Silicon Nanowire Solar Cells with μc-Si:H Absorbers for Radial Junction Devices

摘要

Silicon nanowire (SiNW) radial junction (RJ) solar cells using hydrogenatedmicrocrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) as absorber material have been studied. Since2013, the performance of such RJ devices has been limited by the low fill factor(FF) and open-circuit voltage (V_(OC)). Thanks to the use of n-type hydrogenatedmicrocrystalline silicon oxide (μc-SiO_x:H) as a bottom doped layer, the authorsdeveloped μc-Si:H RJ solar cells with a FF of 69.7% and a VOC of 0.41 V yielding apower conversion efficiency of 4.1%, which is more than 40% higher than thepreviously published efficiency record of 2.9%. Herein, the role of n-type μc-SiO_x:H in the improvement of FF is highlighted.