.1% has been obtained by using pulsed laser deposition (PLD of AlxGa1−xO onto thermal Cu2O doped with Na. The performance of CuO/n-Si heterojunction solar cells formed by magnetron sputtering of CuO is presently limited by both native oxide and Cu rich copper oxide layers at the heterointerface. These interfacial layers can be reduced by using a two-step sputtering process. A high η of 2.88% for CuO heterojunction solar cells has been achieved by incorporation of mixed phase CuO/Cu2O nanopowder. CuO/Cu2O heterojunction solar cells fabricated by electrodeposition and electrochemical doping has a maximum efficiency of 0.64% after surface defect passivation and annealing. Finally, early stage study of Cu4O3/GaN deposited on sapphire substrate has shown a photovoltaic effect and an η of ~10−2%.

Current Status and Future Prospects of Copper Oxide Heterojunction Solar Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Terence K. S.; Zhuk, Siarhei; Masudy-Panah, Saeid; Dalapati, Goutam K.

2016-01-01

The current state of thin film heterojunction solar cells based on cuprous oxide (Cu2O), cupric oxide (CuO) and copper (III) oxide (Cu4O3) is reviewed. These p-type semiconducting oxides prepared by Cu oxidation, sputtering or electrochemical deposition are non-toxic, sustainable photovoltaic materials with application potential for solar electricity. However, defects at the copper oxide heterojunction and film quality are still major constraining factors for achieving high power conversion efficiency, η. Amongst the Cu2O heterojunction devices, a maximum η of 6.1% has been obtained by using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) of AlxGa1−xO onto thermal Cu2O doped with Na. The performance of CuO/n-Si heterojunction solar cells formed by magnetron sputtering of CuO is presently limited by both native oxide and Cu rich copper oxide layers at the heterointerface. These interfacial layers can be reduced by using a two-step sputtering process. A high η of 2.88% for CuO heterojunction solar cells has been achieved by incorporation of mixed phase CuO/Cu2O nanopowder. CuO/Cu2O heterojunction solar cells fabricated by electrodeposition and electrochemical doping has a maximum efficiency of 0.64% after surface defect passivation and annealing. Finally, early stage study of Cu4O3/GaN deposited on sapphire substrate has shown a photovoltaic effect and an η of ~10−2%. PMID:28773398

Patterned growth of carbon nanotubes over vertically aligned silicon nanowire bundles for achieving uniform field emission.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Yung-Jr; Huang, Yung-Jui; Chang, Hsuan-Chen; Lee, Kuei-Yi; Lee, San-Liang

2014-01-01

A fabrication strategy is proposed to enable precise coverage of as-grown carbon nanotube (CNT) mats atop vertically aligned silicon nanowire (VA-SiNW) bundles in order to realize a uniform bundle array of CNT-SiNW heterojunctions over a large sample area. No obvious electrical degradation of as-fabricated SiNWs is observed according to the measured current-voltage characteristic of a two-terminal single-nanowire device. Bundle arrangement of CNT-SiNW heterojunctions is optimized to relax the electrostatic screening effect and to maximize the field enhancement factor. As a result, superior field emission performance and relatively stable emission current over 12 h is obtained. A bright and uniform fluorescent radiation is observed from CNT-SiNW-based field emitters regardless of its bundle periodicity, verifying the existence of high-density and efficient field emitters on the proposed CNT-SiNW bundle arrays.

In-line high-rate evaporation of aluminum for the metallization of silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mader, Christoph Paul

2012-07-11

This work focuses on the in-line high-rate evaporation of aluminum for contacting rear sides of silicon solar cells. The substrate temperature during the deposition process, the wafer bow after deposition, and the electrical properties of evaporated contacts are investigated. Furthermore, this work demonstrates for the first time the formation of aluminum-doped silicon regions by the in-line high-rate evaporation of aluminum without any further temperature treatment. The temperature of silicon wafers during in-line high-rate evaporation of aluminum is investigated in this work. The temperatures are found to depend on the wafer thickness W, the aluminum layer thickness d, and on the wafer emissivity {epsilon}. Two-dimensional finite-element simulations reproduce the measured peak temperatures with an accuracy of 97%. This work also investigates the wafer bow after in-line high-rate evaporation and shows that the elastic theory overestimates the wafer bow of planar Si wafers. The lower bow is explained with plastic deformation in the Al layer. Due to the plastic deformation only the first 79 K in temperature decrease result in a bow formation. Furthermore the electrical properties of evaporated point contacts are examined in this work. Parameterizations for the measured saturation currents of contacted p-type Si wafers and of contacted boron-diffused p{sup +}-type layers are presented. The contact resistivity of the deposited Al layers to silicon for various deposition processes and silicon surface concentrations are presented and the activation energy of the contact formation is determined. The measured saturation current densities and contact resistivities of the evaporated contacts are used in one-dimensional numerical Simulations and the impact on energy conversion efficiency of replacing a screen-printed rear side by an evaporated rear side is presented. For the first time the formation of aluminum-doped p{sup +}-type (Al-p{sup +}) silicon regions by the in

Black Silicon Solar Cells with Black Ribbons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Rasmus Schmidt; Tang, Peter Torben; Mizushima, Io

2016-01-01

We present the combination of mask-less reactive ion etch (RIE) texturing and blackened interconnecting ribbons as a method for obtaining all-black solar panels, while using conventional, front-contacted solar cells. Black silicon made by mask-less reactive ion etching has total, average...... in the range 15.7-16.3%. The KOH-textured reference cell had an efficiency of 17.9%. The combination of black Si and black interconnecting ribbons may result in aesthetic, all-black panels based on conventional, front-contacted silicon solar cells....... reflectance below 0.5% across a 156x156 mm2 silicon (Si) wafer. Black interconnecting ribbons were realized by oxidizing copper resulting in reflectance below 3% in the visible wavelength range. Screen-printed Si solar cells were realized on 156x156 mm2 black Si substrates with resulting efficiencies...

