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Single-nanowire solar cells beyond the Shockley–Queisser limit

Nature Photonics volume 7, pages 306–310 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Light management is of great importance in photovoltaic cells, as it determines the fraction of incident light entering the device. An optimal p–n junction combined with optimal light absorption can lead to a solar cell efficiency above the Shockley–Queisser limit. Here, we show how this is possible by studying photocurrent generation for a single core–shell p–i–n junction GaAs nanowire solar cell grown on a silicon substrate. At 1 sun illumination, a short-circuit current of 180 mA cm–2 is obtained, which is more than one order of magnitude higher than that predicted from the Lambert–Beer law. The enhanced light absorption is shown to be due to a light-concentrating property of the standing nanowire, as shown by photocurrent maps of the device. The results imply new limits for the maximum efficiency obtainable with III–V based nanowire solar cells under 1 sun illumination.

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Figure 1: Electrical characterization of a single nanowire solar cell (device 1).
Figure 2: Optical simulations of a single nanowire solar cell.
Figure 3: Optical characterization of a single nanowire solar cell (device 2).

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the ERC starting grant UpCon and by SNF (project nos 137648, 143908) and NCCR-QSIT. A.F.i.M. thanks STI for the 2011 end-of-year fund for MiBoots robots used in the scanning photocurrent experiment. A.F.i.M. and M.H. thank A. Dalmau-Mallorqui and F.M. Epple for experimental support. The authors also thank C.B. Sørensen and M.H. Madsen for assistance with MBE growth. This work was supported by the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (project 022-2009-1), a University of Copenhagen Center of Excellence, and by the UNIK Synthetic Biology project.

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Author notes

  1. Peter Krogstrup, Henrik Ingerslev Jørgensen and Martin Heiss: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Quantum Devices, Nano-Science Center, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, Copenhagen, DK-2100, Denmark

    Peter Krogstrup & Jesper Nygard

  2. SunFlake A/S, Nano-Science Center, Universitetsparken 5, Copenhagen, DK-2100, Denmark

    Henrik Ingerslev Jørgensen, Jeppe V. Holm & Martin Aagesen

  3. Laboratoire des Matériaux Semiconducteurs, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Martin Heiss, Olivier Demichel & Anna Fontcuberta i Morral

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  1. Peter Krogstrup
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Contributions

P.K. grew the nanowire p–n junctions. H.I.J. performed I–V characterization and fabricated the device, with help from J.V.H. and M.A. M.H. and O.D. performed the FDTD calculations. M.H. realized the photocurrent mappings and the external quantum efficiency measurements. A.F.i.M. and P.K. conceived and designed the experiments. A.F.i.M., J.N. and M.A. supervised the project. A.F.i.M., H.I.J., P.K. and M.H. composed the figures and wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Peter Krogstrup or Anna Fontcuberta i Morral.

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Krogstrup, P., Jørgensen, H., Heiss, M. et al. Single-nanowire solar cells beyond the Shockley–Queisser limit. Nature Photon 7, 306–310 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.32

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