Carbon nanotube-amorphous silicon hybrid solar cell with improved conversion efficiency

Nanotechnology. 2016 May 6;27(18):185401. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/27/18/185401. Epub 2016 Mar 23.

Abstract

We report a hybrid solar cell based on single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) interfaced with amorphous silicon (a-Si). The high quality carbon nanotube network was dry transferred onto intrinsic a-Si forming Schottky junction for metallic SWNT bundles and heterojunctions for semiconducting SWNT bundles. The nanotube chemical doping and a-Si surface treatment minimized the hysteresis effect in current-voltage characteristics allowing an increase in the conversion efficiency to 1.5% under an air mass 1.5 solar spectrum simulator. We demonstrated that the thin SWNT film is able to replace a simultaneously p-doped a-Si layer and transparent conductive electrode in conventional amorphous silicon thin film photovoltaics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't