Flexible Near-Infrared Photovoltaic Devices Based on Plasmonic Hot-Electron Injection into Silicon Nanowire Arrays

Dong Liu; Dong Yang; Yang Gao; Jun Ma; Ran Long; Chengming Wang; Yujie Xiong

doi:10.1002/anie.201600279

Flexible Near-Infrared Photovoltaic Devices Based on Plasmonic Hot-Electron Injection into Silicon Nanowire Arrays

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016 Mar 24;55(14):4577-81. doi: 10.1002/anie.201600279. Epub 2016 Mar 1.

Authors

Dong Liu¹, Dong Yang¹, Yang Gao¹, Jun Ma¹, Ran Long¹, Chengming Wang¹, Yujie Xiong²

Affiliations

¹ Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Hefei Science Center (CAS), School of Chemistry and Materials Science and, USTC Center for Micro- and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P. R. China.
² Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Hefei Science Center (CAS), School of Chemistry and Materials Science and, USTC Center for Micro- and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, P. R. China. yjxiong@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 26929103
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201600279

Abstract

The development of flexible near-infrared (NIR) photovoltaic (PV) devices containing silicon meets the strong demands for solar utilization, portability, and sustainable manufacture; however, improvements in the NIR light absorption and conversion efficiencies in ultrathin crystalline Si are required. We have developed an approach to improve the quantum efficiency of flexible PV devices in the NIR spectral region by integrating Si nanowire arrays with plasmonic Ag nanoplates. The Ag nanoplates can directly harvest and convert NIR light into plasmonic hot electrons for injection into Si, while the Si nanowire arrays offer light trapping. Taking the wavelength of 800 nm as an example, the external quantum efficiency has been improved by 59 % by the integration Ag nanoplates. This work provides an alternative strategy for the design and fabrication of flexible NIR PVs.

Keywords: flexible devices; hot electrons; photovoltaics; plasmonics; silicon.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't