InP Nanowire Array Solar Cells Achieving 13.8% Efficiency by Exceeding the Ray Optics Limit.

Summary, in English

Photovoltaics based on nanowire arrays could reduce cost and materials consumption compared to planar devices, but have exhibited low efficiency of light absorption and carrier collection. We fabricated a variety of millimeter-sized arrays of p-i-n doped InP nanowires and found that the nanowire diameter and the length of the top n-segment were critical for cell performance. Efficiencies up to 13.8% (comparable to the record planar InP cell) were achieved using resonant light trapping in 180-nanometer-diameter nanowires that only covered 12% of the surface. The share of sunlight converted into photocurrent (71%) was six times the limit in a simple ray optics description. Furthermore, the highest open circuit voltage of 0.906 volt exceeds that of its planar counterpart, despite about 30 times higher surface-to-volume ratio of the nanowire cell.

• Author: Jesper Wallentin; Nicklas Anttu; Damir Asoli; Maria Huffman; Ingvar Aberg; Martin Magnusson; Gerald Siefer; Peter Fuss-Kailuweit; Frank Dimroth; Bernd Witzigmann; Hongqi Xu; Lars Samuelson; Knut Deppert; Magnus Borgström
• Department/s: Solid State Physics; NanoLund: Centre for Nanoscience
• Publishing year: 2013
• Language: English
• Pages: 1057-1060
• Publication/Series: Science
• Volume: 339
• Issue: 6123
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1230969
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Topic: Condensed Matter Physics; Nano Technology
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1095-9203