Simulation of an asymmetric contacted carbon nanotube for solar-energy harvesting

Nanostructured materials offer great prospects in helping solar-energy harvesting devices to achieve their envisioned performances. Carbon nanotubes (CNT)-based devices were among the first to be proposed for this task. These devices are based on CNT field-effect transistors and CNT diodes. In this paper, the photovoltaic behavior of a diode structure formed from an asymmetrically contacted intrinsic CNT with scandium and palladium electrodes as source and drain, respectively, is investigated. A semi-classical simulator, which combines a quantum solution, for transmission through the electrodes/CNT interfaces with the semi-classical drift-diffusion equation and continuity equation for charge transport in the CNT has been built. The obtained simulation outcomes are compared with the available published experimental results.