Factors influencing bacterial adhesion to contact lenses

OpenAIRE

Dutta, Debarun; Cole, Nerida; Willcox, Mark

2012-01-01

The process of any contact lens related keratitis generally starts with the adhesion of opportunistic pathogens to contact lens surface. This article focuses on identifying the factors which have been reported to affect bacterial adhesion to contact lenses. Adhesion to lenses differs between various genera/species/strains of bacteria. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is the predominant causative organism, adheres in the highest numbers to both hydrogel and silicone hydrogel lenses in vitro. The ...

Hybrid tandem solar cells with depleted-heterojunction quantum dot and polymer bulk heterojunction subcells

KAUST Repository

Kim, Taesoo

2015-10-01

We investigate hybrid tandem solar cells that rely on the combination of solution-processed depleted-heterojunction colloidal quantum dot (CQD) and bulk heterojunction polymer:fullerene subcells. The hybrid tandem solar cell is monolithically integrated and electrically connected in series with a suitable p-n recombination layer that includes metal oxides and a conjugated polyelectrolyte. We discuss the monolithic integration of the subcells, taking into account solvent interactions with underlayers and associated constraints on the tandem architecture, and show that an adequate device configuration consists of a low bandgap CQD bottom cell and a high bandgap polymer:fullerene top cell. Once we optimize the recombination layer and individual subcells, the hybrid tandem device reaches a VOC of 1.3V, approaching the sum of the individual subcell voltages. An impressive fill factor of 70% is achieved, further confirming that the subcells are efficiently connected via an appropriate recombination layer. © 2015.

Large rectification magnetoresistance in nonmagnetic Al/Ge/Al heterojunctions

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Kun; Li, Huan-huan; Grünberg, Peter; Li, Qiang; Ye, Sheng-tao; Tian, Yu-feng; Yan, Shi-shen; Lin, Zhao-jun; Kang, Shi-shou; Chen, Yan-xue; Liu, Guo-lei; Mei, and Liang-mo

2015-01-01

Magnetoresistance and rectification are two fundamental physical properties of heterojunctions and respectively have wide applications in spintronics devices. Being different from the well known various magnetoresistance effects, here we report a brand new large magnetoresistance that can be regarded as rectification magnetoresistance: the application of a pure small sinusoidal alternating-current to the nonmagnetic Al/Ge Schottky heterojunctions can generate a significant direct-current volt...

Probing π-π stacking modulation of g-C3N4/graphene heterojunctions and corresponding role of graphene on photocatalytic activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xinguo; Wei, Yang; Wei, Zhen; He, Hua; Huang, Chuyun; Zhu, Yongfa

2017-12-15

The photoelectrochemical properties of g-C 3 N 4 sheet are modified by the π-π stacking interaction with graphene, and the corresponding role of graphene on the surface chemical reactions is investigated by density functional theory. The calculated cohesive energies and the lattice mismatch energies indicate that g-C 3 N 4 and graphene are in parallel contact and can form a stable heterojunction. According to our calculated energy band structures and work functions of g-C 3 N 4 /graphene heterojunctions, the band edge modulations by graphene are discussed and corresponding photoinduced charge transfer processes are analyzed in detail. It is found that the incorporating of graphene into g-C 3 N 4 facilitates the separation of photoinduced e - /h + pairs and the oxidation capacity enhancement of the photoinduced holes with the downshifting of the valence band edge of g-C 3 N 4 layer. It is identified that the inhomogeneous onsite energies between interlayer and the band edge modulations are induced by the inhomogeneous charge redistribution between interlayer caused by graphene. Further, the initial dynamic reaction processes of oxygen atoms in g-C 3 N 4 /graphene heterojunctions also confirm the significant role of graphene on the surface chemical reactions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High-efficiency omnidirectional photoresponses based on monolayer lateral p–n heterojunctions

KAUST Repository

Tsai, Meng-Lin; Li, Ming-yang; Shi, Yumeng; Chen, Lih-Juann; Li, Lain-Jong; He, Jr-Hau

2016-01-01

Electrical and optical properties of lateral monolayer WSe2–MoS2 p–n heterojunctions were characterized to demonstrate a high responsivity of 0.26 A W−1 with an excellent omnidirectional photodetection capability. The heterojunction functioning as a

Correlation between the fine structure of spin-coated PEDOT:PSS and the photovoltaic performance of organic/crystalline-silicon heterojunction solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Funda, Shuji; Ohki, Tatsuya; Liu, Qiming; Hossain, Jaker; Ishimaru, Yoshihiro; Ueno, Keiji; Shirai, Hajime [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama 338-8570 (Japan)

2016-07-21

We investigated the relationship between the fine structure of spin-coated conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiphene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) films and the photovoltaic performance of PEDOT:PSS crystalline-Si (PEDOT:PSS/c-Si) heterojunction solar cells. Real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry revealed that there were two different time constants for the formation of the PEDOT:PSS network. Upon removal of the polar solvent, the PEDOT:PSS film became optically anisotropic, indicating a conformational change in the PEDOT and PSS chain. Polarized Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy measurements also indicated that thermal annealing promoted an in-plane π-conjugated C{sub α} = C{sub β} configuration attributed to a thiophene ring in PEDOT and an out-of-plane configuration of -SO{sub 3} groups in the PSS chain with increasing composition ratio of oxidized (benzoid) to neutral (quinoid) PEDOT, I{sub qui}/I{sub ben}. The highest power conversion efficiency for the spin-coated PEDOT:PSS/c-Si heterojunction solar cells was 13.3% for I{sub qui}/I{sub ben} = 9–10 without employing any light harvesting methods.

