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In and Sn are the type of catalysts which do not introduce deep level electrical defects within the bandgap of germanium (Ge). However, Ge nanowires produced using these catalysts usually have a large diameter, a tapered morphology, and mixed crystalline and amorphous phases. In this study, we show that plasma-assisted vapor–liquid–solid (PA-VLS) method can be used to synthesize Ge nanowires. Moreover, at certain parameter domains, the sidewall deposition issues of this synthesis method can be avoided and long, thin tapering-free monocrystalline Ge nanowires can be obtained with In and Sn catalysts. We find two quite different parameter domains where Ge nanowire growth can occur via PA-VLS using In and Sn catalysts: (i) a low temperature-low pressure domain, below ∼235 °C at a GeH4 partial pressure of ∼6 mTorr, where supersaturation in the catalyst occurs thanks to the low solubility of Ge in the catalysts, and (ii) a high temperature-high pressure domain, at ∼400 °C and a GeH4 partial pressure above ∼20 mTorr, where supersaturation occurs thanks to the high GeH4 concentration. While growth at 235 °C results in tapered short wires, operating at 400 °C enables cylindrical nanowire growth. With the increase of growth temperature, the crystalline structure of the nanowires changes from multi-crystalline to mono-crystalline and their growth rate increases from ∼0.3 nm s−1 to 5 nm s−1. The cylindrical Ge nanowires grown at 400°C usually have a length of few microns and a radius of around 10 nm, which is well below the Bohr exciton radius in bulk Ge (24.3 nm). To explain the growth mechanism, a detailed growth model based on the key chemical reactions is provided.

International audience; The vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) and vapor-solid-solid (VSS) growth mechanisms are widely used to obtain silicon nanowires. In this paper, we report on a hybrid method based on the use of a dual-phase catalyst made of liquid Sn and solid Cu 3 Si, which results in a liquid-assisted VSS (LA-VSS) mechanism. The silicon atoms are brought by atomic hydrogen-assisted dissociation of silane molecules. We observe the growth in situ, in the transmission electron microscope, at

In this work, we have demonstrated the radial junction silicon nanowire (RJ SiNW) solar mini-modules on 5×5 cm2 fluorine doped tin oxide(FTO)/soda-lime glass (SLG) substrates. The deposition of RJ SiNWs was performed in PECVD reactor using plasma-assisted VLS technique, with the assistance of laser scribing to ensure the monolithic integration of RJ SiNW solar cells on the same substrate. We have fabricated 3 batches of these solar mini-modules with printed top grid Ag contacts to improve the collection of carriers and the energy conversion efficiency (η) of these devices. With proper improvement in each batch after addressing the challenges we have faced, such as high resistive losses, we have obtained a high V oc of 5.52 V, I sc of 12.46 mA and FF of 63.56 %, leading to η of 4.37 % with the power generation of about 44 mW.

International audience; Optoelectronic devices based on high aspect ratio nanowires bring new challenges for transparent electrodes, which can be well addressed by using hybrid structures. Here we demonstrate that a composite contact to radial junction nanowire solar cells made of a thin indium-tin oxide (ITO) layer and silver nanowires greatly improves the collection of charge carriers as compared to a single thick ITO layer by reducing the series resistance losses while improving the transparency. The optimization is performed on p-in solar cells comprising of dense non-vertical nanowires with a p-doped c-Si core and an ultra-thin a-Si:H absorption layer grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on glass substrates. The optimal hybrid contact developed in this work is demonstrated to increase the solar cell conversion efficiency from 4.3% to 6.6%.

