Journal article
Tantalum Oxide Electron-Selective Heterocontacts for Silicon Photovoltaics and Photoelectrochemical Water Reduction
Y Wan, SK Karuturi, C Samundsett, J Bullock, M Hettick, D Yan, J Peng, PR Narangari, S Mokkapati, HH Tan, C Jagadish, A Javey, A Cuevas
ACS Energy Letters | AMER CHEMICAL SOC | Published : 2018
Abstract
Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells have been dominating the photovoltaic (PV) market for decades, and c-Si based photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells are regarded as one of the most promising routes for water splitting and renewable production of hydrogen. In this work, we demonstrate a nanoscale tantalum oxide (TaOx, ∼6 nm) as an electron-selective heterocontact, simultaneously providing high-quality passivation to the silicon surface and effective transport of electrons to either an external circuit or a water-splitting catalyst. The PV application of TaOx is demonstrated by a proof-of-concept device having a conversion efficiency of 19.1%. In addition, the PEC application is demonstrated ..
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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 (ARC). Some facilities at the Australian National Fabrication Facility and Centre for Advanced Microscopy at ANU were used. XPS characterization was performed at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, supported through the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Award Number DE-SC0004993. A.J., M.H., and J.B. acknowledge funding from the Bay Area Photovoltaics Consortium (BAPVC).