GaN Nanowire Array for Charge Transfer in Hybrid GaN/P3HT:PC71BM Photovoltaic Heterostructure Fabricated on Silicon

Giorgi Tchutchulashvili; Sergij Chusnutdinow; Wojciech Mech; Krzysztof P Korona; Anna Reszka; Marta Sobanska; Zbigniew R Zytkiewicz; Wojciech Sadowski

doi:10.3390/ma13214755

GaN Nanowire Array for Charge Transfer in Hybrid GaN/P3HT:PC₇₁BM Photovoltaic Heterostructure Fabricated on Silicon

Materials (Basel). 2020 Oct 24;13(21):4755. doi: 10.3390/ma13214755.

Authors

Giorgi Tchutchulashvili¹, Sergij Chusnutdinow², Wojciech Mech³, Krzysztof P Korona³, Anna Reszka², Marta Sobanska², Zbigniew R Zytkiewicz², Wojciech Sadowski¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics, Gdansk University of Technology, Gabriela Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland.
² Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland.
³ Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

We demonstrate that a GaN nanowire array can be used for efficient charge transfer between the organic photovoltaic layer and silicon in a Si/GaN/P3HT:PC₇₁BM inverted hybrid heterostructure. The band alignment of such a material combination is favorable to facilitate exciton dissociation, carrier separation and electron transport into Si. The ordered nature of the GaN array helps to mitigate the intrinsic performance limitations of the organic active layer. The dependence of photovoltaic performance enhancement on the morphology of the nanostructure with nanowire diameters 30, 50, 60, 100 and 150 nm was studied in detail. The short circuit current was enhanced by a factor of 4.25, while an open circuit voltage increase by 0.32 volts was achieved compared to similar planar layers.

Keywords: GaN nanowires; P3HT; PCBM; bulk heterojunction; hybrid photovoltaics; organic–inorganic; silicon.

Abstract

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