International audience; In the quest for the replacement of indium tin oxide (ITO), Ti-doped zinc oxide (TZO) films have been synthesized by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and applied as an n-type transparent conductive oxide (TCO). TZO thin films were obtained from titanium (IV) i-propoxide (TTIP), diethyl zinc, and water by introducing TiO 2 growth cycle in a ZnO matrix. Process parameters such as the order of precursor introduction, the cycle ratio, and the film thickness were optimized. The as-deposited films were analyzed for their surface morphology, elemental stoichiometry, optoelectronic properties, and crystallinity using a variety of characterization techniques. The growth mechanism was investigated for the first time by in situ quartz crystal microbalance measurements. It evidenced different insertion modes of titanium depending on the precursor introduction, as well as the etching of Zn−Et surface groups by TTIP. Resistivity as low as 1.2 × 10 −3 Ω cm and transmittance >80% in the visible range were obtained for 72-nm-thick films. Finally, the first application of ALD-TZO as TCO was reported. TZO films were successfully implemented as top electrodes in silicon nanowire solar cells. The unique properties of TZO combined with conformal coverage realized by the ALD technique make it possible for the cell to show almost flat external quantum efficiency (EQE) response, surpassing the bell-like EQE curve seen in devices with a sputtered ITO top electrode.

The radicals and atoms generated by a plasma have the effect, among others, of changing the surface energies of materials, which allows one to prepare nano-objects that would not stabilise in other conditions. This is the case of the Sn catalysed silicon nanowires (NWs) we present in this paper: without plasma, the liquid Sn at the top of NWs is unstable (because Sn naturally wets the Si) so that no growth is allowed, while in presence of the H atoms generated by the plasma, the balance of surface energies is drastically changed; the Sn droplet stabilises and can be used efficiently by the vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism of growth. Thus, if one wants to study the growth mechanisms of such NWs in situ in the transmission electron microscope (TEM), one has to adapt a plasma system on the TEM. This is precisely what was done at École polytechnique on the NanoMAX environmental TEM. The paper reports on the plasma effects, on the catalyst and on NW growth, recorded in situ in real time, at atomic resolution. The results are discussed in the light of density functional calculations of bare and hydrogenated Si surface energies.

The optimized design of a photonic platform based on a nanowire light emitting diode (LED) and a nanowire photodetector connected with a waveguide is proposed. The light coupling efficiency from the LED to the detector is optimized as a function of the geometrical parameters of the system using the finite difference time domain simulation tool Lumerical. Starting from a design reported in the literature with a coupling efficiency of only 8.7%, we propose an optimized photonic platform with efficiency reaching 65.5%.

We study light trapping in hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film solar cells fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on various nanostructured back reflectors. The back reflectors are patterned using polystyrene assisted lithography. We have investigated the correlation between the back reflector optical properties and the corresponding solar cell performance. We have introduced double size polystyrene sphere patterned back reflectors and have provided experimental evidence for improved light trapping performance compared to single size polystyrene sphere patterned back reflectors. We have achieved high performing nanostructured amorphous silicon solar cells with an initial power conversion efficiency of 7.53% and over 20% enhancement of the short-circuit current compared with the reference flat solar cell.

In-situ Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry was applied for monitoring the silicon nanowire growth by plasma-enhanced vapor-liquid-solid method. The technique is proposed as a real-time, non-destructive, and non-invasive characterization of the deposition process in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor. The data have been taken by spectrally resolved Mueller matrix ellipsometer every 1 min during the 8–10 min long nanowire growth process. We have developed an easy-to-apply optical model to fit the experimental data, which enables to study the evolution of the parameters of the structure during initial stages of the growth. The first results provide information about the effective deposition rate determined from the linear increase of the deposited silicon volume with the deposition time.

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Both Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy enable assessment of the effect of electrical bias on the surface potential of the layers of a solar cell. We report on a comprehensive comparison of surface potential measurements on an interdigitated back contact solar cell using these two techniques. Measurements under different values of electrical biases are performed on and between the metallic contacts. They show a good agreement between the surface potential obtained with Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy and the Scanning Electron Microscopy signal. In order to provide an accurate comparison, the scanned areas are adjacent to each other and accurate repositioning is achieved thanks to a nano-indentation between the contacts. We show that measurements under reverse bias are of interest to locate nano-defects and measurements under forward bias are relevant to identify local series resistance issues. We suggest that a setup combining Scanning Electron Microscopy and Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy under different values of the electrical bias should be valuable since the former is a high throughput technique enabling measurements on large scan areas, while the latter is a quantitative, low noise, and unintrusive local technique.

