Letter abstract
Nature Materials
Published online: 5 July 2009 | doi:10.1038/nmat2493
Three-dimensional nanopillar-array photovoltaics on low-cost and flexible substrates
Zhiyong Fan1,2,3, Haleh Razavi1,2,3, Jae-won Do1,2,3, Aimee Moriwaki1,2,3, Onur Ergen1,2,3, Yu-Lun Chueh1,2,3, Paul W. Leu1,2,3, Johnny C. Ho1,2,3, Toshitake Takahashi1,2,3, Lothar A. Reichertz2, Steven Neale1,3, Kyoungsik Yu1,3, Ming Wu1,3, Joel W. Ager2 & Ali Javey1,2,3
Solar energy represents one of the most abundant and yet least harvested sources of renewable energy. In recent years, tremendous progress has been made in developing photovoltaics that can be potentially mass deployed1, 2, 3. Of particular interest to cost-effective solar cells is to use novel device structures and materials processing for enabling acceptable efficiencies4, 5, 6. In this regard, here, we report the direct growth of highly regular, single-crystalline nanopillar arrays of optically active semiconductors on aluminium substrates that are then configured as solar-cell modules. As an example, we demonstrate a photovoltaic structure that incorporates three-dimensional, single-crystalline n-CdS nanopillars, embedded in polycrystalline thin films of p-CdTe, to enable high absorption of light and efficient collection of the carriers. Through experiments and modelling, we demonstrate the potency of this approach for enabling highly versatile solar modules on both rigid and flexible substrates with enhanced carrier collection efficiency arising from the geometric configuration of the nanopillars.
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Correspondence to: Ali Javey1,2,3 e-mail: ajavey@eecs.berkeley.edu
