Issue 30, 2013

Surface passivation and band engineering: a way toward high efficiency graphene–planar Si solar cells

Abstract

Graphene–Si Schottky junction solar cells are promising candidates for high-efficiency, low-cost photovoltaic applications. However, their performance enhancement is restricted by strong carrier recombination and relative low barrier height. Here, we demonstrated the successful construction of high-efficiency graphene–planar Si solar cells via modification of the Si surface with a molecule monolayer as well as tuning the interface band alignment with an organic electron blocking layer. Methylated Si showed the capability to effectively suppress the surface carrier recombination, leading to a remarkable improvement of device efficiency. The recombination was further reduced by inserting a thin P3HT organic layer; the unique band alignment could prevent electron transfer from n-Si to the graphene anode so as to minimize the current leakage. These methods, along with careful control of the graphene doping level and layer number, gave rise to a power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 10.56%. The scalability of the devices was further investigated by studying the device area dependent photovoltaic performance.

Graphical abstract: Surface passivation and band engineering: a way toward high efficiency graphene–planar Si solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Apu 2013
Accepted
08 Maa 2013
First published
08 Maa 2013

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013,1, 8567-8574

Surface passivation and band engineering: a way toward high efficiency graphene–planar Si solar cells

C. Xie, X. Zhang, Y. Wu, X. Zhang, X. Zhang, Y. Wang, W. Zhang, P. Gao, Y. Han and J. Jie, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013, 1, 8567 DOI: 10.1039/C3TA11384A

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