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Conversion of carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons using solar energy is an attractive strategy for storing such a renewable source of energy into the form of chemical energy (a fuel). This can be achieved in a system coupling a photovoltaic (PV) cell to an electrochemical cell (EC) for CO

Conversion of carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons using solar energy is an attractive strategy for storing such a renewable source of energy into the form of chemical energy (a fuel). This can be achieved in a system coupling a photovoltaic (PV) cell to an electrochemical cell (EC) for CO2 reduction. To be beneficial and applicable, such a system should use low-cost and easily processable photovoltaic cells and display minimal energy losses associated with the catalysts at the anode and cathode and with the electrolyzer device. In this work, we have considered all of these parameters altogether to set up a reference PV–EC system for CO2 reduction to hydrocarbons. By using the same original and efficient Cu-based catalysts at both electrodes of the electrolyzer, and by minimizing all possible energy losses associated with the electrolyzer device, we have achieved CO2 reduction to ethylene and ethane with a 21% energy efficiency. Coupled with a state-of-the-art, low-cost perovskite photovoltaic minimodule, this system reaches a 2.3% solar-to-hydrocarbon efficiency, setting a benchmark for an inexpensive all–earth-abundant PV–EC system. ISSN:0027-8424 ISSN:1091-6490

International audience; A flexible nitride p-n photodiode is demonstrated. The device consists of a composite nanowire/polymer membrane trans- ferred onto a flexible substrate. The active element for light sensing is a vertical array of core/shell p−n junction nanowires containing InGaN/ GaN quantum wells grown by MOVPE. Electron/hole generation and transport in core/shell nanowires are modeled within nonequilibrium Green function formalism showing a good agreement with experimental results. Fully flexible transparent contacts based on a silver nanowire network are used for device fabrication, which allows bending the detector to a few millimeter curvature radius without damage. The detector shows a photoresponse at wavelengths shorter than 430 nm with a peak responsivity of 0.096 A/W at 370 nm under zero bias. The operation speed for a 0.3 × 0.3 cm2 detector patch was tested between 4 Hz and 2 kHz. The −3 dB cutoff was found to be ∼35 Hz, which is faster than the operation speed for typical photoconductive detectors and which is compatible with UV monitoring applications.

Fabrication of high-quality ultrathin monocrystalline silicon layers and their transfer to low-cost substrates are key steps for flexible electronics and photovoltaics. In this work, we demonstrate a low-temperature and low-cost process for ultrathin silicon solar cells. By using standard plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), we grow high-quality epitaxial silicon layers (epi-PECVD) from SiH4/H2 gas mixtures at 175 °C. Using secondary ion mass spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy, we show that the porosity of the epi-PECVD/crystalline silicon interface can be tuned by controlling the hydrogen accumulation there. Moreover, we demonstrate that 13–14% porosity is a threshold above which the interface becomes fragile and can easily be cleaved. Taking advantage of the H-rich interface fragility, we demonstrate the transfer of large areas (∽10 cm2) ultrathin epi-PECVD layers (0.5–5.5 µm) onto glass substrates by anodic bonding and moderate annealing (275–350 °C). The structural properties of transferred layers are assessed, and the first PECVD epitaxial silicon solar cells transferred on glass are characterized. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

International audience; A new strategy for the development of III-V/Si tandem solar cells has recently been proposed consisting in low temperature PECVD epitaxy of silicon or silicon-germanium on gallium-arsenide. This paper thus gives first insights about theoretical but realistic maximum performance of such tandem cells by means of full numerical simulations considering perfect layers and interfaces. The consequences of using a thin epi-Si bottom cell instead of a thick silicon substrate are investigated. In case no light trapping scheme is considered, a minimum epi-layer thickness of 20 μm is mandatory for the tandem to exhibit higher conversion efficiencies than a single GaAs solar cell. The epi-Si can yet be advantageously replaced by an epitaxial silicon-germanium alloy to increase the bottom cell optical absorption and thus decrease the minimum required thickness by a factor of ∼4 (∼5 μm). Finally, simulations show that over 33% efficiency can be obtained for AlxGa1-xAs/epi-Si0.63Ge0.27, which confirms that this is a promising new concept.