Analysis of water microdroplet condensation on silicon surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Honda, Takuya; Fujimoto, Kenya; Yoshimoto, Yuta; Mogi, Katsuo; Kinefuchi, Ikuya; Sugii, Yasuhiko; Takagi, Shu; Univ. of Tokyo Team; Tokyo Inst. of Tech. Team

2016-11-01

We observed the condensation process of water microdroplets on flat silicon (100) surfaces by means of the sequential visualization of the droplets using an environmental scanning electron microscope. As previously reported for nanostructured surfaces, the condensation process of water microdroplets on the flat silicon surfaces also exhibits two modes: the constant base (CB) area mode and the constant contact angle (CCA) mode. In the CB mode, the contact angle increases with time while the base diameter is constant. Subsequently, in the CCA mode, the base diameter increases with time while the contact angle remains constant. The dropwise condensation model regulated by subcooling temperature does not reproduce the experimental results. Because the subcooling temperature is not constant in the case of a slow condensation rate, this model is not applicable to the condensation of the long time scale ( several tens of minutes). The contact angle of water microdroplets ( several μm) tended to be smaller than the macro contact angle. Two hypotheses are proposed as the cause of small contact angles: electrowetting and the coalescence of sub- μm water droplets.

Interfacial effects in organic semiconductor heterojunctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stadler, P.

2011-01-01

The field of organic electronics has systematically gained interest in recent years, technologically and scientifically advances have been made leading to practical applications such as organic light emitting diodes, organic field-effect transistors and organic photo-voltaic cells. In this thesis a fundamental study on organic molecules is presented targeting on interfacial effects at organic heterojunctions. Generally in organic electronic devices interfaces are considered as key parameters for achieving high performance applications. Therefore in this work the emphasis is to investigate layer-by-layer heterojunctions of organic molecules. Defined heterojunctions at inorganic III-V semiconductors form superlattices and quantum-wells, which lead to interfacial effects summarized as quantum confinement and two-dimensional electron gases. Although organic molecules differ in many aspects from their inorganic counterparts, similar effects can be theoretically expected at organic heterojunctions as well. Organic molecules form van-der-Waals type crystals and domains which are macroscopically anisotropic and polycrystalline or amorphous. Organic molecules are intrinsic semiconductors and at interfaces dipoles are formed, which control the energy level alignment. In order to characterize such structures and compare them to inorganic superlattices and quantum-wells it is necessary to induce charge carriers. In this work this is established either by interfacial doping using high-performance dielectrics in a field-effect transistor structure or by photo-doping by exciting a donor-acceptor bilayer. In both cases C 60 was chosen as organic semiconductor exhibiting good acceptor properties and an electron mobility in the range of 0.5 cm 2 V -1 s -1 . The fabrication of well-defined few-molecular layers allows probing directly at the interface. Spectroscopic methods and transport measurements are applied for characterization: Photoemission spectroscopy, absorption and photo

Distributed-feedback single heterojunction GaAs diode laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scifres, D.R.; Burnham, R.D.; Streifer, W.

1974-01-01

Laser operation of single-heterojunction GaAl As/GaAs diode lasers using a periodic structure within the gain medium of the device, thereby obviating the need for carefully cleaved end crystal faces to produce feedback, is reported. By varying the grating period, wavelengths from 8430 to 8560 A were observed. The threshold current densities were of the same order as for normal single heterojunction diode lasers. Some advantages in output wavelengths were observed over lasers with cleared faces. (U.S.)

Transport characteristics of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction as determined from temperature dependent current–voltage measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Djiokap, S.R. Tankio, E-mail: stive.tankiodjiokap@nmmu.ac.za; Urgessa, Z.N.; Mbulanga, C.M.; Venter, A.; Botha, J.R.

2016-01-01

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods have been synthesized by a two-step chemical bath deposition process on silicon substrates having different dopant densities and orientations. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis reveal that the orientation of the Si substrate does not affect the orientation, distribution or crystallinity of the nanostructures. The electrical properties of the ZnO/Si heterojunction are also investigated by current–voltage (I–V) measurements. The ideality factor is found to be 2.6 at 295 K, indicating that complex current transport mechanisms are at play. Temperature dependent I–V characteristics have been used to determine the dominant transport mechanism. The experimental results suggest that in the low bias region the current is dominated by a trap assisted multi-step tunneling process.

High-performance photoresponse from single-walled carbon nanotube-zinc oxide heterojunctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Jingbo; Najeeb, Choolakadavil Khalid; Lee, Jae-Hyeok; Lee, Minsu; Kim, Jae-Ho

2011-01-01

Photoactive materials consisting of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT)-zinc oxide (ZnO) heterojunctions targeted for optoelectronic applications are investigated in terms of photoresponse and photovoltaic effects. The devices based on SWNT-ZnO heterojunction films are fabricated by two step processes: first, a well aligned SWNT monolayer is deposited on an oxide substrate by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique; then a ZnO film prepared by filtration of ZnO nanowire solution is transferred onto the SWNT film to form SWNT-ZnO junctions. The SWNT-ZnO heterojunction demonstrates faster photoresponse time (2.75 s) up to 18 times and photovoltaic efficiency (1.33 nA) up to 4 times higher than that of only a ZnO device. Furthermore, the mechanisms of UV sensitivity enhancement and photovoltaic effects are explained according to the high electron mobility in the SWNT-ZnO heterojunctions.

Resonance induced spin-selective transport behavior in carbon nanoribbon/nanotube/nanoribbon heterojunctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Xiang-Hua [School of Physics and Microelectronics Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan 411101 (China); Wang, Ling-Ling, E-mail: llwang@hnu.edu.cn [School of Physics and Microelectronics Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Li, Xiao-Fei, E-mail: xf.li@uestc.edu.cn [School of Physics and Microelectronics Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); School of Optoelectronic Information, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan 610054 (China); Chen, Tong; Li, Quan [School of Physics and Microelectronics Science, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China)

2015-09-04

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are attractive in spintronics. Here, we propose GNR/CNT/GNR heterojunctions constructed by attaching zigzag-GNRs at the side-wall of CNT for spintronic devices. The thermal stability and electronic transport properties were explored using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and nonequilibrium Green's function methods, respectively. Results demonstrate that the sp{sup 3}-hybridized contacts formed at the interface assure a good thermal stability of the system and make the CNT to be regarded as resonator. Only the electron of one spin-orientation and resonant energy is allowed to transport, resulting in the remarkable spin-selective transport behavior at the ferromagnetic state. - Highlights: • The new mechanism for spin-selective transport in molecular junction is proposed. • The two sp{sup 3} contacts formed between CNT and GNR can be regarded as electronic isolators. • The two isolators make the CNT act as a resonator. • Only the electron of one spin-orientation and resonant energy can form standing wave and transport through the whole junction.

