Mo1-xWxSe2-Based Schottky Junction Photovoltaic Cells

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016 Dec 14;8(49):33811-33820. doi: 10.1021/acsami.6b11768. Epub 2016 Dec 5.

Abstract

We developed Schottky junction photovoltaic cells based on multilayer Mo1-xWxSe2 with x = 0, 0.5, and 1. To generate built-in potentials, Pd and Al were used as the source and drain electrodes in a lateral structure, and Pd and graphene were used as the bottom and top electrodes in a vertical structure. These devices exhibited gate-tunable diode-like current rectification and photovoltaic responses. Mo0.5W0.5Se2 Schottky diodes with Pd and Al electrodes exhibited higher photovoltaic efficiency than MoSe2 and WSe2 devices with Pd and Al electrodes, likely because of the greater adjusted band alignment in Mo0.5W0.5Se2 devices. Furthermore, we showed that Mo0.5W0.5Se2-based vertical Schottky diodes yield a power conversion efficiency of ∼16% under 532 nm light and ∼13% under a standard air mass 1.5 spectrum, demonstrating their remarkable potential for photovoltaic applications.

Keywords: Mo1−xWxSe2 alloys; Schottky junction; graphene electrode; photovoltaic cells; scanning photocurrent mapping.