The fabrication of arrays of silicon nanowires (Si NWs) with well-defined surface coverage using the vapor-liquid-solid process requires a good control of the density and size distribution for the metal catalyst. We report on a cost-effective bottom-up approach to produce Si NWs by a low-temperature deposition technology using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and tin dioxide (SnO2) nanoparticles as the source of tin catalyst. This strategy offers a straightforward method to select specific particle sizes by conventional colloidal techniques, and to tune the surface coverage using a polyelectrolyte layer to efficiently immobilize the particles on the substrate by electrostatic grafting. After a further step of reduction into tin metal droplets using hydrogen plasma treatment, the catalyst particles are used for the growth of Si NWs. This approach allows the prodcution of controlled Si NWs arrays which can be used as a template for radial junction thin film solar cells.

We study light trapping and parasitic losses in hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film solar cells fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on nanostructured back reflectors. The back reflectors are patterned using polystyrene assisted lithography. By using O2 plasma etching of the polystyrene spheres, we managed to fabricate hexagonal nanostructured back reflectors. With the help of rigorous modeling, we study the parasitic losses in different back reflectors, non-active layers, and last but not least the light enhancement effect in the silicon absorber layer. Moreover, simulation results have been checked against experimental data. We have demonstrated hexagonal nanostructured amorphous silicon thin film solar cells with a power conversion efficiency of 7.7% and around 34.7% enhancement of the short-circuit current density, compared with planar amorphous silicon thin film solar cells. Published version

Low-temperature growth of doped epitaxial silicon layers is a promising way to reduce the cost of p-n junction formation in c-Si solar cells. In this work, we study process of highly doped epitaxial silicon layer growth using in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. The film was deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on a crystalline silicon substrate at a low substrate temperature of 200 °C. In the deposition process, SiF4 was used as a precursor, B2H6 as doping gas, and a hydrogen/argon mixture as carrier gas. A spectroscopic ellipsometer with a wide spectral range was used for in situ spectroscopic measurements. Since the temperature during process is 200 °C, the optical functions of silicon differ from these at room temperature and have to be adjusted. Thickness of the epitaxial silicon layer was fitted on in situ ellipsometric data. As a result we were able to determine the dynamics of epitaxial layer growth, namely initial layer formation time and epitaxial growth rate. This study opens new perspectives in understanding and monitoring the epitaxial silicon deposition processes as the model fitting can be applied directly during the growth.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest on the study of the complex interplay between the nanostructure and phototransport mechanism in many emerging photovoltaic technologies. Recently, Kelvin probe force microscopy has emerged as a powerful technique for probing photocarrier dynamics and gaining access to carrier lifetime at the nanoscale in a wide range of photovoltaic materials. In the paper entitled “Nanoscale investigation of carrier lifetime on the cross section of epitaxial silicon solar cells using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy” by Narchi et al . ( IEEE J. Photovolt ., vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 1576–1580, Nov. 2016), an innovative method to asses minority carrier lifetime at the nanoscale using Kelvin probe force microscopy under frequency modulated electrical bias on the cross section of an epitaxial silicon solar cell was demonstrated. The purpose of this note is to complement the results obtained by Narchi et al ., by showing that two-dimensional images of the photocarrier dynamics of different photophysical processes can be obtained upon the implementation of a postacquisition data processing. In this note, we also discuss how this photocarrier dynamical images can be linked with the underlying physical processes that take place in the sample upon carrier injection.

