Journal article
Temperature and Humidity Stable Alkali/Alkaline-Earth Metal Carbonates as Electron Heterocontacts for Silicon Photovoltaics
Y Wan, J Bullock, M Hettick, Z Xu, C Samundsett, D Yan, J Peng, J Ye, A Javey, A Cuevas
Advanced Energy Materials | WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH | Published : 2018
Abstract
Nanometer scale interfacial layers between the metal cathode and the n-type semiconductor play a critical role in enhancing the transport of charge carriers in and out of optoelectronic devices. Here, a range of nanoscale alkali and alkaline earth metal carbonates (i.e., potassium, rubidium, caesium, calcium, strontium, and barium) are shown to function effectively as electron heterocontacts to lightly doped n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si), which is particularly challenging to contact with common metals. These carbonate interlayers are shown to enhance the performance of n-type c-Si proof-of-concept solar cells up to a power conversion efficiency of ≈19%. Furthermore, these devices are the..
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Awarded by U.S. Department of Energy
Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project: DP150104331) and the Australia-US Institute for Advanced Photovoltaics (AUSIAPV) program under Grant No. ACAP6.9. Y.W. is holding Individual Fellowship from Australian Center of Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP). The XPS characterization was performed at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, supported through the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under Award No. DE-SC0004993. Work at the Molecular Foundry was supported by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy (Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231). A.J., M.H., and J.B. acknowledge funding from the Bay Area Photovoltaics Consortium (BAPVC).