Electrochemical properties of ion implanted silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pham minh Tan.

1979-11-01

The electrochemical behaviour of ion implanted silicon in contact with hydrofluoric acid solution was investigated. It was shown that the implanted layer on silicon changes profoundly its electrochemical properties (photopotential, interface impedance, rest potential, corrosion, current-potential behaviour, anodic dissolution of silicon, redox reaction). These changes depend strongly on the implantation parameters such as ion dose, ion energy, thermal treatment and ion mass and are weakly dependent on the chemical nature of the implantation ion. The experimental results were evaluated and interpreted in terms of the semiconductor electrochemical concepts taking into account the interaction of energetic ions with the solid surface. The observed effects are thus attributed to the implantation induced damage of silicon lattice and can be used for profiling of the implanted layer and the electrochemical treatment of the silicon surface. (author)

Efficient cascade multiple heterojunction organic solar cells with inverted structure

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Tingting; Li, Mingtao; Qiao, Zhenfang; Yu, Leiming; Zhao, Jianhong; Feng, Nianjun; Shi, Peiguang; Wang, Xiaoyan; Pu, Xiaoyun; Wang, Hai

2018-05-01

In this work, we demonstrate an efficient cascade multiple heterojunction organic solar cell with inverted structure. By using two donor materials, poly(3-hexylthiosphene) (P3HT) and titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc), as well as two acceptor materials, [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and C60, the cascade multiple heterojunctions of P3HT:PCBM/TiOPc:C60/C60 have been constructed. Applying the optimized inverted configuration of FTO/Zinc Tin Oxide (ZTO)/C60 (30 nm)/TiOPc:C60 (1:1.5, 25 nm)/P3HT:PCBM (1:0.8, 100 nm)/MoO3 (4 nm)/Ag, the considerably enhanced open circuit voltage (VOC) and short circuit current (JSC) can be harvested together, and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) is three times higher than that of the control cell with conventional structure. The significant improvements of the inverted cell are mostly due to the broadened spectral absorption and high efficient multi-interface exciton dissociation in the cascade multiple heterojunctions, indicating that the optimized cascade heterojunctions match the inverted structure well.

Tribological Properties of Silicone Rubber-Based Ceramizable Composites Destined for Wire Covers. Part II. Studies of Ball-on-Plate, Plate-on-Plate and Ring-on-Plate Friction Contact

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Anyszka

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Tribological properties of commercially available silicone-based ceramizable composites were studied. Friction forces of three different types of ceramizable composites were measured against three different-shape steel samples. Each friction pair contact was loaded with 15, 30, 45 or 60 N. Conducted studies reveal that tribological behavior of the composites vary considerably depending on the composite type and friction contact. However, friction force was increasing with an increase of the load, which mean that the composites behave accordingly to the classic friction theory.

Hierarchical On-Surface Synthesis of Deterministic Graphene Nanoribbon Heterojunctions

OpenAIRE

Bronner, Christopher; Durr, Rebecca A.; Rizzo, Daniel J.; Lee, Yea-Lee; Marangoni, Tomas; Kalayjian, Alin Miksi; Rodriguez, Henry; Zhao, William; Louie, Steven G.; Fischer, Felix R.; Crommie, Michael F.

2017-01-01

Bottom-up graphene nanoribbon (GNR) heterojunctions are nanoscale strips of graphene whose electronic structure abruptly changes across a covalently bonded interface. Their rational design offers opportunities for profound technological advancements enabled by their extraordinary structural and electronic properties. Thus far the most critical aspect of their synthesis, the control over sequence and position of heterojunctions along the length of a ribbon, has been plagued by randomness in mo...

Silicon crystal growth using a liquid-feeding Czochralski method

Science.gov (United States)

Shiraishi, Yutaka; Kurosaka, Shoei; Imai, Masato

1996-09-01

Silicon single crystals with uniformity along the growth direction were grown using a new continuous Czochralski (CCZ) method. Polycrystalline silicon rods used as charge materials are melted by carbon heaters over a crucible without contact between the raw material and other substances. Using this method, silicon crystals with diameters as large as 6 or 8 inch and good uniformity along the growth direction were grown.

Rectification properties of n-type nanocrystalline diamond heterojunctions to p-type silicon carbide at high temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goto, Masaki; Amano, Ryo; Shimoda, Naotaka [Graduate School of Automotive Science, Kyushu University, Nishiku, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Kato, Yoshimine, E-mail: yoshimine.kato@zaiko.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Kyushu University, Nishiku, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Teii, Kungen [Department of Applied Science for Electronics and Materials, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580 (Japan)

2014-04-14

Highly rectifying heterojunctions of n-type nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films to p-type 4H-SiC substrates are fabricated to develop p-n junction diodes operable at high temperatures. In reverse bias condition, a potential barrier for holes at the interface prevents the injection of reverse leakage current from the NCD into the SiC and achieves the high rectification ratios of the order of 10{sup 7} at room temperature and 10{sup 4} even at 570 K. The mechanism of the forward current injection is described with the upward shift of the defect energy levels in the NCD to the conduction band of the SiC by forward biasing. The forward current shows different behavior from typical SiC Schottky diodes at high temperatures.

Role of Firing Temperature, Sheet Resistance, and Contact Area in Contact Formation on Screen-Printed Metal Contact of Silicon Solar Cell

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Samir Mahmmod; Leong, Cheow Siu; Sopian, K.; Zaidi, Saleem H.

