Epitaxially aligned cuprous oxide nanowires for all-oxide, single-wire solar cells

Nano Lett. 2014 Aug 13;14(8):4665-70. doi: 10.1021/nl501750h. Epub 2014 Jul 11.

Abstract

As a p-type semiconducting oxide that can absorb visible light, cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is an attractive material for solar energy conversion. This work introduces a high-temperature, vapor-phase synthesis that produces faceted Cu2O nanowires that grow epitaxially along the surface of a lattice-matched, single-crystal MgO substrate. Individual wires were then fabricated into single-wire, all-oxide diodes and solar cells using low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) of TiO2 and ZnO films to form the heterojunction. The performance of devices made from pristine Cu2O wires and chlorine-exposed Cu2O wires was investigated under one-sun and laser illumination. These faceted wires allow the fabrication of well-controlled heterojunctions that can be used to investigate the interfacial properties of all-oxide solar cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.