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Structure and crystal growth of nickel oxide thin films (10–300 nm) prepared by low-temperature sputtering have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Very thin films are compact and homogeneous and are made of almost randomly oriented crystals. A preferential growth direction is then observed following the (111), (220) and (311) planes to the detriment of the (222) and (200) planes, inducing a growth of the materials in columns perpendicularly to the substrate. An optical model able to account for this particular structure has been created from the spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements, and correlates well with the structure observed by SEM. Moreover, it enables an accurate estimation of the thickness without damage to the substrate.

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We report the investigation of the photovoltaic properties of core-shell GaN/InGaN wires. The radial structure is grown on m-plane {11̅00} facets of self-assembled c̅-axis GaN wires elaborated by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) on sapphire substrates. The conversion efficiency of wires with radial shell composed of thick In0.1Ga0.9N layers and of 30× In0.18Ga0.82N/GaN quantum wells are compared. We also investigate the impact of the contact nature and layout on the carrier collection and photovoltaic performances. The contact optimization results in an improved conversion efficiency of 0.33% and a fill factor of 83% under 1 sun (AM1.5G) on single wires with a quantum well-based active region. Photocurrent spectroscopy demonstrates that the response ascribed to the absorption of InGaN/GaN quantum wells appears at wavelengths shorter than 440 nm.

Radial junction solar cells with only ~100 nm thin amorphous Si absorber layer deposited on Si nanowires can be prepared by a relatively simple and low-cost thin film technology. Metal assisted Si nanowire growth leads to a disorder in nanowire orientations, lengths and shapes, which is then preserved by the conformal absorber layer. Interestingly, high conversion efficiencies are reached in spite of the disorder. In this contribution we describe microscopic methods aiming at exploring the role of structural disorder on the local electronic properties of radial junction cells. A method for locating the same nanostructure in different microscopes, using the nanoindentation marks for orientation on the sample, is described. Indents can be easily located by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopes or scanning probe microscopes. Groups of three indents arranged in triangles can serve as coordinate systems for triangulation on samples, enabling correlative microscopy even in instruments which were not designed for it. This approach also enables localization of the same positions on samples after repeated mounting in various microscopes with a precision better than 50 nm. This is possible even on samples without any structural features, as demonstrated for flat silicon thin films prepared by solid phase crystallization, for which we have correlated crystallographic maps from electron backscattering diffraction and conductivity maps by atomic force microscopy. The technique allows observing the same locations before and after technological steps, as shown for the hot wire chemical vapor deposition of carbon nanowalls.

We have studied surface passivation on nanopatterned crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers (280 µm), thin c-Si wafers (25 µm), ultrathin (~1–6 µm) low temperature epitaxial PECVD and epitaxy-free silicon. Nanopatterned front surfaces were produced by combining nanoimprint lithography with dry or wet etching. The impact of the nanopatterning on the effective lifetime is investigated by means of photoconductance and time-resolved microwave conductivity measurements. Passivation of flat ultra-thin monocrystalline layers by a-Si:H demonstrates effective lifetimes of a few µs. Flat, dry and wet etched c-Si wafers were also passivated by hydrogenated amorphous silicon, thus forming a heterojunction interface. The measured effective lifetimes were 2.2 ms for the flat, 484 μs for the dry and 709 μs for the wet etched wafers, respectively. It is noteworthy that despite the plasma damage associated with the dry etching process, the lifetime measured after passivation remains high enough for the targeted ultrathin solar cells. Solar cells fabricated on wafers nanopatterned via wet etching have reached an open circuit voltage as high as the flat sample thus demonstrating the potential of the use of wet etched nanopatterned surfaces for high efficiency solar cells.

Incorporation of properly designed nanostructures in solar cells improves light trapping and consequently their power conversion efficiencies. Due to its unique structure, a silicon nanowire (SiNW) matrix provides excellent light trapping and thus offers a promising approach for cost-effective, stable and efficient silicon thin film photovoltaics. Moreover, by decoupling the light absorption and carrier collection directions, radial junction solar cells built around the SiNWs allow the use of very thin active layers. As a matter of fact, radial PIN junctions with 9.2% power conversion efficiency have already been demonstrated on glass substrates with only 100 nm thick intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers. The most straightforward way to further improve the short circuit current density is to use an active layer with a lower band gap. In this work, the performances of devices with two different low band gap materials, e.g., hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) and hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium alloy (a-SiGe:H) are presented. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a-SiGe:H radial junction solar cell.