2018-03-01

Formation of an Ohmic contact requires a suitable firing temperature, appropriate doping profile, and contact dimensions within resolution limits of the screen-printing process. In this study, the role of the peak firing temperature in standard rapid thermal annealing (RTA) six-zone conveyor belt furnace (CBF) and two inexpensive alternate RTA systems [a custom-designed, three-zone, 5″-diameter quartz tube furnace (QTF) and a tabletop, 3″-diameter rapid thermal processing (RTP)] has been investigated. In addition, the role of sheet resistance and contact area in achieving low-resistance ohmic contacts has been examined. Electrical measurements of ohmic contacts between silver paste/ n +-emitter layer with varying sheet resistances and aluminum paste/ p-doped wafer were carried out in transmission line method configuration. Experimental measurements of the contact resistivity ( ρ c) exhibited the lowest values for CBF at 0.14 mΩ cm2 for Ag and 100 mΩ cm2 for Al at a peak firing temperature of 870°C. For the QTF configuration, lowest measured contact resistivities were 3.1 mΩ cm2 for Ag and 74.1 mΩ cm2 for Al at a peak firing temperature of 925°C. Finally, for the RTP configuration, lowest measured contact resistivities were 1.2 mΩ cm2 for Ag and 68.5 mΩ cm2 for Al at a peak firing temperature of 780°C. The measured contact resistivity exhibits strong linear dependence on sheet resistance. The contact resistivity for Ag decreases with contact area, while for Al the opposite behavior is observed.

Dielectric properties investigation of Cu2O/ZnO heterojunction thin films by electrodeposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Qiang; Xu, Mengmeng; Fan, Huiqing; Wang, Hairong; Peng, Biaolin; Long, Changbai; Zhai, Yuchun

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Bottom-up self-assembly Cu 2 O/ZnO heterojunction was fabricated by electrochemical deposition on indium tin oxide (ITO) flexible substrate (polyethylene terephthalate-PET). ► The dielectric response of Cu 2 O/ZnO heterojunction thin films had been investigated. ► The universal dielectric response was used to investigate the hopping behavior in Cu 2 O/ZnO heterojunction. -- Abstract: Structures and morphologies of the Cu 2 O/ZnO heterojunction electrodeposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) flexible substrate (polyethylene terephthalate-PET) were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), respectively. The dielectric response of bottom-up self-assembly Cu 2 O/ZnO heterojunction was investigated. The low frequency dielectric dispersion (LFDD) was observed. The universal dielectric response (UDR) was used to investigate the frequency dependence of dielectric response for Cu 2 O/ZnO heterojunction, which was attributed to the long range and the short range hopping charge carriers at the low frequency and the high frequency region, respectively

Increased resistance of contact lens related bacterial biofilms to antimicrobial activity of soft contact lens care solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Szczotka-Flynn, Loretta B.; Imamura, Yoshifumi; Chandra, Jyotsna; Yu, Changping; Mukherjee, Pranab K.; Pearlman, Eric; Ghannoum, Mahmoud A.

2014-01-01

PURPOSE To determine if clinical and reference strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, and Staphylococcus aureus form biofilms on silicone hydrogel contact lenses, and ascertain antimicrobial activities of contact lens care solutions. METHODS Clinical and American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) reference strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, and Staphylococcus aureus were incubated with lotrafilcon A lenses under conditions that facilitate biofilm formation. Biofilms were quantified by quantitative culturing (colony forming units, CFUs), and gross morphology and architecture were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy. Susceptibilities of the planktonic and biofilm growth phases of the bacteria to five common multipurpose contact lens care solutions and one hydrogen peroxide care solution were assessed. RESULTS P. aeruginosa, S. marcescens, and S. aureus reference and clinical strains formed biofilms on lotrafilcon A silicone hydrogel contact lenses, as dense networks of cells arranged in multiple layers with visible extracellular matrix. The biofilms were resistant to commonly used biguanide preserved multipurpose care solutions. P. aeruginosa and S. aureus biofilms were susceptible to a hydrogen peroxide and a polyquaternium preserved care solution, whereas S. marcescens biofilm was resistant to a polyquaternium preserved care solution but susceptible to hydrogen peroxide disinfection. In contrast, the planktonic forms were always susceptible. CONCLUSIONS P. aeruginosa, S. marcescens, and S. aureus form biofilms on lotrafilcon A contact lenses, which in contrast to planktonic cells, are resistant to the antimicrobial activity of several soft contact lens care products. PMID:19654521

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ELECTROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SILICON-SILICON DIOXIDE INTERFACE USING PROBE ELECTROMETRY METHODS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. А. Pilipenko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction of submicron design standards into microelectronic industry and a decrease of the gate dielectric thickness raise the importance of the analysis of microinhomogeneities in the silicon-silicon dioxide system. However, there is very little to no information on practical implementation of probe electrometry methods, and particularly scanning Kelvin probe method, in the interoperational control of real semiconductor manufacturing process. The purpose of the study was the development of methods for nondestructive testing of semiconductor wafers based on the determination of electrophysical properties of the silicon-silicon dioxide interface and their spatial distribution over wafer’s surface using non-contact probe electrometry methods.Traditional C-V curve analysis and scanning Kelvin probe method were used to characterize silicon- silicon dioxide interface. The samples under testing were silicon wafers of KEF 4.5 and KDB 12 type (orientation <100>, diameter 100 mm.Probe electrometry results revealed uniform spatial distribution of wafer’s surface potential after its preliminary rapid thermal treatment. Silicon-silicon dioxide electric potential values were also higher after treatment than before it. This potential growth correlates with the drop in interface charge density. At the same time local changes in surface potential indicate changes in surface layer structure.Probe electrometry results qualitatively reflect changes of interface charge density in silicon-silicon dioxide structure during its technological treatment. Inhomogeneities of surface potential distribution reflect inhomogeneity of damaged layer thickness and can be used as a means for localization of interface treatment defects.

