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Design of μc-Si:H/a-Si:H coaxial tandem single-nanowire solar cells considering photocurrent matching

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Abstract

Abstract: The single nanowire solar cells (SNSCs) with radial junctions are expected to show the superiority in efficient carrier collection benefited from the largely shortened junction length. Considering that the conversion efficiency of the existing SNSCs is still limited due to the low operation voltage, we design μc-Si:H(core)/a-Si:H(shell) radial tandem SNSCs, giving much attention to the intrinsic optical and electrical properties. The core and shell cells are carefully engineered in order to realize the photocurrent matching. It is found that under matching condition the radius of the entire cell (R) shows linear dependence on the radius of the core cell (r), i.e., R ~1.2r. Under an optimal design of the tandem cell, the open-circuit voltage (photoconversion efficiency) is increased by 160% (34% relative) compared to the equivalent-size μc-Si:H SNSCs.

© 2014 Optical Society of America

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Figures (6)

Fig. 1
Fig. 1 (a) Sketch of the tandem SNSCs, where the doping categories, physical sizes and definitions of TE/TM incidences are all shown. (b) The absorption coefficient spectra of α-Si:H (yellow) and μc-Si:H (pink).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2 (a)–(d): Qabs vs R and λ with r = 200 nm, where TE and TM incidences are considered and the absorptions of the core and shell cells are distinguished. (e): Jph (under unpolarized incidence) of the core and shell cells vs R with r = 200 nm, after spectral integration of the results shown in Figs. 2(a)2(d) and taking the average of TE and TM incidences.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3 Qabs of the core and shell cells vs λ and r, where an optimal R has been selected for each r. Both TE and TM incidences have been considered in this study.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4 (a): optimal R under photocurrent matching vs r, where the matched Jph is also shown and unpolarized incidence is considered. (b): optimal R under photocurrent matching vs r for TE and TM incidences.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5 (a) Qabs spectra of the core, shell and entire tandem cells with r = 300 nm and R = 360 nm; (b): insets a−h are the absorption patterns under the marked wavelengths.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6 J-V characteristics and power densities of (a) a tandem μc-Si:H/a-Si:H SNSC with r = 300 nm and R = 360 nm and (b) a μc-Si:H SNSC with R = 360 nm.
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