In this paper, we present our recent progress towards flexible nitride nanowire devices: we propose a method to combine high flexibility of polymer films with high quantum efficiency provided by nitride nanowires. The lift-off and transfer procedure allows to assemble free-standing layers of nanowire materials with different bandgaps without any constraint related to lattice-matching or growth condition compatibility. Following this method, we demonstrate blue, green, two-colour and white light emitting diodes as well as p-n photodiodes for integrable UVA sensors.

A top-surface, micron-scale, protrusion array following unique light management design criteria is presented and demonstrated. Modeling results for absorptance A ( λ ) and short-circuit current density J sc along with experimental results for external quantum efficiency and J sc all confirm the advantages achievable for solar cells and photodetectors. While the full modeling utilizes a Maxwell's equation solver, a simplified photon momentum picture is used in the design discussion. As a result of this design 1) less absorber material is required, 2) improved performance over planar top-surface devices is attained with conventional silver (Ag) back reflector/electrodes (BR/Es), 3) importantly employing an Ag-less transparent conductive material on aluminum (Al) BR/E in place of Ag BR/Es leads to even better performance, and 4) counterintuitively performance comparable to cells with Ag BR/Es is attained when a completely metal-less BR/E is employed. The results presented show modeled J sc values of 30.8 mA/cm2 for a 400 nm nc-Si absorber and measured J sc values of 22.8 mA/cm2 for 700 nm nc-Si absorber. These results are couched in the context of thin film devices but the design will yield performance enhancement, material savings, and back contact opportunities in any situation where incoming light reaches the BR/E in the corresponding planar control.

International audience; Silicon nanowires have been grown by a plasma-assisted vapour–liquid–solid method using tin as the catalyst. Transmission electron microscopy in the [1-210] zone axis shows that the diamond hexagonal (P63/mmc) crystal structure is present in several nanowires. This is the first unambiguous proof of the natural occurrence of this metastable phase to our knowledge.

Based on recent advancements of radial junction silicon nanowire (RJ SiNWs) solar cells, a demonstration of $5\mathrm{x}5 \pmb{\mathrm{cm}^{2}}$ RJ $\mathbf{SiNW}$ solar mini-module is presented in this work. The $\mathbf{SiNW}$ devices were grown by plasma-assisted vapor-liquid-solid technique at low temperature in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor. The $\pmb{5\mathrm{x}5\ \mathrm{cm}^{2}}$ mini-modules have been obtained using a commercial laser scribing apparatus. The laser scribing insures a monolithic integration of electrically separated cells. We have obtained a power generation of 10 $\mathbf{mW}$ from 5 individual cells of total active area of 8.6 $\pmb{\mathrm{cm}^{2}}$. The mini-module has an open-circuit voltage of 3.85 V. The performance was evaluated using solar simulator and short comings (high series resistance) were analyzed using a home-made electroluminescence setup.

Recent developments have unlocked the main issues arising from the combination of III-V and silicon and have opened a new way to fabricate tandem solar cells. We here propose to evaluate such tandem concept based on inverse metamorphic growth of c-Si(Ge) on GaAs by means of numerical simulation. Electrical and optical models are first faced to experimental realizations of single junction cells to calibrate material parameters and to assess the electrical quality of the epi-SiGe layer. Then the tandem structure is optimized, current matching conditions are given and the benefit of using a 2D grating at the back-side is studied.