Rational Design of Zinc Phosphide Heterojunction Photovoltaics

Science.gov (United States)

Bosco, Jeffrey Paul

The prospect of terawatt-scale electricity generation using a photovoltaic (PV) device places strict requirements on the active semiconductor optoelectronic properties and elemental abundance. After reviewing the constraints placed on an ``earth-abundant'' solar absorber, we find zinc phosphide (α-Zn 3P2) to be an ideal candidate. In addition to its near-optimal direct band gap of 1.5 eV, high visible-light absorption coefficient (>10. 4cm-1), and long minority-carrier diffusion length (>5 μm), Zn3P 2 is composed of abundant Zn and P elements and has excellent physical properties for scalable thin-film deposition. However, to date, a Zn 3P2 device of sufficient efficiency for commercial applications has not been demonstrated. Record efficiencies of 6.0% for multicrystalline and 4.3% for thin-film cells have been reported, respectively. Performance has been limited by the intrinsic p-type conductivity of Zn3P 2 which restricts us to Schottky and heterojunction device designs. Due to our poor understanding of Zn3P2 interfaces, an ideal heterojunction partner has not yet been found. The goal of this thesis is to explore the upper limit of solar conversion efficiency achievable with a Zn3P2 absorber through the design of an optimal heterojunction PV device. To do so, we investigate three key aspects of material growth, interface energetics, and device design. First, the growth of Zn3P2 on GaAs(001) is studied using compound-source molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). We successfully demonstrate the pseudomorphic growth of Zn3P2 epilayers of controlled orientation and optoelectronic properties. Next, the energy-band alignments of epitaxial Zn3P2 and II-VI and III-V semiconductor interfaces are measured via high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in order to determine the most appropriate heterojunction partner. From this work, we identify ZnSe as a nearly ideal n-type emitter for a Zn3P 2 PV device. Finally, various II-VI/Zn3P2 heterojunction solar cells designs are

Graphite-like carbon nitride coupled with tiny Bi2S3 nanoparticles as 2D/0D heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Chengzhang; Gong, Tingting; Xian, Qiming; Xie, Jimin

2018-06-01

Novel well-dispersed tiny Bi2S3 nanoparticles (NPs) with an average sizes of approximately 16.2 nm were used to decorate layered g-C3N4 nanosheets (NSs), with the purpose of constructing highly efficient 0D/2D heterojunction photocatalyst by a simple hydrothermal method in one step. The fabricated Bi2S3/g-C3N4 heterostructures exhibited superior visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity toward methyl orange (MO) degradation in contrast to that of individual Bi2S3 and g-C3N4, which could be mainly ascribed to the synergistic effect of the tiny size effect of 0D Bi2S3 NPs and 2D g-C3N4 NSs, the matched energy level positions, and the abundant coupling heterointerfaces between two moieties. More importantly, the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RhB) and colorless tetracycline (TC), ciprofloxacin (CIP) further revealed the broad-spectrum photodegradation capacities of the heterojunction materials. The possible photoinduced charge transfer and pollutant degradation process over Bi2S3/g-C3N4 heterojunctions under visible-light irradiation were proposed. This work may provide a platform for constructing new visible light 0D/2D intimate contact heterostructures with stable and efficient photocatalytic performance.

Zinc-oxide nanorod / copper-oxide thin-film heterojunction for a nitrogen-monoxide gas sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, Hwansu; Kim, Hyojin; Kim, Dojin

2014-01-01

A novel p - n oxide heterojunction structure was fabricated by employing n-type zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanorods grown on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate by using the hydrothermal method and a p-type copper-oxide (CuO) thin film deposited onto the ZnO nanorod array by using the sputtering method. The crystallinities and microstructures of the heterojunction materials were examined by using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The observed current - voltage characteristics of the p - n oxide heterojunction showed a nonlinear diode-like rectifying behavior. The effects of an oxidizing or electron acceptor gas, such as nitrogen monoxide (NO), on the ZnO nanorod/CuO thin-film heterojunction were investigated to determine the potential applications of the fabricated material for use in gas sensors. The forward current of the p - n heterojunction was remarkably reduced when NO gas was introduced into dry air at temperatures from 100 to 250 .deg. C. The NO gas response of the oxide heterojunction reached a maximum value at an operating temperature of 180 .deg. C and linearly increased as the NO gas concentration was increased from 5 to 30 ppm. The sensitivity value was observed to be as high as 170% at 180 .deg. C when biased at 2 V in the presence of 20-ppm NO. The ZnO nanorod/CuO thin-film heterojunction also exhibited a stable and repeatable response to NO gas. The experimental results suggest that the ZnO nanorod/CuO thin-film heterojunction structure may be a novel candidate for gas sensors.

Zinc-oxide nanorod / copper-oxide thin-film heterojunction for a nitrogen-monoxide gas sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, Hwansu; Kim, Hyojin; Kim, Dojin [Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-11-15

A novel p - n oxide heterojunction structure was fabricated by employing n-type zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanorods grown on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate by using the hydrothermal method and a p-type copper-oxide (CuO) thin film deposited onto the ZnO nanorod array by using the sputtering method. The crystallinities and microstructures of the heterojunction materials were examined by using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The observed current - voltage characteristics of the p - n oxide heterojunction showed a nonlinear diode-like rectifying behavior. The effects of an oxidizing or electron acceptor gas, such as nitrogen monoxide (NO), on the ZnO nanorod/CuO thin-film heterojunction were investigated to determine the potential applications of the fabricated material for use in gas sensors. The forward current of the p - n heterojunction was remarkably reduced when NO gas was introduced into dry air at temperatures from 100 to 250 .deg. C. The NO gas response of the oxide heterojunction reached a maximum value at an operating temperature of 180 .deg. C and linearly increased as the NO gas concentration was increased from 5 to 30 ppm. The sensitivity value was observed to be as high as 170% at 180 .deg. C when biased at 2 V in the presence of 20-ppm NO. The ZnO nanorod/CuO thin-film heterojunction also exhibited a stable and repeatable response to NO gas. The experimental results suggest that the ZnO nanorod/CuO thin-film heterojunction structure may be a novel candidate for gas sensors.

