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Solar cells

Slicing and dicing photons

Nature Photonics volume 2, pages 72–73 (2008)Cite this article

Solar cells take advantage of our most abundant source of energy, the Sun. A technique that improves the conversion of photons to electrons could potentially lead to a dramatic improvement in device efficiency.

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Figure 1: The absorption of a photon in a silicon nanocrystal excites an electron from the valence band (VB) to the conduction band (CB).

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  1. Randy Ellingson is at the Center for Chemical Sciences and Biosciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA. Randy_Ellingson@nrel.gov,

    Randy Ellingson

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Ellingson, R. Slicing and dicing photons. Nature Photon 2, 72–73 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2007.288

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