Back to Search
Start Over
Photovoltaic Response of Carbon Nanotube-Silicon Heterojunctions: Effect of Nanotube Film Thickness and Number of Walls
- Source :
- Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. 11:9202-9207
- Publication Year :
- 2011
- Publisher :
- American Scientific Publishers, 2011.
-
Abstract
- We report on the multiwall carbon nanotube application as energy conversion material to fabricate thin film solar cells, with nanotubes acting as photogeneration sites as well as charge separators, collectors and carrier transporters. The device consists of a semitransparent thin film of nanotubes coating a n-type crystalline silicon substrate. Under illumination electron-hole (e-h) pairs, generated in the nanotubes and in the silicon substrate underneath, are split and charges are transported through the nanotubes (electrons) and the n-Si (holes). We found that a suitable thickness of the nanotube thin film, high density of Schottky junctions between nanotubes and n-Si and lowest number of nanotube walls are all fundamental parameters to improve the device incident photon to electron conversion efficiency. Multiwall carbon nanotubes have been synthesized by chemical vapour deposition in an ultra high vacuum chamber by evaporating a given amount of iron at room temperature and then exposing the substrate kept at 800 degrees C at acetylene gas. The amount of deposited iron is found to directly affect the nanotube size distribution (inner and outer diameter) and therefore the number of walls of the nanotubes.
- Subjects :
- Nanotube
Materials science
Silicon
business.industry
Ultra-high vacuum
Biomedical Engineering
chemistry.chemical_element
Bioengineering
Nanotechnology
General Chemistry
Chemical vapor deposition
Substrate (electronics)
Carbon nanotube
Condensed Matter::Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect
Condensed Matter Physics
Settore FIS/03 - Fisica della Materia
law.invention
Condensed Matter::Materials Science
chemistry
law
Optoelectronics
General Materials Science
Crystalline silicon
Thin film
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15334899 and 15334880
- Volume :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....20570026cb8e98d6db17124322a7f82c