Porous Silicon Sensors- Elusive and Erudite

OpenAIRE

H. Saha, Prof.

2017-01-01

Porous Silicon Sensors have been fabricated and tested successfully over the last few years as humidity sensors, vapour sensors, gas sensors, piezoresistive pressure sensors and bio- sensors. In each case it has displayed remarkably sensitivity, relatively low temperature operation and ease of fabrication. Brief description of fabrication and properties of all these types of different sensors is reported in this paper. The barriers of porous silicon like contact, non- uniformity, instability ...

Clinical evaluation of a new multi-purpose disinfecting solution in symptomatic wearers of silicone hydrogel contact lenses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corbin GS

2012-07-01

lower after 30 days of use by subjects using regimen 1 compared with those using regimen 2 (P ≤ 0.024. Circumlimbal conjunctival staining (sum score was significantly lower with regimen 1 (P < 0.0001. Other parameters did not show any difference between the two treatment regimens.Conclusion: This study shows that the new multi-purpose disinfecting solution is safe and effective when used by symptomatic silicone hydrogel contact lens wearers. By improving symptoms of scratchiness, burning, stinging, and comfortable wear time, and decreasing circumlimbal conjunctival staining, the new multi-purpose disinfecting solution enhances the patient's wearing experience and helps maintain optimal lens performance.Keywords: multi-purpose disinfecting solution; subjective comfort; silicone hydrogel contact lenses

Investigation of innovative silicon detector assembling solutions for hadron calorimeter modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, G.; Ammannati, N.

1995-01-01

The application of large areas of silicon detector mosaics in calorimetry for high energy particles measurement in Physics has grown in the last few years and is still in progress. The high number of mosaic units in the calorimeter implies the following main requirements to be satisfied: a simple low cost for manufacturing and assembling, easy mountable/dismountable units, possibility to move or change silicon detectors easily, reliability of the electrical contacts between the aluminium layer on the silicon detector surface and the PCB breaker points.In order to satisfy the above requirements several assembling solutions have been investigated and tested recently, as fixed contact by using conducting epoxy-glues, mechanically dismountable contacts of gold-plated PCB copper to the silicon detectors, and others.The results of the tests show a general degradation of the original electrical characteristics of the contacts after of varying lengths operating times.This fact, due to corrosion phenomena assisted by chemical residuals in the contact interface, causes an irreversible damage of the detectors in the long term.In addition we found a room temperature interdiffusion of gold and copper.A promising solution to these problems can be achieved by careful removal of chemical, increase of golden layer of the PCB electrical copper contacts or aluminising them by pure aluminium vapour deposition in vacuum chamber.Thee estimated degradation time between the PCB copper and the aluminium film is very low in this case, and the risk of diffusion in the detector aluminium film surface is low along the whole operating life of the calorimeter. (orig.)

Electrical properties of CdS/CdTe heterojunctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.L.; Chu, S.S.; Ang, S.T.

1988-01-01

The electrical properties of n-CdS/p-CdTe heterojunctions depend strongly on the cleanliness of the interface region. In this work, CdTe films were deposited on CdS/glass substrates by close-spaced sublimation (CSS) under various conditions. The dark current-voltage characteristics of the resulting heterojunctions were measured over a wide temperature range, and the capacitance-voltage characteristics were measured in the dark and under illumination. When the CdS surface is in situ cleaned prior to the deposition of the CdTe film, the current transport across the junction is controlled by a thermally activated process. Tunneling makes an important contribution to the interface recombination at temperatures below room temperature when the in situ cleaning of CdS is not used. The dark capacitance of CdS/CdTe heterojunctions prepared with in situ etching is essentially independent of the reverse bias due to intrinsic interface states. Under white light illumination, the 1/C 2 vs V relation is nearly linear. The CdS/CdTe heterojunctions without in situ cleaning showed different 1/C 2 vs V relations due to higher density of interface states. The in situ cleaning also has pronounced effects on the frequency dependence of dark and illuminated capacitances. Using the in situ cleaning technique, solar cells of about 1 cm 2 area have achieved an AM 1.5 (global) efficiency of about 10.5%

Palladium silicide - a new contact for semiconductor radiation detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Totterdell, D.H.J.

1981-11-01

Silicide layers can be used as low resistance contacts in semiconductor devices. The formation of a metal rich palladium silicide Pd 2 Si is discussed. A palladium film 100A thick is deposited at 300 0 C and the resulting silicide layer used as an ohmic contact in an n + p silicon detector. This rugged contact has electrical characteristics comparable with existing evaporated gold contacts and enables the use of more reproducible bonding techniques. (author)

Transport properties of hydrogen passivated silicon nanotubes and silicon nanotube field effect transistors

KAUST Repository

Montes Muñoz, Enrique

2017-01-24

We investigate the electronic transport properties of silicon nanotubes attached to metallic electrodes from first principles, using density functional theory and the non-equilibrium Green\\'s function method. The influence of the surface termination is studied as well as the dependence of the transport characteristics on the chirality, diameter, and length. Strong electronic coupling between nanotubes and electrodes is found to be a general feature that results in low contact resistance. The conductance in the tunneling regime is discussed in terms of the complex band structure. Silicon nanotube field effect transistors are simulated by applying a uniform potential gate. Our results demonstrate very high values of transconductance, outperforming the best commercial silicon field effect transistors, combined with low values of sub-threshold swing.