The appropriate choice of nanoparticles is proved to be essential in tuning the properties of F:SnO2 (FTO) nanocomposites. With the use of more conductive sulphur-doped TiO2 (S:TiO2) nanoparticles, the sheet resistance of S:TiO2–FTO nanocomposites is successfully reduced down to 38% as compared to the standard flat FTO (11.7 Ω sq-1), while the haze factor of the S:TiO2–FTO nanocomposites can be varied from almost zero (reference flat FTO) up to 60%; moreover the majority of 〈110〉 oriented S:TiO2 nanoparticles leads to a strong (110) texture in the resulting S:TiO2–FTO nanocomposites by local epitaxy. Careful morphology analyses and angle-resolved measurements reveal that the haze factor is proportional to the total surface coverage of the S:TiO2 nanoparticle agglomerates, while the feature size of the agglomerates determines the angular distribution of the scattered light – this is confirmed by an angle-resolved Mueller matrix polarimeter which allows obtaining the optical microscopic and angleresolved images of the exact same textured region. Our work establishes the guidelines to fabricate FTO and other transparent conductive oxide (TCO) nanocomposites as promising electrodes in solar cells with tunable structural, electrical, and optical properties. published

We report on the fabrication, integration, and simulation, both optical and optoelectrical, of two-dimensional photonic nanostructures for advanced light trapping in thin crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. The photonic nanostructures are fabricated by the combination of various lithography (nanoimprint, laser interference, and hole mask colloidal) and etching (dry plasma and wet chemical) techniques. The nanopatterning possibilities thus range from periodic to random corrugations and from inverted nanopyramids to high aspect ratio profiles. Optically, the nanopatterning results in better performance than the standard pyramid texturing, showing a more robust behavior with respect to light incidence angle. Electrically, wet etching results in higher minority carrier lifetimes compared to dry etching. From the integration of the photonic nanostructures into a micron-thin c-Si solar cell certain factors limiting the efficiencies are identified. More precisely: (a) the parasitic absorption is limiting the short circuit current, (b) the conformality of thin-film coatings on the nanopatterned surface is limiting the fill factor, and (c) the material damage from dry etching is limiting the open circuit voltage. From optical simulations, the optimal pattern parameters are identified. From optoelectrical simulations, cell design considerations are discussed, suggesting to position the junction on the opposite side of the nanopattern.

International audience; Recent developments have unlocked the main issues arising from the combination of III-V and silicon and have opened a new way to fabricate tandem solar cells. In this study we provide a detailed analysis of III-V/epi-SiGe tandem devices performance using opto-electrical models and parameters acquired from previous experimental realizations of single junction devices. At first, we present the validation of our top and bottom cells models by comparison with previously published solar cells. The analysis of the current matching and the impact of the Al content in AlGaAs absorber on the open circuit voltage is performed on a very wide range of thickness and Al content. The optimal configurations for tandems with thin film absorbers are found with an empirical expression. This expression relates the required bottom absorber thickness to the Al content for current matching in a flat tandem device. Low-temperature epitaxial SiGe growth on III-V materials is an inverted growth technique, meaning that the last material grown is the Si(Ge) bottom cell. We can thus easily texture the back of the bottom cell for higher photon absorption. The proposed nanostructurization of the back reflector shows that, to reach the same efficiency, only half of the thickness is required if a 2D grating is combined with a silver reflector. The detailed influence of the bulk and interface electrical quality in the epi-SiGe bottom cell is also assessed. Finally, the prediction of the tandem device performance according to different realistic scenarios is presented.

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Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) radial junction solar cells, built over a dense matrix of Si nanowires (SiNWs), benefit from strong light trapping. This allows the use of a very thin absorber layer without sacrificing the solar cell performance, while improving its stability. By optimizing the density of SiNWs grown via a plasma-assisted vapor–liquid–solid process on glass, we have achieved radial junction a-Si:H solar cells with an open circuit voltage of 0.80 V, short circuit current density of 16.1 mA/cm 2 and a high power conversion efficiency of 8.14%. Furthermore, we present experimental evidence of the excellent stability of such radial junction a-Si:H solar cells with a light-induced degradation of only ~6%, compared to the typical degradation of 15% to 20% in planar cells. These results indicate the feasible and promising approach towards a new generation of stable and high performance a-Si:H thin film solar cells.