InN p-i-n nanowire solar cells on Si

Hieu Pham Trung Nguyen, Yi Lu Chang, Ishiang Shih, Zetian Mi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

70 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper, we report the first experimental demonstration of InN nanowire solar cells. By employing an in situ deposited In seeding layer, we have achieved electronically pure, nearly intrinsic InN nanowires directly on Si(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The growth and characterization of Si-and Mg-doped InN nanowires is also investigated, which can exhibit superior structural and optical properties. We have further studied the epitaxial growth, fabrication, and characterization of InN:Si/i-InN and InN:Mg/i-InN/InN:Si axial nanowire structures on p-type and n-type Si(111) substrates, respectively. With the use of a CdS surface passivation, InN:Mg/i-InN/InN:Si nanowire homojunction solar cells exhibit a promising short-circuit current density of 14.4 mA/cm2 and power-conversion efficiency of 0.68 under simulated one-sun (AM 1.5G) illumination. This work suggests the first successful demonstration of p-type doping in InN nanowires and also constitutes important progress for the development of InGaN-based, full-solar-spectrum photovoltaics.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number5634053
Pages (from-to)1062-1069
Number of pages8
JournalIEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics
Volume17
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2011
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

  • Nanotechnology
  • optoelectronic devices
  • p-i-n diodes
  • solar cells

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