Monolayer MoS2 heterojunction solar cells

KAUST Repository

Tsai, Menglin

2014-08-26

We realized photovoltaic operation in large-scale MoS2 monolayers by the formation of a type-II heterojunction with p-Si. The MoS 2 monolayer introduces a built-in electric field near the interface between MoS2 and p-Si to help photogenerated carrier separation. Such a heterojunction photovoltaic device achieves a power conversion efficiency of 5.23%, which is the highest efficiency among all monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenide-based solar cells. The demonstrated results of monolayer MoS 2/Si-based solar cells hold the promise for integration of 2D materials with commercially available Si-based electronics in highly efficient devices. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

Photosensitive Ox/GaAs heterojunctions: Creation and properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rud' , V. Yu. [St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University (Russian Federation); Rud' , Yu. V., E-mail: yuryrud@mail.ioffe.ru; Terukov, E. I.; Ushakova, T. N. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute (Russian Federation)

2012-06-15

A method for the thermal oxidation of GaAs crystals in air is suggested and the first photosensitive Ox/n-GaAs heterojunctions, where Ox is a native oxide, are fabricated. The steady current-voltage characteristics and spectra of relative quantum efficiency of the new structures are studied. The features of the spectra of photoactive absorption of the obtained heterojunctions are discussed. The potential of using vacuumfree thermal oxidation of the GaAs crystals in air to fabricate broadband heterophotoconverters of optical radiation on their basis is established.

Influence of surface wettability on cathode electroluminescence of porous silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goryachev, D.N.; Sreseli, O.M.; Belyakov, L.V.

1997-01-01

Influence of porous silicon wettability on efficiency of its cathode electroluminescence in electrolytes was investigated. It was revealed that increase of porous silicon wettability by electrolyte improved contact with a sublayer and provided generation of sufficient quantity of charge carriers. Diffusion - ionic, not electronic mechanism of charge transfer to the centers of micro crystallite electroluminescence is observed in porous silicon - electrolyte systems

Metallisation Technology of Silicon Solar Cells Using the Convectional and Laser Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leszek A. Dobrzanski

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper was to optimize the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS and co-firing in the infrared conveyor furnace parameters in front Screen Printed (SP contacts. The co-firing in the infrared conveyor furnace was carried out at various temperature. The SLS was carried out at various a laser beam, scanning speed of the laser beam and front electrode thickness. The investigations were carried out on monocrystalline silicon wafers. During investigations was applied a silver powder with the grain size of 40 μm. The contacts parameters are obtained according to the Transmission Line Model (TLM measurements. Firstly, this paper shows the comparison between the convectional an unconventional method of manufacturing front contacts of monocrystalline silicon solar cells with the different morphology of silicon for comparative purposes. Secondly, the papers shows technological recommendations for both methods in relation to parameters such as: the optimal paste composition, the morphology of the silicon substrate to produce the front electrode of silicon solar cells, which were selected experimentally in order to produce a uniformly melted structure, well adhering to the substrate, with the low resistance of the front electrode-to-substrate joint zone.

Conduction band offset at the InN/GaN heterojunction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Kejia; Lian Chuanxin; Su Ning; Jena, Debdeep; Timler, John

2007-01-01

The conduction-band offset between GaN and InN is experimentally determined. InN/n-type GaN isotype heterojunctions grown by molecular beam epitaxy are observed to exhibit Schottky-junction like behavior based on rectifying vertical current flow. From capacitance-voltage measurements on the heterojunction, the Schottky barrier height is found to be ∼0.94 eV. The photocurrent spectroscopy measurement by backside illumination reveals an energy barrier height of 0.95 eV across the heterojunction, consistent with the capacitance measurement. By combining electrical transport, capacitance-voltage, and photocurrent spectroscopy measurement results, the conduction band offset between InN and GaN is estimated to be ΔE C =1.68±0.1 eV

Guided ultrasonic wave beam skew in silicon wafers

Science.gov (United States)

Pizzolato, Marco; Masserey, Bernard; Robyr, Jean-Luc; Fromme, Paul

2018-04-01

In the photovoltaic industry, monocrystalline silicon wafers are employed for solar cells with high conversion efficiency. Micro-cracks induced by the cutting process in the thin wafers can lead to brittle wafer fracture. Guided ultrasonic waves would offer an efficient methodology for the in-process non-destructive testing of wafers to assess micro-crack density. The material anisotropy of the monocrystalline silicon leads to variations of the guided wave characteristics, depending on the propagation direction relative to the crystal orientation. Selective guided ultrasonic wave excitation was achieved using a contact piezoelectric transducer with custom-made wedges for the A0 and S0 Lamb wave modes and a transducer holder to achieve controlled contact pressure and orientation. The out-of-plane component of the guided wave propagation was measured using a non-contact laser interferometer. The phase slowness (velocity) of the two fundamental Lamb wave modes was measured experimentally for varying propagation directions relative to the crystal orientation and found to match theoretical predictions. Significant wave beam skew was observed experimentally, especially for the S0 mode, and investigated from 3D finite element simulations. Good agreement was found with the theoretical predictions based on nominal material properties of the silicon wafer. The important contribution of guided wave beam skewing effects for the non-destructive testing of silicon wafers was demonstrated.

Polymer-interaction driven diffusionof eyeshadow in soft contact lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavazzi, Silvia; Rossi, Alessandra; Picarazzi, Sara; Ascagni, Miriam; Farris, Stefano; Borghesi, Alessandro

2017-10-01

Soft contact lenses used for the correction of ametropia are often made of hydrogel and silicone-hydrogel materials. Since they are placed directly on the surface of the eye and they are hydrated by tears, eye cosmetics can compromise the lens performance and, even worse, can be transported from an external environment to the ocular surface through the contact lens. The diffusion of the dye component of a purple eyeshadow in soft contact lenses of different materials is here evaluated. Diffusivity is found to be typically higher in silicone-hydrogels than in hydrogels. In hydrogels, diffusivity is greater in the case of lower oxygen transmissibility. Despite differences between materials, absorbed mass of dye is much larger (10-100 times) than the expected mass by simple hydration and swelling of the contact lens. The most contaminated materials are also resistant to cleaning solutions. The results indicate that, notwithstanding the complexity of contact lens networks, diffusion of dye is found to follow Fick's law and it is driven by polymer-dye interaction, which governs lens hydration and swelling. Copyright © 2017 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of radiation intensity on diode characteristics of silicon solar cells